How To Become a Cisco CCNP

Congratulations on your decision to earn your CCNP certification! As a CCIE, I can tell you that Cisco certifications are both financially and personally rewarding.

To earn your CCNP, you first have to earn your CCNA certification. Then you're faced with a decision - take the three-exam CCNP path, or the four-exam path? They're both quite demanding, so let's take a look at each path.

The four-exam CCNP path includes the Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks exam (BSCI), Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks exam (BCMSN), Building Cisco Remote Access Networks (BCRAN), and Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting (CIT) exam.

The three-exam path combines the BSCI and BCMSN exams into a single exam, called the Composite exam.

I'm often asked what order I recommend taking the exams in. After earning your CCNA, I recommend you begin studying for the BSCI exam immediately. You will find the fundamentals you learned in your CCNA studies will help you a great deal with this exam. You're going to add to your CCNA knowledgebase quite a bit when it comes to OSPF and EIGRP, as well as being introduced to BGP.

I don't have a preference between the BCMSN and BCRAN exams, but I do recommend you take the CIT exam last. You'll be using all the skills you learned in the first three exams to pass the CIT. It's a very demanding exam, and it's a little hard to troubleshoot technologies that you haven't learned yet!

The CCNP is both financially and personally fulfilling. Once you complete your CCNA studies, take a little breather and then get started on your CCNP studies. The more you know, the more valuable you are in today's ever-changing IT job market.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNP certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNP / BSCI Tutorial: Comparing OSPF And ISIS Hellos

While studying to pass the BSCI exam and preparing to earn your CCNP certification, you'll quickly notice that while OSPF and ISIS are both link-state protocols, there are a lot of differences between the two. One major difference is the way the two protocols handle hello packets.

Hello packets are imperative to keeping OSPF and ISIS adjacencies alive. Since they are both link-state protocols, neither of them will send updates at any specified time. Hello packets are the only method by which routers running OSPF and ISIS can see that a neighboring router is still available.

OSPF gives us some great options when it comes to keeping routing table size down via the use of stub and total stub areas, but to OSPF, a hello packet is a hello packet. ISIS routers are capable of sending two different types of hellos - Level 1 and Level 2.

ISIS routers are classified as Level 1 (L1), Level 2 (L2), and Level 1-2 (L1-L2). By default, Cisco routers are L1-L2 routers; this means that every ISIS-enabled interface will send out both L1 and L2 hellos.

If one of the interfaces is forming only an L1 or L2 adjacency, there's no reason to send out hellos for the other adjacency type. For example, if R1 is forming an L1 adjacency with R2 via its ethernet0 interface, there is no reason to allow the router to transmit L2 hellos. To hardcode a router interface to send only L1 or L2 hellos, use the isis circuit-type command.

R1(config)#interface ethernet0

R1(config-if)#isis circuit-type level-1

Note: To configure this interface to send only L2 hellos, the full command is "isis circuit-type level-2-only", not just "level-2".

This configuration would prevent L2 hellos from being transmitted out ethernet0. While this does save router resources and prevents unnecessary bandwidth usage, there is also no way an L2 adjacency can be formed - so double-check your network topology before using this command!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNA certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial: The (Many) Cable Types And Their Purposes

One of the most common questions I get from CCNA and CCNP candidates who are setting up their own home labs is "What cables will I need?" The answer is "It depends." As you know from your exam studies, the physical layout of your lab is what determines the cables you'll need. Let's take a look at the most common home lab cable types and when you will need them.

Straight-through cables have quite a few uses in a CCNA / CCNP home lab. You'll need them to connect a switch port to an AUI port on a router (and you'll need a transceiver for that as well). If you have an ISDN simulator, straight-through cables can be used to connect a router's BRI port to the simulator.

Crossover cables are used to connect switches and allow them to trunk. If at all possible, get two switches in your home lab. This will allow you to gain valuable experience in manipulating root bridge election, working with STP, and creating EtherChannels.

DTE/DCE cables are used to connect two routers via their serial cables. If you are planning on using a frame relay switch in your lab, you'll need several of these. You can also get some great practice in by directly connecting two routers and bringing the connection up (and making sure it stays up!). This is valuable practice for your CCNA exam.

Octal cables are used to connect an access server to each of the other routers and switches in your lab.

Finally, there's that precious blue cable, the rollover cable. Rollover cables (sometimes called "rolled cables") allow you to connect a host device directly to a router or switch's console port. These cables have a way of disappearing around an IT shop, so make sure to take one home - and leave it there!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNA certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNP / BSCI Tutorial: The BGP Attribute Next_hop

When you're studying for the BSCI exam on the way to earning your CCNP certification, you've got to master the use of BGP attributes. These attributes allow you to manipulate the path or paths that BGP will use to reach a given destination when multiple paths to that destination exist.

In this free BGP tutorial, we're going to take a look at the NEXT_HOP attribute. You may be thinking "hey, how complicated can this attribute be?" It's not very complicated at all, but this being Cisco, there's got to be at least one unusual detail about it, right?

The NEXT_HOP attribute is simple enough - this attribute indicates the next-hop IP address that should be taken to reach a destination. In the following example, R1 is a hub router and R2 and R3 are spokes. All three routers are in BGP AS 100, with R1 having a peer relationship with both R2 and R3. There is no BGP peering between R2 and R3.

R3 is advertising the network 33.3.0.0 /24 via BGP, and the value of the next-hop attribute on R1 is the IP address on R3 that is used in the peer relationship, 172.12.123.3.

The issue with the next-hop attribute comes in when the route is advertised to BGP peers. If R3 were in a separate AS from R1 and R2, R1 would then advertise the route to R2 with the next-hop attribute set to 172.12.123.3. When a BGP speaker advertises a route to iBGP peers that was originally learned from an eBGP peer, the next-hop value is retained.

Here, all three routers are in AS 100. What will the next-hop attribute be set to when R1 advertises the route to its iBGP neighbor R2?

R2#show ip bgp

< no output >

There will be no next-hop attribute for the route on R2, because the route will not appear on R2. By default, a BGP speaker will not advertise a route to iBGP neighbors if the route was first learned from another iBGP neighbor.

Luckily for us, there are several ways around this rule. The most common is the use of route reflectors, and we'll look at RRs in a future free BGP tutorial.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages. For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, ?How To Pass The CCNA? and ?How To Pass The CCNP?, visit the website and download your free copies. Get your CCNA certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNA Certification: The Value Of The CCNA And CCNP

One question I see often on the 'Net is "Is it worth my time to earn a CCNA / CCNP / CCIE certification?" My personal answer to that is a resounding yes. The power of Cisco certifications has allowed me to create a tremendous career, and they can do the same for you.

There has never been a better time to accelerate your IT career, and earning a technical certification is a great way to do just that. I don't care if you're looking at earning an MCSE, a Cisco certification, Red Hat, or any other vendor - you are always better off having a technical certification than not having one. Technical certifications are an excellent way to market yourself and stand out from the crowd. Earning certifications shows a potential employer (and your current one) that you are willing to go the extra mile.

Sadly, when you ask this question on most Internet message boards, you're going to get some very negative people giving you their "unbiased" opinion. Ask yourself this question: Do you want to entrust the direction of your career to someone you don't know, has no accountability for what they say, and has some kind of ax to grind? Do you want someone like that to decide whether you should earn a CCNA or CCNP?

I can speak from experience on this point. When I told a few people that I was going to earn my CCIE, almost 100% of the responses I got were negative. "It's too hard", "no one can pass that", "the CCIE isn't worth the work", etc. Every single one of these statements is false, and again I speak from firsthand experience. The same is true for the CCNA, CCNP, and MCSE. All of these certifications can add value to your career and put more money in your pocket. But you have to make the decision to earn them and to "keep your goals away from the trolls".

Don't ask anonymous strangers whether it's "worth the time" to get a CCNA, MCSE, or other computer certification. The only person you should ask that question of is yourself. Whether you want to start an IT career or jumpstart your current one, make the decision to move forward in your career - and then follow through on that decision.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNA certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNP/BSCI Certification: Introduction To ISIS Terminology

When you're studying to pass the BSCI exam and earn your CCNP certification, you're going to be introduced to ISIS. ISIS and OSPF are both link-state protocols, but ISIS works quite differently from OSPF. You must master these details in order to earn your CCNP.

One of the major differences between OSPF and ISIS will be evident to you when you first begin your BSCI exam studies, and that is the terminology. ISIS uses terms that no other protocol you've studied to date uses, and learning these new terms is the first step to BSCI and CCNP exam success.

First off, what does "IS" stand for in "ISIS"? It stands for "Intermediate System", which sounds like a group of routers. As opposed to Autonomous Systems, which are logical groups of routers, an Intermediate System is simply a single router. That's it.

You'll also become familiar with End Systems, referred to in ISIS as an "ES". The End System is simply an end host.

ISIS and OSPF both use the concept of areas, but ISIS takes a different approach to this concept. ISIS routers use three different types of routing levels, according to the area a router has been placed in. Level 2 routers are connected only to the backbone and serve as a transit device between non-backbone areas. Level 1 routers are totally internal to a non-backbone area.

ISIS uses both Level-1 and Level-2 Hellos, meaning that the two types of routers just mentioned cannot form an adjacency. Luckily for us, there is a middle ground, and that is the Level 1-2 router. These routers connect non-backbone areas to backbone areas. L1-L2 routers keep two separate routing tables, one for L1 routing and another for L2 routing. This is the default setting for a Cisco router, and L1-L2 routers can form adjacencies with both L1 and L2 routers.

Part of the challenge of learning ISIS is getting used to the differences between ISIS and OSPF. Keep studying the terminology, master one concept at a time, and soon you'll be a master of ISIS and a CCNP to boot!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNP certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNA Certification: Cisco Switching Modes Tutorial

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. This method allows for the greatest amount of error checking, since the Frame Check Sequence (FCS) can be run before the frame is forwarded. As always, there is a tradeoff, since this error checking process makes this the slowest of the three frame forwarding methods.

The quickest method is Cut-Through, where only the destination MAC address of the frame is examined before the forwarding process begins. This means that the part of the frame is actually being forwarded as it is still being received! The tradeoff here is that the FCS does not run, so there is absolutely no error checking with Cut-Through switching.

The middle ground between these two extremes is Fragment-Free, so named since fragmented frames will not be forwarded. The switch examines only the first 64 bytes of the frame for errors, since that is the part of the frame that will be damaged in case of a collision. There is error checking, but it is not as thorough as Store-and-Forward.

Keeping these three switching schemes straight is vital to your CCNA exam efforts, and it will help you in working with Cisco switches in the real world as well. Keep studying!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage , home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant!

Cisco CCNP / BSCI Certification: The BGP Attribute "MED"

When you're preparing to pass the BSCI exam and earn your CCNP certification, one of the biggest challenges is learning BGP. BGP is totally different from any protocol you learned to earn your CCNA certification, and one of the differences is that BGP uses path attributes to favor one path over another when multiple paths to or from a destination exist.

Notice I said "to or from". In earlier free BGP tutorials, I discussed the BGP attributes "weight" and "local preference". These attributes are used to favor one path to a destination over another; for example, if BGP AS 100 has two paths to a destination in AS 200, these two attributes can be set in AS 100 to favor one path over another. But what if AS 100 wants to inform the routers in AS 200 as to which path it should use to reach a given destination in AS 100?

That's where the BGP attribute "Multi-Exit Discriminator", or MED, comes in. The MED value can be set in AS 100 to tell AS 200 which path it should use to reach a given network in AS 100.

As with many BGP attributes, the MED can be set with a route-map. What you need to watch is that there is no "set med" value in route maps. To change the MED of a path, you need to change the metric of that path. Let's say that there are two entry paths for AS 200 to use to reach destinations in AS 100. You want AS 200 to use the 100.1.1.0/24 path over the 100.2.2.0/24 path. First, identify the two paths with two separate ACLs.

R1(config)#access-list 22 permit 100.1.1.0 0.0.0.255

R1(config)#access-list 23 permit 100.2.2.0 0.0.0.255

Next, write a route-map that assigns a lower metric to the more-desirable path.

R1(config)#route-map PREFER_PATH permit 10

R1(config-route-map)#match ip address 22

R1(config-route-map)#set metric 100

R1(config-route-map)#route-map PREFER_PATH permit 20

R1(config-route-map)#match ip address 23

R1(config-route-map)#set metric 250

Finally, apply the route-map to the neighbor or neighbors.

R1(config-route-map)#router bgp 100

R1(config-router)#neighbor 22.2.2.2 route-map PREFER_PATH out

The key points to keep in mind is that while many BGP attributes prefer a higher value, the MED is basically an external metric - and a lower metric is preferred, just as with the protocols you've already studied to earn your CCNA certification.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage , home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant!

Cisco CCNA Certification: Error Detection vs. Error Recovery

Passing the CCNA, Intro, and ICND exam is all about knowing and noticing the details. (Which makes perfect sense, since becoming a master networking administrator or engineer is also about noticing the details!) One such detail knows the difference between error detection and error recovery. While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not the same thing.

Error detection is just that - error detection only. Two common error detection methods are found at the Data Link layer of the OSI model, the FCS (Frame Check Sequence) and CRC (Cyclical Redundancy Check). A mathematical equation is run against the data in the frame, and the result is sent along with the data. The receiver runs the equation again, but this time. If the result is the same, the frame is considered valid; if the result is different, the frame is considered corrupt and is discarded.

Note that the FCS and CRC do nothing in regards to retransmission. They are strictly error detection schemes.

For an example of error recovery, we look to the Transport layer, where TCP runs. TCP performs reliable delivery, and the reason we call it "reliable" is that TCP uses sequence numbers to detect missing segments. If the sender determines from the sequence numbers that the remote host did not receive transmitted segments, the sender will retransmit the missing segments.

The key to keeping the terms straight in your head is to remember that while both error detection and error recovery both detect problems, only error recovery does anything about it. It's also worth reading an exam question twice when you see either term!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNA certification with The Bryant Advantage!

Cisco CCNP / BSCI Certification: The Local Preference BGP Attribute

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".

The Local Preference (LOCAL_PREF) attribute is used to influence how traffic will flow from one Autonomous System (AS) to another when multiple paths exist. For example, if AS 100 has two different paths to a destination network in AS 200, the LOCAL_PREF attribute can be used to influence the path selection.

The major difference between the Weight and LOCAL_PREF attributes is that when the LOCAL_PREF attribute is changed, that change is reflected throughout the AS. The new LOCAL_PREF value will be advertised to all other routers in the AS, as compared to the Weight attribute, which is locally significant only. If you change the Weight for a path on one router in an AS, the other routers in the AS will not learn of the change.

A route-map can be used to change a local preference value. For example, if you want to change the local preference value to 200 for the path advertisement 10.2.2.0/24 coming in from neighbor 10.1.1.1, there are three steps involved. First, write an ACL matching the remote network you want to change the local preference for.

R1(config)#access-list 5 permit 10.2.2.0 0.0.0.255

Second, write a route-map setting the local preference to 200. This will double the default value of 100, and the path with the highest local preference will be the preferred path.

R1(config)#route-map PREFER_PATH permit 10

R1(config-route-map)#match ip address 5

R1(config-route-map)#set local-pref 200

Finally, apply the route-map to routes that are being received from 10.1.1.1.

R1(config)#router bgp 100

R1(config-router)#network 10.1.1.1 route-map PREFER_PATH in

R1 will then advertise this new local preference value to all other routers in AS 100 - all of its iBGP neighbors.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies. Earn your CCNP certification with The Bryant Advantage!

San Francisco A City Gauide

Introduction

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth-largest city in the state of California, in the United States. A consolidated city-county, mainland San Francisco is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula. Insular San Francisco includes several islands in the San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Strait, notably Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and the Farallon Islands 27 miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean and also most of the privately owned Red Rock Island near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

History

San Francisco has a long history of events marking its growth from a small town to a big city

? In 1776, the Spanish were the first Europeans to settle in San Francisco

? In 1848, with the advent of the California gold rush the city entered a period of rapid growth

? In 1822, serious development by non-Spanish speakers began, when William Richardson, an English whaler redeveloped a section of Yerba Buena in what is now Portsmouth Square in Chinatown.

? In 1846, the Mexican-American War broke out.

? On January 30, 1847, a naval force under Commodore John D. Sloat claimed it in the name of the United States and renamed it "San Francisco"

? On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake resulted from the rupture of over 270 miles of the San Andreas Fault, from San Juan Bautista to Eureka, centered immediately offshore of San Francisco.

? The city was quickly rebuilt after the earthquake.

? The phoenix on the city's flag represents San Francisco's "rebirth" from the ashes of the fire that resulted from the quake.

? In the 1950s San Francisco hired Harvard graduate Justin Herman to head the redevelopment agency for the city and county.

? Justin Herman began an aggressive campaign to renew blighted areas of the city.

? His planning led to the creation of Embarcadero Center, the Embarcadero Freeway, Japan town, the Geary Street super blocks, and Yerba Buena Gardens.

Place of Interest

San Francisco's parks, museums, tours, and landmarks are favorites for travelers the world over and offer an array of activities to suit every visitor. But no particular activity or place makes the city one of the most popular destinations in the world. It's San Francisco itself -- its charm, its atmosphere, its perfect blend of big metropolis with small-town hospitality. Some of its main attractions are:

? Alcatraz Island
? Cable Cars
? California Academy of Sciences
? Coit Tower
? Ferry Building Marketplace (and Farmers' Market)
? Fisherman's Wharf
? Ghiradelli Square
? Golden Gate Bridge
? Lombard Street
? Pier 39
? The Cannery
? Yerba Buena Center for the Arts / Yerba Buena Gardens

Museums & Art Galleries

Notable San Francisco Museums include

? The Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA),
? The Palace of the Legion of Honor,
? The M. H. de Young Memorial Museum,
? The Asian Art Museum.

Other museums include

? The International Museum of Women,
? The Museum of the African Diaspora,
? The Contemporary Jewish Museum,
? The Museum of Craft & Folk Art,
? The Mexican Museum.

In terms of performing arts, San Francisco boasts

? The San Francisco Symphony,
? The San Francisco Opera
? The San Francisco Ballet.

San Francisco's Ballet and Opera are some of the oldest continuing performing arts companies in the United States.

Shopping

Like its population, San Francisco's shopping is both worldly and intimate. Every persuasion, style, era, and fetish is represented, not in big, tacky shopping malls, but in hundreds of quaint, dramatically different boutiques scattered throughout the city. San Francisco has many shopping areas, but the following places are where one will find most of the actions:

? Union Square & Environs
? Chinatown
? Union Street
? Chestnut Street
? Fillmore Street
? Haight Street
? SoMa
? Hayes Valley

Food & Drink

San Francisco's restaurants are so renowned that many people visit the city just to eat -- and with good reason. The city's brilliant chefs, combined with California's abundance of organic produce, seafood, free-range meats, and Northern California wine, guarantee some of the world's finest dining. San Francisco also has varied nightlife ranging from bars to lounges to clubs. Major areas of nightlife in San Francisco are North Beach, the Mission District, the Marina, the Castro, and South of Market. San Francisco also boasts of legendary pop music venues such as The Fillmore and The Warfield.

Universities

San Francisco Unified School District and the Archdiocese of San Francisco?s dozens of Catholic elementary and high schools serve the city. Despite its limited geographical space, San Francisco is home to a multitude of Universities and Colleges. Public universities include:

? University of California, San Francisco, primarily a graduate level health-sciences school, located north of Forest Hill

? San Francisco State University located in the southwest corner of the city near Lake Merced

? University of California, Hastings College of the Law located downtown at its Civic Center

? City College of San Francisco, one of the largest community colleges in the country is located in the Ingleside, with several extension campuses.

Private universities:

? The Jesuit-run University of San Francisco, one of the first universities established west of the Mississippi, located in the center of the city

? Golden Gate University, a business and law school located downtown

? California Culinary Academy Le Cordon Bleu program located in the Tenderloin

? Academy of Art University

? San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking

? Alliant International University.

Sports

San Francisco is the home of many major league teams like

? The San Francisco 49ers National Football League team, who play at Monster Park

? The San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball team, who play at SBC Park

? MLB 's Oakland Athletics

? NFL's Oakland Raiders

? The National Basketball Association's Golden State Warriors play across the bay in Oakland

? The regional National Hockey League team, the San Jose Sharks play in San Jose

The Warriors and Sharks were once based just south of San Francisco, at the Cow Palace, located several yards south of San Francisco, in Daly City. The city is also home to some famous golf courses, including the Harding Park Golf Course and the courses of the Olympic Club.

Hotels & Accommodation

Luxury Hotels

San Francisco has elegant and grand hotels in its possession. Westin St. Francis, Westin Saint Francis, Palace Hotel, Argent Hotel, Mark Hopkins Intercontinental, Hilton, Fairmont, W San Francisco, Pan Pacific, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Renaissance Parc 55, Ritz Carlton - are some of these big names.

All famous luxury hotels like Hilton, Hyatt, Palace Hotel, etc. have their branch in Fisherman Wharf.

Budget Hotels

If the visit to San Francisco is in a particularly busy season and booking in prominent hotels are over, here's a list of moderate to very inexpensive alternatives - Alisa Hotel, Edward II Inn & Suites, Hotel Beresford Arms, King George Hotel, The Marina Inn, The San Remo Hotel.

Tours and Sightseeing

San Francisco has different type of organized tours they differ in the contents as well as the transport system. Tours are available by Bus, Boat, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) or on foot. The San Francisco Visitor Information Center, at Powell and Market streets, distributes free route maps. Blue & Gold Fleet and Red & White Fleet are two boat tours available. And Gray Line Bus tour is the San Francisco?s largest bus tour operator. The self-guided Private SUV tour, 49-mile drive is one easy way to grasp the beauty of San Francisco and its extraordinary location. Beginning in the city, it follows a rough circle around the bay and passes virtually all the best-known sights, from Chinatown to the Golden Gate Bridge, Ocean Beach, Seal Rocks, Golden Gate Park, and Twin Peaks.

Transport

San Francisco has the most extensive public transit system on the West Coast and one of the most diverse in the country. Muni is the city-owned public transit system, which operates the Muni Metro light rail system. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is the regional transit system, which connects San Francisco with the East Bay, through an underwater tunnel, and Northern San Mateo County, California communities and San Francisco International Airport on the San Francisco Peninsula. In addition, a frequent commuter rail service, Caltrain, operates between San Francisco, San Jose, California and Gilroy, California.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is located 12.9 km (8 miles) south of the city in San Mateo County on a landfill extension into the San Francisco Bay. It is the only major international hub airport in California other than LAX in Los Angeles.

Name: Mary Scott. Occupation: Traveler. Website: http://www.thereservationcenter.com http://www.looktours.com Biography: Mary Scott is with The Reservation Center - providers of discounted tours to make your vacations and sightseeing trips in various cities across the world as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

Cisco Certification: The "Secret" Key To Getting Your CCNA And CCNP

Whether you're working on your CCNA or CCNP, Cisco certification exams are the most demanding computer certification exams in the IT field. Cisco exams are not a test of memorization, they're a test of your analytical skills. You'll need to look at configurations and console output and analyze them to identify problems and answer detailed questions. To pass these demanding exams, you've got to truly understand how Cisco routers and switches operate - and the key to doing so is right in front of you.

The debug command.

Of course, there is no single "debug" command. Using IOS Help, you can quickly see that there are hundreds of these debugs, and I want to mention immediately that you should never practice these commands on a production router. This is one major reason you need to get some hands-on experience with Cisco products in a home lab or rack rental. No software program or "simulator" is going to give you the debug practice you need.

Now, why am I so insistent that you use debugs? Because that's how you actually see what's going on. It's not enough to type a frame relay LMI command, you have to be able to see the LMIs being exchanged with "debug frame lmi". You don't want to just type a few network numbers in after enabling RIP, you want to see the routes being advertised along with their metrics with "debug ip rip". The list goes on and on.

By using debugs as part of your CCNA and CCNP studies, you're going beyond just memorizing commands and thinking you understand everything that's happening when you enter a command or two. You move to a higher level of understanding how routers, switches, and protocols work -- and that is the true goal of earning your CCNA and CCNP.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com ), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, and The Ultimate CCNA and CCNP Study Packages. For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies

Cisco CCNP Certification: The BGP Weight Attribute

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 with one eye on the CCIE must learn the fundamentals of BGP now in order to build on those fundamentals at a later time.

Path attributes are a unique feature of BGP. With interior gateway protocols such as OSPF and EIGRP, administrative distance is used as a tiebreaker when two routes to the same destination had different next-hop IP addresses but the same prefix length. BGP uses path attributes to make this choice.

The first attribute considered by BGP is weight. Weight is a Cisco-proprietary BGP attribute, so if you're working in a multivendor environment you should work with another attribute to influence path selection.

The weight attribute is significant only to the router on which it is changed. If you set a higher weight for a particular route in order to give it preference (a higher weight is preferred over a lower one), that weight is not advertised to other routers.

BGP uses categories such as "transitive", "non-transitive", "mandatory", and "optional" to classify attributes. Since weight is a locally significant Cisco-proprietary attribute, it does not all into any of these categories.

The weight can be changed on a single route via a route-map, or it can be set for a different weight for all routes received from a given neighbor. To change the weight for all incoming routes, use the "weight" option with the neighbor command after forming the BGP peer relationships.

R2(config)#router bgp 100

R2(config-router)#neighbor 100.1.1.1 remote-as 10

R2(config-router)#neighbor 100.1.1.1 weight 200

Learning all of the BGP attributes, as well as when to use them, can seem an overwhelming task when you first start studying for your BSCI and CCNP exams. Break this task down into small parts, learn one attribute at a time, and soon you'll have the BGP attributes mastered.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com ), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, and The Ultimate CCNA and CCNP Study Packages. For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copie

Cisco CCNA Certification: The (Many) Different Kinds Of Switching

When you're studying for your CCNA exam, whether you're taking the Intro-ICND path or the single-exam path, you're quickly introduced to the fact that switching occurs at Layer 2 of the OSI model. No problem there, but then other terms involving switching are thrown in, and some of them can be more than a little confusing. What is "cell switching"? What is "circuit switching"? Most confusing of all, how can you have "packet switching"? Packets are found at Layer 3, but switching occurs at Layer 2. How can packets be switched?

Relax! As you'll see in this article, the terms aren't that hard to keep straight. Packet switching, for example, describes a protocol that divides a message into packets before they're sent. The packets are then sent individually, and may take different paths to the same destination. Once the packets arrive at the final destination, they are reassembled.

Frame switching follows the same process, but at a different layer of the OSI model. When the protocol runs at Layer 2 rather than Layer 3, the process is referred to as frame switching.

Cell switching also does much the same thing, but as the name implies, the device in use is a cell switch. Cell-switched packets are fixed in length. ATM is a popular cell-switching technology.

The process of circuit switching is just a bit different, in that the process of setting up the circuit itself is part of the process. The channel is set up between two parties, data is transmitted, and the channel is then torn down. The circuit-switching technology most familiar to CCNA candidates is ISDN.

Don't let these terms confuse you. The four different terms are describing much the same process. The main difference is that they are occurring at different levels of the OSI model, and using a different transport method to get the data where it needs to go.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! For my FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your copies!

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Labs: Developing Troubleshooting Skills

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.

That's just as it should be, because CCNAs and CCNPs will find themselves doing a lot of troubleshooting in their careers. Troubleshooting isn't something that can just be learned from a book; you've got to have some experience working with routers and switches. The only real way to learn how to troubleshoot is to develop that ability while working on live equipment.

Of course, your company or client is going to take a very dim view of you developing this skill on their live network. So what can you do?

Assemble a Cisco home lab. When you start working with real Cisco equipment, you're doing yourself a lot of favors. First, you're going to be amazed at how well you retain information that will become second nature to you before exam day. But more importantly, both for the exam room and your career, you're developing invaluable troubleshooting skills.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying knowing the theory of how routers and switches work is unimportant. Quite the opposite - if you don't know networking theory, you're not going to become a CCNA or CCNP. But the ability to apply that knowledge is vital - and the only way you can get that is to work on real Cisco routers and switches. As for these "router simulators" on the market today, ask yourself this simple question: "When I walk into a server room, how many router simulators do I see?"

I often tell students that they'll do their best learning when they screw something up. I've had many a student tell me later that I was right - when they misconfigured frame relay, ISDN, or another CCNA / CCNP technology and then had to fix it themselves, it not only gave them the opportunity to apply their knowledge, but it gave them the confidence to know they could do it.

And you can't put a price on confidence - in the exam room or in the network center!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage , home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant!

Cisco CCNA Certification:Broadcasts, Unicasts, And Multicasts

When you begin your CCNA studies, you get hit with a lot of different networking terms right away that you might not be familiar with. What makes it a little more confusing is that a lot of these terms sound a lot alike. Here, we're going to discuss the differences between broadcasts, multicasts, and unicasts at both the Data Link (Layer 2) and Network (Layer 3) layers of the OSI model.

A broadcast is simply a unit of information that every other device on the segment will receive. A broadcast is indicated by having every bit of the address set to its highest possible value. Since a hexadecimal bit's highest value is "f", a hexadecimal broadcast is ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff (or FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF, as the upper case does not affect hex value). The CCNA exam will demand you be very familiar with hex conversions, so if you're not comfortable with these conversions, get comfortable with them before taking the exam!

At layer 3, a broadcast is indicated by setting every bit in the 32-bit binary string to "1", making the dotted decimal value 255.255.255.255. Every host on a segment will receive such a broadcast. (Keep in mind that switches will forward a broadcast, but routers do not.) In contrast to a broadcast, a unicast is a packet or frame with only one destination.

There is a middle ground between broadcasts and unicasts, and that is a multicast. Where a broadcast will be received by all, and a unicast is received by only one host, a multicast will be received by multiple hosts, all belonging to a "multicast group". As you climb the Cisco certification pyramid, you'll be introduced to creating multicast groups and controlling multicast traffic, but for your CCNA studies you need only keep certain multicast groups in mind.

Class D addresses are reserved for multicasting this range is 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255. The addresses 224.0.0.0 - 224.255.255.255 are reserved for use by network protocols on a local network segment, and like broadcasts, routers will not forward these multicast packets. (Packets with these addresses are sent with a Time To Live of 1.)

As a CCNA candidate, you should know that OSPF routers use the address 224.0.0.5 to send hellos, EIGRP routers use 224.0.0.10 to send updates, and RIP version 2 uses 224.0.0.9 to send routing updates. RIP version 1 and IGRP both broadcast their updates.

Multicasting gets a bit more complicated as you go from your CCNA to the CCNP and CCIE, but by simply understanding what multicasting is, you go a long way toward securing the CCNA.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage , home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant!

Passing Cisco's CCNA and CCNP Exams:Traceroute

In preparation for your CCNA and CCNP exam success, you've got to learn to troubleshoot Cisco routers. And while ping is a great basic IP connectivity tool, it doesn't give you all the information you need to diagnose network connectivity issues.

Let's say you have six routers between CityA and CityB.

You send a ping from A to B, and get this return:

R1#ping 172.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 172.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:

.....

Success rate is 0 percent (0/5)

The five periods indicate that there is no IP connectivity to CityB. Problem is, that's about all ping tells you. You can have 5 or 50 routers between the two points, so how can you tell which downstream router has the problem?

That's where traceroute comes in. Traceroute sends three datagrams with a Time To Live (TTL) of 1. Those datagrams will timeout once they hit the first router in the path, and that router will respond with an ICMP Time Exceeded message.

In response, the sending router sends three more datagrams, but these have a TTL of 2. This means that the next router in line will send back ICMP Time Exceeded messages. This process continues until the final destination (CItyB) is reached the output of the command shows us the path the data took:

Router1#traceroute 271.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Tracing the route to 271.1.1.1

1 20.1.1.1 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec

2 30.1.1.1 20 msec 16 msec 16 msec

3 271.1.1.1 16 msec * 16 msec

How does this help troubleshoot a problem? Let's say that the second router in this path, 30.1.1.1, doesn't know how to get to 271.1.1.1. The output would look like this:

Router1#traceroute 271.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Tracing the route to 271.1.1.1

1 20.1.1.1 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec

2 30.1.1.1 20 msec 16 msec 16 msec

3 * * *

This indicates that the router at 30.1.1.1 doesn't know how to get to the final destination. Now you have a better idea of which router has an issue!

Now here's the bad part: you're going to get 30 lines of three asterisks, and until you abort this traceroute, you're going to just watch those asterisks go across the screen. There's an abort sequence that the router mentions in the first line of the console output, but the router doesn't tell you what it is! So I will - this top-secret sequence is TWICE, one right after the other.

That keystroke takes a little getting used to, but a CCNA or CCNP can do it! Add this command to your Cisco skill set, and it will serve you well both on the CCNA and CCNP exams and your real-world networks. And you'll impress your friends by knowing how to stop a traceroute!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of FREE CCNA & CCNP tutorials. For a FREE copy of my latest e-books, "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP", request one at chris@thebryantadvantage.com!

Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: Home Lab Assembly Case Study

Part of your CCNA / CCNP education is deciding what network topology to use when you're putting together your home lab. Some of you are starting with one or two routers or switches, while others are starting with more. A customer recently sent me a list of his Cisco routers and switches that he has available for a home lab and asked for my help in coming up with the best way to use them.

There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to this question; again, part of the learning process is configuring and reconfiguring the physical topology of your lab. Let's look at the routers and switches he has available, including the interfaces on each, and come up with one possible CCNA / CCNP home lab setup.

The equipment list:

Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial port and 2 ethernet ports.

One 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, each with two ports, and two AUI ports.

Three 2503s, my personal favorite for home labs! These have 1 AUI port, 2 serial interfaces, and one BRI interface apiece.

One 2524 router. This has one serial port, 1 ethernet port, and one BRI interface.

One 4500 router. This has eight BRI ports, 2 ethernet ports, and more importantly, four serial ports.

He also has a 5200 access server, an ISDN simulator, one 2924 switch, and one 1924 switch.

Now, if you don't have this much equipment to work with, don't panic! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates don't; this is more of an exercise in looking at what you do have and using it to the utmost.

As I've mentioned in many of my CCNA / CCNP home lab articles, an access server is a great thing to have. All he needs is an octal cable to connect his AS to the other devices we choose to use, and he's all set. (If you need an access server sample configuration, there is one on my website in the Home Lab section.)

A frame relay switch is also great to have, and the 4500 will make a great FR switch. Having a frame relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP home lab is a great way to get experience configuring and troubleshooting frame relay, an essential skill for CCNA success.

I would put both of the 3620s on the frame relay cloud via the Serial interface, as well as two of the 2503s. That gives you four routers that will be using frame relay to communicate, and that's the most we can have since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 will need to be configured as a frame relay switch and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you need a frame relay switch configuration, the one I use in my pods is on the website in the same place as the access server configuration.)

The two 2503s that are on the frame relay cloud should also be connected via their BRI interfaces. The home lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is necessary to allow routers to communicate via their BRI interfaces. Just get a couple of straight-through cables to connect those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that segment is ready to go. (Remember that you can't connect Cisco routers directly via their BRI interfaces.)

All of the routers in this lab have at least one ethernet or AUI port, so we can connect them all to either one of the switches. The switches should be connected via at least two crossover cables to allow practice with trunking, root bridge election, and VLANs. Having two switches really does add quite a bit to a CCNA / CCNP home lab's capabilities. You can experiment with different subnets and vlans with as well. Don't be afraid to dive in - that's what a home lab is all about!

So now we've got four routers connected via frame relay, two via ISDN, and the others via ethernet segments. Two of the routers that are not using their serial interfaces should be connected directly via their serial ports. For this, you'll just need another DTE/DCE cable. Knowing how to bring up the line between two directly connected serial ports is an important CCNA skill, and so is troubleshooting it. You should be able to bring such a connection up with your eyes closed, and once you work with your own CCNA / CCNP home lab, you'll be able to!

Also, don't forget to add a loopback interface to each one of your routers. I like to use 1.1.1.1 for R1, 2.2.2.2 for R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another great way to get practice with RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and static routing.

We've taken a pile of routers and switches and turned them into a fantastic CCNA / CCNP home lab. Whether you're working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own home lab topology is a great learning experience and the beginning of developing your analytical and troubleshooting skills.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage , home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant!

Cisco CCNP Certification:Using The BGP Command "Update-Source"

When you start preparing for your CCNP exam, particularly the BSCI exam, you're introduced to Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) configurations. BGP is unlike any protocol you learned during your CCNA studies, and even the similarities are a little bit different!

BGP forms neighbor relationships, much like EIGRP and OSPF do. The interesting thing with BGP is that potential neighbors, or "peers", do not need to be directly connected and can use their loopback interfaces to form the peer relationships.

It may well be to your advantage to use loopbacks to form peer relationships rather than the actual interface facing the potential neighbor. This can be done because BGP uses static neighbor statements rather than any kind of dynamic neighbor discovery process.

Consider a router that has two paths to a BGP speaker. The interfaces are numbered like this:

Router1: Serial0, 172.1.1.1 /24, Serial2, 179.1.1.1 /24, loopback0, 1.1.1.1 /32.

Router2: Serial0, 172.1.1.2/24, Serial2 179.1.1.2/24, loopback0, 2.2.2.2 /32.

We could configure Router1 like this:

router bgp 200

neighbor 172.1.1.2 remote-as 200

In this case, BGP would automatically use 172.1.1.1 as the source for the TCP connection that has to be set up with the neighbor before updates can be exchanged; this address is known as the best local address. However, if the remote peer's serial0 interface is shut down or goes down for another reason, the peer relationship would be lost even though Router2 is still available.

Instead of using one of the physical interfaces, we can use the loopbacks on each router to establish the TCP-based peer connection. The configurations would look like this:

Router1:

router bgp 200

neighbor 2.2.2.2 remote-as 200

neighbor 2.2.2.2 update-source loopback0

Router2:

router bgp 200

neighbor 1.1.1.1 remote-as 200

neighbor 1.1.1.1 update-source loopback0

In this case, losing one of the physical connections does not necessarily mean the BGP peering is lost; as long as the routers have a valid path to each other's loopback addresses, the BGP peer relationship will stay in place. And better yet, we avoid the dreaded "single point of failure"!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage , home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials! Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant!

Passing Cisco's CCNA and CCNP Exams: The VLAN.DAT File

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:

SW1#write erase

Erasing the nvram filesystem will remove all configuration files! Continue? [confirm]

[OK]

Erase of nvram: complete

00:06:00: %SYS-7-NV_BLOCK_INIT: Initalized the geometry of nvram

SW1#reload

System configuration has been modified. Save? [yes/no]: n

Proceed with reload? [confirm]

The router reloads, and after exiting setup mode, we run show vlan brief again. And even though the startup configuration was erased, the vlans are still there!

Switch#show vlan br

10 VLAN0010 active

20 VLAN0020 active

30 VLAN0030 active

The reason is that this vlan and VTP information is actually kept in the VLAN.DAT file in Flash memory, and the contents of Flash are kept on a reload. The file has to be deleted manually.

There's a little trick to deleting this file. The switch will prompt you twice to ask if you really want to get rid of this file. Don't type "y" or "yes"; just accept the defaults by hitting the return key. If you type "y", the router attempts to delete a file named "y", as shown here:

Switch#delete vlan.dat

Delete filename [vlan.dat]? y

Delete flash:y? [confirm]

%Error deleting flash:y (No such file or directory)

Switch#delete vlan.dat

Delete filename [vlan.dat]?

Delete flash:vlan.dat? [confirm]

Switch#

The best way to prepare for CCNA and CCNP exam success is by working on real Cisco equipment, and by performing lab tasks over and over. Repetition is the mother of skill, and by truly erasing your VLAN and VTP information by deleting the vlan.dat file from Flash, you'll be building your Cisco skills to the point where your CCNA and CCNP exam success is a certainty.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of FREE CCNA & CCNP tutorials. For a FREE copy of my latest e-books, "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP", request one at chris@thebryantadvantage.com!

The Best Mexican Food Across The Country, Chosen By Mexican Restaurant Reviews From Boston To San Francisco

?You can?t get good Mexican food anywhere north of Texas.?

So averred my good buddy Tony when I suggested a Mexican meal on his recent visit. Now, I?m a good deal north of Texas, being in the Heart of Massachusetts, but that?s the kind of challenge that I can?t pass up. Three hours later, he was rubbing his stuffed belly as we left Tortilla Sam?s, voted Worchester?s Best Mexican Restaurant for the third year in a row. Being voted Best Mexican Restaurant in a little northeastern city may not seem like much ? till you stand in front of the window at Tortilla Sam?s and watch the tortillas ? freshly mixed and cut by hand ? roll through the steam press and catch a whiff of the mole. Then you realize that this is real Mexican food. And if the Mexican food in Worcester is good enough to impress Texas-born-and-raised Tony, we?ve got to figure that there are great Mexican restaurants in other unexpected places, right?

I went looking for the most out-of-the-way and unexpected places to find good Mexican food. My criteria and method were simple ? and hardly foolproof. In order to make the list, the restaurant must serve primarily Mexican food, and must have been voted a Best Mexican Restaurant in a local newspaper poll. There must be some mention in the review of authenticity. If there was a comment from someone who really KNOWS Mexican food, that gets bonus points. The list is a long way from exhaustive, but if you?re looking for good Mexican food a long way from home, you just might get your craving satisfied at one of these unlikely places to find authentic Mexican food.

Charlotte, N.C.

Me, I?d go looking for a good mess of pinto beans and Southern barbecue in beautiful Charlotte, but if I did have a craving for Mexican food, I?d head on over to Taqueria Las Delicias. It only took the #8 spot on AOL?s CityGuide City?s Best awards, but any place that serves its tamales wrapped in corn husk AND offers lesser known Mexican foods like pupusas and taquitos is going to get a visit from me when I hit Charlotte.

Boston, MA

The home of baked beans and clam chowder (white, thank you very much) is also the home to Andale!, a tiny restaurant that seats 8 at the counter. Forget the ground, slightly spiced meat mush that passes for Mexican food in most of Massachusetts, and build yourself a quesadilla from chunks of roast chicken and spiced vegetables. It?s fast Mexican food at its best, even if it is in Boston.

Philadelphia, PA

Next time I?m in Philly, I?m skipping the cheese steak and heading out for Mexican food. Voted Best Mexican food in the Philly area, Coyote Crossing in Conshohocken has all the standard gringo-Mex foods on the menu, but it also has? caramel crepes and homemade sangria.

Seattle, WA

Can I get a caf? latte to go with the chilies relleno? El Puerco Lloron in Seattle has been serving up its handmade tortillas and fresh salsa for over two decades and they?re still making the Best Of lists. If there is real Mexican food in the gateway to Alaska, chances are that you?ll find it here.

Baltimore, MD

The folks at the Baltimore Citypaper appreciate the irony of naming a Best Mexican Restaurant in Baltimore. To paraphrase, it?s like naming the best air conditioner salesman in Antarctica. Still, they dub the Mexican food at Los Amigos Mexican restaurant ?good? and the wait staff friendly. Not quite a ringing endorsement, but if I get sick of crab cakes in Baltimore, I know where I?ll go.

Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource web site at: http://www.majon.com.

To learn more about subjects like mexican food please visit the web site at: http://www.majon.com/directory/Food/

For more information and informative related articles and links about this subject matter and content, please visit Majon's Food directory: http://www.majon.com/directory/Food.

The best Mexican food across the country, chosen by Mexican restaurant reviews from Boston to San Francisco

"You can't get good Mexican food anywhere north of Texas."

So averred my good buddy Tony when I suggested a Mexican meal on his recent visit. Now, I'm a good deal north of Texas, being in the Heart of Massachusetts, but that's the kind of challenge that I can't pass up. Three hours later, he was rubbing his stuffed belly as we left Tortilla Sam's, voted Worchester's Best Mexican Restaurant for the third year in a row. Being voted Best Mexican Restaurant in a little northeastern city may not seem like much - till you stand in front of the window at Tortilla Sam's and watch the tortillas - freshly mixed and cut by hand - roll through the steam press and catch a whiff of the mole. Then you realize that this is real Mexican food. And if the Mexican food in Worcester is good enough to impress Texas-born-and-raised Tony, we've got to figure that there are great Mexican restaurants in other unexpected places, right?

I went looking for the most out-of-the-way and unexpected places to find good Mexican food. My criteria and method were simple - and hardly foolproof. In order to make the list, the restaurant must serve primarily Mexican food, and must have been voted a Best Mexican Restaurant in a local newspaper poll. There must be some mention in the review of authenticity. If there was a comment from someone who really KNOWS Mexican food, that gets bonus points. The list is a long way from exhaustive, but if you're looking for good Mexican food a long way from home, you just might get your craving satisfied at one of these unlikely places to find authentic Mexican food.

Charlotte, N.C.
Me, I'd go looking for a good mess of pinto beans and Southern barbecue in beautiful Charlotte, but if I did have a craving for Mexican food, I'd head on over to Taqueria Las Delicias. It only took the #8 spot on AOL's CityGuide City's Best awards, but any place that serves its tamales wrapped in corn husk AND offers lesser known Mexican foods like pupusas and taquitos is going to get a visit from me when I hit Charlotte.

Boston, MA
The home of baked beans and clam chowder (white, thank you very much) is also the home to Andale!, a tiny restaurant that seats 8 at the counter. Forget the ground, slightly spiced meat mush that passes for Mexican food in most of Massachusetts, and build yourself a quesadilla from chunks of roast chicken and spiced vegetables. It's fast Mexican food at its best, even if it is in Boston.
Philadelphia, PA
Next time I'm in Philly, I'm skipping the cheese steak and heading out for Mexican food. Voted Best Mexican food in the Philly area, Coyote Crossing in Conshohocken has all the standard gringo-Mex foods on the menu, but it also has... caramel crepes and homemade sangria.

Seattle, WA
Can I get a caf? latte to go with the chilies relleno? El Puerco Lloron in Seattle has been serving up its handmade tortillas and fresh salsa for over two decades and they're still making the Best Of lists. If there is real Mexican food in the gateway to Alaska, chances are that you'll find it here.

Baltimore, MD
The folks at the Baltimore Citypaper appreciate the irony of naming a Best Mexican Restaurant in Baltimore. To paraphrase, it's like naming the best air conditioner salesman in Antarctica. Still, they dub the Mexican food at Los Amigos Mexican restaurant 'good' and the wait staff friendly. Not quite a ringing endorsement, but if I get sick of crab cakes in Baltimore, I know where I'll go.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Visit this Food Website and Majon's Food directory.

San Francisco 49ers Bryant Young practicing, probable to play!

San Francisco 49ers Bryant Young is practicing & will probably play! By Alfred Johnson

NFL player Bryant Young returned to practice with the San Francisco 49ers;

Young has been revitalized this season. He returned to practice on a limited basis in preparation for the game at Jacksonville.

Bryant Young hopes to be back in the lineup this weekend just four weeks after spraining a ligament in his right knee. Young is determined to get back in action before the season it's over. NFL player Bryant Young is listed as probable on the team's injury report.

Bryant Young who was tied for the NFC sacks lead when he got hurt this season. According to Young the 49ers (2-11) are doomed to another miserable season, "We still have three games left, and there's a lot of areas we can improve on." said NFL player Young".

Alfred Johnson provides all sports fans with the most recent up to date news information in the sports world. Mr. Johnson has been an exceptional article writer for http://www.bookemdirect.com>www.bookemdirect.com

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

Alfred Johnson provides all sports fans with the most recent up to date news information in the sports world. Mr. Johnson has been an exceptional article writer for http://www.bookemdirect.com>www.bookemdirect.com

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.

Cisco Certification: Selecting Cisco Products

Cisco Certification: Selecting Cisco Products

by: www.SemSim.com

You must understand the business requirements of the network before buying a product. Based on the requirements, you can select the appropriate Cisco products.

Today, WAN technologies most often take advantage of high-speed connections, such as T-1 and E-1. Additional WAN technologies exist, including Frame Relay, ISDN, and dial-up asynchronous connections. ISDN or dial-up is used if infrequent connection is made. If a connection is used for more than two to four hours, you should use a Frame Relay or a leased line.Based on the different services available through the service provider, you can select Cisco products that can fulfill your office requirements.

Selecting Hubs

Cisco has various hub products. You can select hubs according to the type of connection required. Higher-end hubs offer network management port and console connections, middle-end hubs offer both 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps auto-sensing connections, and the lower-end hubs offer only 10 Mbps connections. Examples of fast hub series of Cisco are Cisco Fh100, Cisco Fh200, Cisco Fh300, and Cisco Fh400. Examples of micro hub series are Cisco MH1500 and Cisco MH1528.

Selecting Routers

Routers are the most popular Cisco products. To select a router, you must first know the port density and the interface speed required based on the LAN or WAN technologies used. In addition, you must identify the capacity and performance requirements of your business. The cost of the router varies according to the features you select.

Selecting Switches

A switch can be used instead of a hub in newer networks. Most switches are configured to limit collision domains, which often provides a limited security feature because users will not be able to sniff traffic as easily as in a standard hub-based network. This feature can cause confusion when using a network sniffer to analyze traffic. It is possible, however, to analyze packets on a switched network by enabling mirroring on the switch, or by using a dedicated port that allows authorized users to view all network traffic. It is important to consider whether you need 10, 100, or 1000 Mbps for each desktop or to connect between switches. To select a switch, you must consider various issues, such as business requirements, requirements for inter-switch links and trunking, port density, and type of user interface.

Product Selection Criteria

When selecting the right products for any network environment, keep the following considerations in mind:

Will the device be used as a core device, distribution device, or access device?

Does the device provide the functions that your business requires?

Does the device have adequate number of ports and the right mix of interfaces as required by your business?

Do you have to pay a lot for installing the device or can it be easily installed?

Can the device be centrally managed from an SNMP Management station or do you have to physically access the device to manage it?

Is the migration path easy?

How well does the device handle redundancy requirements?

Do you have to change your existing infrastructure, such as cabling or existing devices, to install the new device?

You may use the Cisco website http://www.cisco.com to gather more information to select products based on your requirements.

SemSim.com provides training resources for Cisco certification exams: CCIE, CCNP, CCNA, CCDP, CCDA. It offers FREE learning resources to students such as study guides and router simulation labs. For more information visit: http://www.SemSim.com : Making Cisco cetification easy! support@semsim.com

What To Expect At The Cisco Testing Center

What To Expect At The Cisco Testing Center

 by: www.SemSim.com

Candidates can register for the CCNA exam (640-801 exam or 640-821 INTRO or 640-811 ICND ) at Pearson VUE or Prometric testing centers.

In order to do their best, candidates should know what to expect at the testing center for the Cisco CCNA certification exam. Since testing center guidelines may vary from one center to another, we recommend that the candidates call the local testing center to check about the guidelines. Here are some points providing information on what you can expect at the exam center:

Re-certification: If you have taken a Cisco CCNA certification exam before, find out your Cisco ID and specify it before you start with your registration. This will ensure that you get proper credit for the exam and will help avoid any duplicate records.

Reach before time: We strongly suggest reaching the test center before time. Failure to do so may result in cancellation of the appointment.

Sign the logbook: You may be asked to sign-in the logbook upon arrival as well as upon departure. Do check on this.

You must carry your identification: You will be required to show a valid identification (ID), perhaps including a recent, recognizable photograph. If the supervisor questions your ID, you may be required to show another ID. You should check the testing center guidelines on identification and take all supplemental identification documents with you.

Generally Accepted Identification:

Passport

Photobearing driver's license with signature

National/Military identification card

The following MAY not be accepted as valid ID:

Credit Cards (Please check with test center)

Private identification cards

Any expired ID

Read the testing center regulation form carefully: You will be provided with a Testing Center Regulation form by the supervisor. Read the regulations carefully and comply with them during the test.

Sign the confidentiality statement: The supervisor is responsible for asking you to sign the confidentially statement at the test center indicating that you will not reveal exam questions to other students after the test.

Supervisor sets up your test computer: The supervisor will ensure that the Cisco certification test displays on screen before handing over the machine to you.

Ask for sheets for scratch work: Scratch papers will be provided to you at the testing center. These are sometimes only available on request. Ask for some blank scratch sheets to do calculations and rough work. Jot down important points and tables (such as powers of 2, binary representation tables etc) before exam starts. This can be a big time saver. Do not take the scratch paper out of the testing room on completion of exam.

Items not allowed in the testing room: The candidate is not allowed to bring in the testing room personal items such as:

Books, revision sheets or notes: The exam is closed book

Cellular phones & alarms

Food or drinks may not be allowed

Calculators

Your session may be audio and video taped: Do not attempt to talk or communicate in any form to anybody in the testing room. Your session may be taped and can lead to immediate disqualification .

On exam completion: You will be explained by the supervisor what to do when you complete the exam. If not, or if you are unclear about what you should do, ask it yourself before beginning the exam.

Do not take with you the the testing material from the testing room: Return all of your testing materials, including the scrap paper, on the completion of your exam to the supervisor.

Certified copy of the exam result: Your supervisor will give you a certified copy of the exam report on completion of the test. This will list your score indicating strengths and weaknesses in the various test areas. Ask the supervisor for the certified copy, if you do not get it.

SemSim.com provides training resources for Cisco certification exams: CCIE, CCNP, CCNA, CCDP, CCDA. It offers FREE learning resources to students such as study guides and router simulation labs. For more information visit: http://www.SemSim.com : Making Cisco cetification easy! support@semsim.com

Cisco CCNA Certification: How And Why Switches Trunk

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. There are two major trunking protocols that we need to know the details of for exam success and real-world success, but before we get to the protocols, let's discuss the cables we need.

Connecting two Cisco switches requires a crossover cable. As you know, there are eight wires inside an ethernet cable. In a crossover cable, four of the cables "cross over" from one pin to another. For many newer Cisco switches, all you need to do to create a trunk is connect the switches with a crossover cable. For instance, 2950 switches dynamically trunk once you connect them with the right cable. If you use the wrong cable, you'll be there a while!

There are two different trunking protocols in use on today's Cisco switches, ISL and IEEE 802.1Q, generally referred to as "dot1q". There are three main differences between the two. First, ISL is a Cisco-proprietary trunking protocol, where dot1q is the industry standard. (Those of you new to Cisco testing should get used to the phrases "Cisco-proprietary" and "industry standard".) If you're working in a multivendor environment, ISL may not be a good choice. And even though ISL is Cisco's own trunking protocol, some Cisco switches run only dot1q.

ISL also encapsulates the entire frame, increasing the network overhead. Dot1q only places a header on the frame, and in some circumstances, doesn't even do that. There is much less overhead with dot1q as compared to ISL. That leads to the third major difference, the way the protocols work with the native vlan.

The native vlan is simply the default vlan that switch ports are placed into if they are not expressly placed into another vlan. On Cisco switches, the native vlan is vlan 1. (This can be changed.) If dot1q is running, frames that are going to be sent across the trunk line don't even have a header placed on them; the remote switch will assume that any frame that has no header is destined for the native vlan.

The problem with ISL is that is doesn't understand what a native vlan is. Every single frame will be encapsulated, regardless of the vlan it's destined for.

Switching theory is a big part of your CCNA studies, and it can seem overwhelming at first. Just break your studies down into smaller, more manageable parts, and soon you'll see the magic letters "CCNA" behind your name!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com ), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, and The Ultimate CCNA and CCNP Study Packages. For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "CCNP" ebook, visit the website and download your

Cisco Certification: Configuring CHAP on ISDN

Introduction To ISDN, Part IV: Configuring PPP CHAP Authentication

In part III of this ISDN tutorial, we learned that PPP has two main methods of authentication that Cisco certification candidates need to know how to configure: PAP and CHAP.

PAP has very few advantages over CHAP. PAP passwords are carried over the line in clear text, which in today?s world is a very bad idea. PAP configuration also requires additional configuration with the ?ppp pap sent-username? command, so anyone who can see your running configuration can also see the PAP password.

The only advantage PAP has over CHAP is a slim one. With PAP, a different password can be used by the each of the routers involved in the authentication. CHAP requires that the password be the same. Why? We?ll see as we examine CHAP authentication.

The First Step to Configuring CHAP

CHAP requires you to configure a username / password combination for any remote device that will be involved in authentication. (We?re assuming that the routers have already been configured with their names via the global hostname command.) Both routers will use the password CISCO.

R1:

username R3 password CISCO

int bri0
    encapsulation ppp
    ppp authentication chap

R3:

username R1 password CISCO

int bri0
     encapsulation ppp
     ppp authentication chap

Why CHAP Authentication Requires The Same Password On Both Routers

Remember how PAP sends the password over the line in clear-text? CHAP does not actually send the password over the line at all. Instead, CHAP runs a hash algorithm using the password and a random number. It is the result of this hash that is passed over the link. The remote router receives the hash result, and runs the exact same algorithm. If the result is the same, the authentication attempt will be successful. If the result is different, the authentication will fail. For this reason, the passwords must be the same.

The random number is just that ? random. It cannot be configured at the command-line interface.

Note that there is no ?sent-password? command, as we had to use with PAP.

Debug The Connection If Authentication Fails

Since two passwords are involved, the chances of one of the passwords being mistyped doubles. If you configure CHAP and the link dials but drops almost immediately, there?s an authentication problem. Run debug ppp negotiation and attempt to dial the line again. The output of this particular debug will show you where the problem is.

Here, we?ll run debug ppp negotiation to see what a successful CHAP authentication looks like:

Examining the CHAP authentication process with ?debug ppp negotiation?.

R3#debug ppp negotiation
PPP protocol negotiation debugging is on
R3#ping 172.12.21.1

BR0:1 PPP: Phase is AUTHENTICATING, by both

BR0:1 CHAP: O CHALLENGE id 1 len 23 from "R3"

BR0:1 CHAP: I CHALLENGE id 1 len 23 from "R1"

BR0:1 CHAP: O RESPONSE id 1 len 23 from "R3"

BR0:1 CHAP: I SUCCESS id 1 len 4

BR0:1 CHAP: I RESPONSE id 1 len 23 from "R1"

BR0:1 CHAP: O SUCCESS id 1 len 4

The output of debug ppp negotiation with CHAP is different that the output of the same command when PAP is run. Remember that CHAP stands for Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol, and by running this vital debug, you can see the challenges being made, responded to, and the success or failure of the negotiation.

Another important ISDN command, show dialer, tells us that the ISDN link is up, what the source and destination packet was that brought it up (?interesting traffic?), the time until disconnect, and what phone number it?s connected to.

It?s important to remember that while by default, any traffic can cross the link once it?s up, only interesting traffic resets the idle-timer.

In the next section of my ISDN tutorial, we?ll look at some common ISDN configuration problems, how to debug them, and how to solve them.

To your success,

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage. The Bryant Advantage's website offers FREE ebooks and tutorials for the CCNA and CCNP exams, FREE subscriptions to "Cisco Certification Central", and sells the best CCNA and CCNP prep courses and books on the market today. Visit his site at www.thebryantadvantage.com today!

chris@thebryantadvantage.com

Cisco Certification: Debug and Show commands for ISDN

The major reason I recommend getting your hands on real Cisco equipment rather than a simulator is that real Cisco routers give you the chance to practice and learn show and debug commands.

The knowledge you acquire from debugs is invaluable. Frankly, it’s this knowledge that puts you above the “average” CCNA who doesn’t have that hands-on experience. Watching debugs in action also gives you a head start on the CCNP. Since 90 – 95% of CCNAs go on to pursue the CCNP, it’s a great idea to get started with debugs now.

Don’t make the mistake of waiting until you’re studying for your CCNP and CCIE to start learning debugs and shows. The work you do for the CCNA is the foundation for everything you’ll do in the future.

Never, ever, ever practice debugs on a production network. There are debugs that will give you so much information that the router actually becomes overloaded and then locks up. Never practice debugs on a production network.

It’s important to know the proper show and debug commands for ISDN for several reasons. First, by watching ISDN in operation, you can see its processes and better understand what’s going on. Secondly, it’s difficult if not impossible to properly troubleshoot ISDN without knowing the proper show and debug commands. (It’s easy to overlook an ISDN authentication error just by looking at the configuration, but running debug ppp negotiation will quickly show you where the problem lies.)

Let’s take a look at the ISDN show and debug commands that every CCNA and CCNP should know.

Show ISDN Status

If you only know one ISDN show command, it’s got to be this one. Always use this command after configuring your ISDN switch type and any necessary SPIDs. The command will show you the switch type (and will also show you if you did not configure a switch type), and whether the SPIDs you entered are valid:

R1#show isdn status
Global ISDN Switchtype = basic-ni   
ISDN BRI0 interface
        dsl 0, interface ISDN Switchtype = basic-ni
    Layer 1 Status:
        ACTIVE
    Layer 2 Status:
        TEI = 91, Ces = 1, SAPI = 0, State = MULTIPLE_FRAME_ESTABLISHED
        TEI = 92, Ces = 2, SAPI = 0, State = MULTIPLE_FRAME_ESTABLISHED
    Spid Status:
        TEI 91, ces = 1, state = 5(init)
            spid1 configured, no LDN, spid1 sent, spid1 valid  
            Endpoint ID Info: epsf = 0, usid = 1, tid = 1
        TEI 92, ces = 2, state = 5(init)
            spid2 configured, no LDN, spid2 sent, spid2 valid  
            Endpoint ID Info: epsf = 0, usid = 3, tid = 1
    Layer 3 Status:
        0 Active Layer 3 Call(s)
    Activated dsl 0 CCBs = 0
    The Free Channel Mask:  0x80000003

Once in a while, you’ll get this output from show isdn status:

R2#show isdn status
The current ISDN Switchtype = basic-ni1
ISDN BRI0 interface
    Layer 1 Status:
        ACTIVE
    Layer 2 Status:
        Layer 2 NOT Activated
    Spid Status:
        TEI Not Assigned, ces = 1, state = 3(await establishment)
            spid1 configured, no LDN, spid1 NOT sent, spid1 NOT valid
        TEI Not Assigned, ces = 2, state = 1(terminal down)
            spid2 configured, no LDN, spid2 NOT sent, spid2 NOT valid

Check your running configuration, and if the SPIDs look good, simply close the BRI interface and open it again. Then run show ISDN status again. If you then see “spids are valid”, you’re ready to proceed. If you still see a message that the spids are invalid, you’ve most likely mistyped the SPID.

Show Access-List

What’s this command got to do with ISDN? Everything.

Remember how the ISDN link comes up in the first place? Interesting traffic. By default, there is no interesting traffic. You define interesting traffic with the dialer-list and dialer-group commands, AND the access-list command. If you have a problem with your link never coming up or with it coming up and staying up, use this command to see what traffic has been defined as interesting.

Show Dialer

Another helpful command to determine why an ISDN link is coming up and staying up. This command shows you how many successful calls and failed calls have taken place, what the current idle-timer value is (by default, it’s 120 seconds), and most importantly, what the source and destination was for the current interesting traffic:

R1#show dialer
BRI0 - dialer type = ISDN
Dial String      Successes   Failures    Last called   Last status
8358662                  1                 0           00:00:59       successful
0 incoming call(s) have been screened.
0 incoming call(s) rejected for callback.

BRI0:1 - dialer type = ISDN
Idle timer (120 secs), Fast idle timer (20 secs)
Wait for carrier (30 secs), Re-enable (15 secs)
Dialer state is data link layer up
Dial reason: ip (s=172.12.21.1, d=172.12.21.2)  
Time until disconnect 62 secs  

Connected to 8358662 (R2)

Here, you can see that the idle-timer value is at its default, that there are 62 seconds left until the link comes down (unless interesting traffic resets the timer), and that the source of the interesting traffic was 172.12.21.1 and the destination is 172.12.21.2. If that destination is the multicast address of a routing protocol – say, 224.0.0.5 for OSPF – you know what traffic is keeping the line up.

Show ISDN History

Want to see what calls have been made in the last 15 minutes? Just run this command. It’s helpful if you’re walking in to an ISDN troubleshooting situation and want to see what calls have been made.

R1#show isdn history-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISDN CALL HISTORY--------------------------------------------------------------------------------History table has a maximum of 100 entries.History table data is retained for a maximum of 15 Minutes.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Call Calling Called Remote Seconds Seconds Seconds ChargesType Number .Number Name Used Left Idle Units/Currency-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Out 8358662 R2 121 0Out 8358662 R2 121 0-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Debug PPP Negotiation

Not only do you need to know this command for your CCNA and CCNP exams, you MUST know it to be an effective ISDN troubleshooter.

When PPP authentication is first configured, it’s simple to mistype a password, or forget to configure a “username / password” combination. Instead of continually reading your running configuration to see what the problem is, run debug ppp negotiation and send a ping to bring the line up. You’ll quickly see where the problem is.

R2#debug ppp negotiation
PPP protocol negotiation debugging is on
R2#ping 172.12.21.1

BR0:1 PPP: Phase is AUTHENTICATING, by both

BR0:1 CHAP: O CHALLENGE id 1 len 23 from "R2"

BR0:1 CHAP: I CHALLENGE id 1 len 23 from "R1"

BR0:1 CHAP: O RESPONSE id 1 len 23 from "R2"

BR0:1 CHAP: I SUCCESS id 1 len 4

BR0:1 CHAP: I RESPONSE id 1 len 23 from "R1"

BR0:1 CHAP: O SUCCESS id 1 len 4

By mastering these simple ISDN show and debug commands, you increase your chances of passing the CCNA and CCNP exams greatly, and vastly improve your on-the-job skills.

I recommend you visit www.cisco.com/univercd for more show and debug commands. Learning to negotiate this valuable online resource will truly help you become more valuable on the job. Every Cisco router and switch command, along with default and usage guidelines, can be found on this site. I’ll have an article posted soon to help you learn your way around the site; in the meantime, I urge you to begin adding this website to your troubleshooting toolkit.

Chris Bryant
CCIE #12933

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage. The Bryant Advantage's website offers FREE ebooks and tutorials for the CCNA and CCNP exams, FREE subscriptions to "Cisco Certification Central", and sells the best CCNA and CCNP prep courses and books on the market today. Visit his site at www.thebryantadvantage.com today!

chris@thebryantadvantage.com

Cisco Certification: Becoming A Truly Valuable CCNA

I've been active in the Cisco Certification track for four years, working my way from the CCNA to the coveted Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert title, and during that time I've conducted job interviews and casual conversations with hundreds of CCNAs and CCNA candidates.

The CCNA is an exciting beginning to your Cisco career, but just having the certification simply isn't enough. A recruiter or interviewer isn't going to be impressed just with the cert; you've got to have some real-world knowledge to back it up.

I've been down that road myself, and sat on both sides of the CCNA job interview table. With that in mind, I'd like to offer to you some tips on becoming a truly valuable and employable CCNA.

Get some hands-on experience. I know the trap well; you can't get experience until you get a CCNA, and you can't get a CCNA without real experience. Well, actually, you can, but do you want to?

Working on simulators is fine to a certain extent, but don't make the classic mistake of depending on them. I've seen plenty of CCNAs who were put in front of a set of routers and really didn't know what to do or how to put together a simple configuration, and had NO idea how to begin troubleshooting. Simulators fail to help you develop the analytical and logical skills that you must have to be an effective troubleshooter.

There are CCNA classes that offer you the chance to work with industry experts on real Cisco equipment. Beyond that, you can put together your own CCNA rack for less than $500 by buying used routers. Some people think that's a lot of money, but this is the foundation of your career. Treat it that way. The work you do now is the most important work you'll ever do. Do it on real Cisco equipment. The skills I learned as a CCNA helped me all the way up to the CCIE.

Besides, after you get your CCNA (and after that, hopefully you'll choose to pursue the CCNP), you can always get some of your money back by selling the equipment. The hands-on experience you gain this way is invaluable.

(Ill also soon be offering remote equipment access for CCNAs and CCNPs. Watch for it!)

Know binary math. Do NOT go the easy route of memorizing a subnet mask chart for the CCNA exam. I know some people brag about being able to pass the CCNA exam without really understanding binary math. I've seen those people on the other side of the interview table, and they're not laughing when I ask them to do a subnetting question. They're not laughing when they can't explain or create a VLSM scheme. That chart does nothing to help you understand what's going on.

If you can add and know the difference between a one and a zero, you can do binary math. Don't let the name intimidate you. Become a REAL CCNA -- learn binary math !

Run "show" and "debug" commands. No commands help you truly understand how things work in a Cisco network than show and debug commands. As you progress through the Cisco certification ranks, you'll be glad you started using these at the CCNA level.

Do you need to know these commands for the exam? Probably not. Do you need them to be successul in the real world? Absolutely.

The Cisco certification track has been great to me, and it can boost your career as well, whether you stop at the CCNA, CCNP, or go all the way to the CCIE. It's the skills you develop today that will truly make you a networking engineer. Don't take shortcuts or get the attitude of "just passing the exam".

It's what you achieve after the exam that counts, and it's the work you put in before passing the exam that makes those achievements possible.

Good luck !

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage. The Bryant Advantage's website offers FREE ebooks and tutorials for the CCNA and CCNP exams, FREE subscriptions to "Cisco Certification Central", and sells the best CCNA and CCNP prep courses and books on the market today. Visit his site at www.thebryantadvantage.com today!

chris@thebryantadvantage.com