Introduction

UNICEF is accelerating the global roll out of a pioneering "cloud networking" technology offered by a one of its most historically reliable ICT vendors: Cisco. The new Cisco Meraki line of hardware and services is indeed geared to power up to all UNICEF's sites worldwide by end of 2025, even in the most challenging network environments.

By being able to remotely manage all network devices (security gateways, switches, wireless access points, cameras and sensors) from a single online dashboard, new capacity skill sets and requirements are emerging for UNICEF's wide, local and wireless area networking (WAN/LAN/WiFi). 

UNICEF is therefore pleased to introduce the "Agora Meraki network administration course", mostly aimed at UNICEF ICT network administrators, but is also open to anyone curious about UNICEF's new global network environment (check if you can pass the "Test your basic TCP/IP knowledge Quiz" before!).

Certification and knowledge contents will be valid for the next 3 years. The course itself may be updated on a by-yearly basis based on your feedback and evaluations. 


Happy learning!


 

Cloud managed networks and Cisco Meraki technologies are key pillars to UNICEF ICTD's NetOne project. Learn more.


Learning objectives

The course content covers the below areas of Cisco Meraki:

  • Cloud Managed Networks and its benefits​.
  • Meraki Dashboard​.
  • Meraki Products (hardware/equipment) and Licensing​.
  • UNICEF workflow for a new Meraki Network (site/office) creation.
  • How to configure and manage Meraki security gateways, switches and wireless access points.
  • Day to day Meraki network operation and troubleshooting using various built-in and easy-to-use tools.
  • Network monitoring​.
  • How to escalate problems and issues via either the Meraki helpdesk support or Service Gateway. ​
  • Best practices, tips and tricks to manage a network with maximum efficiency and security.


Audience

The intended audience for this course is primarily UNICEF network administrators requiring "full access" on their Cisco Meraki networks so they can configure, manage, monitor and/or troubleshoot network (WAN, LAN, WiFi, security) related problems.

This course can also benefit colleagues with other ICT specializations willing to learn about data networks and Cisco Meraki.

The course requires basic networking knowledge (ie you will need to know what an IP address is).


Length

2 hours to 2 weeks depending on knowledge and pace


Methodology and structure

This course is composed of four modules. After each module there will be a short quiz and then a final exam at the end of the course. All the questions are multiple choice questions type. You will need a score of at least 80% to pass the course.

Module 1: Introduction & Basics

  • What is a cloud managed network?
  • What is Cisco Meraki?
  • Why Cisco Meraki?
  • Network creation process
  • Dashboard walkthrough
  • UNICEF standard configuration
  • Managing administrators and permissions
  • Quiz

Module 2: Administration & Monitoring

  • Client View
  • MX devise status page
  • MS devise status page
  • MR devise status page
  • Local status page and MX initial configuration
  • Managing multiple Meraki devises
  • Network topology tool
  • Traffic analytics 
  • Quiz

Module 3: Advance Features

  • Floors plans
  • Redundancy
  • QoS & traffic shaping
  • Identifying threats
  • Air Marshall tool
  • Wireless health tool
  • Setting up VLANs
  • Enabling WAN access
  • Quiz

Module 4: Troubleshooting & Escalations

  • Best practices for site maintenance
  • Insight
  • Tools for troubleshooting
  • Engaging with Service Gateway and Meraki support
  • Quiz

Quick evaluation form

Final exam


Quizzes

Quizzes are non-mandatory, mini games that unlock once all videos in the module have been viewed. 

When launching a quiz, 5 questions are dynamically selected from a 10-20 bank of questions.

Each quiz has two types of questions: easy and difficult. After submitting an answer to the question, you will be able to see whether it is correct or not as well as a detailed explanation of the answer. 

Trainees are recommended to pass and retake quizzes as many times as needed to prepare for the final certification.


Certification

Certificate becomes available when all the modules videos are marked complete. 

Only UNICEF network administrators with a valid certificate will be provided "write access" to the local Meraki networks.


Quick evaluation form

We appreciate your feedback. The form will become available when: the entire course is completed and passed.


Complementary resources

Below are some additional resources that can help you get more knowledge and expertise, if you want to pursue, beyond the scope of this course. 

  • Cisco CCNA Certification: Certify yourself or go through the books!
  • NetOne Sharepoint: news around UNICEF’s network related projects and releases
  • WiKi: ICTD’s central repository for all network related documentation
  • UNICEF/ICTD Webinars: news, releases, demos, walkthroughs
  • UNICEF Meraki Yammer group - join and share experiences, challenges or tips with other UNICEF network administrators.
  • Meraki documentation: maintained by Cisco, a repository for all technical documentation.
  • Meraki Community join the forums to get answers or feedback from other Meraki customers.


Course Contact

If you have any questions and/or comments about this activity, please contact: 

Simon Genin – sgenin@unicef.org

Andras Grepaly – agrepaly@unicef.org

This course was created by: Waheed Ali – waali@unicef.org