A VLAN is a set of end stations and the switch ports that connect them. You can have different reasons for the logical division, such as department or project membership. The only physical requirement is that the end station and the port to which it is connected both belong to the same VLAN.

In my opinion, the Cisco switches are the best in the market. Versatile, reliable, flexible and powerful, the Cisco switch product line (such as the 2960, 3560, 3650, 3850, 4500, 6500, 9400 series etc) offer unparalleled performance and features.

Although a Cisco switch is a much simpler network device compared with other devices (such as routers and firewalls for example), many people have difficulties to configure a Cisco Catalyst Switch.

Basic OSPF Configuration

CCNA students need to understand how OSPF works but also how to configure it. If you have no idea what OSPF is or if you are a little fuzzy, I recommend you to read my Introduction to OSPF first before continuing. Having said that, let’s configure OSPF! This is the topology I will use: