To
earn your CCNA and CCNP, and to be effective on the job, it's more
important than ever to get hands-on experience with real Cisco
equipment. Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, tells you why.
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 get cabling and configuring your own
routers.
Whenever I mention this to one of my students, they always say it costs
too much. The truth is, it is cheaper now to build your own CCNA and
CCNP lab than it has ever been. The secret? Used routers.
The word “used” turns off a lot of people not many of us buy used
computers or used servers. Cisco routers, though, are robust I
personally own a Cisco 4000 router that I use as a Frame Relay switch
in my lab that I’ve had for about four years, and I’ve never had a
problem with it.
The good news for current CCNA and CCNP candidates interested in
building their own labs is that used Cisco equipment has never been
more plentiful or cheaper. eBay is a good way to get an idea of what’s
out there and what the prices are, but you don’t have to assemble your
lab one piece at a time. Many eBay vendors who sell used Cisco
equipment sell ready-made CCNA and CCNP labs for one price, including
cables. I personally recommend www.ciscokits.com for your lab needs,
and there are many other vendors as well.
And should you desire to sell your lab after you complete your
certification, you can either negotiate a price with the vendor who
sold it to you, or you can sell it yourself on ebay. It’s my experience
that 95% of candidates who earn their CCNA go on to pursue their CCNP
within one year, though, so don’t sell it too quickly.
In the end, you spend only a few hundred dollars, and you gain
invaluable experience and knowledge that will help you both in your
certification quest and your job performance. Having been there, I can
tell you that you will learn much more from actually configuring and
cabling your own equipment than you ever will from any simulation of
the real thing.
Chris Bryant
CCIE #12933
Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study
Packages. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and
corporate training are also available.
For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP", send a request to chris@thebryantadvantage.com today !
