About Academy @ Anything Over IP

Built by someone who's actually been there

My name is Jay Whale. I've spent the better part of my career living inside networking, not simulating it, not reading about it, but doing it. On real hardware, in real environments, for organisations where the network going down isn't an inconvenience, it's a crisis.

Banks. Healthcare systems. BMW. Dubai Airport. These aren't the kind of places where you get to Google the answer while someone waits. They're the environments that teach you what networking really looks like when the stakes are high and the pressure is on.

I've watched the sun come up more times than I care to count while still at the keyboard, mid-troubleshoot, mid-deployment, mid-whatever-the-night-decided-to-throw-at-me. That's not a complaint, it's context. The knowledge on this site didn't come from a lab environment. It came from production.

The certifications side

I hold more than 48 certifications across 9 vendors. But what I'm most proud of isn't the letters after my name; it's that I've helped close to 10,000 people face-to-face in over 40 countries earn theirs.

I've also been on the other side of the table. I've written official Cisco curriculum — the CLFNDU, CFUN1, CFUN2, and CLCOR courses. I've served as a technical editor for the ENCOR, ENARSI, and ENSLD materials. I know how that content is built, what it's designed to test, and how to help you bridge the gap between what the exam covers and how the real world actually works.

The content on this site is built with all of that behind it.

What Academy @ Anything Over IP is

This is a structured learning resource for people working toward IT certifications, primarily CCNA, CCNA Automation, Network+, Security+, and Linux+, with a sprinkle of CCNP-based content as well.

Every post is written to match how people actually search when they're studying. Not the formal objective language from a blueprint, but the real question: "How does OSPF DR/BDR election actually work?" or "What's the difference between standard and extended ACLs, and when do I use each?"

The goal isn't just to help you pass. It's to make sure you actually understand what you're doing, because you're going to be using this stuff in the real world, and the real world doesn't give partial credit.

Want to go deeper?

If you're looking for a community to study alongside, the CCNA Skool community is where that conversation happens.

For enterprise needs, visit anythingoverip.com.

And if you want to know more about the person behind this site — the projects, the gear, the socials, that's all at jaywhale.com.