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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, Ultimate CCNP Study Packages, and CCNA CBT video training. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook and receive a FREE CCNA and CCNP question every day, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

Too often in IT, workers become either LAN or WAN engineers, knowing little if anything about the other side. Many LAN administrators I worked with knew little about routing and switching, while many WAN engineers I knew not only didn't know much about the LAN side of their network, but they didn't want to know anything about the servers!

In today's IT world, it's a bad idea to specialize in only one thing and not know how to do anything else. Not only does it limit your future career prospects, but it limits your current prospects as well. Employers don't want to hire someone and have them get up to speed on the job - they want someone who can walk right in and do the job. The more you know, the better your chance of getting a better job - or quickly being able to get another job if you were laid off tomorrow.
{mosgoogle}
A term often heard on Wall Street is "diversification", meaning that investors should not invest heavily or totally in only one stock; if that stock plummets, they're in big trouble. Your career is the most important stock you will ever own, and you're 100% in charge of it. Diversify. If you're working primarily with servers, learn some routing and switching. If you know the routing protocols your company uses on its WAN, learn something about that protocol. (If you don't know the protocol, ask!)

While you’re adding these skills, get certified while you’re at it! Adding a CCNA, MCSE, or other computer certification looks great on your resume while signaling to employers that you’re constantly adding to your skills.

Adding more skills and knowledge to your IT skill set is always a good idea. Don't limit yourself to the technologies you work with every day. Make an investment in yourself and become a well-rounded network engineer. This will help you keep the job you have - and open doors in the future that might otherwise have remained closed.


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. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

Recertification sounds like a pain, but it's actually one of the best things to ever happen to computer certification, and it helps your career as well. One trap many LAN and WAN personnel fall into is that they fail to keep up with changes in technology, and if they happen to be laid off or want to change jobs, they're unable to because they didn't keep their skill set up.

Cisco's recertification policies ensure that if you want to keep your CCNA, CCNP, or one of the other valuable Cisco certifications, you've got to take a recertification exam.

As of November 2005, to recertify as a CCNA, you need to pass either the current CCNA exam, ICND exam, or any 642 professional level or Cisco Qualified Specialist exam. (This does not include Sales Specialist exams.) Passing a CCIE written qualification exam also recertifies you as a CCNA. CCNAs are valid for three years.
{mosgoogle}
For the CCNP, you need to pass the 642-891 Composite exam, a CCIE written qualification exam, or BOTH the BSCI and BCMSN exams (642-801 and 642-811, respectively.) CCNP certifications are valid for three years.

As you can see, you've got quite a few options either way. The one classic mistake you must not make is waiting too long to begin preparing for the exams, and give yourself a little leeway just in case you don't recertify the first time around. Once the deadline passes, your certification is gone, and in the case of the CCNP that means taking all the exams again.

As a professional, it's your responsibility to keep up with changes in the Cisco certification world, and this includes changes in the recertification program. Make a point of visiting the "Learning And Events" section of Cisco's website regularly to look for changes in the certification program. And while you're there, you just might see another cert that catches your eye!


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. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

What’s the difference? The two-exam approach involves exams with different topics and therefore different preparation techniques. 640-821 is the Introduction To Cisco Networking Technologies exam. This course does introduce the candidate to Frame Relay, PPP, and other WAN technologies, but goes into little detail. Emphasis in the Intro course is placed on knowing how Ethernet behaves, how different types of cable are used for different purposes, and knowing what cable to use in a certain situation. The candidate should expect some questions involving binary math as well, but they will involve fairly simple conversions.

The 640-811 exam, Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices, goes into much more detail on WAN technologies. Routing and switching behavior are covered, and the candidate is expected to answer difficult questions involving binary math and subnetting as well. The candidate may also have to demonstrate ability to configure a router or switch via a simulator. Since the ICND exam goes into more detail, it’s generally considered the more difficult exam.
{mosgoogle}
The approach I recommend to a CCNA candidate depends on their background. If the candidate is a relative newcomer to networking, or hasn’t taken a certification exam before, I recommend they take the two-exam approach. This allows the candidate to focus only on the Intro topics, and gives them a strong sense of confidence after passing the Intro exam. That confidence flows over into the ICND exam.

For those who have networking experience, and are very familiar with Ethernet behavior and cable types, I recommend the one-exam approach. This allows the candidate to focus on the more advanced topics they’ll be seeing in the single exam, while spending just a little time reviewing their Intro-level knowledge.

Regardless of the approach you choose, the path to true CCNA success remains the same. Get some real hands-on experience, either by renting rack time online or by putting together your own home lab. Understand what’s going on “beneath the command”; don’t use router commands when you don’t understand what they’re doing. Add to that a true mastery on binary math, and you’re on your way to having 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, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

Q. Chris, which path do you recommend?

A. I generally recommend the two-exam path, particularly for those CCNA candidates that haven't taken a Cisco exam before. The Intro exam offers you a little more time and allows you to become comfortable with the Cisco exam engine, particularly the simulator questions. Let's face it, the CCNA single exam covers a lot of material, from basic networking to OSPF to router on a stick. Most candidates are better off breaking this huge amount of material into two distinct parts.

Don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of students and customers pass the CCNA composite. It can be done!
{mosgoogle}
Q. Do I have to recertify my CCNA, or is it mine forever after I pass?

A. One way Cisco protects the value of its certifications is to enforce strict recertification policies. When you earn your CCNA, you must recertify within three years.

Q. How do I recertify my CCNA?

A. There is a lot of confusion out there on this question. The latest information from Cisco is that you recertify your CCNA by doing any of the following three things:

1. Pass the current CCNA Composite or ICND exam.

2. Pass any 642-level professional level exam or any Cisco Qualified Specialist exam, not including Sales Specialist exams.

3. Pass any CCIE written exam.

Q. How do I register for the CCNA exam?

A. You can take the CCNA exam at any Prometric or VUE testing center. To find a Prometric testing center near you and register online, visit www.2test.com . For a VUE site, register at www.vue.com .

Q. Can you give me a braindump for the exam?

A. Boy, do you have the wrong guy!

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. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

To practice all your important Frame Relay commands for your exams, you need a working Frame Relay cloud in your home lab. A production network's Frame cloud consists of a lot of Frame switches, but if you choose wisely, a single Cisco router can act as your home lab's entire Frame cloud!

Before we look at the configuration of such a router (hereafter referred to as a "frame relay switch"), let's look at the physical requirements.

The more serial ports you have, the better. You should get a router with at least four serial ports. For frame switching purposes, it doesn't matter if the ports are synchronous or asynchronous - you just need the ports.
{mosgoogle}
You will also need some DTE/DCE cables. The DCE end of the cables will be connected to the frame switch.

A great configuration for a CCNA practice lab is three routers that serve as "production" routers, and a 4th router as a frame relay switch. (You'll want an access server as well, but that's another article.)

What I use in my student and customer pods is a setup where R1 is connected to the frame switch's S1 port, R2 is connected to S2 on the frame switch, and R3 is connected to the frame switch's S3 port.

Now comes the tricky part - the configuration. A frame relay switch's config can be hard to find, so here's a copy of mine. Pay particular attention to the config on ports s1, s2, and s3.

version 12.0

service timestamps debug uptime

service timestamps log uptime

no service password-encryption

!

hostname FRAME_SWITCH

!

!

ip subnet-zero

no ip domain-lookup

frame-relay switching

!

!

!

interface Ethernet0

no ip address

no ip directed-broadcast

shutdown

!

interface Serial0

ip address 10.1.1.2 255.255.255.0

clockrate 56000

!

interface Serial1

no ip address

no ip directed-broadcast

encapsulation frame-relay

logging event subif-link-status

logging event dlci-status-change

clockrate 56000

no frame-relay inverse-arp

frame-relay intf-type dce

frame-relay route 122 interface Serial2 221

frame-relay route 123 interface Serial3 321

!

interface Serial2

no ip address

no ip directed-broadcast

encapsulation frame-relay

logging event subif-link-status

logging event dlci-status-change

clockrate 56000

no frame-relay inverse-arp

frame-relay intf-type dce

frame-relay route 221 interface Serial1 122

!

interface Serial3

no ip address

no ip directed-broadcast

encapsulation frame-relay

logging event subif-link-status

logging event dlci-status-change

clockrate 56000

no frame-relay inverse-arp

frame-relay intf-type dce

frame-relay route 321 interface Serial1 123

!

interface BRI0

ip address 150.1.1.1 255.255.255.252

no ip directed-broadcast

encapsulation ppp

dialer map ip 150.1.1.2 name R2 broadcast 2335552221

dialer-group 1

!

ip classless

!

dialer-list 1 protocol ip permit

!

line con 0

exec-timeout 0 0

logging synchronous

transport input none

line aux 0

line vty 0 4

login

!

end

The key command in the global configuration is frame-relay switching. You must have this configured before you can configure the interfaces.

The interfaces will be configured with the frame route command. Let's take a look at what each value means in the command frame-relay route 122 interface Serial2 221.

frame-relay route - the command

122 - the incoming DLCI on this interface

interface serial2 - the interface the data will be sent out

221 - the outgoing DLCI

This command on S1 means that anything that comes in on this port on DLCI 122 will be sent out interface serial2 on DLCI 221.

It's a good idea to hard-code the interfaces to act as DCEs with the frame intf-type dce command. Since these interfaces are acting as DCEs, the clockrate command is needed for the line protocol to come up.

Once you've configured your frame switch as shown and have configured the frame map statements on the "production" routers, you can test the frame switch configuration. On the frame switch, run the command show frame route.

FRAME_SWITCH#show frame route

Input Intf Input Dlci Output Intf Output Dlci Status

Serial1 122 Serial2 221 active

Serial1 123 Serial3 321 active

Serial2 221 Serial1 122 active

Serial3 321 Serial1 123 active

You should see "active" for all the interfaces. If you see "deleted", make sure your frame switch interfaces are open if they are, check the router configs.

Keep in mind that you can still configure routing protocols to run on ports that you're not using for frame switching. The router we used here had an ethernet port and BRI port, and the BRI port has been configured as part of the production network. Running frame switching does not disable IP routing.

Purchasing and configuring your own frame relay switch is an invaluable part of your Cisco education. By practicing your frame commands and configuring frame connections over your own frame relay cloud, you're polishing your Cisco skills and gaining knowledge that cannot be duplicated by simulator programs.

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. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

This CCNP tutorial shows an ASBR in operation, and also introduces you to a basic example of route redistribution. Don't worry, it gets more complicated. :)

Here's the network we'll be working with in this tutorial:

R5
|
R1
/
R2 R3

Networks:

R1 - R5 Ethernet Segment: 10.1.1.0 /24

R1 - R2 - R3 Serial Segment: 172.16.123.0 /24 (Preconfigured with OSPF)

R1 and R5 are running RIP over their common Ethernet segment, 10.1.1.0 /24. R5 has three loopbacks it will be advertising into the RIP domain.

R1 is also running OSPF, with R2 and R3 as neighbors. Even though R1 knows about the loopbacks on R5, its OSPF neighbors do not. R1 has these routes in its RIP routing table, and for OSPF neighbors to learn of these routes, route redistribution must be manually configured.
{mosgoogle}
R5#conf t

R5(config)#router rip

R5(config-router)#version 2

R5(config-router)#no auto-summary

R5(config-router)#network 5.0.0.0

R5(config-router)#network 10.0.0.0

R1#conf t

R1(config)#router rip

R1(config-router)#version 2

R1(config-router)#no auto-summary

R1(config-router)#network 10.0.0.0

R1#show ip route rip

5.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 3 subnets

R 5.1.1.0 [120/1] via 10.1.1.5, 00:00:10, Ethernet0

R 5.2.1.0 [120/1] via 10.1.1.5, 00:00:10, Ethernet0

R 5.3.1.0 [120/1] via 10.1.1.5, 00:00:10, Ethernet0

R1 has a route for all three of R5’s loopback interfaces, learned via RIP. R1 is also running OSPF, but its neighbors R2 and R3 don’t know about these RIP routes:

R2#show ip route ospf

R2# < no output from show command means no routes! >

R3#show ip route ospf

R3#

Be careful when configuring redistribution use IOS Help to make sure you’re not missing any vital options. IOS Help shows that there is a “subnets” option when redistributing RIP into OSPF. If that is left off, only classful networks are redistributed (as the router is kind enough to tell us). In this case, we have no classful networks, so there will be no redistribution. R2 will not see the RIP routes.

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#redistribute rip?

metric Metric for redistributed routes

metric-type OSPF/IS-IS exterior metric type for redistributed routes

route-map Route map reference

subnets Consider subnets for redistribution into OSPF

tag Set tag for routes redistributed into OSPF


R1(config-router)#redistribute rip

% Only classful networks will be redistributed



R2#show ip route ospf

R2#clear ip route *

R2#show ip route ospf

R2#

On R1, we’ll now use the “subnets” option, and the RIP subnets are successfully redistributed into OSPF.

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#redistribute rip subnets

R2 now sees the redistributed routes.

R2#show ip route ospf

5.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 3 subnets

O E2 5.1.1.0 [110/20] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:08, Serial0.123

O E2 5.2.1.0 [110/20] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:08, Serial0.123

O E2 5.3.1.0 [110/20] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:08, Serial0.123

10.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E2 10.1.1.0 [110/20] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:08, Serial0.123

Notice that the routes are marked as “E2”. The E indicates that these are external routes these are routes that were learned by OSPF via redistribution.

Naturally, you’ll want to ping these networks to make sure you have two-way communication. Even though the routes to these loopbacks are in the routing table, pings fail:

R2#ping 5.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 5.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:

.....

Success rate is 0 percent (0/5)



Keep this in mind when troubleshooting: It’s not enough to have a route to a destination for pings to succeed there’s got to be a path back. At this point, R5 doesn’t know where the 172.12.123.0 network is, so there’s no way the ping can get back. More route redistribution is necessary on R1.

Your first instinct may be to redistribute OSPF routes into RIP to make this work, but remember that the 172.12.123.0 /24 network isn’t known to R1 via OSPF it’s a directly connected network. We can redistribute connected networks into RIP to give R5 a route to 172.12.123.0 /24, which will give the ICMP packets a path back to R2, which will allow pings to succeed.



R1(config)#router rip

R1(config-router)#redistribute connected



R5#show ip route rip

1.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

R 1.1.1.1 [120/1] via 10.1.1.1, 00:00:02, Ethernet0

172.12.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

R 172.12.123.0 [120/1] via 10.1.1.1, 00:00:02, Ethernet0



R2#ping 5.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 5.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:

!!!!!

Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 68/69/76 ms



Performing this redistribution makes R1 an ASBR, as shown here with show ip ospf. This command even shows you what protocol(s) are being redistributed into OSPF.

R1#show ip ospf

Routing Process "ospf 1" with ID 1.1.1.1

Supports only single TOS(TOS0) routes

Supports opaque LSA

It is an autonomous system boundary router

Redistributing External Routes from,

rip, includes subnets in redistribution

Knowing exactly what the ASBR does and how to configure route redistribution are just a few of the many OSPF skills you'll need to earn your CCNP. Like any other Cisco skill, breaking a complex topic like OSPF down into smaller, manageable pieces is the best way to master these topics and pass the CCNP exams.

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. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!

R1#show ip route

Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP
D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
In this tutorial, we'll take a look at the difference between two of these route types, E1 and E2.
Route redistribution is the process of taking routes learned via one routing protocol and injecting those routes into another routing domain. (Static and connected routes can also be redistributed.) When a router running OSPF takes routes learned by another routing protocol and makes them available to the other OSPF-enabled routers it's communicating with, that router becomes an Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR).
Let's work with an example where R1 is running both OSPF and RIP. R4 is in the same OSPF domain as R1, and we want R4 to learn the routes that R1 is learning via RIP. This means we have to perform route redistribution on the ASBR. The routes that are being redistributed from RIP into OSPF will appear as E2 routes on R4:
R4#show ip route ospf
{mosgoogle}
O E2 5.1.1.1 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

6.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E2 6.1.1.1 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

172.12.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks

O E2 172.12.21.0/30 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32,
Ethernet0

O E2 7.1.1.1 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

15.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E2 15.1.1.0 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32, Ethernet0

E2 is the default route type for routes learned via redistribution. The key with E2 routes is that the cost of these routes reflects only the cost of the path from the ASBR to the final destination; the cost of the path from R4 to R1 is not reflected in this cost. (Remember that OSPF's metric for a path is referred to as "cost".)
In this example, we want the cost of the routes to reflect the entire path, not just the path between the ASBR and the destination network. To do so, the routes must be redistributed into OSPF as E1 routes on the ASBR, as shown here.
R1#conf t

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#redistribute rip subnets metric-type 1

Now on R4, the routes appear as E1 routes and have a larger metric, since the entire path cost is now reflected in the routing table.
O E1 5.1.1.1 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

6.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E1 6.1.1.1 [110/100] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

172.12.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks

O E1 172.12.21.0/30 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32, Ethernet0

O E1 7.1.1.1 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

15.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E1 15.1.1.0 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32, Ethernet0


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. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam and CCNP exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

For a copy of his FREE "How To Pass The CCNA" or "How To Pass The CCNP" ebook, just visit the website and claim your free copies!