COMPUTER CERTIFICATION

CCNA and CCNP candidates who have their own Cisco home labs often email me about an odd situation that occurs when they erase a switch's configuration.  Their startup configuration is gone, as they expect, but the VLAN and VTP information is still there! Sounds strange, doesn't it?   Let's look at an example.  On SW1, we run show vlan brief and see in this abbreviated output that there are three additional vlans in use: SW1#show vlan br 10   VLAN0010                         active 20   VLAN0020                         active 30   VLAN0030                         active We want to totally erase the router's startup configuration, so we use the write erase command, confirm it, and reload without saving the running config:...

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! With the many different models available, there is some understandable confusion among future CCNAs and CCNPs about which routers to buy and which ones to avoid.  You can take almost any set of Cisco routers and put together a home lab; part of the learning process is taking what equipment you have available and putting together your own lab!  For those of you preparing to start your home lab or add to your existing one, this article will list the routers I use in my Cisco pods.  You certainly don't have to have all this equipment, but this will give you some good ideas on how to get started. The most versatile router you can get for your CCNA / CCNP home lab is a 2520.  These routers come with four seri...