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Introduction

his book is intended to help you continue on your exciting new path

toward obtaining your CCNP and CCIE certification. Before reading this book,
it is important to have at least read the Sybex CCNA: Cisco Certified Network
Associate Study Guide. You can take the tests in any order, but the CCNA exam
should probably be your first test. Many questions in the Support exam are built
upon the CCNA material. However, we have done everything possible to make
sure that you can pass the Support exam by reading this book and practicing
with Cisco routers.

The new Cisco certifications reach beyond the popular certifications, such

as the MCSE and CNE, to provide you with an indispensable factor in
understanding today's network--insight into the Cisco world of internet-
working.

Cisco--A Brief History

A lot of readers may already be familiar with Cisco and what they do. However,
those of you who are new to the field just coming in fresh from your MCSE, or
maybe even with 10 or more years in the field but wishing to brush up on the
new technology, may appreciate a little background on Cisco.

In the early 1980s, a married couple who worked in different computer depart-

ments at Stanford University started up cisco Systems (notice the small c). Their
names are Len and Sandy Bosack. They were having trouble getting their individ-
ual systems to communicate (like many married people), so in their living room
they created a gateway server to make it easier for their disparate computers in two
different departments to communicate using the IP protocol.

In 1984, Cisco Systems was founded with a small commercial gateway

server product that changed networking forever. Some people think the name
was intended to be San Francisco Systems, but the paper got ripped on the way
to the incorporation lawyers--who knows? But in 1992, the company name
was changed to Cisco Systems, Inc.

The first product it marketed was called the Advanced Gateway Server

(AGS). Then came the Mid-Range Gateway Server (MGS), the Compact
Gateway Server (CGS), the Integrated Gateway Server (IGS), and the AGS+.
Cisco calls these "the old alphabet soup products."

In 1993, Cisco came out with the amazing 4000 router, and then created

the even more amazing 7000, 2000, and 3000 series routers. These are still
around and evolving (almost daily, it seems).

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