This course equips you with the advanced skills needed to secure and optimize modern networks. Starting with EtherChannel, you'll learn how to improve bandwidth efficiency through load balancing and multi-path connections. The course also covers important protocols like StackWise and Layer 3 EtherChannel, which ensure high performance and network redundancy. You’ll get hands-on experience configuring and troubleshooting these technologies, giving you the practical skills to manage complex network environments.

Moving into network security, the course delves into key topics such as Access Control Lists (ACLs), DHCP snooping, and Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI). You’ll learn how to secure your switches, prevent unauthorized devices from accessing your network, and lock ports to specific hosts. This section provides critical insights into identity-based networking (802.1X) and the best practices for implementing SSH for secure remote management. Lab demos ensure you can apply these methods in real-world environments. Finally, the course explores network optimization techniques like Network Address Translation (NAT) and Port Address Translation (PAT), enabling you to manage IPv4 address exhaustion and optimize routing for large-scale networks. IPv6 routing is also covered to future-proof your skills. Through a combination of security best practices and network optimization strategies, you will leave this course equipped to handle any networking challenge with confidence. This course is ideal for network administrators and IT professionals looking to improve their security and optimization skills. A basic understanding of Cisco networking is recommended, but no advanced security knowledge is required.