Acknowledgments

Brett Bartow continues to be the backbone of the Cisco Press brand, guiding the entire author team through the big transition in 2019–2020 with all the changes Cisco introduced to its certifications. Simply the best! Thanks for all you do, Brett!

Dave Hucaby teamed up again to write this book, contributing one chapter here to go along with his four chapters in the CCNA Volume 1 book. It’s such a joy to review his work and see such polished material from the first draft. It’s been a joy to work with such a consummate professional—thanks, Dave!

Chris Cleveland developed the book—again—and made it much better—again—and did it with more juggling than ever before, I think. Five months, roughly 50 technology chapters and another 50 other book elements, and countless online elements, all done with apparent ease. Kudos to Chris, yet again!

I so look forward to reading Elan Beer’s tech edits of the chapters. That may seem strange to hear, but Elan has truly amazing technical editing skills. His insights range from the details of technology, to the mind of the new learner, to wording and clarity, to holes in networking logic as compared to the wording, to tiny typos that impact the meaning. Thanks again Elan for improving the chapters so much!

Tonya Simpson managed this book, along with the CCNA Volume 1 book, all in that same compressed timeframe again. As usual, on both projects, Tonya has kept the production processes rolling along and getting through the idiosyncrasies of the content. Thanks for shepherding the book through the wild again, Tonya!

As always, thanks to the production team that works with Tonya. From fixing all my grammar and passive-voice sentences to pulling the design and layout together, they do it all; thanks for putting it all together and making it look easy. And Tonya got to juggle two books of mine at the same time (again)— thanks for managing the whole production process again.

Mike Tanamachi, illustrator and mind reader, did a great job on the figures again. Mike came through again with some beautiful finished products. Thanks again, Mike.

I could not have made the timeline for this book without Chris Burns of Certskills Professional. Chris owns much of the PTP question support and administration process, works on the labs we put on my blog, and then catches anything I need to toss over my shoulder so I can focus on the books. Chris, you are the man!

A special thank you to you readers who write in with suggestions and possible errors, and especially those of you who post online at the Cisco Learning Network and at my blog (https://blog.certskills.com). Without question, the comments I receive directly and overhear by participating at CLN made this edition a better book.

Thanks to my wonderful wife, Kris, who helps make this sometimes challenging work lifestyle a breeze. I love walking this journey with you, doll. Thanks to my daughter Hannah, who actually helped a bit with the book this summer before heading off to college (go Jackets!). And thanks to Jesus Christ, Lord of everything in my life.