CCNA Courses and Certifications

CCNA is the foundational part of the certification track, covering all the basic parts of a network, both in theory and in practice. The courses and tests are intended for network support technicians and network administrators with 1-3 years of experience.

In the courses, we work through the theory that forms the basis for various TCP/IP protocols and routing protocols.

As a CCNA, you have the knowledge you need to install, maintain and troubleshoot a medium-sized enterprise network, including configuring switches and routers, connecting to the WAN and implementing network security.

The course is hands-on and runs on “real Cisco hardware”.

What is a router?

A router sits between two networks. The router forwards IP packets from one network to another: a router operates at Layer 3 and moves packets between different networks, using the destination IP address and the routing table to decide which path is optimal.

Information about the individual networks often comes from routing protocols, which advertise the networks they know about and their cost.

Routing protocols

Here we work with the characteristics of the different routing protocols, and then we look at connections to sites that are not local.

EIGRP and Named EIGRP

We review how IPv6 and RIPng work, and then we get to grips with EIGRP for both IPv4 and IPv6, as well as Named EIGRP configuration, which among other things lets you use Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF).

OSPF

We work with OSPF, look at what the link-state database contains, and go through advanced OSPF configuration.

Route Redistribution

We look at route redistribution to find out how we bring routing information from other networks into our routing table. Once all the information about the network has been collected and the routing table has been built, we look at how our router then chooses the best path for forwarding the packet.

Across the internet with IPv4 and IPv6

So far we have mostly looked at our own networks, but now we turn to the connection out to the internet, not only for IPv4 but also for IPv6.

BGP

The routing protocols we have worked with so far are interior routing protocols, but now we look at an exterior routing protocol called Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

Security and authentication

At the end of the course, we look at router security and authentication of routing protocols. 

What is a switch?

A switch performs tasks on one and only one network. The switch forwards IP packets to the recipients it can see on that network.

A switch works at Layer 2 with MAC addresses, which are unique. In every packet a switch receives, it looks at the destination MAC address, and if it knows which port that address is on, the packet is sent that way; otherwise, it is sent out on all ports. The switch also looks at the source MAC address and updates its MAC table.

Trunk and FHRP

We need to set up trunks, use STP to make sure there are no loops in our switched network, and use FHRP to ensure high uptime.

DHCP service

Since most of our workstations and laptops do not have static IP addresses, we also need to configure the DHCP service.

NTP keeps the time

To be sure we can trust the timestamps in our log files, it is important that we have configured the time using the NTP protocol, which we will also cover.

Security

Security is very important in today's networks, so we will also set up secure access to switches, secure our VLANs and protect against spoofing attacks.

Monitoring

Finally, we will look at monitoring our network, including with SNMP.

As a CCNA, you need a broad understanding of networking, both the concepts and the hands-on skills.

What is a switch?

A switch performs tasks on one and only one network. The switch forwards IP packets to the recipients it can see on that network.

What is a router?

A router sits between two networks. The router forwards IP packets from one network to another.

The OSI model

We work our way through the OSI model and get a clear picture of the different things that happen when data is sent between 2 machines.

The physical layer

We look at the physical layer with cables and network cards, and how individual packets find their way through the network. Most of the traffic we discuss involves routers and switches on our Local Area Network (LAN), but we also look at what happens on the Wide Area Network WAN.

IP addresses and subnets

We cover IP addresses for both IPv4 and IPv6, and we calculate subnets, both in binary and decimal, so we can tell whether the recipient of an IP packet is on the same network as we are, or whether we need help from a router.

TCP and UDP

We work with guaranteed data transfer using TCP, so we can be sure that all data sent has reached the recipient, or whether we use UDP, which is most often used for streaming data. In addition to these topics, we also cover the use of switches and routers.

Fault-tolerant switched network

We work with the different protocols used to keep a network running day to day, such as Spanning Tree Protocol STP, which makes it possible to build a fault-tolerant switched network.

RIP, OSPF and EIGRP

We learn about the different routing protocols (RIP, OSPF and EIGRP) that we use on the local network, as well as how to configure them. This applies to both IPv4 and IPv6. These protocols also come with sections on troubleshooting.

WAN connections

We look at different WAN connections, including Point-to-Point Protocol PPP and Frame Relay, and we see how to build fault-tolerant connections between 2 locations via WAN connections.

We also have time to look at Virtual Private Network VPN, and the management of network devices, Cisco IOS (operating system) and configuration files, as well as licenses. 

Troubleshooting and optimization

The focus is on troubleshooting, but also on optimizing our network and the individual devices.

We start from the bottom with layers 1 and 2

When troubleshooting, we start at the bottom of the OSI model and look at VLANs and trunks. We also look at EtherChannel and Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), as well as switch security.

On to layer 3

We move one step up to layer 3 of the OSI model and look at inter-VLAN routing and layer 3 EtherChannels.

Troubleshooting across the board

We also work with addressing technologies for both IPv4 and IPv6, and we look at access control lists (ACLs) and the effect they have on data transfer.

Of course, we also work with the routing protocols: the interior protocols RIP, OSPF and EIGRP, for both IPv4 and IPv6, as well as the exterior protocol BGP.

We also work with IP services such as IP address assignment, and with trouble tickets, so we have documented knowledge of how previously seen problems were solved.