Complete Routing & Switching: A Comprehensive Guide

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1. Networking Basics

  • Understand OSI & TCP/IP models.
  • Learn IP addressing (IPv4/IPv6) & subnetting.

2. Switching Fundamentals

  • Layer 2 switching, MAC addresses, CAM table.
  • VLANs, VTP, and Inter-VLAN routing.
  • Spanning Tree Protocol (STP, RSTP, MSTP) for loop prevention.
  • EtherChannel for link aggregation.
  • Layer 3 switching (SVI, Routed Ports).

3. Routing Basics

  • Static vs. Dynamic Routing.
  • Routing table lookup process.
  • Administrative Distance & Metric concepts.

4. Dynamic Routing Protocols

  • Interior Gateway Protocols (IGPs): RIP, OSPF, EIGRP.
  • Exterior Gateway Protocols (EGPs): BGP.
  • Route redistribution, summarization, and filtering.

5. WAN & Advanced Technologies

  • MPLS, VPNs, SD-WAN.
  • QoS for traffic prioritization.
  • NAT, PAT, and security mechanisms (ACLs, Firewalls).

6. High Availability & Redundancy

  • HSRP, VRRP, GLBP for gateway redundancy.
  • Load balancing techniques.

7. Automation & SDN

  • Network programmability using Python, Ansible.
  • Software-Defined Networking (SDN) & Controllers.

8. Network Troubleshooting & Optimization

  • Ping, Traceroute, and Debug commands.
  • SNMP, Syslog, NetFlow for monitoring.

Practice-Verified Codes and Commands