EH-Net

My CCNA cert will expire near the end of this year.  When I originally took the exam I took a week course and then went home and studied through the Todd Lammie book (http://www.amazon.com/CCNA-Certified-Network-Associate-640-802/dp/0470110082/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1) .  Unfortunately, at work, we moved away from Cisco equipment and i haven't touched one in probably two years.  So I'm out of practice. 

Does anyone know if the Lammie book is still a good resource or has the test changed enough in three years? 

Does anyone know of a good way to get some hands on experience to test?  I haven't seen a way to virtualize an ios environment and some of the simulators leave a lot to be desired. 

Thanks in advance.
Mac

I used Todds book when I did the CCNA. It seemed fine to me. You could use GNS3 to virtualize the IOS http://www.gns3.net/ you will need a real copy of the IOS. Or you could buy a few cheap routers and go at it. Or if you know someone who is in netcad, you could borrow a copy of packet tracer

Different idea, but since your cert is still current, why not expand it? Take the CCNA Security, Wireless or Voip tests instead?

Out of those 3, CCNA:Security would be the easiest. CCNA:V and CCNA:W can be somewhat difficult to study for .

I actually really like the idea of going for CCNA:S but I my main worry is that I'm out of practice.  I still have the Lammie book and my certification doesn't expire until November.  I've been considering re-reading the Lammie book and feeding key parts of the text into Anki and constantly reviewing until I have a solid hold on those.  For hardware, I'm likely to either try GNS3 ( it wasn't very mature when I used it three years ago ) or I'll try to scavenge some old Cisco routers we have around the office if possible. 

Hopefully I can manage this along with studying for CISSP.  If I manage my time at night after the kid has gone to sleep and try not to hurry, I think I can pull off both (well, i guess it's all three). 

Does anyone have any good resources for starting with CCNA:S? 

And again, thank you for the advice.  I'm new to EH and so far, things has been very encouraging. 

This is really handy for practice, though you have to provide your own IOS images.

http://www.gns3.net/ (http://www.gns3.net/)

I remember trying GNS3 back when I was originally studying for my CCNA but I recalled having a lot of trouble with it.  I'm sure it's made some serious strides in 3 years so I'll check it out again. 

Oops, I for some reason didn't realize that's the same tool you posted earlier...  I just went and copied the URL because I happened to have the tab open already.

 ;D

Don't be too worried. The CCNA:S is like Security+ but from Cisco. You can probably study up and pass it without too much work. I think my CCNA took me like 5 months but the CCNA:Security took like a month and a half.

Thanks knwminus.  I'm still going to re-read the Todd Lammle book and throw my notes into an SRS system to get myself back up to an acceptable base of knowledge with Cisco.  Any suggestions on CCNA:S books?

If you want some hands on without using a simulator then look on e-bay for CCNA Lab Rigs.  You can pick them up for a few hundred £, get back in practice then sell it back on for about the same money when you've finished with it.

It's even possible to combine it with something like GNS3 to 'virtually' expand your rig.