For the first post, I am introducing myself and the purpose of this blog. I currently work at the Idaho National Laboratory. I’ve been working there since August of 2007. I started out at a temporary hire for a hard drive encryption project, was hired on full-time to be a Field Services technician (worked hands-on with end user devices). Eventually, I was tapped to work with the Network Operations group and that’s when I started my pursuit of Cisco certifications. Prior to working with the Network Operations group, I only had experience with home network devices and small network concepts.
At the same time I started working as a Field Service technician, I started to become interested in Linux. Like most people new to Linux, I distro-hopped for quite a while before finding Arch. I’ve been using Arch Linux as my primary desktop at home for a few years now, but I recently moved to Debian on my work computers (just looking for a little more stability at work). I highly recommend Arch Linux to anyone who is willing to give it a go.
Since moving into Network Operations, my wife has been kind enough to let me purchase some home lab equipment and that has made the biggest difference towards learning and earning certifications.
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Certifications:
CompTIA A+ - October 2006
CompTIA Network+ - November 2007
Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT) - February 2011
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) - August 2011
Passed Cisco Certified Network Professional SWITCH exam - July 2012
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You might have noticed a gap between the Network+ and the CCENT. During that time, I was working on the MCSE and MCSA certifications. But a couple of things happened along the way: Microsoft moved up the new certifications from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 and I started with Network Operations. So, I do have some server experience as well.
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For my home lab, I have the following equipment:
2) Linksys WRT-54G home wireless routers (one for my own stuff running DD-WRT; the other is running the standard firmware and is used for the rest of the family)
3) Cisco 1721 Access Routers (1 built-in Fast-Ethernet port; 2 slots available)
6) Cisco WIC-2T serial cards
1) Cisco 2621XM router
1) Cisco 2610 router
2) Cisco 3550 Layer 3 switches
3) Cisco 2950 Layer 2 switches
6) 3’ serial cables (with end connections that work with the WIC-2T serial cards)
10) 3’ cat5e crossover cables (for connecting the switches together)
4) 5’ cat5e straight-through cables (for hooking routers to switches and computer connections)
2) 5’ fiber-optic cables
4) GBICs (for the Cisco 3550s)
1) Rollover cable
I also have my PC with a serial card install to be able to connect to the Cisco devices with a rollover cable.
I’m really happy with the lab I’ve built, but there are a few things I would have done differently in hindsight.
I would recommend purchasing Cisco 1760s instead of 1721s. The 1721s need an external power supply (make sure you get one for each router if you choose to buy them) and they are not rack mountable. However, the 1721s are fanless so they are quiet while working with them (which is really nice).
On the Cisco 2610, make sure to purchase a model with FastEthernet ports (2 would be better than one). On the Cisco 2610 (not the 2621XM), the one I have only has a single Ethernet port (10 Mbps), so it is unable to perform any trunking to the other switches. So, the lesson here: make sure to purchase routers with FastEthernet minimum. However, the Cisco 2610 does make an excellent Frame Relay switch (which is what I use it for now), so if you can get one for cheap, it can be put to good use.
As for the switches: start with the 2950s for the CCENT and CCNA; go with the 3550s if you decide to pursue the CCNP. I would love to get a couple 3560s in the mix for private VLANs, but I couldn’t justify the price (yet).
I purchased all of my lab equipment off of eBay, a little at a time. I started with the 2621 and 2621XM and the three 2950s for the CCENT and CCNA. I purchased the rest in preparation for the CCNP.
I based my later purchases based off of this web posting: http://www.certskills.com/LabGear/CCNP/BuildLists.aspx
I chose to add an additional 3550 and I’m glad I did. And since I had the 2610 and 2621XM already, I chose not to add two more 1721s. Again, I wish I went with 1760s so I could buy a rack and mount it all together, but live and learn.
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The purpose of this blog is to fill a small niche need out there. I’ve found plenty of blogs and sites about Cisco certification and routing, but switching and end user connection troubleshooting seems to be ignored. Hopefully, the following blog postings will fill that need and maybe lend a helping hand. I plan on sharing more than just networking stuff as well including my study habits and other ‘productivity’ items I’ve learned along the way.
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