Need networking experience

[Hilfen088]

Hi!

First time poster. Starting a career change into networking or cyber security. Anybody got any tips? Learning resources, cert. Recommendations, practical ways to learn?

 

Thanks in advance

[nox_]

13 minutes ago, Hilfen088 said:

Starting a career change into networking or cyber security.

What's your current career?

[Hilfen088]

.

[Hilfen088]

13 minutes ago, nox_ said:

What's your current career?

Mechanical fitter.

I do overhaul maintenance on generators, turbines, valves etc. Around Australia.

[ImNotThere]

Learn junos syntax more than cisco, no. 1 piece of advice!

[LAwLz]

4 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

Learn junos syntax more than cisco, no. 1 piece of advice!

Bad advice, because that entirely depends on which vendor you end up working with.

Learning a bunch of Junos syntax will be completely and utterly useless if you end up working somewhere they don't use Juniper equipment.

 

 

OP, look into the CCNA routing and switching material. It's the entry level networking cert from Cisco and it goes over all the basics. You don't have to take the cert if you don't want to (can be expensive, and difficult) but any guide or video that is aimed at making people pass CCNA will give you a good understanding of basic networking.

Here is a reddit thread about studying for CCNA which ahs some good advice and resources:

 

[Hilfen088]

6 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

Learn junos syntax more than cisco, no. 1 piece of advice!

Cool, thanks alot

[Hilfen088]

4 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Bad advice, because that entirely depends on which vendor you end up working with.

Learning a bunch of Junos syntax will be completely and utterly useless if you end up working somewhere they don't use Juniper equipment.

 

 

OP, look into the CCNA routing and switching material. It's the entry level networking cert from Cisco and it goes over all the basics. You don't have to take the cert if you don't want to (can be expensive, and difficult) but any guide or video that is aimed at making people pass CCNA will give you a good understanding of basic networking.

Here is a reddit thread about studying for CCNA which ahs some good advice and resources:

 

Hey! Thanks for your input im currently about half way through the Comptia network+ course, I'll definitely look at this aswell.

[Denned]

Start with Cisco CCNA. Read the books, take the cert. Use CBT Nuggets or INE in addition to the books if needed. Even if you don't end up working with Cisco equipment. The learning material and certifications is much higher quality, and often more desired compared with certs from other vendors.

 

Learning Python will also be a huge plus, and needed if Cisco Devnet sounds interresting to you.

[Hilfen088]

21 minutes ago, Denned said:

Start with Cisco CCNA. Read the books, take the cert. Use CBT Nuggets or INE in addition to the books if needed. Even if you don't end up working with Cisco equipment. The learning material and certifications is much higher quality, and often more desired compared with certs from other vendors.

 

Learning Python will also be a huge plus, and needed if Cisco Devnet sounds interresting to you.

Yeah I was gunna start learning Python for fun when I have a bit more time. Thanks for the advice

[ImNotThere]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

Bad advice, because that entirely depends on which vendor you end up working with.

Learning a bunch of Junos syntax will be completely and utterly useless if you end up working somewhere they don't use Juniper equipment.

 

 

OP, look into the CCNA routing and switching material. It's the entry level networking cert from Cisco and it goes over all the basics. You don't have to take the cert if you don't want to (can be expensive, and difficult) but any guide or video that is aimed at making people pass CCNA will give you a good understanding of basic networking.

Here is a reddit thread about studying for CCNA which ahs some good advice and resources:

 

From experience, juniper is much more widely used(ref EU backbone network ran by GEANT) with cisco almost exclusively used for terminal servers and switches 

 

 

Perhaps better advice would be to get familiar with cisco and juniper syntax, or even better yet, look into hiring companies and see what they use

[Lurick]

51 minutes ago, ImNotThere said:

From experience, juniper is much more widely used(ref EU backbone network ran by GEANT) with cisco almost exclusively used for terminal servers and switches 

 

Perhaps better advice would be to get familiar with cisco and juniper syntax, or even better yet, look into hiring companies and see what they use

Learn both (or realize employers want knowledge of concepts much more than "how do you configure BGP without a CLI book" on X device)

I would suggest looking at NetworkChuck or other youtubers for basic experience and growing from there.

[LAwLz]

3 hours ago, ImNotThere said:

From experience, juniper is much more widely used(ref EU backbone network ran by GEANT) with cisco almost exclusively used for terminal servers and switches 

Market stats says otherwise. 

Are you sure you're not (incorrectly) interpreting "this is what I have used" into "this is what everyone uses". 

 

Anyway, I haven't used Junos but I can't imagine it is that much different from other vendors like Aruba or Cisco. 

If you learn the theory behind how everything works then it shouldn't be too hard to do basic stuff regardless of vendor. 

 

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/540779/enterprise-network-market-share-by-vendor/

 

https://www.smartprofile.io/analytics-papers/cisco-hpe-market-leaders-network-equipment/

 

[Hilfen088]

Thanks for your input and the channel recommendation Its all valuable! I'm doing a comptia network+ to learn the concepts, and researching vendors used in Aus.

[ImNotThere]

On 9/16/2020 at 5:33 PM, LAwLz said:

Market stats says otherwise. 

Are you sure you're not (incorrectly) interpreting "this is what I have used" into "this is what everyone uses". 

 

Anyway, I haven't used Junos but I can't imagine it is that much different from other vendors like Aruba or Cisco. 

If you learn the theory behind how everything works then it shouldn't be too hard to do basic stuff regardless of vendor. 

 

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/540779/enterprise-network-market-share-by-vendor/

 

https://www.smartprofile.io/analytics-papers/cisco-hpe-market-leaders-network-equipment/

 

Well I guess my evidence was more anecdotal than anything but in most of large EU networks (GEANT, NORDUNET) use my mentioned configuration of juniper routers and cisco switches(although most are leaning towards opengear terminal servers due to the lower cost) but in the US for example in the r and e space they use mx204s to liase with eu r and e and then use predominantly cisco for their domain, so I guess the answer the OPs question would have come from where they are from

[Rhyst9]

Where in Aus are you? RMIT in Melbourne do some really good courses!

 

I would suggest CCNA as a start the most widely recognized will help get your foot in the door somewhere and then tailor your learning to the path, but also get a good Linux grasp as well not sure on official training but really comes in handy.

[Hilfen088]

16 hours ago, Rhyst9 said:

Where in Aus are you? RMIT in Melbourne do some really good courses!

Hey, thanks for the info  I'm in Victoria, 1 1/2 hours south of Melbourne atm. But me and my gf are going to move either around Melbourne or Sydney early next year.