Starting Point

[nyseanjohn]

Hi,

I really want to get into Cisco networking, but I dont know where to start at, I have no experience in switching or routing or any of that stuff. I wanted to know if there was a book or books that could teach me everything all the way down to the terminology and what all the acronyms stand for and the definition of those words are too, I want to start from the very beggining starting with what certain networking terms mean, I am in no rush Im only 21 and I plan on taking the CCENT exam one day and moving up from there.

If there is anyone that can help me that would be greatly appreciated

Thank You

[Reza Sharifi]

Hello Sean,

One book that I can recommend to you to start with is a book by Radia Perlman.

The name of the book is "Interconnections (Second Edition)"

It starts from the very basics and gives you a very good foundation.  You will also learn about routing and switching and how routing protocols work.

Good Luck

Reza

[nyseanjohn]

I researched that book on amazon and it has alot of very good reviews, but it was published in 1999, so wouldnt that be too outdated or does that matter since the terminology and the functions of the different parts of networking dont change.

[Reza Sharifi]

If you just want to learn the concepts, that book is good, but if you want to also pass the exams, then I would look for the latest books since they change the exams every few years.

HTH

Reza

[nyseanjohn]

So basically that book will tell me the terminology of the networking words so I wont be completely lost when I read the books for the exam because I wont know what they mean.

Also would you recommend the book called Networking for Dummies lol seeing that I am sorta ignorant when it comes to this subject

[Jon Marshall]

nyseanjohn wrote:
Hi,
I really want to get into Cisco networking, but I dont know where to start at, I have no experience in switching or routing or any of that stuff. I wanted to know if there was a book or books that could teach me everything all the way down to the terminology and what all the acronyms stand for and the definition of those words are too, I want to start from the very beggining starting with what certain networking terms mean, I am in no rush Im only 21 and I plan on taking the CCENT exam one day and moving up from there.
If there is anyone that can help me that would be greatly appreciated
Thank You

Sean

Cisco specific you should be looking at CCNA books to give you a good solid intro into switching and routing. Cisco press and Sybex both do good books for CCNA. The Cisco site also has documents for just about everything networking related from basic intros to full blown configuration documents.

Less Cisco specific for TCP/IP, routing etc. i started with "Internetworking with TCP/IP" but there are many good TCP/IP tutorials on the internet.

Finally there is NetPro itself ie. these forums. There are many very clever and helpful people here who are only too happy to help if they can. If you show that you have done some of the work then using these forums to clarify and explain the concepts should really help you.

Jon

[nyseanjohn]

Thank you all for your help so much, but why should I start with CCNA? I thought the CCENT was the first step

[Reza Sharifi]

That is fine too.

For CCNA there are 2 exams one is 822 and the other one is 816

if you take  640-822 ICND1 =CCENT

and then take 816=CCNA

HTH

Reza

[Rick Morris]

I used the Sybex book for the CCNA.  The book is written very well and will not put you to sleep like many of the cisco press books will.  There are also quite a few sims out there to play with the equipment.  The current CCNA test has quite a bit of hands on so you will need to know how to configure devices, and the catch is you cannot test your config either to know if what you did works.  I like the site boson.com  There are some links off of there.  I would also recommend taking some college courses in networking.  This will help with the basics.  You already have the foundation, eagerness, and that will help carry you.

And as Jon said, many here love to help out.  Keep with it and let us know how we can help.

[nyseanjohn]

Which Sybex book exactly?

[Rick Morris]

This is one:

http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Certified-Network-Associate-640-802/dp/0470110082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262036941&sr=8-1