Through their exclusive content, networklessons.com helps network professionals achieve their personal goals, whether they are just getting started, seeking certification, or upgrading their skills. Their students learn better with examples, and they found CloudShark makes the user experience for their students much better, and building the lessons even easier, too.
Providing easy to understand training for network professionals
Advancing and expanding the pool of quality network engineers out there is no small task, given the breadth and complexity of knowledge required for modern computer networking. As such, having resources like NetworkLessons.com is a huge benefit to the community. Through their exclusive content, they help boil down these complex topics in the simplest ways possible, and include training materials for certifications like Cisco CCNA, CCNP and CCIE Routing & Switching. They also have a great community and forums to help anyone learn.
“We can point them directly at the packets or analysis that is explained in the example, complete with per-packet notations that help teach the lesson.”
“We really aim to help network professionals achieve their personal goals,” said Rene Molenaar (CCIE 41726) and Founder of NetworkLessons.com. “Whether they’re just getting started, upgrading their skills, or looking for certification, we really want people to be able to stop struggling and start learning.”
Of course great training needs great materials, and great materials need great examples. “We use a lot of packet captures in our tutorials,” Rene said. “Seeing networking protocols in action helps students to understand how these protocols work. We wanted a way to be able to use more capture examples and make viewing and working with them easier.”
CloudShark packet views and web-based analysis tools for students
Having students download example captures and then hunt for the right examples wasn’t ideal, however. With students already working with NetworkLessons materials on the web, it was easier to have them jump directly to what the lesson was teaching, right in their browser.
“What I like about CloudShark is that you can open a packet capture with a single click in your browser,” said Rene. “You don’t have to download a capture file and install Wireshark. This makes the user experience for our students much better, and makes building the lessons even easier, too.”
“In our tutorials, we now include CloudShark links next to screenshots of packet captures,” said Rene. “It works great for us. Students love to look at the captures themselves for a more hands on approach. Sometimes they want to see items that we didn’t include in our screenshots but that are available in the packet capture. With CloudShark, we can point them directly at the packets or analysis that is explained in the example, complete with per-packet notations that help teach the lesson. I highly recommend CloudShark for instructors and teachers!”
Interested in using CloudShark for your networking coursework or internal training materials? Let us know!
