Should I Learn LINUX with the CCNA | CCNP? - Network Engineer
About this video
Chuck answers whether network engineers should learn Linux alongside the CCNA: yes, but not at the very start. If you are just beginning CCNA study, he says, focus on that first and do not get bogged down; add Linux to your training path afterwards. His reasoning is that much of Cisco’s newer gear is Linux-based on the back end — security appliances such as Firepower, collaboration systems such as Call Manager, and Nexus data-center switches, whose file system he describes as Linux-based. He says the majority of the world’s web servers run Linux, many companies are Linux-only, and knowing even a little Linux has really helped him in collaboration work, where he says every application runs off Red Hat. He puts Linux in the same box as Python: core skills the next-generation network engineer will need alongside networking itself. Getting started is easy, he argues — download VirtualBox and an Ubuntu ISO, play with the GUI and the command line — and he points to cheap Udemy courses, CBT Nuggets Linux courses, and David Bombal’s Python course, which also exposes students to Linux. He admits he is by no means a Linux expert: he has done some Debian, spun up OpenVPN on a Debian box, played with Python inside Linux, and used a Raspberry Pi, and he wishes he knew more. His suggestion for someone who just finished the CCNA is to devote a few days, or a day a week, to Linux. The video closes with Christmas giveaways: five of David Bombal’s Packet Tracer CCNA lab bundles, and his GNS3 course for the first 25 commenters using the hashtag.
Key takeaways
- Learn Linux, but sequence it: finish or focus on the CCNA first rather than trying to learn both from scratch at once.
- Cisco’s security, collaboration, and Nexus data-center products are Linux-based on the back end, so Linux familiarity helps administer them.
- Chuck groups Linux with Python as essential skills for the next-generation network engineer, alongside networking itself.
- You can start free and immediately: install VirtualBox and an Ubuntu ISO and experiment with the GUI and command line.
- Even a small amount of Linux knowledge has helped Chuck in his own career, especially with Linux-based collaboration applications.
Episode details: published December 19, 2017 · 5:52 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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