CCNP Help
CCNP Help
Looking for guidance on CCNP Routing and Switching? You might find useful materials in specialized guides or online courses. Consider exploring dedicated CCNP study resources to fill the gaps left by your CCNA books.
If they remain on the 300 series of the R&S, this guide should be helpful at first: https://smile.amazon.com/Routing-Switchi...1587206633 If it doesn't cover much, check out these links: https://smile.amazon.com/Routing-Switchi...587205602/ https://smile.amazon.com/Routing-Switchi...587205599/ Also, I'm not sure about the TSHOOT version.
Great idea, I’ll check out Reddit! I still have the lab kit from my CCNA course. I was just reviewing the CCNA materials to refresh my knowledge, but then I noticed how big the difference is when I looked at the syllabus.
It’s easy enough to move from CCNA to CCNP without feeling like a huge jump—especially for research purposes. You’ll pick up some new concepts, but mostly it’s about reinforcing what you already know. You’ll cover basics such as OSPF, EIGRP, and the technical side of packet forwarding (RIB, FIB, CEF, etc.), spanning tree, security measures for routing protocols, managing Cisco device management planes, route filtering, summarization, and a deep dive into VLANs including STP, RSTP, PVLANS. You’ll also get hands-on with setting up neighbor relationships and exchanging routes across different protocols. The CCNP builds on your current skills while adding more detailed theory—like how OSPF operates under the hood with LSAs, the LSDB, metric calculations in EIGRP, and route redistribution strategies.
For understanding routes, I found OGCs, Udemy materials, INE content, and many online blogs to be the most helpful. I mainly used OGCs and Cisco’s 3750X docs. The CBT Nuggets gave a good summary but didn’t go deep on routing or switches. Chris Bryant’s Udemy was similar—high-level only. I also reviewed books like TCP/IP Volume 1/2, OSPF: Anatomy, Cisco design guides, and Internet Routing Architectures 2nd ed.
I wouldn’t depend solely on OCGs for exams unless you’re just aiming to pass. I focused on learning thoroughly for real understanding rather than just memorizing for a certificate. I also tried saving my CCNP switch notes into GDRive, but didn’t have much time for route configuration practice.
If you’re interested in connecting with others, there’s someone I’ve been chatting with about CCNP studies—we talk regularly, share ideas, and do labs together.
That's alright, Yeah R&S for sure, it's always been a goal, wasn't too keen on pursuing it this soon because of my previous jobs but now employer is paying for it and is really pushing me to go get it. I'm trying to look through my old resources but never put everything in a single document/location, some other resources I found useful were: Rob Riker - Youtube (Has training online but has posted snippets of his courses on youtube) Kevin Wallace - Youtube (also does a ton of books including one of the OCGs) Packetlife - Nice blogs for a wide range of CCNA/CCNP topics NetworkLessons - Very good style blogs I find TheLanTamer - Streams literally every day of his CCIE journey but can pick up a ton of stuff for the CCNP Cisco Community Forums If you are also one of those guys who likes reading, I recommend highly to get a Safari books online subscription since you will be cushioned with knowledge and technical books
It's not a problem at all! Your long-term aim is to earn the CCIE Security certification, but you're unsure whether you'd prefer the management track or pursuing CISSP. You've already begun preparing for CASP after passing Security+, and you're considering Cisco certifications because of mixed feedback.