I tried to study a bit from beej.us and I appreciated the style of teaching, but ultimately thought it wasn’t for me as it didn’t go much into depth and focused more on creating C programs. Is there some source from where I can learn in a comprehensive yet easy to understand manner the fundamentals of computer networking, at least to the extent that is relevant for selfhosting?
Well … How much do you want to learn? How serious are you?
If you want to know networking, the authority is Cisco.
I’m scheduled to take my CCST Network exam tomorrow. That’s an entry-level Cisco cert.
I’ve been studying for about 3 months. Wish me luck …
Junior NetAdmin Cert
The CCST training is online and entirely free.
https://www.netacad.com/career-paths/network-technician?courseLang=en-US
Access
You’ve got to jump through some hoops. You need to create an account and go through some verification.
They need to figure out if you are ‘overseas’ and whether you should be able to download encryption products.
I think its probably easiest if you use your work email, that’s what they are really looking for.
Cisco U
There’s a shit-ton of free classes at Cisco U as well.
Most of those are not directly cert-related, but a large amount of them were created for people studying for the CCNA, so they are certainly helpful. There’s all sorts of rando training, keep ya real busy. Here’s one I’ve started.
https://u.cisco.com/paths/understanding-cisco-data-center-foundations-20705
Lab Environments
The whole study program uses Packet Tracer for the labs, which you download from them.
I also got a copy of Cisco Modeling Labs running. That was a bitch, had to shoe-horn an OVA to run on Proxmox.
And I got an older edu copy of the Cloud Services virtual router, if there’s anything these other lab environments can’t handle. (This version can be freely downloaded … csr1000v-universal9.03.12.00.S.154-2.S-std.iso)