[CS-FSLUG] Building An Experimental LAN

[Tim Young]

On 12/8/2012 5:14 PM, Don Parris wrote:
> I think this drives more at the gist of my question than anything 
> else.  When I look at managed switches, they all seem to have at 
> least 24 ports, when I really only need about 8 (at most).  Still, 
> at least a Cisco router would get me using their interface.  Even 
> so, why not just a linux box with 2-4 ports as a router?  Is it 
> more important to know Cisco or more important to know networking?

Managed switches are usually used in a corporate environment, and 
therefore you usually get a large number of ports.

Some of the ddwrt and alternative firmware have variations on managed 
switches, but they are definitely "Linux" under the hood, not a 
regular command-line interface.  The ddwrt boxes give you a lot of 
the same functionality (able to set up VLANS, manage remotely, 
command-line interface, snmp, etc.) but do not have the structure of 
a centralized management interface like many of the big name-brands 
use.  If you do get a single 24-port switch, you can actually use 
"VLANS" to break it into multiple switches.  You say the first 8 
ports are switch1, the second 8 are switch2, the third 8 are 
switch3...  VLANS separate ports so they do not switch between the 
different VLANS.  So it makes it seem like there are different switches.

I think your question about, "Is it more important to know Cisco or 
networking" is probably the key to most of your other questions.  If 
you are trying to land a job in a Cisco environment, having a Cisco 
checkmark of some sort helps.  My personal belief, however, is that 
it does not matter if you are certified in Cisco, Microsoft, or 
anything.  If you do not know the core knowledge, then the 
certification is not really worth as much.  I would rather work 
side-by-side with someone who has the knowledge than someone who has 
a certification that shows they can study well.  So my answer would 
be, "Learn Networking."  But, if you are doing this to get a job, 
then a certification in Cisco may be better.  If you are doing it on 
your own, then I would go for a knowledge in generic networking.  It 
is cheaper, and I use my generic knowledge much more often than I use 
my specialty knowledge.  But that is me.

I think the question comes down to, "are you thinking about doing 
this for your own edification, or for making yourself more marketable."

     - Tim Young