| CCNA and CCNP candidates hear it all the time: "you | | | | thing to have happen to you in a lab. |
| have to get some hands-on experience to pass the | | | | You don't learn to troubleshoot or fine-tune a |
| exams". | | | | configuration when everything works perfectly. You |
| Candidates tend to think that's just so they can solve | | | | don't learn much at all when things go perfectly. And |
| the simulator problems, but that's only the more | | | | you're practicing to learn! |
| obvious reason. | | | | I often say that great chefs don't learn to cook on |
| First, I want to make it clear that I'm not bashing | | | | cooking simulators they learn in the kitchen, and they |
| learning from books you have to learn theory before | | | | burn a lot of meals on the way to greatness. You |
| you can really know what's going on in the first place. | | | | need to screw up some configs on the way to |
| The key is that to truly understand routing and | | | | greatness, and you can't do that on a computer |
| switching processes, you've got to have that hands-on | | | | program. You have to be on the real thing. |
| experience. | | | | You build confidence by working with real Cisco |
| So if the simulator questions are the more obvious | | | | routers and switches. Would you want the Super Bowl |
| reason to get hands-on experience, what are the less | | | | to be the first football game you ever really played in? |
| obvious reasons? | | | | Of course not. Then why would you take router |
| Glad you asked! | | | | configuration exams and be nervous about having to |
| You see what happens when things don't go | | | | create a VLAN, or troubleshoot an OSPF |
| according to the script. One of the biggest problems | | | | configuration? |
| with learning your skills on software programs such as | | | | You cannot walk into the testing room a nervous |
| "router simulators" is that with simulators, things go | | | | wreck. You must have the attitude that you are |
| pretty much as planned. | | | | already a CCNA or CCNP, and you're just there to |
| I have news for you: that doesn't always happen in the | | | | make it official. I can tell you from firsthand experience |
| real world. While Cisco routers and switches are highly | | | | with many students that the way you develop than |
| reliable devices, every once in a while you're going to | | | | confidence is to work with the real deal. |
| get an unexpected result from a command. Maybe it | | | | You can't buy that confidence, and you can't simulate |
| didn't work after you typed it in maybe it has an effect | | | | your way to it. You've got to work with real Cisco |
| on your prior configuration that you didn't expect. | | | | routers and switches. By working with the real |
| Maybe you don't know what happened - you just | | | | equipment, you develop the real skills and real |
| typed in that command and the router went nuts! | | | | confidence you need to pass the CCNA and CCNP |
| Sooner or later, that's going to happen to you in the | | | | exams. |
| real world. And as I tell my students, it's actually a good | | | | |