The Cisco Certified Network Associate certification is the best qualification you can achieve to turbocharge your career in networking. Cisco is far and away from the market leader in network infrastructure products, and passing the CCNA proves to employers that you have the necessary skills to design, build and maintain their enterprise networks.

Passing the exam requires you to understand the theory of a wide range of network technologies, and also have the practical skills to configure and troubleshoot them. This is where having a home lab comes in. It's absolutely essential that you have hands-on practice on the network devices, not just for passing the exam but also so you develop real-world skills you can use in the workplace.

The multitude of possible ways you can build a lab can be very confusing. There are physical labs, virtual labs, software simulators, and they all have their own benefits and drawbacks. Making the right choice is difficult when you don't know the implications of each option.

That's why I'm here to help. I use live demos to explain all the available options, break down the advantages and disadvantages of each, and tell you where you can find further information detailing how to put each one together.

Please note that I don't give step by step instructions about how to build each lab in this course. I do tell you where you can find this information, so there was no need to reinvent the wheel. Rather I explain what the different options are and help you make the decision on which one is best for you.