Cisco certifications

[GroundZero3]

I've been tossing around the idea of the Routing and Switching CCIE. Reading some of the blogs of those going for it scares the bejesus out of me! Some people have failed 3 or 4 times (that is a grand PER test!) before actually passing it!

But if you can get the CCIE, you are pretty much set job and money wise. Im very interested in the voice part of Cisco. I might look into the Cisco VOIP certifications next. Who knows. I might finish the CCNP and be like LOL im done! We are maybe looking into implementing VMware ESX in the couple of months so that might take up some of my study time at work. (which i don't mind because ESX kicks ass)

[usslindstrom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

Some people have failed 3 or 4 times (that is a grand PER test!) before actually passing it!

You're not kiddin'. And that scares the crap out of me too! I've met a few CCIEs here and there, and they all say the same story. The time they pass is about a years worth of full-time study, with the last 3-4 months before the test like 8 hours a day on equipment.

That being said, I honestly DON'T think that the CCIE R & S is unobtainable, and I'm already going full throttle into it. Man, even prior to going for the lab exam, I'm tossing the idea around of going through one of the boot-camps, just to make sure I got everything covered. Of course, if I did the boot camp idea - it would definately be AFTER the perscribed method of a very long study period before hand.

[GroundZero3]

I'm gonna see how I feel after I finish my CCNP. I know when I finished my MCSA, the last thing i wanted to do was read more information about MS. However I do enjoy the cisco side. So far im enjoying the BCMSN as its mainly the stuff I deal with on a day to day basis.

[famosbrown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

I've been tossing around the idea of the Routing and Switching CCIE. Reading some of the blogs of those going for it scares the bejesus out of me! Some people have failed 3 or 4 times (that is a grand PER test!) before actually passing it!

But if you can get the CCIE, you are pretty much set job and money wise. Im very interested in the voice part of Cisco. I might look into the Cisco VOIP certifications next. Who knows. I might finish the CCNP and be like LOL im done! We are maybe looking into implementing VMware ESX in the couple of months so that might take up some of my study time at work. (which i don't mind because ESX kicks ass)

yep ESX is pretty cool. I've done single instance deployments and it's really easy to initially setup. I wasn't involved in a clustered SANS implementation of ESX, and after speaking with a few VCP's, I've found that there is a LOT you can do to customize and use with VMWare ESX to make the environment better. We were Physical 2 Virtualinzing (P2V) a bunch of servers to free up hadware, power, cooling, etc.

[GroundZero3]

Sweet im mainly in charge of the SAN (im not sure how that happened) We will be deploying in a SAN/Blade server environment so im really excited about it. We could knock out about three or five racks of equipment once we get comfortable with it.

[GroundZero3]

CCNP BCMSN Sept 16th @ 2:30 pm.

[famosbrown]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GroundZero3

CCNP BCMSN Sept 16th @ 2:30 pm.

Good luck GZ!! You are the man tackling with the CCNP. I see CCIE in your future .

I'm still reading the first ICND1 book and still piecing together a home lab for study. So far I have two 2610XM's and 2 2950's. So far it has been fun messing with the real equipment. I'm juggling graduate school and Cisco study, so hopefully I will be able to be CCNA by December.

[GroundZero3]

Famos did you check out that GNS3 software i posted on the second page?

Im still shooting to be completed by DEC/JAN. After that I would like to maybe get the CCVP or focus on the SAN/Vmware stuff. I don't think i will really even think about the CCIE until I get a job where routing is actually part of my job. My job right now is mainly the layer 2/3 stuff.

/shrugs im sure after Jan I will just want to take a month or two off and not do anything. Its been nonstop studying for the last 3 weeks. I spent all labor day weekend and most of this weekend at the office with my nose in a book. I think by Thursday of this week Ill be completed with the book and i can just review. (hell i've had this certification hanging over my head even before i started the CCNA!)

Just keep reading, just keep reading, just keep reading. The great thing is the wireless controller stuff isn't completely lost on me since ive already set one up from scratch for my office. Very cool stuff (a pain in the ass last weekend as you can see from my blog!)

[GroundZero3]

two down! two to go!

They had a simulation for spanning tree (they gave you the output of one switch and you had to answer questions from the info that one switch gave)

Two drag and drops one was on the switch ports (desirable, trunk, access, etc) and the other was on the STP state

Several questions on wireless and plenty on Voice and QOS. I'm gonna go back and review those chapters as we have a lot of Cisco phones on our network. Gonna take the rest of the week off and start on the ISCW

https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.co...?view=overview

Havent really dont any of this! Should be interesting!!!

[famosbrown]

Keep it up GZ!!

Yeah, I've heard of GNS, Dynamips, and other emulators that can run real IOS's without routers, but I opted to go with real equipment for my study. If I decide to go for CCNP, I will definitely go the GNS and possibly a layer 3 switch simulator since I'm not going to shell out a whole lot of money for VERY expensive routers and layer 3 switches. I'll have to make that decision when I get there . I am almost done witht he second thick book for ICND1, and afterward, I will complete the lab manual to get my hands on work done. It's taking me a while since I only get to study when I have free time at work and my MBA work is dedicated to when I'm home. Crazy schedule right now .