Class started at 08:00. For the rest of the week, we should be starting at 09:00, but today was an early start to get introductions and other incidentals out of the way. My class is pretty full as we are at 12 students. As usual, we all have varying degrees of competence when it comes to networking and Cisco products. Lecture pretty much began at 08:30 and went on until 13:00 when we stopped for lunch (We did have breaks for the instructor and others to take smoke breaks). Breakfasts and lunches will be provided for the entire week, which helps out. We came back to class at 13:30, and we were going through the material until we hit the point where we were just about to get into our first lab.
Now, the camp has provided each student with some items they can use for the duration of the camp. We were provided with 2 books, a CCNA Study Guide and a CCNA Cram Guide. We were provided with our own laptops (some type of Compaq) which have a lot of self-test materials pre-loaded. And then for use in the lab we have been provided with Cisco routers and switches. Our first lab is to connect to the Cisco router through a console connection and configure the router for use. We have been provided with a rollover cable, which allows us to connect to the RJ-45 port on the router through the Serial Port (RS-232) on the back of the laptop. Normally this would be no problem, except for one tiny little detail. There is no serial port on the back of these laptops. I have one on the back of my Dell Inspiron 8200 that I am using to write this, but there is no serial port on the back of the Compaq. So, we took an early break for dinner while they go find serial-to-USB adaptors. Even away from work, the fun never ceases.
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