COMPUTER CERTIFICATION

CCNP exam success, particularly on the BSCI exam, demands you understand the details of route summarization.  This skill not only requires that you have a comfort level with binary conversions, but you have to know how and where to apply route summarization with each individual protocol. You also have to know the "side effects" of route summarization.  With OSPF, there will actually be an extra interface created at the point of summarization, and this catches a lot of CCNP candidates by surprise.  Let's take a look at the null0 interface and how it relates to OSPF summarization. On R1, the following networks are redistributed into OSPF, and then summarized. interface Loopback16  ip address 16.16.16.16 255.0.0.0 interface Loopback17  ip address 17.17.17.17 255.0.0.0 interface Loopback18  ip address 18.18.18.18 255.0.0.0 interface Loopback19  ip address 19.19.19.19 255.0.0.0 R1(config)#router ospf 1 R1(config-router)#redi

Passing the BCMSN exam and getting one step closer to the CCNP certification means learning and noticing details that you were not presented with in your CCNA studies. (Yes, I know – you had more than enough details then, right?)   One protocol you’ve got to learn more details about is VTP, which seemed simple enough in your CCNA studies!  Part of learning the details is mastering the fundamentals, so in this tutorial we’ll review the basics of VTP. In show vtp status readouts, the "VTP Operating Mode" is set to "Server" by default.  The more familiar term for VTP Operating Mode is simply VTP Mode, and Server is the default.  It's through the usage of VTP modes that we can place limits on which switches can delete and create VLANs. In Server mode, a VTP switch can be used to create, modify, and delete VLANs.  This means that a VTP deployment has to have at least one switch in Server mode, or VLAN creation will not be possible.  Again, this is the defa

To pass the CCNA exam and earn this important certification, you’ve got to know switching inside and out.  While you’re learning all the basic switching theory, make sure to spend some time with the one of three switching modes Cisco routers can use. Store-and-Forward is exactly what it sounds like.  The entire frame will be stored before it is forwarded.  This mode allows for the greatest amount of error checking, since a CRC (Cyclical Redundancy Check) is run against the frame before it is forwarded.  If the frame contains an error, it is discarded.  If there’s no problem with the frame, the frame is then forwarded to its proper destination. While store-and-forward does perform error checking, the delay in processing the frame while this error check is run results in higher latency than the other modes you’re about to read about.  The latency time can also vary, since not all frames are the same size. Cut-through switching copies only the destination MAC address into i

Whether you're on the road to the CCNA, CCNP, MCSE, or you're on any other computer certification track, the odds are that sooner or later, you're going to fail an exam.  It's happened to almost all of us, yours truly included.   What you have to keep in mind in these times is that success is not a straight line.  You've probably seen charts showing the growth of an industry or a business -- you know, the ones that go from left to right, and look kind of jagged.  The line goes up for a while, then down a bit, then up some more, then down a little.   The key?  While every business has its setbacks, the net result is that the line goes up and progress is made.  That's how you want your certification pursuit and your career to go as well - upward! I'm not asking you to be happy about failing an exam.  You're allowed to get mad for a few minutes, vow to never take another exam again, and be disappointed.  What you're not allowed to do is stay th

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 serial ports, one et