Reddit reviews CISCO CCNA, CCNP LAB 300-101, 300-115, 300-135 v2.0 Routing Switching 2RUN SMARNET

Thank you for the very detailed reply. Where does VMware and other virtualization fit into that as well if you don't mind, a lot of the entry jobs around here will probably be dealing with that as I'm near a port city and heavy industry is huge here. Everything they do is on VMware usually to train their employees, etc. Is a CCNA/CCNP cert going to cover most of the bases on virtualization? They also just opened an Amazon warehouse here one reason why I thought the right thing to do was to pick the brains of some seasoned IT professionals and ask about AWS.

Here is what I was looking at picking up to learn.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587205815/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587205904/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SA7XKZC/

From what I understand, some switch technology is exclusive to the hardware and isn't properly replicated in a sim (ASIC?)


Also, obviously the hands on experience is more applicable to a real environment.


I've seen recommendations that you don't need a physical lab for the ccna but for the ccnp it's ideal to have one. My goal is the ccnp, so I ordered a "starter kit" off amazon


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00SA7XKZC/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495037266&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ccnp+lab&dpPl=1&dpID=51iqcYRciRL&ref=plSrch

The following is pretty good - https://www.amazon.com/300-101-300-115-300-135-Routing-Switching/dp/B00SA7XKZC

Though, I would recommend replacing the C2950 with another C3750. It may not be the latest and greatest but it will give you real hands on experience for cheap. This way you will be prepared for the theoretical and hands on type interviews. If you can set everything up (cabling, racking, flashing, configuration, routing, switching, security, etc.) with everything being factory fresh and uncabled you will more than likely get the job if you can go from the basics all the way to multiple types of network routing and high availability setups. With the addition of them talking about the person that just set it all up from scratch right there without any problems fast which would normally get a you a nice premium on top of what they were originally thinking about offering you.

If you can set things up with that and want to work with the latest and greatest you can then have your company pay for Cisco Lab time and potentially your certs after they hire you.

My apologies. I have used mainly packet tracer and some GNS3 when I did my CCNA. I am wanting physical equipment now for some hands on experience. Would you recommend either of these kits that I found?

http://www.amazon.com/300-101-300-115-300-135-Routing-Switching/dp/B00SA7XKZC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459284628&sr=8-1&keywords=ccnp+lab

http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Massive-CCNA2-5-200-101-100-101/dp/B00OEY2PWO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1459284628&sr=8-3&keywords=ccnp+lab