Juniper Equipment and getting certified without experience in the real world.

evarney

So I've supported the Cisco campus network and Brocade switching environments as a network admin, done a little VPN (both SSL/and site to site and recently some spoke networks.

The 6500 and 3750 switches have been my turf for years.

I have a JNCIA which is really entry level JunOS literacy.

I'v met some interesting people in my travels. The ability to really clamp down and comprehend how data flows through a network and devices communicate is probably more important than knowing a specific operating system. I've met those people. Then I've met...well people that can't and are probably not going to hold a job very long because they are test takers.

So my question is, what of this is really credible?

If I buy a handful of hand-me-down JUNOS devices, (I have a few, hopefully they boot after being shipped to europe), and I want to pursue JNCIS-ENT so I can move towards atleast being able to walk into a Juniper shop and hold my own.

Networking is a small field and if you get a rep for being a paper Network engineer you probably will spend your life bouncing ports or doing disconnects and that's not were I want to be.

I need to figure out what I lack for this to work. Can someone give me a up-to-date equipment list or let me know if virtual labs are worth it? I want JNCIS-ENT and SEC.

Would you honestly hire a guy with a background in Cisco and a few J-series, ex's and SRXs at home?

networker050184

I wouldn't worry about going above the JNCIA if you do not work with Juniper gear. You'd be much better off going for a CCNP to match your actual work experience. Cisco certifications are widely respected even when applying for shops that use other vendors. A CCNP with Cisco experience is much more valuable than a CCNA and JNCIS that has never worked with Juniper in the real world in my opinion.

evarney

I am currently doing CEH and will be going back to NP. I did the SWITCH exam but got sidetracked and burnt out. I am not in a Cisco shop at the moment and I don't want any more brocade SH*T.

Will complete CCNP, but sometimes going through generic routing concepts enables me to go killing two birds with one stone. I remember I did BCNE, JNCIA and CCNA SEC all in one year because I had momentum. Commands are different and architecture is different, but switching is switching. For the most part....I realize that Juniper and Cisco sometimes do things differently on the backside.

thnx for input

networker050184

As far as equipment, some SRX would work pretty well for both ENT and SEC. Some vMX would be nice to use as well for the routing portions. You'd need to keep in mind for the switching there are some nuances between the routing and EX platforms though.

evarney

I had a couple ex2200's at work back at my old job that I could lab with. Unfortunately I left.

I may buy a couple ex2200s. Btw; what I can I do with a [FONT=&quot]M10i?[/FONT]