Table of Contents
Introduction xxi
 Assessment Test xxxv
 Chapter 1 Network Fundamentals 1
 Network Components 2
 LANs and SOHOs 2
 Routers and Switches 3
 Next-Generation Firewalls and IPS 6
 Network Topology Architectures 10
 The Cisco Three-Layer Hierarchical Model (Three-Tier) 10
 Collapsed Core (Two-Tier) 13
 Spine-Leaf 14
 Wide Area Networks 15
 Defining WAN Terms 16
 WAN Connection Bandwidth 17
 Summary 18
 Exam Essentials 18
 Written Lab 19
 Review Questions 20
 Chapter 2 Ethernet Networking 23
 Ethernet Networks in Review 24
 Collision Domain 25
 Broadcast Domains 26
 Csma/cd 27
 Half- and Full-Duplex Ethernet 29
 Ethernet at the Data Link Layer 31
 Ethernet at the Physical Layer 37
 Ethernet Cabling 40
 Categories of Ethernet Cables 41
 Straight-Through Cable 42
 Crossover Cable 42
 Rolled Cable 44
 Fiber-Optic 47
 Power over Ethernet (802.3af, 802.3at) 48
 Summary 48
 Exam Essentials 49
 Written Labs 50
 Written Lab 2.1: Binary/Decimal/Hexadecimal Conversion 50
 Written Lab 2.2: CSMA/CD Operations 54
 Written Lab 2.3: Cabling 54
 Review Questions 55
 Chapter 3 Tcp/ip 61
 Introducing TCP/IP 62
 A Brief History of TCP/IP 62
 TCP/IP and the DoD Model 63
 The Process/Application Layer Protocols 65
 The Host-to-Host or Transport Layer Protocols 74
 The Internet Layer Protocols 84
 IP Addressing 92
 IP Terminology 92
 The Hierarchical IP Addressing Scheme 93
 Private IP Addresses (RFC 1918) 98
 IPv4 Address Types 99
 Layer 2 Broadcasts 100
 Layer 3 Broadcasts 100
 Unicast Address 101
 Multicast Address 102
 Summary 103
 Exam Essentials 103
 Written Labs 105
 Written Lab 3.1: TCP/IP 105
 Written Lab 3.2: Mapping Applications to the DoD Model 105
 Review Questions 107
 Chapter 4 Easy Subnetting 111
 Subnetting Basics 112
 How to Create Subnets 113
 Subnet Masks 114
 Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) 116
 IP Subnet-Zero 117
 Subnetting Class C Addresses 118
 Subnetting Class B Addresses 130
 Summary 138
 Exam Essentials 139
 Written Labs 139
 Written Lab 4.1: Written Subnet Practice # 1 139
 Written Lab 4.2: Written Subnet Practice # 2 140
 Written Lab 4.3: Written Subnet Practice # 3 141
 Review Questions 142
 Chapter 5 Troubleshooting IP Addressing 147
 Endpoint Overview 148
 Desktops/Laptops 148
 Mobile Phones/Tablets 148
 Access Points 149
 IP Phones 149
 Internet of Things 149
 Servers 149
 Server Roles 150
 Cisco’s Way of Troubleshooting IP 151
 Verify IP Parameters for Operating Systems 153
 Determining IP Address Problems 154
 Summary 159
 Exam Essentials 159
 Written Lab 160
 Review Questions 161
 Chapter 6 Cisco’s Internetworking Operating System (IOS) 163
 The IOS User Interface 164
 Cisco IOS 165
 Connecting to a Cisco IOS Device 165
 Bringing Up a Switch 167
 Command-Line Interface 167
 Entering the cli 168
 Overview of Router Modes 168
 cli Prompts 169
 Editing and Help Features 171
 Administrative Configurations 176
 Hostnames 177
 Banners 177
 Setting Passwords 179
 Encrypting Your Passwords 185
 Descriptions 187
 Router and Switch Interfaces 189
 Bringing Up an Interface 192
 Viewing, Saving, and Erasing Configurations 198
 Deleting the Configuration and Reloading the Device 200
 Verifying Your Configuration 200
 Summary 213
 Exam Essentials 214
 Written Lab 217
 Review Questions 218
 Chapter 7 Managing a Cisco Internetwork 223
 The Internal Components of a Cisco Router and Switch 224
 The Router and Switch Boot Sequence 225
 Backing Up and Restoring the Cisco Configuration 226
 Backing Up the Cisco Configuration 227
 Restoring the Cisco Configuration 229
 Erasing the Configuration 230
 Configuring DHCP 230
 DHCP Relay 232
 Verifying DHCP on Cisco IOS 233
 Using Telnet 233
 Telnetting into Multiple Devices Simultaneously 235
 Checking Telnet Connections 236
 Checking Telnet Users 236
 Closing Telnet Sessions 236
 Resolving Hostnames 237
 Building a Host Table 237
 Using DNS to Resolve Names 239
 Checking Network Connectivity and Troubleshooting 241
 Using the ping Command 241
 Using the traceroute Command 242
 Debugging 243
 Using the show processes Command 245
 Summary 246
 Exam Essentials 246
 Written Labs 248
 Written Lab 7.1: IOS Management 248
 Written Lab 7.2: Router Memory 249
 Review Questions 250
 Chapter 8 Managing Cisco Devices 255
 Managing the Configuration Register 256
 Understanding the Configuration Register Bits 256
 Checking the Current Configuration Register Value 258
 Boot System Commands 259
 Recovering Passwords 260
 Backing Up and Restoring the Cisco IOS 263
 Verifying Flash Memory 264
 Backing Up the Cisco IOS 265
 Restoring or Upgrading the Cisco Router IOS 266
 Using the Cisco IOS File System (Cisco IFS) 269
 Licensing 273
 Right-To-Use Licenses (Evaluation Licenses) 276
 Backing Up and Uninstalling the License 278
 Summary 280
 Exam Essentials 280
 Written Lab 281
 Written Lab 8.1: IOS Management 281
 Review Questions 283
 Chapter 9 IP Routing 287
 Routing Basics 289
 The IP Routing Process 291
 The Cisco Router Internal Process 297
 Testing Your IP Routing Understanding 298
 Configuring IP Routing 302
 Corp Configuration 303
 SF Configuration 305
 LA Configuration 309
 Configuring IP Routing in Our Network 311
 Static Routing 312
 Default Routing 317
 Dynamic Routing 320
 Routing Protocol Basics 321
 Routing Information Protocol 323
 Configuring RIP Routing 323
 Holding Down RIP Propagations 327
 Summary 329
 Exam Essentials 329
 Written Lab 330
 Review Questions 332
 Chapter 10 Open Shortest Path First 337
 Open Shortest Path First Basics 338
 OSPF Terminology 341
 OSPF Operation 343
 Configuring OSPF 345
 Enabling OSPF 345
 Configuring OSPF Areas 346
 Configuring Our Network with OSPF 349
 OSPF and Loopback Interfaces 353
 Configuring Loopback Interfaces 354
 Verifying OSPF Configuration 357
 The show ip ospf Command 357
 The show ip ospf database Command 359
 The show ip ospf interface Command 359
 The show ip ospf neighbor Command 361
 The show ip protocols Command 362
 Summary 362
 Exam Essentials 363
 Written Lab 363
 Review Questions 364
 Chapter 11 Enhanced IGRP 371
 EIGRP Features and Operations 372
 Neighbor Discovery 373
 Reliable Transport Protocol 378
 Diffusing Update Algorithm 379
 Route Discovery and Maintenance 380
 Configuring EIGRP 381
 VLSM Support and Summarization 383
 Controlling EIGRP Traffic 387
 Split Horizon 397
 Verifying and Troubleshooting EIGRP 399
 Troubleshooting Example with EIGRP 405
 EIGRPv 6 415
 Summary 421
 Exam Essentials 421
 Written Lab 422
 Review Questions 423
 Chapter 12 Layer 2 Switching 431
 Switching Services 432
 Three Switch Functions at Layer 2 433
 Port Security 437
 Configuring Catalyst Switches 442
 Catalyst Switch Configuration 442
 Verifying Cisco Catalyst Switches 450
 Summary 452
 Exam Essentials 453
 Written Lab 453
 Review Questions 454
 Chapter 13 VLANs and Inter-VLAN Routing 459
 VLAN Basics 460
 Broadcast Control 463
 Security 464
 Flexibility and Scalability 464
 Identifying VLANs 465
 Frame Tagging 467
 VLAN Identification Methods 468
 Routing Between VLANs 469
 Configuring VLANs 472
 Assigning Switch Ports to VLANs 475
 Configuring Trunk Ports 477
 Configuring Inter-VLAN Routing 480
 Summary 487
 Exam Essentials 487
 Written Lab 488
 Review Questions 489
 Chapter 14 Cloud and Virtual Private Networks 495
 Virtual Private Networks 496
 Benefits of VPNs 498
 Enterprise and Provider Managed VPN’s 498
 Introduction to Cisco IOS IPsec 501
 IPsec Transforms 501
 GRE Tunnels 504
 GRE over IPsec 505
 Configuring GRE Tunnels 506
 Verifying GRE Tunnels 508
 Cloud Models 510
 Cloud Computing and Its Effect on the Enterprise Network 510
 Private Clouds/On-Premises 513
 Public Clouds 513
 Summary 515
 Exam Essentials 515
 Written Lab 516
 Review Questions 517
 Chapter 15 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 521
 AI Overview 522
 AI Categories 523
 Performance Capabilities 523
 Functional Categories 524
 AI Architectures 528
 AI Subsets 535
 Machine Learning 536
 Expert Systems 536
 Natural Language Processing 537
 Computer Vision 538
 How Machines Learn 540
 Supervised Learning 540
 Unsupervised Learning 541
 Generative AI 543
 Large Language Models 544
 Hallucinations 544
 Data Sovereignty 546
 GenAI Offerings 547
 ChatGPT 547
 Co-Pilot 547
 Llama 548
 Strategies 550
 Prompt Engineering 550
 Retrieval-Augmented Generation 553
 GenAI for Network Engineers 554
 Research and Study 555
 Troubleshooting Assistance 555
 Configuration Templates 555
 Summary 557
 Exam Essentials 559
 Written Lab 559
 Review Questions 560
 Appendix A Answers to the Written Labs 565
 Chapter 1: Network Fundamentals 566
 Chapter 2: Ethernet Networking 566
 Written Lab 2.1: Binary/Decimal/Hexadecimal Conversion Answer 566
 Written Lab 2.2: CSMA/CD Operations Answer 568
 Written Lab 2.3: Cabling Answer 568
 Chapter 3: Tcp/ip 568
 Written Lab 3.1: TCP/IP 568
 Written Lab 3.2: Mapping Applications to the DoD Model 569
 Chapter 4: Easy Subnetting 569
 Written Lab 4.1: Written Subnet Practice # 1 569
 Written Lab 4.2: Written Subnet Practice # 2 570
 Written Lab 4.3: Written Subnet Practice # 3 571
 Chapter 5: Troubleshooting IP Addressing 571
 Chapter 6: Cisco’s Internetworking Operating System (IOS) 571
 Chapter 7: Managing a Cisco Internetwork 572
 Written Lab 7.1: IOS Management 572
 Written Lab 7.2: Router Memory 572
 Chapter 8: Managing Cisco Devices 573
 Written Lab 8.1: IOS Management 573
 Chapter 9: IP Routing 573
 Chapter 10: Open Shortest Path First 574
 Chapter 11: Enhanced IGRP 574
 Chapter 12: Layer 2 Switching 574
 Chapter 13: VLANs and Inter- VLAN Routing 574
 Chapter 14: Cloud and Virtual Private Networks 575
 Chapter 15: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 576
 Appendix B Answers to the Review Questions 579
 Chapter 1: Network Fundamentals 580
 Chapter 2: Ethernet Networking 580
 Chapter 3: Tcp/ip 583
 Chapter 4: Easy Subnetting 584
 Chapter 5: Troubleshooting IP Addressing 585
 Chapter 6: Cisco’s Internetworking Operating System (IOS) 586
 Chapter 7: Managing a Cisco Internetwork 588
 Chapter 8: Managing Cisco Devices 590
 Chapter 9: IP Routing 591
 Chapter 10: Open Shortest Path First 593
 Chapter 11: Enhanced IGRP 595
 Chapter 12: Layer 2 Switching 597
 Chapter 13: VLANs and Inter- VLAN Routing 599
 Chapter 14: Cloud and Virtual Private Networks 600
 Chapter 15: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 602
 Index 605