Get the books (haven't read either), but then beg/borrow/steal an account on a real cisco to play with. I remember seeing at least 1 web-based cisco lab that you could access FOR FREE! If you have money, Techskills and Ascolta both do cisco training and have labs (Ascolta is more expensive than Techskills, but does higher-end cisco training). The U has a cisco lab too. I think the woman who runs it (ran it) is named Irene. Maybe Bongarts can point you in the right direction? I think I have a copy of "the CCNA book" (forget the actual name - the book from Cisco Press you're supposed to read before you take your CCNA exam). It covered basic IOS, T-1 and ISDN config, routing protocols, etc. I used it as a reference more than anything (never took the test), but it was well-written. I'd be willing to lend it out if I can find it. My experience has been that the Cisco Press books are very detailed, complete, and correct, but rather dry. I tried reading Halabi's Internet Routing Architecture cover to cover, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. They are bad for pleasure reading, but very good for getting the feel for specific things (how do I...) The books are good, but the only way to really learn it is to do some configurations yourself, live in IOS. I would go ahead and buy the books, but while you're reading try and find a way to get access to a lab of some sort. Also, the sample config's on cisco's website are a very good way to learn :) On Fri, 2003-12-19 at 11:15, Dan Rue wrote: > Hey Gang, > I'm looking at these two O'Reilly books: > > Cisco ION in a Nutshell: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/cisiosnut/ > and > T1: A Survival Guide: > http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/t1survival/index.html > > Anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? Recommendations? > I'm a bit green to Cisco and looking to jump in head first.. > > tia, > dan > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org > https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list