An official Newsletter of Cisco Networking Academy Program in the Slovak Republic
NETACAD
NEWSLETTER
PUBLISHED ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ICETA 2008, 11.-13. SEPTEMBER 2008, STARÁ LESNÁ, SLOVAKIA
Year 2008
ICETA2008
International Conference
Networking Academy Games 2008
(NAG 2008) – Slovak winners of Cisco
OLYMP 2008 competition scored well
in an international competition
CONTENT
NETACAD
New Concept
New NetAcad Curricula
NetAcad Ideas
peted in theoretical knowledge, on
June 24, 2008 they have been solving
practical tasks in the laboratories of
FIT VUT Brno, and on Wednesday,
winners announcement ceremony
took place. All tasks and tests have
been prepared in English.
from June 23 through June 25, 2008.
This is a competition for expectant IT
professionals specializing in information networks (in Slovakia, Cisco
OLYMP competition is held). 50 high
school and university students from
8 European countries joined the
international round of the competition. All students from Slovakia – a
group of 10 – have achieved wonderful first places.
Slovak Republic is classed as among
the best in Europe, when considering
the training of future IT professionals.
Slovak students have confirmed that
fact by solving tricky tasks. Results of
the competition you can find at http://
www.netacad-games.cz/results.php.
The competition enables students and
instructors to exchange and share
valuable experience in the field of
networking technologies.
Transparency and evaluation of the
whole competition has been guaranteed by a panel of experts consisting of
representatives/instructors from all the
countries involved.
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NEWS
End of CCNA v3.1 support
CCNA v3.1 Certification Ends
Summer School 2008
VOUCHER Program
for NetAcad Instructors
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INTERESTING ISSUES
Cisco OLYMP 2008
Cisco OLYMP Winners
Student Motivation
BEST CASE: CCIE Preparation
Packet Tracer 5.0
NetAcad Statistics
CONTACT:
We would like to present to you a
success of Slovak Networking Academy students. Representatives of
Slovakia have successfully presented
their knowledge at NETWORKING
ACADEMY GAMES 2008 international competition (NAG 2008).
Faculty of Information Technology of
the University of Technology in Brno
(FIT VUT Brno) has been the place,
where the international round of
NAG 2008 competition took place
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Ing. František Jakab, PhD.
AAM Cisco Systems Slovakia
fjakab@cisco.com, www.netacad.sk
During the NAG 2008 competition,
partakers have been solving both
practical tasks and an on-line test. On
Monday (June 23, 2008) they com-
We would like to use this opportunity
to congratulate our students on their
success. Winners of individual categories are listed under.
Editorial board
NetAcad program Partners in SR
General Partner
Media Partner
Ing. Zuzana Fedáková
Editor in Chief of the NetAcad Newsletter for the Slovak Republic
szaboova@elfa.sk, www.netacad.sk
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
A New Conception of Networking Academy Program
Welcoming Address
Dear ICETA 2008
conference participants,
I am really happy that I
could greet you this way
in name of Cisco Networking Academy community which nowadays have more than
4000 active students and 160 instructors. NetAcad program is the most biggest education global initiative in Slovakia
at present and Slovakian NetAcad program belongs to the most successful
programs within the word—not only
because of the number of involved students but also because of study achievements, successful program presentation
abroad and also model cooperation of
academic and private field.
We decided to prepare for you, the
ICETA conference participants, this
Newsletter—special edition of our
monthly issued NetAcad Newsletter. This
issue is combined of the best published
articles from the last issues and we think
that this is the way how to introduce our
activities and NetAcad community life.
We also prepared different interesting
presentations for you aimed on "blended
learning" initiative and also we prepared
special poster section devoted to the
Networking Academy program.
Right now, when this special edition is
published, the school year begins at our
NetAcad academies and therefore I
would like to wish to all our academies—
students and instructors—good luck and
good results during their study. I believe
that activities we prepared for you at this
school year will be interesting and motivating for everybody as it was during the
whole 10th years program history in
Slovakia.
František Jakab
Networking Academy program
coordinator in Slovakia
What is the goal of Networking
Academy Program?
The aim of Networking Academy
Program in Slovak Republic is to
contribute to development of very
useful technological skills of the
next generation of experts in
such a way that new progressive
education technologies are made
accessible for schools and providing
of internationally compatible and
established education programs is
enabled. By implementation of Networking Academy Program into
education programs of schools, students in Slovakia will have an access
to professionally important training
for admission to the environment of
economy, which is increasingly dependent on information technologies.
Networking Academy Program
and education
Networking Academy Program is a
modern educational program, main
aim of which is training of experts
in the field of design, building
and administration of computer
networks. Students can acquire not
only theoretical knowledge, but also
practical experience in both already
used and new, currently applied
communication technologies. This
study is a base for further education
in the field of computer networks
and it raises employment chances of
the alumni in a new and interesting
field.
Education process
The basic education process within
the scope of Networking Academy
Program is divided into two phases.
In every phase, education is divided
into four so-called study semesters –
unitary, thematically oriented blocks.
During each semester, students take
a given amount of stop-and-check
tests and a final test (both theoretical
and practical), according to the study
time schedule. Usually, students
attend the school personally in case
of consultations and practical exer-
cises only, dates of which are usually
given by lecturer. However, consultations can take place via internet, too.
Content of the first phase of the studies (first 4 semesters) is a study material, which enables students to get an
internationally accepted certification
known as Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA), and after
absolving the second phase (semesters
5 to 10) Cisco Certified Network
Professional certificate (CCNP).
Semester usually lasts for 2 till 5
months (according to the implementation of study plan into the study program of educational institution). The
total amount of study hours spent
during each semester in the first phase
(first 4 semesters) is 70 study hours
(this number is a sum of time spent on
several forms of study: directed selfstudy, practical exercises, presentations, project defence and consultations).
The second phase of the study is much
more demanding, when compared to
the first phase. It requires big deal of
independence and knowledge. Each
semester
contains
approximately
60 hours of practical exercises and
70 hours of theory study. CCNA
certification obtained within last three
years is a condition, fulfilment of which
is required in order for a candidate to
be allowed to begin with the second
phase of the study. Studies in higher
semester are conditioned by successful
finishing of the previous semester.
After successful finishing of the second
and fourth semester, participants obtain a special certification issued by
Cisco Systems.
An interactive multimedia system
designed on the base of internet is
used for education. The language of
these study materials is English; therefore it is useful to know at least the
basics of technical English. During
practical exercises, the education
process itself is held in Slovak language.
NETWORKING SPECIALIST CAREER BUILDING PROCESS
BASED ON NETWORKING ACADEMY PROGRAM
Security
Enterprise
Networking
CCNP
CCNA
Exploration
CCNA
Discovery
Small and
Medium
Business
Networking
Network
Installer
Basic IT
Support
FUNDAMENTALS
Routing,
Switching,
WANs,
Intro to Adv Tech
Routing,
Switching,
WANs,
Intro to
Adv Tech
IT Essentials I.: PC
Hardware & Software
IT Essentials II.
PNIE
System Admin
Page 2
Advanced Routing,
Remote Access,
Multilayer Switching,
Troubleshooting
Wireless
The instruction, consultations and
practical exercises are arranged by
educational workplaces, equipped
with necessary laboratory background, through specially trained and
certified instructors. Interactive lessons are available for students after
they are enrolled in the study via socalled community environment –
Cisco
Systems
server
(http://
cisco.netacad.net).
New conception of Networking
Academy Program
Networking Academy Program begins
a new phase of its existence in 2008
with a new conception of its education materials. New education materials enable Networking Academy
Program to respond better to educational needs of schools at individual
levels. With its changed contents and
interesting methodical educational
activities included in the instruction, it
will surely satisfy needs of various
students groups, and implemented
novelties will draw their attention
from the very beginning of the program instruction.
As for the conception, two independent educational programs
have been created (one for high
school level and the other one for
university level), so that instructors
can teach various groups of students
in the best and the most effective
way. Official terms for new education
materials for individual target groups
are: CCNA Discovery (preferentially for high school level) and
CCNA Exploration (preferentially
for university level).
Why Did We Create Two New
Curricula for CCNA?
The new CCNA curricula were created in response to input from administrators, instructors and students.
CCNA Discovery and CCNA Exploration target different student segments based on academic experience
and goals. By using different methodologies to teach students with different educational backgrounds and
interests, we can help students successfully achieve their learning goals.
This will improve both student and
instructor satisfaction and help increase enrolment rates. CCNA Discovery maps to everyday experiences
with networks. The curriculum is
organized around the types of work
environments students may encounter, such as a home or small office,
and students develop applied skills
early in the curriculum. CCNA Exploration goes into greater technical
depth and incorporates engineering
concepts and terminology.
The new curriculum encourages
students to explore networking concepts with tools such as Packet
Tracer, a powerful network simulation program developed by Cisco that
allows students to experiment with
network behaviour and ask ―what if‖
questions.
Editorial board
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
Changes in NetAcad
CCNA certifikácia
NetAcad program New Curricula
We live in an increasingly connected
world, creating a global economy and
a growing need for technical skills.
Cisco Networking Academy delivers
information technology skills to over
500,000 students a year in more than
165 countries worldwide. Networking
Academy students have the opportunity to participate in a powerful and
consistent learning experience that is
supported by high quality, online
curricula and assessments, instructor
train-ing, hands-on labs, and classroom interaction.
Networking Academy students will
become the architects of the networked economy; enabling everyday
experiences on the global human
network. With the ever-increasing
demand for their skills, Networking
Academy students have the chance to
dream about business-critical positions never before imagined, in industries ranging from medicine and finance to entertainment and aerospace. Networking Academy opens
doors to rewarding careers and opportunities for economic advancement and local community development. Students only need to be ‗Mind
Wide Open‘ to the possibilities.
CCNA Discovery
The Cisco CCNA® Discovery curriculum provides foundational networking knowledge, practical experience, opportunities for career exploration, and soft-skills development to
help students prepare for entry-level
careers in IT and networking. The
curriculum offers a hands-on approach to learning, and uses interactive tools and easy-to-follow labs to
help students learn the general theory
needed to build networks.
CCNA Discovery is designed to be
offered as an independent, standalone curriculum or combined with
programs offered by secondary
schools, technical schools, colleges,
and universities. Students who enrol
in CCNA Discovery are not expected
Packet Tracer
The new curriculum encourages
students to explore networking
concepts with tools such as Packet
Tracer, a powerful network simulation program developed by Cisco
that allows students to experiment
with network behaviour and ask
―what if‖ questions.
CCNA Exploration
to have any previous technical skills
or knowledge, aside from basic PC
skills.
Features
CCNA Discovery allows for quick
application of learned concepts to
encourage students to consider additional education in IT. It uses easy-tofollow, step-by-step labs that provide
detailed instructions and feedback to
help students reach the final solution
CCNA Discovery includes embedded
e-doing, highly interactive activities
that stimulate learning and improve
knowledge retention. E-doing involves
rich multimedia, including Flash-based
activities, videos, and interactive quizzes, that address a variety of learning
styles, increase comprehension, and
provide a rich learning experience.
Course Description
The CCNA Discovery curriculum is
composed of four courses:
 Networking for Home and Small
Businesses
 Working at a Small-to-Medium
Business or ISP
 Introducing Routing and Switching
in the Enterprise
 Designing and Supporting Computer
Networks
The courses are delivered sequentially, and each course is a prerequisite for the next course.
CCNA Discovery teaches networking
based on application covering the
types of practical networks students
may encounter, from simple home or
small office networks to more complex enterprise models. Students
learn the technical skills and soft skills
needed to succeed in entry-level
networking professions such as a
network installer, help desk technician, pre-sales support technician, or
network technician. CCNA Discovery
also provides an introduction to advanced technologies such as voice,
video, wireless, and security.
The Cisco CCNA® Exploration curriculum provides a compre-hensive
overview of networking; from fundamentals to advanced applications and
services. It is based on a top-down
approach to networking that is popular in many colleges and universities.
This course emphasizes theoretical
concepts and practical application,
while providing opportunities for
students to acquire the skills and
hands-on experience needed to design, install, operate, and maintain
networks.
CCNA Exploration offers in-depth
theory, challenging labs, and a detailed
overview of protocol opera-tions. It is
designed for students with advanced
problem-solving and analytical skills,
such as degree candidates in engineering, math, or science, or for working
profession-als who would like to
advance their careers or gain certification. CCNA Exploration helps students prepare for successful IT careers in small-to-medium businesses
as well as enterprise and service
provider environments.
CCNA Exploration can be integrated
into technology curricula or continuing education programs at postsecondary institutions such as technical
schools, colleges, and universities.
Features
CCNA Exploration courses include
embedded e-doing, which enables
students to complete interactive
activities that stimulate learning and
improve
knowledge
retention.
E-doing involves rich multimedia,
including Flash-based activities, videos,
and interactive quizzes, that address a
variety of learning styles, increase
comprehension, and provide a rich
learning experience.
All CCNA Exploration courses include complex and challenging handson labs to help students develop
critical thinking, problem solving, and
collaboration skills as well as practical
knowledge.
The CCNA Discovery curriculum
prepares students for two different
Cisco certifi-cation exams,
CCENT® or CCNA®.
After completing the Networking
for Home and Small Businesses and
Working at a Small-to-Medium
Business or ISP courses, a student
can choose to complete the
CCENT® certification (Cisco
Certified Entry Network Technician) certification exam. CCENT
certifies that students have developed the practical skills required
for entry-level networking support
positions. In addition, this certification is designed to assess a student‘s aptitude and competence for
working with Cisco routers,
switches and Cisco IOS™.
CCENT is an optional first step
toward earning the Cisco CCNA®
network associate certification,
which is the foundational certification for networking careers. Students who complete all four CCNA
Discovery courses will be prepared
for the industry-standard CCNA
certification exam.
CCNA Certification is a fundamental certification for networking
careers.
is a prerequisite for the other three
courses. Routing Protocols and Concepts is the preferred second course in
the sequence.
CCNA Exploration integrates related
engineering concepts and provides
students with the skills needed to
succeed in networking-related degree
programs. The curriculum allows students to learn skills in a comprehensive, theoretical, and practical way that
is reflective of common educational
practices at the college level. It offers
flexibility in curriculum delivery and
permits shortened course delivery
time. CCNA Exploration also provides
an introduction to advanced technologies such as voice, video, wireless, and
security.
For more information see:
Course Description
Cisco Networking Academy Program
The CCNA Exploration curriculum is
composed of four courses:
 Network Fundamentals
www.cisco.com/go/netacad
 Routing Protocols and Concepts
 LAN Switching and Wireless
 Accessing the WAN
Network Fundamentals is the first
course and it has no prerequisites. It
Page 3
Course Catalog
www.cisco.com/edu/courses
Locate a Networking Academy
www.cisco.com/edu/locate
Certification
www.cisco.com/go/certifications
Editorial board
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
3rd year of the NetAcad Competition – Cisco OLYMP 2008
This year, the tradition has been
followed again in Slovakia, because
already 3rd year of Networking
Academy competition – Cisco
OLYMP 2008 - has been organized.
The main aim of the Cisco OLYMP
competition was to enable students of
high schools and universities to present their knowledge of the field of
computer networking, acquired from
their studies in Networking Academy
Program. The competition allowed
the best students (both groups and
individuals) to be awarded and it tried
to stimulate students´ interest in
network technologies study.
Regional rounds as well as national
round of Cisco OLYMP 2008 competition took place on April 4, 2008
at two locations simultaneously – one
of them being Regional Academy at
Technical University in Košice (FEI),
and the other one Regional Academy
at Slovak Technical University in
Bratislava (FIIT). The competition has
been organized in cooperation with
other regional academies operating
in Slovakia and was widely supported
by members of Networking Academy
Program partner ecosystem
(companies involved: SLSP a.s. – general partner of Networking Academy
Program, Soitron a.s., Alef NULA
s.r.o., ANECT a.s., Corinex Group
a.s.).
We can report that more than 380
high school and university students
have been involved into school
rounds of the competition this year,
and 90 of them (from 26 academies)
progressed to higher rounds of the
competition. This year, the competition in Slovakia consisted of two
rounds only – school and regional
ones (results from regional rounds –
point assessment – were used for
determining of national round winners). The best Cisco OLYMP
2008 competitors, both individuals and teams, progress to the
international round of the competition, which was held on July
23-24, 2008 in Brno (Czech Republic).
Students competed in three categories, demands of which have been
intensified according to the level of
Networking Academy Program
courses (courses CCNA 1 to 4).
All three categories have been based
on the knowledge taught at CCNA
courses. Aside from that, in the PT
category, skills needed for mastering of
Packet Tracer computer application
were requested. For every category,
the competition consisted of two
parts: theoretical and practical one. In
the theoretical part (created as an online knowledge test), knowledge of
basic conceptions of information technologies has been tested. Each competitor had to fill out the test individually; in case of teams, the result was
computed as the average result of all
members of the team of three. In the
practical part, students had to show
their skills regarding configuration of
given network solutions and problem
solving.
Cisco OLYMP 2008 competition has
been managed by an experienced team
of Networking Academy Program
instructors, and results of competitors´ tests have been rated by a jury
composed of regional and local academies´ instructors.
During the evaluation of competition
tasks, a system of automated rating
based on the use of a special application (testing system) has been verified,
which has been developed specially for
this purpose by regional academies´
instructors. Application rates solved
tasks on the base of given pattern. As
for the evaluation criteria, attention
was paid to efficiency of the task solution only, which has brought objectivity and accuracy into the point assessment. Doing so, the human factor has
been excluded as well as the possibility
of fault throughout a manual process
of getting solution. Outputs of automated point assessment have than
been controlled manually so as to
verify, whether chosen solutions corresponded with conception in patterns
of the point assessment system.
CISCO OLYMP 2008 tasks and solutions
mony took place during CISCO
EXPO conference, which was held
on May 20 – 22, 2008 in Bratislava.
Activities similar to Cisco OLYMP
2008 competition contribute much to
awareness of the importance of information and communication technologies and lead to a rise in the interest in
IT education. The competition gives
both students and their instructors a
space for exchange and sharing of
valuable experience in the network
technologies field.
For more information visit:
www.netacad.sk
František Jakab
Networking Academy program
coordinator in Slovakia
Organizing Committee
NATIONAL ROUND WINNERS:
HS3 category – competition of collectives – high school students
Winners of individual categories will
be rewarded with interesting material
prizes given by partners of the program. Winners announcement cere-
1. Place:
Martin Bašti, Metod Rybár, Patrik Brigant;
Spojená škola Handlová
2. Place:
Róbert Rakovics, Andrej Ondrejovič, Gabriel Kmeť;
Spojená škola Handlová
3. Place:
Tomáš Boros, Gabo Varga, Michal Klement;
Gym. Hostinského, Rimavská Sobota
UNI category – competition of individuals – without any limitations
(both high schol and university students):
1. Place:
Andrej Krivulčík; University of Ţilina, Faculty of management and informatics, KIS
2. Place:
Vladimír Michalec; Slovak Technical University,
FIIT, Bratislava
3. Place:
Štefan Gula; Slovak Technical University, FIIT, Bratislava
PT category - competition of individuals – without any limitations
(both high schol and university students):
individuals – without any limitations (both high school and university students)
 PT category: competition of
individuals – without any limitations (both high school and university students)
We wish you a lot of success in
solving the tasks.
This year, more than 26 academies have been involved in Cisco OLYMP 2008
competition (14 academies took part in RCNA at Technical University in
Košice, FEI, and 12 academies competed in RCNA at Slovak Technical University in Bratislava, FIIT). The competition has been extended this year – we have
enabled participation for a larger amount of students in individual categories
(academies could have registered 2 individuals and 2 teams in the competition).
The amount of participants increased from 59 students (last year) to 90 students (this year) – 56 students in Košice and 34 students in Bratislava, which
means an increase of 50%.
 HS3 category: competition of
 UNI category: competition of
In case of any ambiguities with
regard to the tasks, please, contact directly the instructor responsible for their preparation:
 HS3 category – Peter Palúch
(Peter.paluch@fri.uniza.sk),
RCNA at ZI in Ţilina
 UNI category – Peter Mesjar
(pmesjar@centrum.sk ),
RCNA at STU in Bratislava
 PT category – Jozef Janitor
(jozjan@cnl.tuke.sk), RCNA at
TU in Košice
Cisco OLYMP National Round Winners
Competition categories:
collectives – high school students
At the following website (http://
www.n etacad .sk /con ten t/
v y s l e d k y - v -r e g i o n a l n y c h kolach) we have issued tasks
used at regional rounds of Cisco
OLYMP 2008 competition as well
as their solutions (configurations).
We hope that you will go through
the tasks together with your
students and will see how demanding they are.
1. Place:
Maroš Kukan; Spojená škola o.z. SPŠ elektrotechnická
S.A. Jedlika, Nové Zámky
2. Place:
Marcel Ďuriš; Slovak Technical University, FIIT, Bratislava
3. Place:
Róbert Rakovics; Spojená škola Handlová
REGIONAL ROUND WINNERS are listed on www.netacad.sk.
Editorial board
Page 4
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
BEST CASE: Handlová –an Incubator of Computer Networking Experts
Top education program is introduced by
its instructor: Cisco Networking Academy
Program is an internationally recognized
and compatible education program in the
field of computer networks.
This is what an official definition, a
learned phrase says about Networking Academy education program.
Though, what is the reason for the
fact that this program is internationally recognized and compatible? More
than 150 countries are involved in it.
A Slovak has got an access to the
same study content, education materials and practical exercises as a
Czech, Hungarian, Pole, Rumanian,
German, or American. Therefore,
chances of our students are the same
as those of all the other students
worldwide.
What is it like in Slovakia?
Until Networking Academy Program
has appeared on the scene, there
hasn´t existed any real training system
for computer network professionals.
Currently, this program has a great
deal in influencing of the training of IT
experts oriented on computer networks, who are in demand. Slovakia
belongs to the top in Europe in terms
of training of these experts. The
instruction is organized as a combination of three forms of education:
 Directed self-study using an
interactive educational multimedia
system on the base of Internet
(after students are included into a
virtual class, they can use the computer network laboratory in a time
upon agreement, or they can study
at home or on their own workplace via Internet)
 Practical exercises – they are
realized in arranged terms in a
specially equipped computer networks laboratory, under the guidance of specially trained and certified instructors.
 Consultations – via Internet and
during arranged terms in the place
of LCNA (Local Cisco Networking
Academy)
What is it like in Handlová?
Slovakia belongs to the top in terms
of network professionals‘ training, and
Handlová certainly is not below Slovak standard.
Local Cisco Networking Academies
(LCNA), currently at 50 high schools
in Slovakia, are responsible for networking students‘ education in Networking Academy Program. One of
them came into existence in March
2003 at former SOU Handlová vocational school. From then on, 130
participants attended the program,
major part of them being students of
the school mentioned above. Nowadays, LCNA Handlová functions
within the scope of Composite High
School of Trade and Services in Handlová, a section of the United School in
Handlová.
LCNA Handlová´s operation influences also everyday instruction in the
school. The program is implemented
into the instruction of the specialization ―Computer Network Mechanic‖,
into subjects ―Software Equipment of
Computers‖ and ―Technical Equipment
of Computers‖. In the third and fourth
year curriculum, selected parts of
module content of the first and second
semester of the Networking Academy
Program are inserted into these subjects. There is a perspective of a full
insertion of the program into a postgraduate specialization ―Computer
Systems‖. In addition, we offer the
program as a full version of first 4
semesters of CCNA level in form of
afternoon classes to interested students. These classes are taught outside
terms of regular school instruction.
The program is taught in computer
networks laboratory equipped with a
model set of computer networks
based on Cisco technologies. Fluke
NetTool cable tester, data projector
and a printer belong to other equipment of the lab. 11 computers are
placed at students´ disposal in the
laboratory as well as other classrooms
are, well equipped with information
and communication technologies.
The study is divided into theoretical
and practical part. In Slovakia, theory is
taught in English. Instructors explain
the problems and network technologies in Slovak. Tests of individual modules are usually taken in the presence
of an instructor; final tests at the end
of semester are always taken in the
presence of an instructor. The study is
of Mastery Learning type, i.e. perfect
mastering of the curriculum. Students
have to master minimum of 80% of
skills on tests. Testing takes place
online and the tests are in English. Test
evaluation is objective, done by a computer as soon as the test is submitted.
Heavy emphasis is put on practical
exercises. Exercises, which take place
in Cisco network laboratories, are
very close to the requirements of
current practice. This fact is year after
year discussed and confirmed at international conferences. Laboratories are
therefore well equipped and exercises
are led by specially trained and certified instructors, who also evaluate
practical exercises.
A principle is applied in Networking
Academy Program, according to which
instructors are allowed to teach, open
virtual classrooms and assign students
to them only for such a semester,
which they themselves have successfully finished under guidance of university instructors from regional academies. LCNA Handlová is classed
under RCNA FIIT STU Bratislava
(Regional Cisco Networking Academy
of the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies).
LCNA Handlová is not below
standard among Slovak academies
Among the successes that motivate us,
Best Academy in Slovakia for the
School Year of 2005/2006 award can
surely be mentioned. We have been
awarded this esteem at the International Conference of Networking
Academy Program 2006 in Stará
Lesná (situated in High Tatras). We
are also glad to see that all our
alumni, who have finished all 4 semesters and left school to look for a job,
are employed. Our newest success is
most valuable for us: on October 2526, 2007, three our students, Andrej
Ondrejovič, Róbert Rakovics and
Gabriel Kmeť have succeed in an
internationally accepted CCNA certification exam. The testing took place
at certification centre of the company
Soitron Bratislava. Nobody will take
their primacy away – they are the first
among high school students in Handlova and probably in the whole district of Prievidza, who hold an internationally valid industrial certificate.
We hope that these pioneers have set
a fine example for dozens of other
excellent students.
The present and the future of
LCNA Handlová
We have started to prepare students
for regional round of Cisco OLYMP
2008 competition, which will take
place in laboratories of the Faculty of
Informatics and Information Technologies STU Bratislava. Our ambition is
high: to progress to the national round
through tough competition from students coming from Bratislava and
Western Slovakia. And, what is most
important, we have begun to teach the
most recent curriculum of the Networking Academy Program, curricula
of the version 4 Exploration. This is
the reason why the instructors Mgr.
Pallerová and Ing. Krauska will be
retrained at FIIT STU Bratislava.
Outputs of the program are connected
to a sophisticated and internationally
high esteemed certification program of
Cisco company. For the present, the
practice confirms that holders of an
industrial certificate of the CCNA level
are able to find job immediately, or to
carry on their education on technical
universities.
Other sources of information :
www.netacad.sk
www.academynetspace.com
www.netacad.cz
http://cisco.netacad.net
Ján Krausko
LCNA instructor from ZSŠ
obchodu a sluţieb v Handlovej
(source: Reg. weekly „My horná Nitra“)
UPDATE Z HANDLOVEJ
Winners of prestigious Cisco OLYMP 2008 competition in HS3
category (high school teams consisting of 3 members) come
from Handlová. It is a competition of expectant IT professionals
specializing in information networks.
Composite High School students from Handlová have been
placed at first two places in a tough competition of 25 teams of
grammar, industrial and vocational schools from all over the
Slovakia. Of course, they were awarded for their skills on the
Cisco EXPO 2008 conference in Bratislava. Because the competition is monitored and sponsored by companies, valuable prizes
have been given to the guys, such as mini notebooks for surfing,
chatting and fun as a reward for the first place in the competition.
High position of both teams from Handlová in the national
round of Cisco OLYMP 2008 competition means that they have
advanced to the international round, which was held at FIT
VUT Brno. Students from Handlová competed with students
from Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia,
Germany, Bulgaria and Romania.
Page 5
Odovzdávanie cien víťazom Cisco OLYMP počas konferencie Cisco EXPO
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
BEST CASE: My Story – How Can You Prepare for CCIE?
Is it possible to succeed in CCIE
lab at first attempt? How probable
it is that you will manage it? Cisco
does not publish such statistics, but if
you will search the internet carefully,
you will find out that unofficially, 2.7
attempts in average are needed for
going the route. This is one reason
why LAB is a terror for many candidates. However, with a bit of luck,
it can be done at first attempt. I
have managed to do so on May
23, 2008 and in this article, I am writing you about my experience.
How did it all start? Hunger for information and news from the field of IT
has been on the beginning. Already as
a student of Trebišovská Grammar
School in Košice I got to the
PC REVUE magazine with a
Dictionary of Networking
Technologies attached ―by
accident‖ – an undiscovered
area for me at that time. So I
have started to search for
more information on the web (a ―very
cool‖ action in 1998), and my future
direction started to seem a bit clearer
to me – Technical University in Košice
and the specialization of Computers
and Informatics with accent on computer systems and networks. After the
first contact with IOS and with the
core of Cisco knowledge I have realized that this field is much more interesting for me than the rest of IT
sphere, partly thanks to the NetAcad
program. After long evenings – and
sometimes even weekends – spent in
well equipped Cisco labs at FEI TU I
managed to get CCNA certificate
during my fourth-year summer vacation. After this certification, it was
clear to me that it is only a brief introduction to this quickly developing field.
The next, fifth semester of NetAcad
program has only confirmed that fact.
2 years later I succeeded in getting
CCNP and CCDP certifications and I
have thought that is all I wanted to
achieve in NetAcad program. However, approximately at the same time,
Sascha Jaenicke, a colleague form
German Cisco Advanced Services, has
motivated me to reach another goal –
CCIE Routing and Switching –
and my direction has been clear.
The first phase of my preparation was
to study everything about that exam –
what for an exam it is, what difficulty
level is it of, what myths surround
CCIE, what kind of preparation is
recommended, etc. This resulted in
understanding of what Cisco´s goal in
this exam is, and in a rough idea how
to manage that. Information source:
cisco.com/go/ccie and Google.
After I got to know the blueprint for
written part of the exam, I have decided to spend a greater deal of time
on preparation for it, because
it is much easier for me, if I can
try out every detail and every
point of view. This decision
proved to have made the
preparation for the practical
part a bit easier. However, the
time needed for written exam preparation has been only 10% of the
whole amount of time needed for
practising for the whole exam. The
harsh reality is that CCIE lab training
will take you much more time – ca.
90% in my case. This shows a huge
difference between this certification
and CCxA or CCxP tracks, where
practical skills are not tested so intensely.
The preparation is demanding, but
there is a reward of acquiring new
knowledge. Only after finishing of
written part have I noticed, how
much knowledge I lacked. It is these
things what moves you forward, step
by step, and so you can grow...
I suggest dividing of the preparation
phase into following parts:
 Detailed study of technologies
– here you can use knowledge
acquired from written test
 Practising of technologies
 8-hours-long simulated labs
As for the second part, I recommend
that candidates go through all the
possible (particularly through IMPOSSIBLE) topologies, connections and
combinations of technologies and so
on. The exam is not about ―Cisco Best
Practises‖; candidates are examined on
detailed knowledge of technologies
and their combinations.
It is critical to have the whole blueprint practised and to combine various
technologies and their settings. Lot of
things are traditionally configured in
one way only. However, during the
lab, you will either find all these basic
settings configured or they will not be
required at all. In addition, the right
answer may be something almost
crazy, something you would never use
in practise. Be careful: if you will left
out anything at this phase, it will return
to you during 8-hours-long simulated
labs.
At this stage, I heartily recommend
you to buy study materials prepared
exactly for 8-hour labs. There are lots
of exercises on the web, which you
can test for free; but it depends on
you, which producer you will choose.
It is not a joke, to type on a keyboard
for 8 hours a day; in fact, it is pretty
exhausting. At the beginning, you will
work slowly, lot of things will be unclear, but that is exactly the point. You
have to make your brain work both
quickly and accurately, in order to
cope with the lab within 6, or maximally 7 hours. The rest of the time
serves for control. In the beginning,
analysis and filling gaps in knowledge
will take 12 hours at least; eventually,
the amount of time will be reduced.
Peťo Mesjar (CCIE #17428), who in
Slovak Cisco has led candidates by
preparation for CCIE, helped me a lot
during this phase. Within the frame of
this work, I have had an access to
ASET labs – remote labs prepared
exactly for exercising your knowledge.
I have to mention that practical experience gained form projects is the best
Networking Academy Program Summer School 2008
As it was in previous years, Summer
School of Networking Academy Program took place during summer vacation. This has been the third successful series of educational activities. The
goal of the Summer School was to
improve the quality of training of both
instructors (high school and university
teachers) and students of the program. Instruction program has been
prepared, including courses ranging
from CCNA and IT essential till more
demanding ones (IP telephony and
CCNP).
Summer School has been prepared as
a series of intensive courses independent on each other. Every day, the
study has begun in the morning and
has ended in the afternoon. The
courses have been taught in laboratories of RCNA at Technical University
in Košice and the best RCNA instructors were lecturers of the program.
The goal was to enable academies
listed in Networking Academy Program to train as many instructors as
possible, within the shortest time
possible and to enable students to
acquire new knowledge via intensive
courses. Networking Academy Program Summer School has been a special training program organized within
the scope of Central and Eastern
Europe regions. Our ambition was to
improve instruction level, to create
space for exchange of experience and
to enable participants to spend few
weeks on an international educational
event aimed not only at learning, but
also at fun.
This year, 43 participants attended the
Summer School. Summer school stu-
dents were interested mostly in
CCNA curricula. CCNA UPDATE
educational training, aimed at differences between individual versions of
curricula (comparison of old and new
versions), has been a part of the Summer School this year. Knowledge
acquired during courses has been, of
course, tested via written and practical test.
Organizing of the Summer School has
successfully verified options and
strengths of such summer educational
activities. We hope that the amount
of participants will increase next year
and that intensive training combined
with experience exchange will become a regular part of Networking
Academy Program.
Zoltán Szalay
Summer School Organizer
Page 6
source of knowledge. This is one
reason why Cisco recommends that
candidates have at least 3-5 years
experience with required field.
I estimate that the total amount of
time needed to be spent with preparation is more than 1000 hours. You
just cannot manage to prepare for
this exam within few months. Extremely systematic preparation is
required, which is very close to a ―No
social life‖ style. The hours needed
for study will not appear all of a sudden – any free time – or holiday – has
to be short. Candidates have to be
prepared to put away everything not
urgent and to concentrate all their
efforts on this preparation. However,
they cannot forget their families, who
support them in all their efforts and
without whom a lot of things would
not be possible. You have to be motivated anyway and to decide, what
your priorities will be.
Remember, that the final LAB only
confirms your knowledge, as if the
preparation itself would take you the
way up to an 8000+ peak and then
you will stay 100 meters under the
dreamed-of summit.
At the end of this part I would like to
express my thanks to my girlfriend,
family, colleagues and LYNX company
for their support that has been irreplaceable during the time of my
preparation. Next time, we will talk a
bit on how to climb the last 100 metres :).
Ing. Martin Hronský
CCIE #20935, Lynx spol. s r.o Košice
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
How to Achieve CCNA Certificate?
Have you successfully finished the
fourth semester of CCNA on Cisco
NetAcad? If yes, now it is the right
time to show all what you can do J.
Maybe you already know that we will
be talking about CCNA certification
exam.
The first step is to find a certification
centre. List of certification centres
you can find on www.vue.com pages,
the path is "Test Taker Services" ->
"Locate Test Centers", you just have
to choose.
When you have chosen the centre,
you should know that the price per
exam is 150 USD plus VAT. In case
you have successfully finished
―Voucher exam‖, the price will be
lower. If you want a voucher, you
have to ask for it – you can find a
form on NetAcad portal. An e-mail
will be delivered to you with all the
details needed.
The test lasts 110 + 30 minutes and
consists of ca. 30 questions. It is very
similar to the tests you can find after
each Cisco NetAcad module. Questions are of MULTIPLE CHOICE - SINGLE ANSWER, MULTIPLE CHOICE MULTIPLE ANSWER or DRAG&DROP
type, but there are also more complicated questions, such as ―I have got
some network and a command line
simulation, where something has to
be configured‖. There is only a minimum of ―simulation‖ questions, but
they will probably take the biggest
portion of time to solve. Most questions you will be probably able to
answer within one minute, though.
During the test it is worthwhile to
concentrate all your forces and to pay
attention where you are clicking,
because there is no way to return to
previous questions. You can get maximum of 1000 points for the test. For
successful finishing of the test you will
need to have collected at least 849
points. No software is without errors,
so what should you do if it will not
respond as it is supposed to? In such a
case, call the administrator immediately, who should report the error via
Incident Reporting System. If the
failure cannot be fixed within 5-10
minutes, you can choose whether you
will wait until it is fixed and then you
will continue with the testing, or you
will rearrange the exam for another
date.
One more warning in the end: let the
result of the test be whatever, think
about your steps carefully – some
participants are said not to be able to
get out of the room!
Michal Vrábel
S&T Slovakia, RCNA FIIT STU
How Can You Motivate Your Students?
To increase the motivation of our
students, we attended DoD – Doors
Open Day of the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies
of STU in Bratislava. There we decided to ask students, participants,
few questions:
 What caught your interest most?
 Did it influence your attitude towards the study?
 Does it have some influence on your
future plans?
Patrik Žiško (1. semester, Exploration): ―I was interested mainly in
students´ presentations – those of
Peter Mesjar and of the student who
has been on fellowship at Microsoft.
Interesting were also possibilities of
study at the FIIT. Surely it has influenced my attitude towards study, I
have begun to show more interest in
the preparation for university studies,
where I would like to continue with
networking technologies study at
CCNP level.‖
Maroš Matejov (2. semester, v3.1):
―I was most interested in the story of
the student, who has been on fellowship at Microsoft. Also Peter Mesjar´s
presentation and his life story have
been interesting. Of course, it has
influenced my attitude towards the
study. Now I want to put more effort
into study and to make the timing
better in order to be more effective. I
have decided to gain further education at some of the technical universities.‖
Peter Petiaš (2. semester, Exploration): ―My attention has been drawn
by opportunities of studies in foreign
countries as well as by the fact that it
is possible to continue in the NetAcad program along with university
studies. The impact it had on me
resulted in more intensive study of
new Exploration curricula. They are
demanding, but more sophisticated
graphically, nicer and better. In the
future, I plan to graduate from NetAcad program by CCNA certification
exam and to continue with university
education.‖
Róbert Rakovics (CCNA): ―The
information that the ―Computer
systems and networks‖ specialization
IT certification — Step in Your Career!
CISCO
CERTIFICATION
Confirmation of your IT qualification, improvement of your changes on labour
market, or speed up your career demands need certification exam—to
prove your knowledge and experiences.
 Cisco certification successful candidates find plenty of
interesting opportunities for their career in the field of
Networking technologies.
 IT professionals declare that certification help them to
deeply understand products and solutions.
 IT companies profits from employee/IT team certification because they achieve higher standard of services
and higher productivity.
We could offer for IT field the complex certification system
which allows companies and their employees achieve
overview about achieved qualification in the field of Networking technologies.
elfa s.r.o., Letná 9, 042 00 Košice, www.elfa.sk
tel.: 055/625 3839, vzdelavanie@elfa.sk
has got an international accreditation
has been surely very interesting for
me. Also the credit system and the
opportunities of studies in a foreign
country have drawn my attention. I
have learned how to fill in an electronic application form and I have
been provided with information about
the process of acceptation for university studies. Indeed, it has influenced
my attitudes towards studies already
last year. I have participated in DoD
FIIT STU for the second time already.
I have confirmed in the opinion that it
is useful to continue in the NetAcad
program, namely along with university
studies. My decisions have been
largely influenced also by Peter Mesjar´s talk.‖
Andrej Ondrejovič (CCNA): ―An
interview with senior lecturer Kotočová has persuaded me to fill in the
application form for studies at FIIT
STU Bratislava, where I would like to
continue my network technology
studies at the CCNP level. During the
summer, I am going to participate at
the Summer School held on Technical
University in Košice. I need to know
its term in order to plan summer
activities.―
Page 7
Several instructors have also participated in the activity. They have had
the opportunity of unofficial meeting
with department management. What
are your impressions and experience?
Ing. Viera Belanová, educational
counsellor: ―It left very positive impression on me. I esteem the whole
activity very highly, both from professional and personal side. I admire
organizers, teachers from the Faculty
of Informatics and Information Technologies, for their ability of communication with students. Spontaneous
reactions of students present in university hall confirm this fact.‖
Mgr. Viliam Tonhauser, school
vice director: ―Our participation on
the doors open day has been useful.
Together with faculty management,
we have agreed that there is a need of
FIIT STU employees and students to
go to field and to visit high schools. I
hope they will not bypass the United
School at Handlová and its section
Composite High School of Trade and
Services.‖
Ján Krausko
LCNA instructor
ZSŠ obchodu a sluţieb v Handlová
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
End of CCNA v3.1 Support
Together with introduction of new versions of CCNA curricula in Discovery and
Exploration editions, a gradual ending
comes of the older version support of
CCNA v3.1 materials. This article summarizes most important facts and terms.
STUDENT´ INSTRUCTION
The last day to create new student
class for CCNA v3.1 course 1 has
been March 31, 2008. All new Networking Academy students can begin
their studies only in Discovery or
Exploration edition after that date.
The Networking Academy Help Desk
will continue to provide full support
until July 31, 2008 for CCNA v3.1
course. After that day, CCNA1 v3.1
study materials will not be available
anymore, nor can the Help Desk be
asked to provide support with regard
to the old version of CCNA1.
The last day to create new student
classes for CCNA v3.1 courses 2–4 is
January 31, 2009. Students, who will
not manage to complete CCNA in its
old version until that date, will be
allowed to continue with their studies
after migrating to new CCNA Discovery or Exploration class. It is important to remember that in comparison
with CCNA v3.1 version, new Discovery and Exploration curricula have
an innovated content and changed
order of themes instructed. A student
migrating from an old CCNA version
to a new Exploration or Discovery
version will have to study all the
necessary topics that are different
from the old curriculum. Study of
differences is left upon the student´s
personal initiative; transfer courses in
the style of former ―CCNA Bridge‖
are not planned to be taught.
In Table 1 you can find information on
which class you can sign students in,
on the assumption that they have
completed certain semesters of older
CCNA materials version.
More detailed information about
themes that students will need to
study before migration to certain
semester of CCNA Discovery or
Exploration you can find in ―CCNA
v3.1 Student Migration Guidelines― presentation. You can get to
this presentation by logging in Cisco
Academy Connection, then clicking
on ―View Recent Headlines‖ reference and searching for ―CCNA v3.1
Student Migration Guidelines Update‖
contribution dating back to March 14,
2008.
Finally, July 31, 2009 is the date when
support and accessibility of the old
version of CCNA courses ends. After
that date, an access to the CCNA
v3.1 materials forfeits, including all the
support. List of terms (including
events) is displayed once more in
Table 2.
INSTRUCTOR TRAINING
The last day to create new instructor
class for CCNA v3.1 course of any
semester has been January 31,
2008, which date already elapsed.
Therefore it is currently possible to
create classes for new instructors in
Discovery or Exploration editions
only.
Some of our colleagues – instructors,
who have not completed whole
CCNA curriculum yet – are probably
doubtful now, with regard to how
their instructor training will continue
from now on, because it is already
impossible to complete their instructor training according to the old
version of CCNA materials. However, for them as well as for students,
the opportunity to migrate from the
old CCNA materials version to Discovery, respectively Exploration, is
open, according to the table listed in
the ―Students´ Instruction‖ section.
Again, it will be very useful to read
carefully the ―CCNA v3.1 Student
Migration Guidelines― material. According to Academy Help Desk workers, it is valid for instructors as well.
Table 1.
End-of-Life Announcement for
CCNA v3.1
Cisco® Networking Academy® has
announced the end-of-life dates for
the English version of CCNA® v3.1
and with regard to that also termination of corresponding
exams
INTRO
(640-821),
ICND (640-811), and CCNA
(640-801).
Certification exam INTRO (640821), ICND (640-811), and CCNA
(640-801) will be available to Networking Academy students until
July 31, 2009 so that exam terms
will be in accordance with the
instruction of CCNA v3.1 curricula.
Class creation:
If you want to find more details on
 Last date to create new stu- terms, deadlines and other dates
dent class for course 1 (CCNA
v3.1 version) is March 31,
2008
 Last date to create new stu-
dent class for courses 2-4
(CCNA v3.1 version) is January 31, 2009
The Networking Academy Help
Desk will continue to provide
support until July 31, 2008 for
CCNA v3.1 course 1 and until July
31, 2009 for courses 2–4.
which will influence curricula and
certification, please, check out
following websites:
 CCNA v3.1 End-of-Life
Announcement and
FAQs
 CCNA v3.1 End-of-Life
Presentation
If you will have any questions,
please, contact your NetAcad
Program regional coordinator
(fjakab@cisco.com).
Editorial board
CERTIFICATION EXAM
CCNA 640-801 certification exam
corresponded with the content of
CCNA v3.1 materials (the number of
currently valid exam that corresponds
with Discovery, resp. Exploration
editions, is 640-802). This certification
exam is no more accessible to general
public. However, graduates from Networking Academy have still the opportunity to log in for it, until July 31,
2009. While logging in for an older
640-801 certification exam, a candidate
has to have following data prepared
for use:
1. Username of the candidate, used
for Cisco Academy Connection
login
2. Personal number of the candidate
in Cisco Academy Connection, socalled Student ID. This number can
Table 2.
3. Number code needed for an older
exam to be made accessible, socalled Retired Exam Promotional
Code. This code can be obtained
in a document called ―Retired
Exam Promotional Codes― listed
in ―View Official Course Material―
box on the webpage of CCNA4
class, where the candidate is currently signed in. These codes are
changed from time to time, that is
why the latest version of the document has to be at hand.
Dear readers, if there are any questions left unanswered, please contact
me via e-mail, I will gladly provide an
answer for you.
Peter Palúch
RCNA at FRI, University of Ţilina
Peter.Paluch@fri.uniza.sk
Student
accomplished:
...and he/she
could continue
to study Discovery semester:
...and he/she could
continue to study
Exploration semester:
CCNA 1
v3.1
CCNA 2
CCNA 2 or CCNA 3
31st July
2008
CCNA 1 + 2
v3.1
CCNA 3
CCNA 3
31st January
2009
Last date to create new student classes in
CCNA 2—4 v3.1
31st July
2009
Last date to access content and receive
curriculum operational support on Academy Connection for CCNA v3.1
CCNA 1 + 2 + 3
v3.1
CCNA 3
(we recommend that
student finish CCNA
in previous version)
Date
be found out after login into Academy Connection via clicking on
―My profile‖ reference, situated in
the upper part of webpage.
31st March
2008
CCNA 3
(we recommend that student finish CCNA
in previous version)
Page 8
Event
Last date to create new student classes in
CCNA v3.1
Last date to receive Help Desk support for
course maintenance for the CCNA v3.1
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
Announcing Exam Fee Waiver Program: Free Certification
for Active Instructors of Networking Academy Program
Cisco Networking Academy, in cooperation with Learning@Cisco and
Pearson VUE, has developed an exam
fee waiver program for active instructors in the Networking Academy
community, which enables them to
get a free certification. This offer will
be available from early September
2008 through January 1, 2010. This
new initiative has been developed for
Networking Academy Instructors
exclusively, so do not hesitate and
make use of it!
Free certification will refer to:
 Cisco CCENT™ Certification
 ICND1 (640-822)
 Cisco CCNA® Certification
 ICND1 (640-822)
 ICND2 (640-816)
 CCNA composite (640-802)
 Cisco CCNP® Certification
 BSCI (642-901)
 BCMSN (642-812)
 ISCW (642-825)
 ONT (642-845)
How can you get the free certification?
 All active instructors in the Networking Academy community will
be eligible to receive up to one
voucher for each of the certification exams that map to the Networking Academy curricula (as
written above)
 You may choose a maximum of six
distinct vouchers. You may not
choose ICND1, ICND2, and
CCNA composite.
 An active instructor is an instructor
who has taught a class within the
past 12 months. To qualify, a class
must have a least three students.
 Links to request vouchers for each
of the exams will appear on the
Academy Connection homepage of
active instructors. You should only
request a voucher if you intend to
take the exam and are ready to do
so, since voucher redemption rates
will be measured as part of the
program criteria.
PACKET TRACER 5.0: New Generation
for Network Simulation – Available for
Download
Packet Tracer 5.0, the latest
version of Cisco Networking
Academy’s comprehensive networking technology teaching and
learning software, is now available. Packet Tracer 5.0 offers a
unique combination of realistic simulation and visualization experiences,
complex assessment and activity
authoring capabilities, and opportunities for multiuser collaboration and
competition, and is available free of
charge to all Networking Academy
instructors, students, and alumni.
Packet Tracer 5.0 greatly surpasses
the learning benefits of previous versions, providing exciting new opportunities for creativity and interactivity
in the classroom. Innovative features
of Packet Tracer 5.0 will help students and teachers collaborate, solve
problems, and learn concepts in an
engaging and dynamic social environment
What’s New?
Packet Tracer (PT) 5.0 makes teaching and learning networking technology easier through a number of new
features:
 Additional platform support:
Packet Tracer 5.0 runs on an
expanded list of platforms, including Windows (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Vista Home Basic, and
Vista Home Premium) and Linux
(Ubuntu and Fedora).
 Additional protocol support:
Packet Tracer 5.0 supports an
expanded list of protocols to
reflect current networking trends
in government and industry,
including IPv6, multi-area OSPF,
route redistribution, RSTP, SSH,
and multilayer switching. PT 5.0
also includes more protocol
support for teaching CCNA-level
concepts and deeper modeling of
protocols.
 Multiuser functionality: Packet
Tracer 5.0 is a peer-to-peer,
network-capable application that
enables social learning. The multiuser functionality supports collaboration, competition, remote
instructor-student
interaction,
social networking, and gaming.
Upgrade to Packet Tracer 5.0
Packet Tracer 5.0 is a major new
release that includes numerous functions that are not available in PT
4.11. Although there are no curricula
requirements that make it necessary
to move immediately to PT 5.0, we
encourage you to upgrade to the
new version to take advantage of the
many improvements and exciting
new features included in this release.
Packet Tracer 5.0 supports activities
authored in PT 4.0, 4.01, 4.1, and
4.11. All activities included in the
CCNA Discovery and CCNA Exploration curricula are also fully compatible with Packet Tracer 5.0.
 Links to request vouchers will
remain active until they are used
or until January 1, 2010. After
requesting a voucher, you will
receive confirmation and the
voucher number will appear in
your instructor profile.
 Note that voucher remains valid
for three months only. After that
period, your voucher code expires. Its validity cannot be prolonged.
 After you request the voucher,
the link will go away. Links for all
other vouchers (not requested
ones) will remain active. Use these
links only if you are really prepared for the exam.
 Vouchers within this program will
cover 100 percent of the cost of
each exam for active Networking
Academy instructors.
 A single voucher will be issued per
exam, per candidate, so please
study prior to taking your certifi-
The software can be downloaded
from the Packet Tracer 5.0 resource
page on Academy Connection. To
access this page, log in to Academy
Connection and click the Packet
Tracer graphic on the left of the page,
then select the appropriate download
package for your needs. Instructor
resources from Cisco Learning Institute for Packet Tracer 5.0 are available through the same link. Informative Flash Video is available at Launch
the video.
Learn More
To learn more about the features and
benefits of Packet Tracer 5.0, we
encourage you to download and
review the following resources. These
resources are also posted on the
Packet Tracer 5.0 resource page on
Academy Connection):
 Packet Tracer 5.0 FAQ
 Packet Tracer 5.0 At A Glance
 Packet Tracer 5.0 Data Sheet
 Packet Tracer 5.0 Brochure
 Packe Tracer 5.0 Overview
Presentation
Page 9
Editorial board
cation exam. It is not possible to
request the voucher repeatedly.
 When you register for an exam
either online or by calling a Pearson
VUE testing center, you will be
asked to provide your voucher
information. This will be a code
number that will ensure you receive the discount of 100%.
For more information see FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions): http://
www.cisco.com/web/learning/netacad/
d o w n l o a d s / p d f /
ExamFeeWaiver_071508_Final.pdf.
František Jakab
Networking Academy program
coordinator in Slovakia
Annual NetAcad
Program Conference –
PPT Presentations
Available
We would like to inform you
about changes made on
www.netacad.sk webpage.
The 7th year of Networking Academy Program annual conference is
over and it had fully met our expectations. The conference counts
among the most important events
oriented on network technologies
and on education of network
professionals. Therefore we decided to make the program of the
conference accessible to the whole
NetAcad community – you can
find the program as well as
videos and PPT presentations
on our webpage.
We hope that lectures presented
both by domestic and foreign
experts will be a contribution for
you and that they will help you
with implementation of the program on your schools. Our thanks
belong also to all the partners,
who supported the conference.
Without them, the program in
Slovakia would not be of such a
high standard.
Zuzana Szabóová
Networking Academy Program
Annual Conference organizer
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
NetAcad Ideas
HOSTS File
Confreg Verzus Config-register
As an explanation of the notion and function of DNS in the first semester of
CCNA, I use a file called HOSTS. If using Windows XP, you can find it in
the following folder: C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Both access to the file
and its editing is possible for the administrator only:
# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#
102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com
# source server
#
38.25.63.10 x.acme.com
# x client host
127.0.0.1
localhost
The method of bypassing a password is well known to
our community. However, it may be useful to stop and
write about few steps of this process. We know how to
solve the problem when router asks for a password. But
what if I get to a router for practical exercise after a
theoretical preparation and it does not ask any password? There is nothing easier. I ask my classmate to lock
the router with accent on saving of the new configuration. Impatiently, I come close to the router – and what I
see? As if wittingly, it does not ask for a password again.
Now, an analysis follows. My classmates have done the
same exercise only a while ago, and everything went well.
What is the problem? Configuration printout from Packet
Tracer 4.1 program shows that a concrete setting of registry value to the value
of 0x2142 is needed :
Self decompressing the image:
########
monitor: command “boot” aborted due to user interrupt
rommon 1 > confreg
usage: confreg number
rommon 2 > confreg 0x2142
rommon 3 >
In the file, IP address static mapping of domain name is saved. When typing the
domain name into a browser, e.g. www.google.com, IP address corresponding
to the Google server is being searched for in this file at first. If it is not there, a
DNS based on client-server communication is used and the IP address is
searched for dynamically on DNS servers at ISP.
Value 0x2142 will provide for ignoring of the start-up configuration (startupconfig) and thereby for the bypass of configured password enable secret.
Packet Tracer asks for a concrete value, but for the C2600 router, confreg
command is enough. After that, you have to answer ―yes‖ to the question
―Ignore system config info?‖
Let us try to turn down DNS in network settings and to assign these domain
names to IP addresses: (before this, use ping check to see whether you have
got the same addresses)
My classmates knew all this and so they bypassed the password. shver command revealed to me that they did not change the value of configuration register 0x2142 back to 0x2102.
Configuration register is 0x2142
Router #
127.0.0.1
87.230.72.120
66.249.91.147
66.249.91.147
193.87.160.181
198.133.219.25
localhost
www.travian.com
www.google.sk
www.google.com
www.zochova.sk
www.cisco.com
After computer restart, only these domains could be displayed (statically typed
domains). After DNS is turned on, all web pages will be accessible again.
If you have read carefully, you will surely discover how you can block your
brother from access to his favourite webpage www.travian.com. You just need
to replace IP address 87.230.72.120 for e.g. 81.89.48.21 (www.imhd.sk server),
and the webpage is redirected to another web portal. Without the existence
of DNS, based on client-server model, work with Internet would be more
difficult. HOSTS file would be much longer and an administrator, administering
more computers at once, would have to change the file on every new request.
Ing. Zora Hledíková
LCNA instructor, SPŠ Zochova, Bratislava
So we have to go to global configuration mode and make order there. This
means to set the configuration register back on the value, which will ensure
loading of the configuration saved in NVRAM.
Router (Config) # config-register 0x2142
Router (Config) #
Now we will control the result by using shver command.
Configuration register is 0x2142 (will be 0x2102 at next reload)
Router#
After restart, everything is all right. Router asks for a privileged mode password
and now I can exercise bypassing of it.
I was happy to find out that I can do this exercise at home as well, using Packet
Tracer program.
Róbert Rakovics
LCNA student
ZSŠ obchodu a sluţieb v Handlová
Communication Passing Through a
Switch – Can It be Monitored?
Monitor port: Ethernet 0/10
Ports being monitored:
You know that, microsegmentation, MAC addresses, throughput, collision
domains, etc. But what if I want to use Fluke Protocol Inspector (or another
sniffer) and I am using switches? The answer is SPAN – Switch Port Analyser as a part of catalyst switches, which enables us to monitor incoming
and outgoing data flow on another port of the same VLAN. For more details, try typing ―Configuring SPAN 2900‖ or ―monitor-port cisco‖ into your
favourite search engine.
Cisco WS-C2912-XL configuration
Switch(config)# interface FastEthernet0/10
Switch(config-if)# port monitor FastEthernet0/1
Switch(config-if)# port monitor FastEthernet0/2
Cisco Catalyst 1900 configuration
Switch(config)#monitor-port monitored 0/1
Switch(config)#monitor-port monitored 0/2
Switch(config)#monitor-port port 0/10
Switch(config)#monitor-port
switch#show port monitor
Port monitoring state: Enabled
Ethernet 0/1, Ethernet 0/2
Fa0/10
Fa0/1
Počítač 1
Catalyst 2900XL
Switch#show port monitor
Monitor Port
Port Being Monitored
--------------------- --------------------FastEthernet0/10
FastEthernet0/1
FastEthernet0/10
FastEthernet0/2
Fa0/2
Students, would you be able to find any other way (even if not a very friendly
one) to force a switch to work similarly as hub?
Počítač 2
Monitorovací
program
Page 10
Július Baráth
Instructor, RCNA at AOS gen. M.R. Štefánika, Liptovský Mikuláš
(Special Edition)
Academies/Number of students involved
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Technical University of Košice, FEI KPI
8
SPŠ elektrotechnická v Košiciach
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
Vzdelávací inštitút elfa, Košice
Gymnázium a Osemročné gymnázium, Trebišovská 12, Košice
SPŠ a OA s vyučov. jaz. maď., Grešákova 1, Košice
Gymnázium, Šrobárova 1, Košice
SOU dopravné Košice
SOU hutnícke Košice
SOU stavebné v Košiciach
Gymnázium P. Horova Michalovce
Zdruţená stredná škola, Michalovce
SOU Roţňava
Gymnázium Spišská Nová Ves
SPŠ elektrotechnická v Prešove
SOU Poprad
SPŠ Poprad
ZSŠ Medzilaborce
Gymnázium Terézie Vansovej, Stará Ľubovňa
Gymnázium Stropkov
Gymnázium duklianskych hrdinov, Svidník
Feb.
2006
Feb.
2007
Feb.
2008
Networking Academy Program Statistics
195
65
38
52
39
18
43
568
209
50
65
55
26
62
718
393
45
60
51
6
56
In the table on the left you can see an
overview of the amount of students
participating in Networking Academy
Program during last three years.
0
22
42
0
61
2
52
17
100
123
47
0
46
28
32
0
179
61
74
32
127
231
96
0
77
28
36
10
154
130
79
46
136
256
114
0
68
20
41
0
33
36
20
21
0
87
122
174
0
178
703
74
253
171
22
42
5
24
3
38
0
0
105
35
0
17
71
36
0
0
232
352
54
43
19
54
140
32
0
SOU stavebné v Humennom
Gymnázium Rimavská Sobota
Gymnázium - Gimnázium Fiľakovo
ZSŠ Veľký Krtíš
Zdruţená stredná škola sluţieb v Lučenci
33
30
9
0
38
29
16
0
71
41
146
110
115
225
199
603
70
212
105
35
59
2
20
6
26
245
854
65
265
170
34
55
7
20
8
29
0
81
27
0
45
31
22
0
0
92
37
0
35
63
33
0
87
315
32
16
0
50
138
76
162
431
35
28
0
63
149
99
0
SPŠ Jozefa Murgaša, Banská Bystrica
Zdruţená SPŠ, Nové Mesto nad Váhom
Spojená škola - SPŠ Ignáca Gessaya a OA, Tvrdošín
ZSŠ elektrotechnická v Liptovskom Hrádku
Technická univerzita vo Zvolene
SPŠ elektrotechnická, Ul. Karola Adlera 5, Bratislava
Slovak Technical University, FIIT, Bratislava
GTEC Institut
SPŠ elektrotechnická, Zochova 9, Bratislava
SPŠ elektrotechnická, Hálova 16, Bratislava
SOU elektrotechnické, Rybničná 59, Bratislava
Cirkevné SOU elektrotechnické P.G. Frassatiho, Bratislava
Gymnázium a OA pre telesne postihnutých, Bratislava
Gymnázium Ladislava Novomeského, Bratislava
Stredná vinársko - ovocinárska škola, Modra
SOU energetické v Trnave
SPŠ dopravná v Trnave
SPŠE Piešťany
Spojená škola Handlová
SPŠ Myjava
SOU Strojárske v Povaţskej Bystrici
ZSŠ elektrotechnická Stará Turá
Spojená škola, Nové Zámky
SPŠ Komárno
Gymnázium s VJM Šahy
Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre, Katedra techniky a IT
SPŠ Kysucké Nové Mesto
University of Zilina, Faculty of manag. and inform., KIS
SPŠ Martin
Gymnázium Mikuláša Galandu, Turčianske Teplice
SOU pôšt a telekomunikácií, Banská Bystrica
AOS gen. M. R. Štefánika, Liptovský Mikuláš
Spojená SŠ - SOU elektrotechnické, Banská Bystrica
SOU energetické Ţilina
Odb. výcviková škola PVO, KIS a EPS, Lipt. Mikuláš - Mokraď
NetAcad Newsletter
We are glad to observe an increasing
tendency of the amount of students
involved. We thank all the academies
for their effort and initiative.
František Jakab
Networking Academy program
coordinator in Slovakia
New NetAcad program
webpage design—visit:
www.netacad.sk
AmCham Supports Education Reform
Cisco and Networking
Academy Program representatives attended a press
conference organized by
American Chamber of
Commerce – AmCham.
AmCham tries to contribute to improving of the
educational process quality
in Slovakia, therefore AmCham participated in an
interdepartmental objection
procedure for the proposed
education law. American
From the left: Jake Slegers, Executive Director
Chamber of Commerce in
(AmCham), Robert Šimončič, (Microsoft Slovakia),
Slovakia considers constant
Marcel Rebroš (Cisco Slovakia)
development and modernization of educational system to be knowledge they have acquired in the
one of the most important elements program.
in a prosperous society; it tries to At this conference, Networking Acadsupport an active cooperation be- emy Program was presented as one of
tween private and academic sector as the most successful models of public
well as an effective transformation of and private sector cooperation. It is
knowledge from theory into practice
the long-standing success of the proDuring this press conference, Networking Academy Program was presented by the program coordinator,
Mr. František Jakab as well as by the
students of the program, who have
spoken about their personal experience with the program and about
opportunities of a network professional career building on the base of
Page 11
gram and the position of the Cisco
company, what could help innovate
education and use information technologies in the education process
itself.
The main idea of the press conference
was creating of bigger space for professional education within schools´
education programs and betterment of
relationships between schools
and employers at local level,
with an aim to reflect the
needs of individual regions in
Slovakia and an introduction
of new innovative education
methods so that they could be
adjusted to the needs of the
employment market in the
best possible way
NetAcad program student
answering questions of Slovak television
František Jakab
Networking Academy
program coordinator
in Slovakia
(Special Edition)
NetAcad Newsletter
ICETA2008
International Conference
PARTNER’S ECOSYSTEM
General partner:
Guarantee:
Partners:
Stylistic revision were not done in the Newsletter
Media partner: