This book is a concise one-stop desk reference and synopsis of basicknowledge and skills for Cisco certification prep. For beginning andexperienced network engineers tasked with building LAN, WAN, and datacenter connections, this book lays out clear directions for installing,configuring, and troubleshooting networks with Cisco devices. The fullrange of certification topics is covered, including all aspects of IOS,NX-OS, and ASA software. The emphasis throughout is on solving thereal-world challenges engineers face in configuring network devices,rather than on exhaustive descriptions of hardware features.Thispractical desk companion doubles as a comprehensive overview of thebasic knowledge and skills needed by CCENT, CCNA, and CCNP exam takers.It distills a comprehensive library of cheat sheets, lab configurations,and advanced commands that the authors assembled as senior networkengineers for the benefit of junior engineers they train, mentor on thejob, and prepare for Cisco certification exams. Prior familiarity withCisco routing and switching is desirable but not necessary, as ChrisCarthern, Dr. Will Wilson, Noel Rivera, and Richard Bedwell start theirbook with a review of the basics of configuring routers and switches.All the more advanced chapters have labs and exercises to reinforce theconcepts learned. This book differentiates itself fromother Cisco books on the market by approaching network security from ahacker's perspective. Not only does it provide network securityrecommendations but it teaches you how to use black-hat tools such asoclHashcat, Loki, Burp Suite, Scapy, Metasploit, and Kali to actuallytest the security concepts learned. Readers of Cisco Networks will learn How to configure Cisco switches, routers, and data center devices in typical corporate network architecturesThe skills and knowledge needed to pass Cisco CCENT, CCNA, and CCNP certification examsHowto set up and configure at-home labs using virtual machines and labexercises in the book to practice advanced Cisco commandsHow to implement networks of Cisco devices supporting WAN, LAN, and data center configurationsHow to implement secure network configurations and configure the Cisco ASA firewallHow to use black-hat tools and network penetration techniques to test the security of your network