Introduction
T
he CCENT certification is a new, fast-growing certification that tests
your knowledge of basic Cisco device-management and networking
concepts. It is a great stepping stone to the CCNA certification and other
Cisco certification tracks. The CCENT exam tests your knowledge of
real-world networking concepts and Cisco features found on most
networks today!
About This Book
CCENT Certification All-In-One For Dummies is designed to be a hands-on,
practical guide to help you pass the CCENT certification exam. This book is
written in a way that helps you not only understand complex technical content,
but also prepares you to apply that knowledge to real-world scenarios.
I understand the value of a book that covers the points needed to pass
the exam, but I also understand the value of ensuring that the information
helps you perform IT-related tasks when you are on the job. That is what
this book offers you — key points to pass the exam combined with practical
information to help you in the real world, which means that you can use this
book in more than one way.
✦ An exam preparation tool: Because my goal is to help you pass the
CCENT certification exam, this book is packed with exam-specific
information and tips to help you with tricky exam questions. You should
understand everything that is in this book before taking the exam, but
to identify key points that you must know, look for icons named For the
Exam. In those paragraphs, you will find helpful tips on topics you are
certain to be tested on.
✦ A reference: Rely on my extensive experience in the IT industry not
only to study for (and pass) the exam, but also to help you perform
common network-related tasks on the job. I hope you find this book a
useful tool that you can refer to time and time again in your career as
you configure networks and Cisco devices.
Conventions Used in This Book
Each chapter in this book has different elements that help you prepare to
pass your CCENT, including the following features:
03_647486-intro.indd 103_647486-intro.indd 1
10/15/10 11:18 PM10/15/10 11:18 PM
Conventions Used in This Book
2
✦ Quick Assessments: Located at the beginning of each chapter is a Quick
Assessment section that gives a number of questions related to the
chapter content for you to assess whether you have the knowledge
already in that chapter. It is highly recommended to read all chapters in
the book, but if you find you are limited on study time you may want to
focus on the topics you know the least about — the Quick Assessments
help you determine what topics you know and what you need more
work on.
✦ Icons: Look for the icons used in each chapter to draw your attention to
information needed for the exam or in the real world. For more details
on the icons I use, check out the later section, “Icons Used in This
Book.”
✦ Chapter Summary: Found at the end of each chapter, the “Chapter
Summary” section covers key points you should remember for the
exam.
✦ Labs: Lab exercises offer the opportunity to get your hands dirty with a
particular topic with real-world experience performing specific tasks. In
order to totally grasp the topics discussed in a chapter, be sure to perform
the lab exercises. The CCENT certification has a number of simulators
that will test your real-world knowledge so you really need to know how
to perform the different tasks to pass the exam. Due to the fact that you
may have different configurations when you do the labs, there are no
lab answers within the Labs section.
✦ Prep Test: Following each “Chapter Summary” section, you can find
questions to help review the chapter content and prepare you for the
CCENT certification exam. Be sure to answer the review questions in
each chapter! Then, after you finish reading the entire book and do the
lab exercises, check out the practice exams on the companion CD-ROM,
which is designed to function like the real exam, with the same level of
difficulty.
✦ Monofont text: To help you distinguish commands you type or text
you should see on the screen I apply the monofont style to the
text. Examples where you see this style are on router commands, IP
addresses, and names of devices.
✦ Boldface text: To help identify new commands that you are learning
within a code listing the boldface text style is applied. Although you
should read over all code in a code example, using the boldface text
will help draw your attention to the new commands presented in a code
listing.
