What is Reddit's opinion of Network Warrior: Everything You Need to Know That Wasn't on the CCNA Exam?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Check out the book Network Warrior. It's getting old now, but it covers a bunch of topics that CCNA doesn't really touch at all but are common things you deal with.

Whatever equipment your company uses, go sign up for vendor training. Seems like most of them will provide basic training and more for customers for free. Ask your manager about paid training as well. Hopefully your company budgets for this.

Subscribe to /r/networking. The community there can be brutal at times, but also very helpful if you are stuck. Also sub to more specific subreddits for your network stack. Bonus, check out /r/networkingmemes

Ask if there is a lab or testing equipment you can use. Practice troubleshooting etc on a non-production device before you go and delete all the vlans on your core switch because you forgot to type 'add'.

Just keep learning. I had major imposter syndrome for a year when I got my first network engineer position. You'll surely make mistakes and cause outages, but w/e. Figure out what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again.

> What skills/projects do you suggest I develop to help me in real life networking positions?

subscribe to:

/r/networking
/r/sysadmin
/r/netsecstudents

DONT ignore Linux skills.

Read this book:

Amazon: Network Warrior: Everything You Need to Know That Wasn't on the CCNA Exam

I have love/hate relationship with CCNA it is helpful for landing a gig. My guys who come in with that cert get told: "Good job! Funny Story: Only 5% of what you learned is going to be relevant to your job."

A must have reference book is Network Warrior: Everything you need to know that wasn't on the CCNA

Hit the buzz words now if you have time "software defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualisation (NFV)" focus on business relations and interpersonal communications... the world is moving into a place where DEVOPS leaders are common.

While a CCNA is nice to have, you may find happiness is a small to medium company that would rather have experience then paper. If your looking bigger then a small company then start reading up on ITIL processes. When we had a prospect come into an interview and homerun our lifecycle questions he was hired on the spot.

I guess you need to truly decide where you want to be. What i mean by that is where do you want to work, medical, financial, education, private sector, contractor, etc. Each location requires a slightly different skill set to shine above the rest.

all in all your on the right track. I would recommend grabbing this book from O'reilly Press "Network Warrior" its a great taste of everything out there.

A bit different, but I am reading Network Warrior.

I also just finished listening to An Astronauts Guide to life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. Really really good. I have now started listing to David Michell: Backstory and it is hilarious.

CCNA Security suggestions are solid, but I also recommend giving this book a read or atleast keep it handy for reference. Tons of good info in there and it's a good next (non-certification) step for a freshly minted CCNA.

Congrats on the pass!

Thanks! I'm going to read Network Warrior because I've heard it has some very useful real-world knowledge. Then onto the CCNP R+S probably using Odom and CBT Nuggets. Thoughts/comments?

This is also the route I will take once I finish the CBT CCNA labs nuggets, and brush up on critical IOS commands. I'll also be reading this during this same time frame. Hopefully this will be enough for the test AND the real world.

Edit: I just realized after clicking your link that those are the same videos I'm watching. Good stuff

Network Warrior: Everything You Need to Know That Wasn't on the CCNA Exam. https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861

Okay here we go...

Books: Through all my studying I've used cert guides, and Wendall Odom's is really the best. I met him a few years back, great guy. Humble, and had a conversation with me even though I was fanboying. I haven't much to say about the other books, but I know Anthony Sequeira is super smart, so I'm sure it is worth it. The other amazing book I suggest: Network Warrior. Fantastic book with technical details, some out dated, and not on the exam, but also some cultural items also. See GAD's maxims.

Videos: I personally used CBT Nuggets which has fantastic videos that take you through everything start to finish in a follow along type of manner. I was fortunate to have a company that would pay for a subscription. Jeremy Cioara is a network god.

My typical study for an exam consisted of reading, videos, and practice. I would dedicate >1 hour a day to study. In the very least you can put a video on in the background while you're driving or something. Also, if doing videos, take notes while not doing practical training.

For hands on, I suggest using packet tracer. You can find it around. It is essentially ccna simulation. No need to buy hardware, or configure difficult GNS3. Just install and point and click.

I suggest scheduling the exam now. Seriously. Schedule it for a few months out, and it will motivate you to study. I find, for myself, that without scheduling, I will not study. Go ahead and pay up front now. You can at least move it later in the future.

Finally, on-the-job training. This is where you get most of your knowledge. Really, you can know a lot and pass the exams, but to get training on the job, and to find a mentor, you will go much farther much faster. I've seen smart people with no mentor to show them the ropes become stunted in their progression. I highly suggest you find a job that will let you learn from a senior engineer/architect.

I hope that helps.

Edit: One more thing I forgot. Get the networking bug. Seriously. Fall in love with it. Get a passion for it. If you don't you'll never reach your highest potential.

To piggy-back on your suggestion, <em>Network Warrior</em> was a great learning tool. Definitely outdated nowadays but the principals are mostly the same.

https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3L1G70FBZONC8&amp;keywords=network+warrior&amp;qid=1640970256&amp;sprefix=network+wa%2Caps%2C251&amp;sr=8-1

Others have mentioned Sec+ as a good starting place and I think I'd disagree. Sec+ is a very high level introduction to security as a whole while you have specified you are teaching a class on NETWORK security which is a bit more specific. In that spirit, I would recommend a book (or books) that is specifically related to networks rather than include other infosec domains. Important concepts here include (but are not limited to)..

• Network devices (e.g. hub, switch, router, etc...)
• VLANs
• TCP/IP
• Network protocols and concepts (e.g. RIP, OSPF, etc...)
• Application Protocols (e.g. HTTP, SMB, SNMP, etc...)
• Firewalls
• Network topologies
• Security tools (e.g. IDS, IPS, SIEM, etc..)

Though I'm sure there are some books out there that would cover all these things, I'm not sure of one specifically I would recommend. One book that does cover quite a few of these things is https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861. This book leans a little more towards straight networking than "security" specifically but I think the best way to become a good security pro is to understand the actual technologies as best you can. Supplementing this book with other books that dive deeper into other security specific topics listed above would also be good though.

https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861

Been an enterprise network admin for many years (no certs) - I love this book.....

Hey there /u/TheOtherDrunkenOtter :)

I think one of the most important parts of a transition into IT/Cybersecurity is to determine what you find interesting about it. I find that for most self-starter personalities that if you don't have a problem to solve/drive toward then it's very easy to have it drop off top of mind.

>Do you have any tips for leveraging nontraditional experiences like my own? Was there a certain approach that you personally found successful?

With that said I'm going to push the question back to you and add another one; what about IT and Cybersecurity do you find interesting? And, how do you find that you learn best?

For me I learn by doing and reading, I cannot learn through watching videos because of my deep drive to multitask as they require my full attention which I generally cannot provide. When I did my OSCP I knew that I would use the workbook and the labs but I would not watch the videos - as that's not how I learn. Once you determine how you learn best - or if you don't know, take the time to try out a few different methods to determine how - you can then start to move forward quicker. And when I say try I mean literally try, do not dedicate enough time into something that you're pushed into procrastination mode if it's not working.

I know a number of people like Cybrary for cybersecurity learning, most of these are instructed courses for those who like to learn this way. There's also hackthebox.eu and vulnhub.com for offensive testing - but none of those necessarily teach fundamentals of IT. As a general book Network Warrior is great at those networking fundamentals that live inside of IT generally.

However in the end it all comes down to one thing for IT/Cybersecurity as a self-starter/learner - build a homelab, break the homelab, build it again and keep doing that while adding new technologies. Doing this will expose you to the technologies relevant to your interests and introduce you to the complexities people run into often. Reading /r/sysadmin will also help show you where people are seeing the most friction - but it will also give you some insight into some of the issues in the industry as well.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out of course about the above :).

>And finally, are there any unique challenges to founding a software or cybersec startup that might not be present in more traditional industries? Has your team found that you need to focus on searching for a different set of skills than you would at a more established company?

Modern cybersecurity startups definitely require an interesting cadre of experiences to build the best solution possible. Some of those issues exist across traditional technologies, e.g., "we have so much data, what do?!" but in security you of course have that amped up due to the importance of data analysis. If your BI service fails for 6 hours it's a minor annoyance, if your SIEM fails for 6 hours and misses because they didn't build things properly you're in a different place entirely. Some Cybersecurity startups have started to offload complexities like this by having customer's manage their own data warehouses, I'm not sure if that's the right direction however.

Hrm, I don't think we necessarily look for a different set of skills, no. At this stage in the company we do more targeted hiring of course but in my experience the "right person" can come from a number of different backgrounds. What we do have is a lot of odd complexities and we look for someone who wants to solve those problems - they do very well in general. Empathy and a strong culture is equally important at Blumira and I find that hiring people that want to work as a team to solve problems will always result in problems being solved in unique and scalable ways with less friction.

- Matt Warner

dated, but I enjoyed reading Network Warrior

https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861

+1 for Network Warrior. Ton of cool information that's not necessarily covered in exam topics.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449387861/

Buy this book:

Network Warrior: Everything You Need to Know That Wasn't on the CCNA Exam 2nd Edition

I brings some moderately advanced network topics into use-cases to help you appreciate why they are necessary.

Then go here and make yourself a free account:

http://www.ciscolive.com/online

Just click the Login button up top right, then make an account.

Cisco Live is Cisco's annual network & server engineering convention.
Thousands of presentations to consume via slide deck or video lecture.

They might not help you pass a CCNA exam, but they will make you a better networker.

Some examples:

Network Warrior is usually recommended. It is older but seems pretty good. I just picked it up myself.

https://smile.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1508295913&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=network+warrior

I use Packet Tracer for some labs, GNS3 for others. I recommend playing with both!

The website Router Alley has some excellent guides and has a more concise writing style than Odom, who tends to contain more depth at the expense of added fluff. However, it's not a one stop shop.

All throughout my studies, Google has revealed some great networking blogs (most notably packetlife) which anchors some topics that prove to be most confusing while also exposing you to topics just beyond the scope of CCNA to prepare you for the road ahead.

Network Warrior and TCP/IP Guide are excellent supplementary texts, the former containing some slightly dated information with real-world scenarios, the latter describing the full range of TCP/IP protocols and relevant RFCs.

Godspeed, may the Flow be with you.

https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861

Am in the middle of reading this and it's crazy informative.

You haven't mentioned what kind of router/switch you have, if they are capable of doing these things.

this used to be good: https://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Everything-Need-Wasnt/dp/1449387861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1484363445&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=network+warrior

What ???

The FAQ documentation actually proved useful ???

./sarcasm

Good luck.

From a networking perspective, I'm a HUGE fan of:

http://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Gary-A-Donahue/dp/1449387861

For a more practical guide I think this is the best book:

http://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Gary-A-Donahue/dp/1449387861

> What are important things to learn besides whats on the CCNA?

How to use the search feature on social media websites to find answers to common questions is a pretty useful skill.

Also:

Book: Network Warrior: Everything You Need to Know That Wasn't on the CCNA Exam ^Second ^Edition

These might also help:

Books: http://www.amazon.com/Network-Warrior-Gary-Donahue/dp/1449387861

If they don't have it already..