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Network Engineering Foundations
This Learning Series covers the fundamentals of network engineering. Through hands-on labs and real-world examples, you will develop the practical skills necessary to build and maintain robust networks. It is perfect for aspiring network engineers, IT professionals, or anyone interested in understanding the backbone of today's interconnected world.
Cisco Networking: Layer 2 Technologies
This Learning Series covers three essential network engineering topics: VLANs and Trunks, EtherChannels, and Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). Through hands-on labs and real-world examples, you'll develop the practical skills needed to configure and maintain robust networks. Starting with VLANs and trunking, you'll explore network segmentation and communication. Next, you'll dive into EtherChannels for link aggregation and redundancy. Finally, you'll master Spanning Tree Protocol to prevent loops and optimize network performance. This series is perfect for aspiring network engineers, IT professionals, or anyone looking to deepen their understanding of modern network infrastructure.
Cisco Networking: Trunks, VLANs, CDP, LLDP, UDLD
The Cisco Layer 2 Fundamentals Learning Path focuses on key networking concepts including VLANs, Trunks, CDP, LLDP, and UDLD. It starts with understanding how VLANs segment networks for better security and performance, followed by learning how trunk links enable communication between VLANs. You'll explore CDP and LLDP to discover network devices and topologies, and finally dive into UDLD for preventing unidirectional link failures. This path equips you with essential skills to manage, secure, and troubleshoot Layer 2 networks, providing a strong foundation for more advanced networking topics.
Cisco Networking: EtherChannels
The EtherChannel Configuration Learning Path focuses on key concepts and protocols for link aggregation, including static EtherChannels, PAgP, and LACP, with a deep dive into LACP's advanced features. You'll begin by understanding how EtherChannels combine multiple physical links into a single logical connection to enhance bandwidth and redundancy. The path covers how to configure static EtherChannels for manual link aggregation, followed by PAgP for dynamic link aggregation in Cisco-only environments. You'll also explore LACP, an open standard protocol, and its advanced features such as negotiation modes, timeouts, and priority settings for optimizing link performance and fault tolerance. This learning path equips you with the skills to configure, manage, and troubleshoot EtherChannel setups, providing a strong foundation for advanced network design and troubleshooting.
Cisco Networking: Spanning Tree Protocol
This learning path provides a comprehensive guide to mastering Cisco's Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and its variants, including PVST+, RSTP, and MSTP. It covers the fundamentals of STP, such as preventing network loops and ensuring redundancy, while diving into advanced configurations like adjusting STP costs and bridge priority to optimize network performance. The path also emphasizes security features such as Loop Guard, Root Guard, BPDU Guard, and many others, to protect against unintended topology changes and network instability. Additionally, students will engage in hands-on labs to configure STP, allowing them to apply best practices and gain practical experience in designing secure, efficient, and resilient networks."