2. Why go for Cisco certification? To be an international talent, an international certification is no doubt the best gateway to achieving international relevance in the IT field. While among all certifications in market, Cisco certification which was released by the well-known network enterprise Cisco enjoys wild acceptance and great reputation.

3. What are the benefits of certification? a) Candidate who acquire Cisco certification usually enjoys a better job security; and b) The individual can enjoy credit exemptions for associate professions.

4. Can one without college education get Cisco certification? Yes one can get Cisco certification, in fact there are a huge number of candidates who didn’t have computer major background. Only if you own courage and capability in learning something new, you can pursue Cisco certification and there is great opportunity for you to gain certification.

5. Who needs Cisco certification? a) A graduate looking at surviving the fierce competition for limited job opportunities, which can greatly be alleviated by acquiring a Cisco certification. b) Career seekers looking for a career change and want to enter into IT industry, Cisco certification is no doubt the best permit to validate your capability for a job role. c) Network Technicians are provided an opportunity to grow on the job as Cisco certification enables them to ask for a higher position and better remuneration.

Other than remuneration benefits, what other benefits can I enjoy if a gain Cisco certification? a) License enables you to immigrate or work abroad; b) Gain trust from Cisco as well as client; c) Gain technical support from Cisco; d) Be allowed to put Cisco logo on your resume e) Be list into talent pool f) Chances for attending Cisco Technical lecture class; g) Gain competitive edge and become popular in big enterprises;

7. How can I recertify my Cisco Certified (CCSP) certification? There is a 3 year validation for CCSP certification . There are two paths available for candidates to recertify their CCSP certification. One is to pass any 642 exam which belongs to professional level certification; the other is to take and pass any CCIE written exam. Candidate should pay attention to that the two paths can be followed only when candidate processes a valid CCSP certification.

8. How much does Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) certification cost? The written exam and lab exam, are required for CCIE certification. The written exam costs $350 USD/ZAR2800 while the beta exams allow $50 USD/ZAR400 discount. The lab exam costs $1400 USD/ZAR11,600. If candidates can’t pass both the exam at their first try, it may cost more.

Can One take Cisco Certified Network Professional exam directly? No, one can not. A valid CCNA certification can act as the prerequisite of CCNP exam.

10. What can one do after gaining Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification? As we all know, CCNA certification is an associate level certification which validate the fundamental skills and knowledge of candidates’. CCNA certification enables candidate to pursue other higher level certifications, which means CCNA is just a springboard for candidate. After gaining CCNA certification, candidates can consider about pursuing other higher level certifications in Cisco certification system

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Frame Relay Overview

In preparation of our CCNA exam, we want to make sure we cover the various concepts that we could see on our Cisco CCNA exam. So to assist you, below we will discuss Frame Relay Overview.

Frame Relay is a connection-oriented Layer 2 protocol that allows several data connections(called virtual circuits) to be multiplexed onto a single physical link. Frame Relay relies on upper-layer protocols for error correction. Frame Relay specifies only the connection between a router and a service provider’s local access switching equipment. The data transmission within the service provider’s Frame Relay cloud is not specified. A connection identifier is used to map packets to outbound ports on the service provider’s switch. When the switch receives a frame, a lookup table is used to map the frame to the correct outbound port. The entire path to the destination is determined before the frame is sent.

Frame Relay Stack

Most Frame Relay functions exist at the lower two layers of the OSI Reference Model. Frame Relay is supported on the same physical serial connections that support point-to-point connections. Cisco routers support the following serial connections: EIA/TIA-232, EIA/TIA-449, V.35, X.21, EIA/TIA-530. Upper-layer information (such as IP data) is encapsulated by Frame Relay and is transmitted over the link.

Frame Relay Terms

BECN (Backward Explicit Congestion Notification)-A message sent to a source router when a Frame Relay switch recognizes congestion in the network. A BECN message requests a reduced data transmission rate.

CIR (Committed Information Rate)-The minimum guaranteed data transfer rate agreed to by the Frame Relay switch.

DLCI (Data Link Connection Identifier)-Identifies the logical circuit between the router and the Frame Relay switch.

FECN (Forward Explicit Congestion Notification)-A message sent to a destination device when a Frame Relay switch senses congestion in the network.

Inverse ARP-Routers use Inverse ARP to discover the network address of a device associated with a VC.

LMI (Local Management Interface)-A signaling standard used to manage the connection between the router and the Frame Relay switch. LMIs track and manage keepalive mechanisms, multicast messages, and status. LMI can be configured (in Cisco IOS 11.2 and later), but routers can autosense LMI types by sending a status request to the Frame Relay switch. The router configures itself to match the LMI type response. The three types of LMIs supported by Cisco Frame Relay switches are Cisco (developed by Cisco, StrataCom, Northern Telecom, and DEC), ansi Annex D (ANSI standard T1.617), and q933a (ITU-T Q.933 Annex A).

VC (virtual circuit)-A logical circuit between two network devices. A VC can be permanent (PVC) or switched (SVC). PVCs save bandwidth (there is no circuit establishment or teardown) but can be expensive. SVCs are established on-demand and are torn down when transmission is complete. VC status can be active, inactive, or deleted.

Dynamic Mapping with Inverse ARP

To correctly route packets, each DLCI must be mapped to a nexthop address. These addresses can be dynamically mapped using Inverse ARP or can be manually configured. After the address is mapped, it is stored in the router’s Frame Relay map table.

LMI Signaling Process 1 The router connects to a Frame Relay switch through a channel service unit/data service unit (CSU/DSU). 2 The router sends a VC status inquiry to the Frame Relay switch. 3 The switch responds with a status message that includes the DLCI’s information for the usable PVCs. 4 The router advertises itself by sending an Inverse ARP to each active DLCI. 5 The routers create map entries with the local DLCI and network-layer address of the remote routers. Static maps must be configured if Inverse ARP is not supported. 6 Inverse ARP messages are sent every 60 seconds. 7 LMI information is exchanged every 10 seconds.

Frame Relay Overview Summary

Frame Relay is a connection-oriented Layer 2 protocol that allows several data connections (VCs) to be multiplexed onto a single physical link.

Cisco routers support Frame Relay on the following types of serial connections: EIA/TIA-232, EIA/TIA-449, V.35, X.21, and EIA/TIA-530.

Local DLCI addresses can be dynamically mapped using Inverse ARP or manually configured using static Frame Relay maps.

Local Management Interface (LMI) signaling is used by Frame Relay switches to manage connections and maintain status between the devices. The supported LMI types are cisco, ansi, and q933a.

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Many times we get questions from new CCNA candidates stating that they can’t upgrade their Cisco router IOS because there is not enough flash space available on the Cisco router. Although this may be true on occasion, we suggest that you first check a few things on your Cisco router to verify that this is the actual case.

You can generally tell how much flash memory you need on the Cisco router by looking at the size of the IOS file you are looking to load. If you see that the file size is 12 or 14MB, well in those cases you need 16MB of flash by rounding up to the next 8MB increment of flash(ex. 8MB, 16MB, 24MB, 36MB). Now that is a loose rule, but it is pretty safe to go by that most of the time.

As a side note, just because you have enough flash memory to burn the IOS file into flash, that does not mean it will be able to be successfully run on your Cisco router. Why not you may ask? Let’s say you have a Cisco router that has 4MB of DRAM and 16MB of flash. Some of the newer IOS files will require additional DRAM. So not only do you want to check out the IOS file requirements for flash, but you also want to make sure you have met the DRAM memory requirements too.

Ok, so now you have enough DRAM and flash memory in the Cisco router to load the IOS. But it still will not load. You now are getting an error about not enough flash available. But why? You have two 8MB flash sticks in the router for a total of 16MB flash. Well, it most likely is that the flash is partitioned and thus you don’t have enough contiguous space to load the IOS. How can you tell? Well one of two ways. First when your router boots, during the POST you may see something like below. Note the two partitions in bold:

cisco 2500 (68030) processor (revision L) with 14332K/2048K bytes of memory. Processor board serial number 02094596 X.25 software, Version 2.0, NET2, BFE and GOSIP compliant. Authorized for Enterprise software set. (0×0) 1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface. 2 Serial network interfaces. 32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory. 8192K bytes of processor board System flash partition 1 (Read ONLY) 8192K bytes of processor board System flash partition 2 (Read/Write)

See how the flash is broken into two 8MB partitions instead of one 16MB contagious partition? That is the issue!

Another way you can tell if you have multiple partitions on your Cisco router is if you are in privileged mode and you run the “show flash” command. The show commands are some commands you will definately want to be familiar with for your CCNA exam. You can see that there are two partitions as in the example below:

Router# show flash

System flash directory, partition 1: 1 3813972 c2500-y-l.111-6.1 [3814036 bytes used, 4574572 available, 8388608 total] 8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

System flash directory, partition 2: 1 3813972 c2500-y-l.111-6.1 [3814036 bytes used, 4574572 available, 8388608 total] 8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

So now you can just run the “no partition flash” command and make it one big partition? No, not so quick. You have to know by now it can’t be that easy! If you see an IOS image in partition 2, you will have to delete it before you can proceed to the “no partition flash” command otherwise it will error out. You can erase the IOS file in partition 2 by following the example below:

Router# erase flash

Partition Size Used Free Bank-Size State Copy Mode 1 8192K 3724K 4467K 8192K Read ONLY RXBOOT-manual 2 8192K 3724K 4467K 8192K Read/Write Direct

System flash directory, partition 2: File Length Name/status 1 3813972 c2500-y-l.111-6.1 [3814036 bytes used, 4574572 available, 8388608 total]

Erase flash device, partition 2? [confirm] Are you sure? [yes/no]: y

Erasing device… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee …erased

Router#

Enter the show flash command to verify that the desired Flash memory partitions have been erased: Router# show flash

System flash directory, partition 1: 1 3813972 c2500-y-l.111-6.1 [3814036 bytes used, 4574572 available, 8388608 total] 8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

System flash directory, partition 2: No files in System flash [0 bytes used, 8388608 available, 8388608 total] 8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

Finally, now you are now ready to run the “no partition flash” command. Enter the configuration mode and enter the no partition flash command to create a single flash memory partition, as follows: Router# config t

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with cntrl/z. Router(config)# no partition flash Router(config)# exit Router#copy run start

Now when you do a show flash you should see the following: System flash directory: 1 3813972 c2500-y-l.111-6.1 [3813972 bytes used, 12963244 available, 16777216 total] 16384K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)

At this point, you can start your IOS upgrade with the “copy tftp flash” command by following that article from our site. You are now on your way to understanding Cisco routers and obtaining your Cisco CCNA certification!

We hope you found this Cisco certification article helpful. We pride ourselves on not only providing top notch Cisco CCNA exam information, but also providing you with the real world Cisco CCNA skills to advance in your networking career.

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