Finally, the time has arrived for me to publish a free updated CCNA course on YouTube. This is a brand new CCNA course where I focus on using real hardware and practical demonstrations. The best training online.
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00:00Welcome to my complete practical CCNA course.
00:03This course is very different to other courses.
00:05I'm going to be explaining CCNA topics using physical equipment
00:08rather than simulations or emulators.
00:11I've heard this story too many times.
00:13New person arrives at site, they need to configure a device
00:16and they ask, where is the device?
00:19And the customer is shocked because the device is right next to them.
00:22And that's because the person has only ever used simulations or online labs
00:26and doesn't actually know what devices look like.
00:29It's really important that you see what the physical devices actually look like
00:33and how they act rather than just using a simulator or even an emulator like CML.
00:41I've spent thousands of dollars collecting various devices to add to this course
00:46and this is only some of them.
00:48As an example, here's a Starlink Mini.
00:51This really changes the game because you can access the internet
00:55using a portable satellite dish like this.
00:57This has a built-in router and I'm going to explain what a router actually is
01:01because you need to know the differences between say routers such as these
01:05or some of these routers versus what a switch is
01:09and what a layer 2 and a layer 3 switch is.
01:12You may not understand what those terms are right now
01:14but in this video and in the course, I'm going to explain those topics in a lot of detail
01:18and you're going to configure Cisco routers and switches
01:21so that you have the knowledge to pass the CCNA exam
01:24but also have the knowledge to go out there and be successful in your career.
01:28Now, Packet Tracer and CML or Cisco Modeling Labs are fantastic for labs
01:32and you can use those as part of this course
01:35but they cannot simulate physical devices like these fiber optic cables.
01:40You need to know the difference between a single mode fiber optic cable
01:45and a multi-mode fiber optic cable.
01:47Notice the difference in the light shone through these cables.
01:50Single mode fiber, if I bend it, you can see the light bleeding through the cable there
01:55but notice the pattern doesn't really change
01:58whereas with multi-mode fiber, if I bend the cable, the pattern changes.
02:03It moves.
02:05You need to understand the difference between multi-mode and single-mode fiber.
02:08Very difficult to understand that and visually see what it does
02:12when you're just using an emulator.
02:14Now, you may be wondering why do you need to know about fiber cables?
02:18You're actually using them right now.
02:20The world is connected using fiber cables under the oceans.
02:23So when you're watching a YouTube video, as an example,
02:25that information is transmitted across a fiber cable such as these.
02:29We also have copper ethernet cables.
02:32So this is a copper ethernet cable that you've probably seen before.
02:35It's using an RJ45 connector at the end here.
02:38This uses copper.
02:40This is fiber.
02:41Data is transmitted through light through these cables
02:44whereas here it uses electricity to transmit data.
02:47Now, in the CCNA course, you're going to learn about an ethernet bridge.
02:50Specifically in spanning tree, you're going to learn about something called the spanning tree root bridge.
02:55Most people will just show you a picture of a bridge.
02:58They will not show you what it actually looks like.
03:00So they'll use an icon and we've actually designed brand new icons for this course.
03:06So all the topologies are going to be using a new icon set that we've created.
03:10So you'll just see an icon similar to what's on screen at the moment,
03:13but you don't know what a bridge actually looks like and how it actually acts.
03:17Now, I do get some pushback or flack when I show older devices,
03:21but a really important lesson in networking.
03:23If you don't understand the past, you won't understand why things act the way they do today.
03:29Like as an example, if you don't know what a bridge is,
03:32you wouldn't understand why we have a root bridge rather than a root switch in spanning tree.
03:37You wouldn't understand why a switch, and this is a very modern switch.
03:42This is a 9200 CX switch, why a modern switch like that is better than a bridge,
03:47or even an older switch like this 2950 series switch.
03:51Switches are much faster than bridges, but they act in a very similar way.
03:55In the very old days, we had interfaces like these.
03:58These are serial interfaces, very, very slow.
04:01You may still come across them depending where you are in the world.
04:03So I'm going to talk about some of the history as we go through this course
04:06so that you understand concepts such as a collision domain or broadcast domain.
04:10Collision domains were really important when we had hubs.
04:13Notice this is a Cisco hub.
04:15This is a hub.
04:16This is a switch.
04:17They're very different.
04:18A hub, as an example, works as follows.
04:20When traffic arrives in one port, it's repeated out of all the other ports.
04:24This is known as a multi-port repeater.
04:26Here's an example of a single port repeater.
04:29We've only got port one and port two here.
04:31So when traffic arrives in one port, it gets repeated or amplified out of another port
04:34that allows Ethernet to traverse much greater distances.
04:38As an example, with the cables that we tend to use today, UTP cabling, a cable like this
04:43as an example, maximum distance is 100 meters.
04:46If you wanted to amplify the signal or have the signal go further, you need something that
04:50repeats the signal or amplifies the signal.
04:54And this is a very basic example of a repeater.
04:57Multi-port repeater or hub is a dumb device.
04:59It doesn't understand the traffic sent in the network.
05:02So when traffic arrives in one port destined to one other device, it's simply replicated
05:07or repeated out of all other ports on the device.
05:10That means that if you have a collision on any one of these ports, it affects everyone
05:14in the topology.
05:15Switches work differently to hubs.
05:17So in switches, we use what are called MAC addresses or hardware addresses to identify
05:22hosts on a network.
05:23So when you use your phone as an example to connect to a Wi-Fi network or you use your
05:27computer to connect to a physical Ethernet network, you'll notice that it has what's
05:32called a MAC address or media access control address.
05:34That is a hardware identifier for a device on a Ethernet network or a Wi-Fi network.
05:41Your device will also have an IP address.
05:43Here we've got both an IP version 4 as well as an IP version 6 address.
05:46In networks today and the internet today, we use IP version 4 or IP version 6.
05:52Those are protocols or languages, if you like.
05:55Here we're speaking English.
05:57Hopefully you can understand what I'm saying because we're speaking the same language.
06:01When a phone, as an example, is used to go to YouTube, the language used by the phone
06:08to send information into the network and for YouTube to send a video back to the phone
06:12is IP version 4 or IP version 6.
06:15Now I've invested thousands of dollars collecting equipment for this course and this is only some
06:19of it.
06:20Not only collect equipment that you might never have seen before, such as this Ethernet
06:24bridge or the Cisco hub, but I've also collected very modern devices to add to the course, such
06:29as this Catalyst 9200L switch and one of my favorites, the C9200CX switch.
06:34I like these small switches such as the 1000 series switch because they're quiet and I can
06:38run them on my desk without a bunch of fan noise, but I have got bigger switches such as
06:43this one, I've also got a Cisco 8200 router or what Cisco call an edge platform, but it's
06:49essentially a router.
06:50So I've got a very modern router here.
06:52I've also got another modern router here, an ISR 1100 4G, as well as these 1000 series
06:59routers.
06:59So I've got these two routers that have multiple Ethernet ports, and this one has a DSL port
07:05as an example.
07:06I've also got a Cisco firewall, as well as a Cisco LAN controller, and I've collected a
07:10whole bunch of access points so that I can physically demonstrate how things work.
07:16Now what is a router?
07:17Routers basically route from one network to another.
07:20You may have a router similar to this at home.
07:22One of the most confusing things about devices today is that they actually combine various features
07:27together.
07:27So even though this is a router, it actually acts like a Wi-Fi access point.
07:31In other words, you can connect to the router using Wi-Fi.
07:34Here's a dedicated Wi-Fi access point as an example.
07:37This isn't a router.
07:38It's simply an access point allowing you to connect to the network using a Wi-Fi device.
07:43So this acts like a Wi-Fi access point.
07:45It acts like a switch.
07:46So it has what are called LAN ports, but notice it also has a WAN port.
07:49These are local area network ports.
07:51Local area network is a network like in your home.
07:55It's local to where you are.
07:56Routers route from one network to another using the WAN or wide area network.
08:02So as an example, you could use Ethernet like on this router, but here's a 5G router.
08:09This routes from your home to a 5G network.
08:13Here's a Starlink router.
08:14Routes from your home network as an example to satellites and onto the internet.
08:20Here is a DSL connection.
08:21This routes from your home network.
08:24So perhaps you've got some devices connected to these ports at home, connects you via your
08:29telephone to the internet or wide area network.
08:32So a router will route you, for instance, from Ethernet, your local area network or Wi-Fi
08:38to satellite.
08:39Or from Ethernet, your LAN interface or your local network to 5G or 4G.
08:46Or if you've got fiber at home, you might have an Ethernet port on your router that connects
08:52you to a modem or a device that your internet service provider or ISP gives you at home with
08:58a fiber connection.
08:59Again, I'm hoping that this is the most complete, the most practical and most real world CCNA
09:04course that you take.
09:06That you're not just learning about stuff from a theoretical point of view, that you're actually
09:10seeing what these are.
09:11These are SFPs.
09:13So we've got 10 gig SFPs here.
09:16We've got gig SFPs.
09:17Here's a 25 gig DAC cable or direct attach cable.
09:22And here we've got 100 gigabits per second QSFP 28.
09:26I don't want you to go out into the real world and only learn about stuff through slides or
09:31through pictures.
09:33I want you to actually see how things work.
09:35And not just old equipment, but very modern equipment as well.
09:39Now for the labs, you could use Packet Tracer.
09:41This is a Cisco 4321 router.
09:43And the reason I purchased this router is because it's part of Packet Tracer.
09:48So in the labs, I will show you physically how things look, and then you'll be able to
09:53configure them.
09:54Packet Tracer is a fantastic simulator, but it doesn't simulate everything perfectly.
09:592950 switches are also part of Packet Tracer.
10:02But again, I've got very modern switches like the C9200CX.
10:06Fantastic little switch.
10:08It's important that you understand the difference between a classic iOS switch as well as a iOS
10:13XE switch.
10:15So I've got both examples here so that you can see how iOS XE versus iOS works.
10:20Basically, iOS is the operating system that devices run.
10:24So think of this like running Windows or macOS.
10:28So you're running a Windows operating system on your PC.
10:31This device runs Cisco iOS.
10:33This device runs Cisco iOS XE.
10:35So you need to learn the commands that the operating system uses in the same way that you'd
10:40learn commands in Windows or Linux or macOS.
10:44And that gets to me talking about PCs that are part of the lab.
10:47I'm going to show you macOS.
10:48I'm going to show you Linux.
10:50I'm going to show you Windows.
10:52Physical laptops that are connected to the devices so that you understand how things actually
10:58work versus what simulated environments do.
11:01So as an example, if I had this MacBook connected to port one on the switch and this Windows computer
11:06connected to port two on the switch, if traffic was sent from the MacBook to the Windows computer,
11:12traffic would arrive on port one and only go out of port two because the switch would learn
11:17where the MAC addresses are of the devices and the topology.
11:19With a hub, however, if the MacBook was connected to port one again and the Windows computer was
11:25connected to port two, if traffic was sent from the MacBook to the Windows computer, it would
11:29go out of every port except the port in which it arrived because the hub is basically a dumb
11:33device.
11:34It doesn't understand where devices are in the topology.
11:37It doesn't learn MAC addresses.
11:38It simply repeats or floods the traffic out of all ports except the port in which it arrived.
11:42Hence, it's called a multi-port repeater.
11:45We don't really use hubs today.
11:46But the reason why it's important to know about them is you need to understand collisions
11:51in Ethernet networks.
11:53Wi-Fi, as an example, is a shared medium.
11:56So the bandwidth is shared between multiple devices in the same way that it is with a hub.
12:01I've used a lot of terminology now.
12:03Don't let it overwhelm you.
12:05We're going to talk about what this means and why it's important.
12:08I'm going to show you how these physically get inserted into switches such as these and
12:12how they're used with fiber cables as an example.
12:14Don't let the terminology worry you.
12:17If you struggle, just know that you're joining many of us who started initially and it felt
12:22like we were drinking from a fire hydrant because there's so much information.
12:25Just keep on trying to learn something new every day and you'll get it.
12:30Networking initially seemed really complicated because of all the terminology.
12:33Some people have told me that they find it really abstract.
12:36It's difficult to imagine things or to conceptualize things.
12:39And hence me buying, once again, lots of physical devices and cables and options to show you how
12:45things actually work, both for the CCNA, but also for the real world.
12:50Big thing that I suggest you do is download Packet Tracer.
12:53It's free software that you can download from Cisco and you can practice.
12:57So in the labs, you could either use Cisco Packet Tracer or CML, Cisco Modeling Labs.
13:01But if you're new to this and you're struggling, get Cisco Packet Tracer and I'll show you in an
13:05upcoming video how to download that and install it and build your own networks using Cisco Packet
13:10Tracer.
13:11Once you've seen real devices working, you'll find it a lot easier to work with Cisco Packet
13:16Tracer and configure networks yourself.