Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification Exam: Cabling Your Home Lab
Posted on June 9th, 2010
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. You’ve got to get the right cables to connect the devices, and this is an important part of your education as well. After all, without the right cables, client networks are going to have a hard time working!
For your Cisco home lab, one important cable is the DTE/DCE cable. These cables have two major uses in a home lab. To practice directly connecting Cisco routers via Serial interfaces (an important CCNA skill), you’ll need to connect them with a DTE/DCE cable. Second, if you plan on having a Cisco router act as a frame relay switch in your lab, you’ll need multiple DTE/DCE cables to do so. (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. To connect your switches, you’ll need crossover cables.
You’ll need some straight-through cables as well to connect your routers to the switches.
Finally, if you’re lucky enough to have an access server as part of your lab, you’ll need an octal cable to connect your AS to the other routers and switches in your lab. The octal cable has one large connector on one end and eight numbered RJ-45 connectors on the other end. The large connector should be attached to the async port on your AS, and the numbered RJ-45 connectors will be connected to the console ports on your other routers and switches.
Choosing and connecting the right cables for your Cisco CCNA / CCNP home lab is a great learning experience, and it’s also an important part of your Cisco education. After all, all great networks and home labs all begin at Layer One of the OSI model!
Tags: CCNA, CCNP, Cisco CCNA
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CCNA Cisco Certification Case Study
Posted on June 5th, 2010
Your CCNA certification exam efforts must include practicing with different password types and knowing how to configure them on a Cisco router – but for CCNA exam success and to thrive in real-world networks, you also have to know how to examine a Cisco router configuration and determine the level of network security that is already present.? After all, most routers you work with already have passwords set, and it’s up to you to determine if those passwords are getting the job done.
Let’s start with a telnet password.? Telnet passwords are configured on the VTY lines, and no telnet access is enabled on a Cisco router by default.? If you saw the following configuration, what would it mean?
line vty 0 4
?privilege level 15
?password baseball
?login
That small Cisco router configuration means three things – first, Telnet access is enabled.? Second, the password is baseball.? Third, the “privilege level 15″ command means that any user who attempts to Telnet to the router and knows the password will automatically be placed into privileged exec mode.? (If that command were not present, the user would be placed into user exec and then prompted for the enable password before being allowed into privileged exec.)
You may not want to give that level of access to all incoming Telnet connections.? If you walked into a client’s router room and saw this configuration on a router, what would it mean to you?
username halas password 0 bears
username ewbank password 0 jets
username ed privilege 15 password 0 mcdaniel
line vty 0 4
?? login local
This configuration means three things as well.? Each user attempting to telnet in will be prompted for both a username and password.? Each individual user must enter the password that’s been assigned to them.? For example, the user “halas”would have to enter the password “bears” to successfully Telnet into this router.? The command “login local” under the VTY lines means that this local database of usernames and passwords will be used for authentication.?
Again, by default, users who are Telnetting in will be placed into user exec mode by default.? Only users with “privilege 15″ in the middle of their username / password definition will be placed into privileged exec immediately upon login.
Notice that zero in each of the username / password statements?? I didn’t enter that when I configured these statements.? This number indicates the level of encryption the password is currently under; a zero is the lowest level of encryption, indicating that the passwords aren’t encrypted at all.?? There’s a single line near the top of a Cisco router configuration that tells you why.. which of these three is it?
service timestamps debug uptime
service timestamps log uptime
no service password-encryption
Simple enough!? The password encryption service is off by default.??? To turn it on. just run the command service password-encryption.? Let’s do so here and then take a look at the configuration.
R1(config)#service password-encryption
username halas password 7 1415170A1E17
username ewbank password 7 070524585D
username ed privilege 15 password 7 082C4F4A08170C121E
Now that’s what I call encryption!?? Note that the zero has changed to a “7″ – that’s the highest level of encryption on a Cisco router, and as you can see, it’s very effective.
Knowing how to read a Cisco router configuration is a valuable skill for both the CCNA certification exam and working with production networks.? Keep practicing, keep studying
, and you’ll have the coveted letters “CCNA” behind your name soon!
Tags: CCNA, Cisco CCNA
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CCNA Certification Test Guide
Posted on May 19th, 2010
Writing the CCNA is the first step in network certification, but is still considered to be a tough exam. Noted CCNA author Todd Lammle comments in his recent book CCNA Study Guide that the Cisco CCNA is tough because it touches on so many subject areas, making studying a difficult undertaking.
A few simple tips can keep the studying focused and give a student the best chance at passing the CCNA certification exam.
Make Sure Study Materials Match the Exam
It sounds simple enough, but Cisco recently changed the CCNA, and there are plenty of study materials that still reflect the scope of the old exam. As of 2008, the current exam is the 640-802 (the previous exam number was 640-801 — an easy mistake to make!). Some of the new technologies and concepts introduced in the most recent CCNA include:
* VoIP and telephony basics and basic configuration
* More in depth coverage of IPv6
* Wireless technologies, based on Cisco’s implementation
* Deeper look at routing protocols, switching and the spanning tree protocol.
This is all in addition to the topics already covered on the CCNA: routing, VLANs, WAN technologies, subnetting, security (ACLs and NAT), and more.
Know The Cisco Answer
There may be more than one right answer. Make sure to learn what the Cisco answer is. It’s important to understand what Cisco considers the proper answer to be, whether it be how to configure a router or when to apply security. Some questions may even have similar answers, but the Cisco answer is always considered the right one on the CCNA.
Tags: 640-802, CCNA, Cisco CCNA
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Pass4sure cisco ccna 640-822
Posted on May 5th, 2010
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QUESTION 143:
Network topology exhibit:
Output exhibit:
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You work as a network technician at Cerp4siller and you issued the arp -a command
from a host named Cerp4siller A as shown above.
The user of host Cerp4siller A wants to ping the DSL modem/router at 192.168.1.254.
Based on the Host Cerp4siller A ARP table that is shown in the exhibit, what will host
Cerp4siller A do?
A. Send a unicast ARP packet to the DSL modem/router
B. Send a Layer 2 broadcast that is received by Host Cerp4siller B, the switch and the DSL
modem/router
C. Send unicast ICMP packets to the DSL modem/router
D. Send Layer 3 broadcast packets to which the DSL modem/router responds
E. None of the above
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While troubleshooting a connectivity problem, the Cerp4siller network administrator
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2.?? Implement a small switched network.
3.?? Implement an IP addressing scheme and IP Services to meet network requirements in a small branch office network.
4.?? Implement a small routed network, including Cisco router IOS.
5. Explain and select the appropriate administrative tasks required for a WLAN, including WLAN standards.
6. Identify security threats to a network and describe general methods to mitigate those threats
7.?? Implement and verify WAN links, including basic serial connections
The 640-822 Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices Part 1 (ICND1) exam is associated with the Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician certification and a tangible first step in achieving the Cisco Certified Network Associate certification. This exam tests a candidate’s knowledge and skills required to successfully install, operate, and troubleshoot a small branch office network. Passing this exam will earn you the Cisco CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) certification.?? This certification validates the skills required for entry-level network support positions and can be used as the starting point for many successful careers in networking. Candidates should have the knowledge and skill to install, operate and troubleshoot a small enterprise branch network, including basic network security. CCENT certification is the first step toward achieving CCNA, which covers medium size enterprise branch networks with more complex connections.?? Passing this exam, along with the ICND Part 2 (640-816) exam, will earn you the CCNA certification.
The pass4sure 640-822 exam products are designed to maximize your learning productivity and focus only on the important aspects that will help you to pass your exam.?? We will provide you with exam questions and verified answers, with detailed explanations, that reflect the actual exam. These questions and answers provide you with the experience of taking the actual test. Our exam guides are not just questions and answers. Our questions have detailed explanations provided by our certified industry experts, ensuring that you fully understand the questions and the concept behind the questions.
Tags: 640-802, CCNA, Cisco CCNA
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Ability and Fame Are Preferred Guide for Cisco Certificate
Posted on May 3rd, 2010
Others is a certification of primary Cisco, it has a great, profound and indelible influence on the IT history. Many people embarked on their desired career after obtaining Others. Several millions of people acquired Others certificate throughout the world. Due to the low barrier of Others, and the advantage that Cisco has unshakable status in web industry, so study and past exam and require Others certificate, these will continue be the essential way to these people who want to access to web industry. Of course, 650-180 is definite not as good as Others. But, everyone is limited by every kind of objective environmental factors, some things can only imagine. The certification and technology of Cisco, from require to control, spending money and time are huge. For instance, as to many people’s present situations, Others can not be required but can only imagine. So you should start from scratch, and look Others as the beginning of IT certification. We should take a right attitude on the Others which is just a primary Others certification. It does not mean the peak of skills, and of course, you can not expect it to bring huge economic returns.
Others has a relatively sound reputation in the industry, a lot of people know this Others certification of Cisco. Others is less known, but to those who have no certification, it indeed, has a considerable advantage. Others still can show your previous hard work and solid foundation from side.
Generally speaking, a company’s technical team should include a master-hand who has rich experience and good at handling difficult problems. This could be solved by Cisco CCNA. But more engineers are needed, who can be in the first line, can write some small program, and also can solve the general problems of customers. In fact, the problems customers encountered are some common sense in general. This work can be done by Others. The relatively cheep price of Others could make some companies employ more persons.
A company doesn’t hire the one who has the best technic, or the highest education, or the best moral character, but the one who fit the position most. To many positions of the companies, 650-180 is the best choice. For those candidates who want to enhance their position through the certificate, any certification is just a superficial thing. The real proof eventually relies on its own ability. Now, there is no one who will worship you just because you own a certification paper, any company will test you firstly and then decide. As soon as you can seat in front of interviewers, anyone’s opportunity is fair. Any expensive certificate can only let you get closer to interviewers, but it never can decide that you must be hired. Obtaining the IT certificates does not mean that it can be once for all. You should updated knowledge and technology in time and keep your competitive advantage. To maximize the value of the IT certification in your hand is the real intention to participate in IT certification exams.
Relate Exam:
Pass4sure 640-802 pdf: 646-058 HardCopyPass4sure CISSP : Lifecycle Services Advanced Security (LCSAS)Pass4sure 642-062 : Data Center Networking Infrastructure Support Specialist
Tags: 640-802 pdf, 642-062, 650-180, Cisco, Cisco CCNA, CISSP, IT certification
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