It’s hard to consider a career in technology without considering Cisco as one of the companies you will be interfacing with. Cisco has a wide range of hardware and software products that fuel the technology sector. With so much complicated information, it can be hard to find good references.
The first reference material to consider is Cisco posters. These posters, often found free through the Cisco Academy or through third party retailers, cover many topics such as router commands and network hardware specifications. Keeping up a Cisco poster in your room is a great way to learn all of the ins and outs of Cisco products a little bit each day at a time.
There is an abundance of software programs you can investigate to help aid your learning process. Cisco does release its own program, which is free, under the name of Packet Tracer. This program allows you to simulate computer networks at the click of a mouse. Unfortunately, it is only available to Cisco students or those who have been in the Cisco Academy before.
Every work station and student computer should have a copy of a Cisco dictionary on it. This software outlines all of the Cisco software commands, yet also explains what they do and gives examples of usage. It’s an invaluable tool that is free for everyone. It only takes a minute to do a quick search in the dictionary for a term you need, research it, and implement it into your network.
Books are another route to go. Books are the best option for when you just want to sit down and study, but aren’t so good for when you need a quick answer. Students find that books are the better choice, as they are able to go into detail on explaining how Cisco products work in different conditions. For the workplace they are fine to have around, but are often less easy to use than the Cisco dictionary software programs available.
If all you need is a quick reference, consider using the help tool in the Cisco IOS. This help tool will quickly show you different commands that you are able to use, show how to use them, and give a brief description. It will not teach you how to use the commands in detail, so you will need to consult an expert or book for that. The in-program help feature is best suited for someone who might have forgotten a simple command.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of references to find in Cisco materials. Depending on what you need, you might want the simple desktop program or an expensive book to help you out. Cisco classes are tough work, so do not feel discouraged over the course of your networking hardware and software studies.
Learn more about computer networking and packet tracer.