Maximum PC

I would like to move a little further in my career than I am at currently. I recently applied for a job and got an interview but because of the lack of expierence in layer 2/3 switches and router I did not get the position.

I know the standard everyone suggests is the ccna but others have mentioned that juniper and fortinet are beginning to be used more in the private sector due to being more modern and cost effective.

What I am wanting to do is buy the equipment to setup a mini lab at home so I can literally learn from doing and get certified in the beginning stages of a network admin.

Also, training classes exist and I could handle taking vacation and doing quick classes in the dallas area too. I noticed for juniper they have a lot of online classes on mondays about once every other month. Not sure how good these are?

Which route should I pursue for this? CCNA? Thanks!

PM me if you want access to fortinet training materials .. I can't get you hardware but I think we have webinars and docs that I am allowed to make available to you.

I should have mentioned I have a 4 year degree in MIS IT track, so I have had a class on networking, security, do the usual cat 5, have terminated fibre, etc. So I wouldn't be walking blindly into this not knowing whats in a packet or the basics of static routes.

PM sent.

I would say that at least 90% of the job openings that I've looked at recently are asking for a CCNA, so it's definitely something worth looking at.

If you already have any hands on with the gear, then save yourself the money of a home lab and check out Dynamips or GNS3. Dynamips is a Cisco router simulator, GNS3 is a GUI front end to it. There's also plenty of good sources for practice labs setup for Dynamips/GNS3 such as this. There's simulators for Juniper as well, but I can't tell you what they're worth.

Packet Tracer is a good Cisco Program and can be downloaded Here:

http://packet-tracer.software.informer.com/

There is also a Site that you can go to for FREE training and forums. All they do is IT Certification training and the ENTIRE SITE is FREE.

http://www.proprofs.com/

Packettracer is only available to those enrolled in the Cisco Networking Academy and can only be legally obtained from the CNA web site. This site cannot be legit. See here for more info.