Cisco CCNP / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: BPDU Skew Detection

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

You may look at that feature’s name and think, “What is a BPDU Skew, and why do I want to detect it?” What we’re actually attempting to detect are BPDUs that aren’t being relayed as quickly as they should be.
After the root bridge election, the root bridge transmits BPDUs, and the non-root switches relay [...]

Cisco CCNP Certification: The BGP Weight Attribute

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

When you’re studying for the CCNP certification, especially the BSCI exam, you must gain a solid understanding of BGP. BGP isn’t just one of the biggest topics on the BSCI exam, it’s one of the largest. BGP has a great many details that must be mastered for BSCI success, and those of you [...]

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: Routing On A Frame Relay Switch

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

When you’re preparing for CCNA and CCNP exam success, the best investment you can make is to put together your own home lab. There is no better way to learn Cisco technologies and prepare for the CCNA, BSCI, BCMSN, CIT, and other exams than by working with the many protocols and services you’ll need [...]

Cisco CCNA Certification Tutorial: Segmenting Your Network

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

When you’re getting started on your CCNA studies on your way to earning this certification, you’re swamped with network device types that you’re familiar with, but not quite sure how to use. Let’s look at these networking devices and their main purposes.
Hubs and repeaters operate at Layer One of the OSI model, and they have [...]

Cisco CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: The HSRP MAC Address

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

To pass the BCMSN exam and earn your CCNP, you’ve got to know HSRP inside and out! Part of that is knowing how the MAC address of the virtual router is derived, and another part is knowing how to change this address. We’ll look at both features in this tutorial.
We’ve got two routers [...]

Cisco CCNP / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: Dynamic VLANs and VMPS

Monday, September 1st, 2008

Knowledge of Dynamic VLANs and VMPS is important in your efforts to pass the BCMSN exam and earn your CCNP, and it’s also a great skill to have for your networking career.
As a CCNA and CCNP candidate, you know how and why to configure static VLANs. Static VLANs can be a powerful tool for reducing [...]

How To Earn Cisco

Monday, September 1st, 2008

Security is a hot topic in today’s networks, and will continue to be for a long time to come. With that in mind, you must consider adding a Cisco security certification to your resume and firewall skills to your skill set.
It’s quite a jump from the CCNA to the CCSP (Cisco Certified Security Professional), [...]

Cisco CCNA Certification Exam Tutorial: Keep Your Most Important Appointment

Monday, September 1st, 2008

Imagine this. You have an appointment with a client to work on a server or router install. A few minutes before you’re scheduled to be there, you decide there’s something really good on TV you’d like to watch. Or you decide to go to the gym, or play a game, or [...]

Cisco CCNA Certification Exam Tutorial: Configuring And Troubleshooting VTP

Monday, September 1st, 2008

Not only is your CCNA exam going to have questions on VLAN trunking protocol, almost any network that has more than one VLAN is going to have VTP running. Whether you’re planning on passing the CCNA exam or just brushing up on your networking skills, this VTP tutorial will help you learn the [...]

Passing The CCNA and CCNP: Home Lab Shopping On Ebay

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

Whether you’re just getting ideas for your Cisco home lab or adding to your existing lab, ebay is a great place to get ideas for your lab as well as pick up some great bargains.
Of course, the internet being what it is, there are always going to be a few people looking to take your [...]