Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: Planning Ahead For IE Study by Chris Bryant
Candidates preparing to pass the CCNP exams are putting together Cisco home labs like never before. With CCNA and CCNP home lab equipment more affordable than ever, candidates have realized the importance of working on real Cisco routers and switches on the way to earning their certifications. ... One question I get often from CCNP candidates is goes something like this: "I'm planning on pursuing the CCIE after I get my CCNP. ... What kind of routers and switches should I buy now in order to use the same equipment in my CCIE home lab?" This is going to sound strange coming from me,...

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: The 2503 Router by Chris Bryant
I know from experience that part of the excitement and anxiety of putting together your own CCNA / CCNP home lab is deciding what to buy! While you can make a workable home lab out of almost any combination of Cisco routers and switches, some routers are better suited for home lab work than... There's no better training than training on your own CCNA or CCNP home lab, and you can always sell the equipment later if you like. ... When you buy CCNA or CCNP "lab kits" - bundles of routers and switches - you can get a little confused about whether you're getting a good deal.

Tips On Buying A Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Kit by Chris Bryant
Buying a CCNA / CCNP home lab is the best way to be totally prepared for your Cisco exams. Most home labs are put together one router or switch at a time, but many CCNA / CCNP candidates prefer to buy kits where you get multiple routers and switches, along with all the cables and other... (And make sure the routers have enough memory to handle the IOS you plan on putting on them.) Purchasing a Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab is one of the best investments in your career that you will ever make. ... The problem is that when you're first starting out with your Cisco home lab, you don't know...

Cisco Certification: The Importance Of Building Your Own Practice Lab by Chris Bryant
CCNAs and CCNA candidates hear it all the time: “Get some hands-on experience”. From my personal experience climbing the Cisco certification ladder, I can tell you firsthand that there is no learning like hands-on learning. No simulator in the world is going to give you the experience you will... The truth is, it is cheaper now to build your own CCNA and CCNP lab than it has ever been. ... Many eBay vendors who sell used Cisco equipment sell ready-made CCNA and CCNP labs for one price, including cables.

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: The 2501 Router by Chris Bryant
To be truly prepared for your CCNA and CCNP exams, you need real hands-on experience with real Cisco routers and switches. However, a production network is a really bad place to practice your configurations, but an excellent way to get fired and/or sued. ... The key to becoming a true CCNA and CCNP is assembling your own Cisco home lab. ... All in all, 2501 routers are great for your CCNA / CCNP home lab. ... There's no better training than training on your own CCNA or CCNP home lab, and you can always sell the equipment later if you like.

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification Exam: Cabling Your Home Lab by Chris Bryant
More CCNA and CCNP candidates than ever before are putting together their own home labs, and there's no better way to learn about Cisco technologies than working with the real thing. Getting the routers and switches is just part of putting together a great CCNA / CCNP home lab, though. ... (Visit my website's Home Lab Help section for a sample Frame Relay switch configuration.) If you have multiple switches in your lab, that's great, because you'll be able to get a lot of spanning tree protocol (STP) work in as well as creating Etherchannels.

Passing The CCNA And CCNP: Cisco Home Lab FAQ by Chris Bryant
There is a real revolution today among CCNA and CCNP candidates. More and more of you are turning your back on "router simulators" and putting your own CCNA and/or CCNP Home Lab together, which is the best way to totally prepare to pass these tough Cisco exams. ... While you may be able to practice your core protocols on a CCIE home lab, it's going to be difficult and expensive to keep your home lab totally current with the Cisco lab blueprint. ... Cisco refreshing the CCIE lab blueprint every six months, and different technologies can be taken off the lab.

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Labs: Developing Troubleshooting Skills by Chris Bryant
CCNA / CCNP candidates are going to be drilled by Cisco when it comes to troubleshooting questions. You're going to have to be able to analyze configurations to see what the problem is (and if there is a problem in the first place), determine the meaning of different debug outputs, and show the... Assemble a Cisco home lab. ... Quite the opposite - if you don't know networking theory, you're not going to become a CCNA or CCNP. ... I've had many a student tell me later that I was right - when they misconfigured frame relay, ISDN, or another CCNA / CCNP technology and then had to fix it...

CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: A Guide To Cable Types by Chris Bryant
When you're putting your CCNA and/or CCNP home lab together, you're not just buying routers and switches you're creating a blueprint for success. There is no better way to learn about how real Cisco routers and switches work than to work with the real thing! ... Once you've added multiple routers and switches to your CCNA / CCNP home lab, you'll get tired of moving that rolled cable around. ... The best news of all for all CCNA and CCNP candidates is that like used routers and switches, all these cables are affordable.

CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: Assembling Your Cisco Home Lab by Chris Bryant
A CCNA or CCNP candidate who wants to be totally prepared for their exams is going to put together a home lab to practice on. With used Cisco routers and switches more affordable and plentiful then ever before, there's really no excuse to not have one! ... Don't hesitate when putting your CCNA / CCNP home lab together, wondering what will be acceptable for the CCIE lab a year or so from now. ... One question I get often from CCNA / CCNP candidates is "What routers should I buy that I can still use when I'm ready to study for the CCNP?" The CCIE lab changes regularly and sometimes...