My CCIE Data Center Thread

creamy_stew

DPG wrote: »

Congrats!

Do you think you would have been able to accomplish this in only two attempts if you weren't working for Cisco?

LOL, you can always count on the Internets to bring out the tinfoil hats.

creamy_stew

DPG wrote: »

That is what I was getting at. It is well known that Cisco employees have exclusive access to resources that us civilians could only wish for. I passed on a position with them even though I think I would have had a much better chance at obtaining a CCIE which has always been a personal goal.

Wow. Passive-aggressive much?

creamy_stew

Congratulations, Iris!

Iristheangel

Thanks, Creamy!

It was a relief to get that pass! Now I'm finally moving onto some more fun stuff and I feel somewhat validated on what I've been doing for the last 2 years.

Iristheangel

creamy_stew wrote: »

LOL, you can always count on the Internets to bring out the tinfoil hats.

Heh... that's actually not the worse I've ever heard. Had a guy who didn't know me or anything about my technical skill ask me if I thought that I was hired by Cisco as a diversity hire because I'm a woman He kept claiming he wasn't trying to offend me and it's nothing against my technical skill because he didn't know anything about that but that Cisco was a "sausage factory" and everyone "knows" that they're trying to hire diversity hires. Said guy is in his fourth year of studying for his CCIE *written.* I wonder if he would assume that I was a "diversity pass" now :P

I've also heard the following about the CCIE:
- Magical gremlins go and futz with your config while you're at lunch during the CCIE lab (They don't)
- Proctors will automatically fail you if you already hold a CCIE because they don't think you should get one that easily (Someone should let Mrock's proctor know!)
- If Proctors don't like you, they'll fail you - Downright silly since the proctor you're taking the test with is not the one that is grading your exam
- Proctors have magical powers to fail you whenever they want regards of whether you answer all the questions right or not - They do not. It's graded by script and if any proctor is to manually intervene, it's because the margin between a pass and/or fail is close.

People come up with some weird stuff sometimes...

creamy_stew

Iristheangel wrote: »

Had a guy who didn't know me or anything about my technical skill ask me if I thought that I was hired by Cisco as a diversity hire because I'm a woman He kept claiming he wasn't trying to offend me and it's nothing against my technical skill because he didn't know anything about that but that Cisco was a "sausage factory" and everyone "knows" that they're trying to hire diversity hires.

I have a really hard time dealing with passive/aggressive people like this. Usually I just try to avoid them if I can, and if that doesn't work, I get so frustrated that I tell them to **** off. At which point HR is called in etc. Usually ends up with me not having to work with him any more.

I currently have a guy like this. He's smart, productive etc., but he just has a nasty habit of second-guessing and coming up with sly ways of why he needs to redo something that's already in place.

Iristheangel

I certainly don't have a thin skin or run to HR but I'm not the type to turn the other cheek or be all meek to someone who's either ignorant or just plain clueless.

As far as the diversity hire guy, I pretty much pointed out that what he was saying was not ok to ask ANYONE and hopefully he's not a bonehead with the next group of people he assumes has an advantage he doesn't have, Picture of the chat below (name and pic redacted to protect the non-innocent):




As far as creamy's response to what you said, totally understand that and I kind of had the same gut response. I get it wasn't what you were going for and I'm not upset with you. It just seemed odd given the context of the thread and pretty much the context of my whole career on here.

TheProf

Man... some people.. I honestly would have completely ignored that guy!

spiderjericho

I won't lie. I probably fit the IT typecast/stereotype but that conversation was cringe worthy.

I can see where the guy is coming from. But Iris is a hard charger. Definitely a positive IT success story.

creamy_stew

Wow, seems like I missed out on some of the discussion.

Probably for the best, though, that it was deleted. Hopefully, the guy will re-examine his priorities and draw new conclusions.

lrb

Just out of curiosity, did you use the IPX Written VoD when preparing for the written? I already have the Lab VoD to learn some stuff for a new project, just wondering how useful the Written ones were if you used them at all

Iristheangel

lrb, I mostly used the books and documentation. I did watch the written videos but after I passed the written already. I just wanted to watch all the videos that were out there by that point.

lrb

Thanks for that They are probably going to be on sale during the xmas sales so I may pick them up to close any gaps for when the DCv2 material comes out. Don't think I'll ever get the chance to get around to doing DC, but I wouldn't mind catching up on ACI stuff

Iristheangel

Well, this little Christmas present arrived from Cisco Remember remember the fifth of November...

21ctl

lovely and golden

Iristheangel

It's so lonely on the wall... it needs friends....

techfiend

I heard the CCDE is worth another mil. Congrats on the long journey! I hope to earn a number before I retire.

advanex1

Congratulations! That thing looks gorgeous. I'd sit that above my degree

fmitawaps

Whose plaque is that? Yours? It doesn't say "Iris" on it........

shednik

Saw this on Linkedin, congrats on the CCIE!!

lsud00d

Congrats Iris, what a great achievement!!

Iristheangel

Thanks guys Appreciate you all listening to me vent though the whole process and always being supportive on here. This community has been amazing for getting me here at this point in my career.

21ctl

@iristheangel hard work pays and you also inspired many people because your progress was detailed. keep it up. i did send you some pm's

Marv_Bx_718

@Iris I sent you a PM, can you reply at your convenience please?

Thank you

_Gonzalo_

Iristheangel wrote: »

Passed

And so did Mrock.

I have been frenzied at work for months, and I loved coming back here to see this! I know it was a long time ago, but still I'm very happy for you!

I´ve read as well that you´re going for R&S straight away! Wish you the best of luck with it! (even knowing you do not need any... )

I´ll try and keep an eye on your new thread from time to time (if I manage to squeeze a minute out of life...)

Take care!

DPG

How much time did you spend on the CCNA and CCNP Data Center exams? Did you have previous DC experience? I'm looking at the DC track but despite nearly a decade of data center experience, I haven't touched NX-OS much at all.

Edit: Wow, looks like less than a year?!

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-data-center/98738-ccna-data-center-completed.html
http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccnp-data-center/99757-my-ccnp-data-center-thread.html

Iristheangel

@DPG - I didn't have lots of DC experience at all but I had networking experience. It made it easier to understand for the NX-OS side of things. I had gone to a bunch of local UCS test drives so UCS wasn't a completely foreign concept to me either.

To be fair, the CCNA DC was a bit of a joke. Like it's nowhere near the level of difficultly that the CCNA R&S is. I pretty much read Todd Lammle's book, watched CBT Nuggets and studied data sheets until I was ready to go. I unofficially started studying probably in November of 2013 since I though I would be rolling out a new DC around that time for work so I had work pay for a LOT of DC rack rental tokens and I bought the INE workbook to start practicing.

The CCNP DC was more relevant and a lot more fun. I think storage tripped me up the most since I wasn't used to it but I jumped on the PEC labs and labbed as much as I could on there. I think right after I was done with the NP, I started hardcore on the IE and probably spent thousands and thousands on IPX rack rentals and their bootcamp to get me up to snuff. I also was spending the whole time volunteering for any DC project I could at Cisco, running meetups and training classes to teach people, etc

DPG

Were the INE labs and racks on par with IPX? I was thinking about buying a N7K, a few N5K's and some FEX's to build a lab but it looks like rentals are the way to go for this track.

Iristheangel

DPG wrote: »

Were the INE labs and racks on par with IPX? I was thinking about buying a N7K, a few N5K's and some FEX's to build a lab but it looks like rentals are the way to go for this track.

No. They were nowhere near the IPX labs sadly.

joelsfood

I hear there might be some creditors in Michigan selling full DC racks coming off defaulted lease cheap.....