Your Roadmap
50 labs in 5 tracks, from your first ping to a routed network built on a blank router.
Track 1 · Network Basics
- Hello, Network · IP addressing on one LAN
- Link Lights · Layer 1: link status
- Dead Ports · Several faults at once
- Mask Mix-up · Subnet masks
- Challenge: Office Wake-Up · Link lights, IPs and masks together
- Who Owns This MAC? · ARP and MAC addresses
- Twin Addresses · Duplicate IPs
- Subnet Detective · Network and broadcast addresses
- Two Switches · A bigger LAN
- Challenge: Two Closets · Faults across two switches
- Special Addresses · Private, loopback and APIPA
- Challenge: Subnet Surgery · Masks that disagree
- Challenge: Switch Closet Mystery · Duplicate IPs, stale ARP, dead link
Track 2 · Getting Off the LAN
- The Way Out · Default gateway and routers
- Lost Router · When the gateway link is down
- Where’s My Address? · DHCP
- Name Trouble · DNS
- Open Ports · TCP, UDP and services
- Web Detective · DNS and ports together
- Two LANs, One Router · Gateways on both sides
- Names Across Networks · DNS through a router
- Port Numbers · Well-known ports
- Challenge: Branch Office · Gateway, DNS and ports
- Challenge: Lost in Translation · DHCP then DNS
- Challenge: Shop Is Down · Gateway, DNS and ports together
Track 3 · Switching & Routing
- VLAN Walls · VLANs
- Two Departments · A bigger VLAN design
- Static Routes · Routing tables
- Gateway of Last Resort · Default routes
- Three Hops · Routing across three routers
- Challenge: Missing Routes · Static routes across three routers
Track 4 · Security & Troubleshooting
- Block That Traffic · ACLs and rule order
- Guest Wi-Fi · Rule order with three hosts
- Challenge: Firewall Fiasco · ACL order plus a service fault
- Challenge: Boss Lab: Triple Fault · Three faults, no hand-holding
- Challenge: Final Boss: Datacenter Down · Five faults, six devices
Track 5 · Configure It Yourself
- Blank Router · IOS modes and interface setup
- Build the Gateway · Two routers and static routes
- Trunk Lines · Access and trunk ports
- Allowed on the Trunk · Trunk allowed VLAN list
- Pick the Root Bridge · Spanning tree and root election
- Challenge: Trunk Trouble · VLANs, access ports and trunks
- DHCP on the Router · Router as a DHCP server
- Hide Behind One Address · NAT overload
- Let OSPF Do It · Dynamic routing
- Default Route on a Router · Cisco default route
- Read the Routing Table · Interface and route checks
- Challenge: Routers Gone Quiet · Ports, addresses and static routes
- Lock the Doors · Port security and SSH
- Challenge: Full Build · Build a network from blank
Starting the simulator…