Chris Articles

1). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Setup: How To Configure Reverse Telnet By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
Occasionally, during your CCNA and CCNP studies, you'll run into a term that just doesn't quite make sense to you. (Okay, more than occasionally!) One such term is "reverse telnet". As a Cisco certification candidate, you know that telnet is simply a protocol that allows you to remotely connect to a networking device such as a router or switch. But.
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2). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: Configuring An Access Server By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
As your CCNA / CCNP home lab expands, an access server such as the Cisco 2509 or 2511 is one of the best investments you can make. In this article, we'll look at the basic configuration for an access server and discuss how to connect to the other routers and switches in your pod through the AS. Here's part of a configuration from one of my access servers: ip host FRS 2006 100.
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3). Passing Cisco's CCNA And CCNP Exams: Ping And Extended Ping By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
Passing Cisco's CCNA And CCNP Exams: Ping And Extended Ping
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4). Cisco CCNP / BSCI Certification: The Local Preference BGP Attribute By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
When studying for your BSCI exam for the CCNP, you get your first taste of BGP. One of the major differences between BGP and the other protocols you've studied to date is that BGP uses attributes to describe paths, and to influence the selection of one path over the other. In this free tutorial, we're going to take a look at the Local Preference attribute and compare it to the Cisco-proprietary BGP attribute "weight".
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5). Cisco CCNP / BSCI Exam Tutorial: Using The OSPF Command �Area Range� By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
Your BSCI and CCNP exam success depends on knowing the details, and one such detail is knowing the proper way to summarize routes in OSPF. Route summarization is not just a test of your binary conversion abilities, but knowing where and when to summarize routes. It will not surprise any CCNA or CCNP certification candidate that OSPF gives us the most options for route summarization, and therefore more details to know! OSPF offers us two options for route summarization configurations.
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6). Cisco CCNA Certification: How And Why Switches Trunk By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
Your CCNA studies are going to include quite a bit of information about switches, and for good reason. if you don't understand basic switching theory, you can't configure and troubleshoot Cisco switches, either on the CCNA exam or in the real world. That goes double for trunking! Trunking is simply enabling two or more switches to communicate and send frames to each other for transmission to remote hosts.
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7). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Labs: Developing Troubleshooting Skills By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
CCNA / CCNP candidates are going to be drilled by Cisco when it comes to troubleshooting questions. You're going to have to be able to analyze configurations to see what the problem is (and if there is a problem in the first place), determine the meaning of different debug outputs, and show the ability not just to configure a router or switch, but troubleshoot one.
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8). Cisco CCNA Certification Exam Tutorial: The OSI Model�s Physical Layer By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
To pass your CCNA exam and earn this coveted certification, you've got to master the seven layers of the OSI model and what each layer does. For those of you taking the two-exam path, you can expect quite a few OSI model questions on the Intro exam. In this seven-part series, we'll spend some time taking a look at each of the OSI model layers, starting with the Physical layer.
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9). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Exam Tutorial: Five Debugs You Must Know By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
To pass the BSCI exam and move one step closer to CCNP certification success, you've got to know how and when to use debug commands to troubleshoot and verify network operations. While you should never practice debug commands on a production network, it's important to get some hands-on experience with them and not rely on "router simulators" and books to learn about them.
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10). Passing Cisco's CCNA and CCNP Exams: The VLAN.DAT File By : Chris Bryant
CCNA and CCNP candidates are often confused about why VLANs and VTP information is still present on a switch after the configuration is erased. Learn why this happens and how to really delete VLAN information in this free tutorial from Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933.
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11). Tips On Buying A Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Kit By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
Buying a CCNA / CCNP home lab is the best way to be totally prepared for your Cisco exams. Most home labs are put together one router or switch at a time, but many CCNA / CCNP candidates prefer to buy kits where you get multiple routers and switches, along with all the cables and other connection devices you'll need. While this is a good idea, keep a few things in mind when purchasing Cisco home lab kits.
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12). CCNP Certification / BSCI Exam Tutorial: The BGP Neighbor Process By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
Like TCP, BGP is connection-oriented. An underlying connection between two BGP speakers is established before any routing information is exchanged. This connection takes place on TCP port 179. As with EIGRP and OSPF, keepalive messages are sent out by the BGP speakers in order to keep this relationship alive. Once the connection is established, the BGP speakers exchange routes and synchronize their tables.
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13). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab: Why You Need An ISDN Simulator By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
ISDN is a vital topic for today's CCNA and CCNP candidates, especially for the ICND and Intro exams - you've got to know ISDN inside and out to pass those exams. Naturally you want to include it in your home lab. What many candidates don't realize is that you can't connect two Cisco routers directly via their Basic Rate Interface (BRI) interfaces you've got to have another device between them called an ISDN simulator.
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14). Cisco CCNP / BSCI Tutorial: The Role Of The OSPF ASBR By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
To pass the BSCI exam and earn your CCNP certification, you've got to master the (many) details of OSPF. You might have thought there were quite a few OSPF details in your CCNA studies, but you'll now build on that foundation on the way to earning your CCNP. One such detail is the role of the Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR) in OSPF. The name.
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15). Cisco CCNA Certification: Five Key Combinations You Should Know By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
When you start studying for your CCNA and CCNP exams, many books will present you with a huge list of keystroke shortcuts for use on Cisco routers. While the 640-801, 811, and 821 exams may ask you about one or two of these, you really have to get hands-on experience with these commands to master them. Even better, there are some key combinations that Cisco routers mention, but then don't tell you what they are! Let's take a look at a few of the more helpful key combinations, and conclude with the "secret" way to stop a ping or traceroute.
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16). CCNA / MCSE / CCNP Certification: Making Failure Work For You By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
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.
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17). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: Cabling Your Access Server By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
A Cisco home lab is an invaluable study tool when you're preparing for CCNA and CCNP exam success. Once you've gotten a couple of routers and switches, you'll quickly get tired of moving that blue console cable every time you want to configure a different device. The solution to this problem is purchasing and configuring an access server (AS). For those of you new to access servers, note that these are not white boxes running Microsoft operating systems.
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18). Cisco CCNA Exam Tutorial And Case Study: VLANs and IP Connectivity By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
In this CCNA case study, we'll take some basic switching and trunking theory and put it into action. We have two routers (R2 and R3) along with two switches (SW1 and SW2). R2 is connected to SW1 at fast 0/2, and R3 is connected to SW2 at fast 0/3. Both routers have IP addresses on the 172.12.23.0 /24 network. For these routers to be able to ping each other, the switches must be able to communicate.
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19). Cisco CCNA Certification: Cisco Switching Modes Tutorial By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
To pass the CCNA exam and earn that coveted certification, you've got to know Cisco switches inside and out. Among the many important details you've got to know are the three methods that Cisco switches use to forward frames, and the differences between the three. The first switching method is Store-and-Forward. The name is the recipe, because that's just what the switch does - it stores the entire frame before beginning to forward it.
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20). Cisco Certification: A Survival Guide To The Cisco Cable Jungle By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
One of the most confusing parts of beginning your Cisco studies is keeping all the cable types separate in your mind, and then remembering what they�re used for. This often occurs when a CCNA or CCNP candidate starts putting together their own home practice lab, and they suddenly realize that they have the equipment to run labs, but not the cables. With this in mind, here are some common Cisco cable types and their primary use.
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21). Cisco CCNA / CCNP: How And Why To Build An Etherchannel By : Chris Bryant
Etherchannels are in use all over the world, as well as on your CCNA and CCNP exams. Learn how to build and support an EC in this tutorial from Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933.
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22). Cisco CCNA Certification: The Importance Of The OSI Model By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
There's nothing I enjoy more than teaching Cisco technologies, especially CCNA candidates. Whether it's in-person or online, everyone's excited to be there. There's a sense of anticipation in the air, and everyone is ready to work hard, get their hands on the racks of Cisco routers and switches I have available... ... and then I break out the OSI model chart.
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23). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: Buying And Configuring An Access Server By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
A Cisco access server is generally the last item a CCNA or CCNP candidate has on their mind when they're putting together a home lab. The thinking tends to be that since this router isn't really doing anything in the production part of your practice lab, it's not really important. Once you have more than two devices in your home lab, though, you'll realize that constantly moving the console cable around from one router to another gets very tiresome.
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24). Cisco CCNA / CCNP Certification Tutorial: Frame Relay End-To-End Keepalives By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
One of the first things you learned about Frame is that the LMI also serves as a keepalive, or a heartbeat - and if three consecutive LMIs are missed, the line protocol goes down. There's a limitation to LMI as a keepalive, though. The LMI is exchanged only between the DTE and the closest DCE. The LMI is therefore a local keepalive that does not reflect any possible issues on the remote end of the virtual circuit.
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25). Cisco CCNP / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: Static VLANs By : Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933
BCMSN exam success and earning your CCNP certification requires you to add to your knowledge of VLAN configuration. When you studied for your CCNA exam, you learned how to place ports into a VLAN and what the purpose of VLANs was, but you may not be aware that there are two types of VLAN membership. To pass the BCMSN exam, you must know the details of both types.
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