Introducing Routing and Switching in the Enterprise, CCNA Discovery Learning Guide is the official supplemental textbook for the Introducing Routing and Switching in the Enterprise course in the Cisco® Networking Academy® CCNA® Discovery curriculum version 4. The course, the third of four in the new curriculum, familiarizes you with the equipment applications and protocols installed in enterprise networks, with a focus on switched networks, IP Telephony requirements, and security. It also introduces advanced routing protocols such as Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) Protocol. Hands-on exercises include configuration, installation, and troubleshooting.

The Learning Guide, written and edited by instructors, is designed as a portable desk reference to use anytime, anywhere to reinforce the material from the course and organize your time.

The Learning Guide’s features help you focus on important concepts to succeed in this course:

• Chapter Objectives–Review core concepts by answering the focus questions listed at the beginning of each chapter.
• Key Terms–Refer to the lists of networking vocabulary introduced and highlighted in context in each chapter. The Glossary defines each key term.
• Summary of Activities and Labs–Maximize your study time with this complete list of all associated exercises at the end of each chapter.
• Check Your Understanding–Evaluate your readiness with the end-of-chapter questions that match the style of questions you see in the online course quizzes. The answer key explains each answer.
• Challenge Questions and Activities–Apply a deeper understanding of the concepts with these challenging end-of-chapter questions and activities. The answer key explains each answer.
• Hands-on Labs– Master the practical, hands-on skills of the course by performing all the tasks in the course labs and additional challenge labs included in Part II of the Learning Guide. 

How To–Look for this icon to study the steps you need to learn to perform certain tasks.

Interactive Activities–Reinforce your understanding of topics with more than 60 different exercises from the online course identified through-out the book with this icon. The files for these activities are on the accompanying CD-ROM.

Packet Tracer Activities– Explore and visualize networking concepts using Packet Tracer exercises interspersed throughout some chapters. The files for these activities are on the accompanying CD-ROM. Packet Tracer v4.1 software developed by Cisco is available separately.

Hands-on Labs–Work through all 44 course labs and 4 additional challenge labs included in Part II of the book. The labs are an integral part of the CCNA Discovery curriculum; review the core text and the lab material to prepare for all your exams.

Companion CD-ROM

The CD-ROM includes

• Interactive Activities
• Packet Tracer Activity files
• IT Career Information
• Taking Notes
• Lifelong Learning

This book is part of the Cisco Networking Academy Series from Cisco Press®. Books in this series support and complement the Cisco Networking Academy curriculum.

About The Author

Allan Reid is the curriculum lead for CCNA and a CCNA and CCNP® instructor at the Centennial College CATC in Toronto, Canada. 

Jim Lorenz is an instructor and curriculum developer for the Cisco Networking Academy.

Cheryl Schmidt is a professor of Network Engineering Technology at Florida Community College at Jacksonville.

Customer Reviews & Comments
The CCNA Discovery Learning Guide is a great book for your CCNA Exam Preparation and also for learning about tasks you will be performing when you're working as a CCNA. It covers the routing and switching concepts that you are expected to know for the CCNA exam and it also teaches you how to implement certain tasks in the enterprise. This guide supplements the online Networking Academy curriculum, and does a great job implementing everything that was on the online curriculum in two books. Part I of the book is just theory and concepts, and Part II of the book has labs. You cannot succeed in the networking world if you just know the theory or just the labs -- you must have knowledge of both! The beginning of each chapter in Book 1 lists the objectives in a format of questions. I found that helpful because after I read each chapter I was able to go back and check if I really learned the objectives. At the end of the each chapter there were also review questions and challenge questions that made me think and find out what areas I was weak in. There were also packet tracer activities in the included CD, and that really helped because I didn't have the equipment to perform most of them. Book 2 had a lot of labs that helped you enforce the concepts that you learned from Book 1 and figure out how to perform certain tasks. There were challenge labs also that tested my knowledge from all the previous chapters. This CCNA Discovery Learning Guide definitely helped me prepare for my CCNA Exam and improve my hands on skills!