Hi Muhammad,
I’m going to make sure everything is up-to-date for the new CCNA/CCNP exams. 90% of the content is probably the same though.
For now, I would recommend to pass the current exams if you are already studying. If you are starting from scratch today then I would look into the new blueprints.
My material will get you a long way to CCIE but you will also have to get some workbooks to prepare yourself for the lab.
Rene
Hello Rene
Great Articles covering most of the CCNA topics.
Could you please add the new lessons for CCNA into the CCNA Index.
I think we also have BGP and many other new topics added into CCNA 200-125 Blue Print.
Thank you
Uday
Hi Uday,
Glad to hear you like it. We are currently working on some new CCNA menus, hopefully it’s finished in a few days.
Rene
Thank you for the reply Rene.
eagerly waiting for them:)
Dear Rene
I am really happy to be one of your students and really I like the way you explain the things thanks for your effort but I didn’t see a labs that you intended to CCNA R&S v.3 students, labs like switching and routing? or assignments you sending the students to work.
Cisco Packet Tracer is it enough to practice CCNA R&S??
Dear Eid,
Packet Tracer is enough for CCNA R&S yes. If you want labs, you can take a look at my other website gns3vault.com.
Rene
This is done on the NIC ??
Hello Asim
I’m not sure I understand your question, but I will attempt to clarify. Packet Tracer is a programme used to simulate Cisco networks including routers, switches, PCs (including configuration of the NICs) and their interconnection and configuration. You install it on your PC and you can do all of your labs for CCNA level learning on this simulator. You can find the software and more information at https://www.netacad.com/about-networking-academy/packet-tracer/.
GNS3 is another suite of programmes that allows you to more realistically emulate Cisco networks. Rene has several labs available at his other web site that he mentioned, and you can use it to more fully take advantage of all of the functionalities of Cisco network equipment.
Packet tracer is more than enough for use with the level required for CCNA.
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
He Rene,
First off truly enjoying the content here.
I’m curious if the physical topology you lay out could be transposed to VIRL. I have setup the connections, but wanted to know if you can perdict some limitations or complexity that would render it unstable?
I’m going to run with it for now, but would rather not have to troubleshoot a virtual lab too much.
Thanks!
Glad to hear you like it! Cisco VIRL works very well, I use it for 90% of my labs nowadays. You shouldn’t have any issues with CCNA / CCNP related labs. Switching and routing both work very well. The only issues I had with VIRL are some specific topics like IGMP snooping, something that is done in the ASIC of the switch and not very well emulated.
Hi Rene,
Might be silly question but would 2 X 3550 and 1 X 2960 switches be ok for the three switch topology?
Hello Jason
Those switches would be more than sufficient for a three switch topology for most labs in CCNA and CCNP. Keep in mind however that the 2960 does not support routing, so if you need to do any labs using layer 3 switch functionality you’ll need to use the 3550s. Sounds like a nice lab setup to start off with!
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz
Hi Laz,
Thanks for the quick reply. Currently my lab consists of
1 X 2960 - 24 port switch
2 X 3560 - 48 port PoE switches (they are actually 3560’s not 3550’s)
1 X 2511 (as console server)
3 X 1841 Routers
1 X 2821 router
Hopefully with the great material here I will get my CCNA by the end of the year.
Jason
This is a great lab to have Jason, good luck with studying 
Hi Rene,
Can you kindly further share some more details on Autosensing.Lets say i connect a straight through cable between two switches then how will autosensing help me ?Because as far as I can understand two switches needs to be connected with cross over cable or else they wont be able to send and receive data at same time.
Hello Rene, I am building my home lab. I have already purchased the 2 2950’s and the 3550 switches. As far as the router i would like to purchase a router that will allow me to use the vic3 4fx/did voip module. Could you give me a recommendation of a router model not very expensive and specially not noisy(home lab )
I also would like to know if you have a step by step guide on how to configure the switches and router in the lab. Thank You
Hi Krishnamoorthy,
On older switches, like the 2950, you needed to use a crossover cable between two switches or a straight through from the switch to a router/PC.
Nowadays, most network equipment supports autosensing. This basically means that it doesn’t matter what cable you use…crossover or straight through. The network device will figure out what cable you use and it will work.
Rene
Hi Raul,
Let’s have a look:
Your router options are:
- Cisco 2800 series routers, including the Cisco 2801, Cisco 2811, Cisco 2821, and Cisco 2851
- Cisco 3800 series routers, including the Cisco 3825 and Cisco 3845
- Cisco IAD2430 series routers
- Cisco UC520-x series routers
The UC520 series is nice and not too noisy but it’s about ~$300 on eBay. The 2800 series are cheap nowadays…I see some for around ~$70 on eBay but they do make a lot of noise. Sometimes people remove the fans, not something I would officially recommend but you might be able to get away with it 
For the configurations, you can follow along with the lessons in the courses. For example:
The first lesson where you need your hardware is this one:
It explains how to connect to the console, access the CLI, etc. In each lesson where we configure something, I walk you through the exact commands.
Hope this helps!
Rene