Cisco CCNA Full Course with Practical LABS

connect the Cisco switch to your computer via a console cable and usb adapter. use free serial-connection software to access the console port and begin switch configuration.

Learn to connect to a Cisco switch console using a USB-to-serial converter and the recommended software, detect the correct com port, and access the switch's command line for initial configuration.

Master user mode and privilege mode on Cisco switches, enabling hostname and console password setup. Manage RAM and NVRAM by saving running-config to startup-config and erasing startup-config as needed.

Learn how to use the question mark help feature to assist Cisco configuration, set the clock and date, and navigate command prompts in privilege mode.

Explore local area networks, Ethernet protocols, copper and fiber media, and straight-through versus crossover cables. Compare 10 to 1000 Mbps and single-mode versus multimode fiber for LANs.

Learn how a switch operates at layer two by building a MAC address table, learning source addresses from frames, and flooding traffic to unknown destinations until a mapping exists.

Learn hands-on troubleshooting of switch interfaces in a lab, from verifying up status and administratively down flags to fixing duplex and speed mismatches to restore connectivity via ping.

Define VLAN and explain why VLAN is needed in networks, then demonstrate configuring VLAN on Cisco switches and review related configuration topics.

Learn why VLANs divide a flat network into separate broadcast domains and improve security by grouping switch ports into distinct VLANs, with per-VLAN IP schemes.

Learn why VLAN creates separate broadcast domains to reduce traffic, improve security, and avoid single points of failure by configuring VLAN creation, port assignment, and trunking between switches.

Configure vlan two and vlan three on a Cisco Catalyst switch, assign ports as access ports for each vlan, and test router-to-router ping to compare same-vlan versus different-vlan communication.

Configure trunk and access ports on Cisco switches to carry VLAN 50 traffic between switches, enable dot1q encapsulation, and verify with basic show commands.

Learn how the vlan trunking protocol (vtp) works in server, client, and transparent modes, how changes propagate via the revision number, and the associated security risks.

Configure the native vlan on Cisco switches, ensuring matching native vlan values on both sides of a trunk for untagged traffic, and verify with CDP neighbors.

Configure voice VLAN on Cisco switches to separate IP phone and PC traffic via trunk and access ports, using VLAN 20 for phones in a practical lab.

Explore how the spanning-tree protocol prevents loops on redundant links, explain core terms inside the protocol and port behavior, and compare rapid spanning tree protocol with standard stp.

Explain why redundancy in switching is beneficial. Highlight the problems without spanning tree protocol, including broadcast storms, duplicate frames, and MAC address instability.

Learn how spanning-tree selects a route bridge, designates ports, and blocks certain paths to prevent loops in redundant switches, using priority, MAC address, and path cost.

Explain the interface states in spanning tree: disabled, listening, learning, forwarding, and blocking; include designated and root ports, alternate ports, and bpdu convergence up to 50 seconds.

Compare rapid spanning tree with classic STP, highlighting faster convergence, the move from blocking to discarding in listening state, and the keep-alive BPDU mechanism plus backup port and negotiation-based forwarding.

Learn to configure rapid pvst on Cisco switches, determine the root bridge, and manage designated and blocked ports for fast redundancy. Enable portfast on access ports to accelerate end-device connectivity.

Explore EtherChannel in switching environments, and learn three methods to configure it through three hands-on labs that demonstrate EtherChannel configuration.

Learn how EtherChannel bundles two gigabit links to increase bandwidth, create a virtual channel port with redundancy, and choose between manual, proprietary Cisco IGP, or open standard channel modes.

Configure a manual etherchannel between two switches by using an interface range to form port-channel 1, joining gigabit 0/0 and 0/1, then verify with show channel and show ip interface.

Configure an etherchannel between two Cisco switches using pagp, set one side to desirable and the other to auto, create a channel group, and verify the port channel and protocol.

Configure ethernet channel using lacp mode on two switches, form the port-channel, and verify with show channel commands while understanding load balancing by source and destination mac addresses.

Explore IPv4 basics, including private vs public IP addresses and the subnet mask’s function. Learn binary conversions and how to divide networks into subnets with route summarization.

Explore public vs private ip addresses, classful ranges, and loopback 127.0.0.1; learn private ranges 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16 and NAT with subnet masks /8, /16, /24.

Learn how to convert decimal to binary and back using base two and powers of two to understand IP addresses, binary octets, and the eight-bit representation.

Learn how to subnet a /24 into two /25 subnets, providing 128 hosts each, by borrowing one host bit and applying the 255.255.255.128 mask.

Learn how to calculate a summary address by comparing two networks, identify changing bits, and derive a /22 subnet mask (255.255.252.0) to summarize multiple routes.

Learn to connect to a Cisco 2600 router via the console, log in, and save startup config; then configure hostname, enable SSH, and set passwords.

Explore how a Cisco router operates and perform basic configuration, including console access, interface setup, ip addressing, and saving or erasing startup configurations.

Configure the Cisco router to obtain an IP address via DHCP, configure interfaces manually, and verify connectivity with ping and traceroute.

Learn how to secure the Cisco IOS router by setting a password on the console port, requiring login and preventing unauthorized access.

Enable telnet on the Cisco IOS router for remote configuration and monitoring via PuTTY, limit to five sessions with a simple password, and use SSL/SSH to secure transmissions.

Configure ssh on a Cisco iOS router to enable remote access from a pc, including domain name, crypto keys, version 2, transport input ssh, and a privilege 15 admin account.

Explore router on a stick, inter-VLAN routing on a switch, and layer 3 routing, showing how to configure routers and layer 3 switches to connect two VLANs.

Configure router on a stick on a Cisco router by creating trunk ports and VLAN subinterfaces with dot1q, assigning gateways for each VLAN, and testing connectivity.

Learn how to enable ip routing on a layer 3 switch and configure inter-vlan routing with vlan interfaces, enabling communication between devices across vlans without a router-on-a-stick.

Configure layer 3 etherchannel to bundle links between switches, turning the port-channel into a routed interface by removing switchport and assigning ip on both ends; verify with channel summary.

Discover why routing is essential in networks and learn the router's core functions, including static and static default routes and floating routes, with hands-on labs.

Learn why routing is essential in networks, how layer-3 routers solve mac address table limits, broadcast floods, and lookups, and how static and dynamic routing prepare networks for internet connectivity.

This lab teaches configuring static routes and a default route between two routers to enable reachability between networks, using static next-hop forwarding and basic verification.

Explore floating static routes and how to configure dual links with static routes, using administrative distance to designate a backup path and ensure failover.