Cisco Systems CCNA 2 manual Role of Routers in a WAN, Academy approach to hands-on labs

1.1.4 Role of Routers in a WAN

There are several encapsulations associated with serial lines:

•HDLC

•Frame Relay

•PPP

•SDLC

•SLIP

•LAPB

Some of the most common WAN technologies are as follows:

•POTS

•ISDN

•X.25

•Frame Relay

•ATM

•T1, T3, E1, and E3

•DSL

•SONET

Ask students to briefly explain each of the WAN technologies and discuss the differences between technologies and encapsulations. They will be covered in detail in CCNA 4.

It is important to encourage student interest and enthusiasm in this TI. The world of WAN technologies is briefly introduced. Many students will be familiar with one or more of the technologies used. Many of these topics will be covered in CCNA 4 and students should be encouraged to do additional research on one of these technologies and present it to the class.

1.1.5 Academy approach to hands-on labs

In the Networking Academy lab, all the networks are connected with a serial or Ethernet cable. This allows the students to see and touch all of the equipment. In a real network, the routers would not be in one physical location. In the Networking Academy lab, the serial cables are connected back-to-back. However, in the real world the cables would be connected through a CSU or DCE device.

Discuss the differences between real networking environments and the router lab setup. Help the students visualize the components between the V.35 connectors. If they can understand this picture, then they will realize that they are working with a complete WAN minus the carrier services.

13 - 238 CCNA 2: Routers and Routing Basics v3.1 Instructor Guide – Module 1 Copyright ♥ 2004, Cisco Systems, Inc.