New gig

mikearamamikearama Member Posts: 749
in CCNP
Hey techies...

I just landed a new gig at a university up here in Ontario, as a Network Admin. The interesting part... it's entirely a Nortel shop. I'm quite surprised they went with me, though my OSPF is pretty strong.

All three of my last gigs have been in cisco shops, and I've never logged into a nortel device. Can anyone fill me in on what to expect? What are the big differences in the CLI? Do nortel devices have an SDM?

The bonus of this position is that all courses are free (except taxes), so I'll be taking advantage of that... just not sure how I'll finish my CCNP now. Gonna be interesting.

Mike
There are only 10 kinds of people... those who understand binary, and those that don't.

CCIE Studies: Written passed: Jan 21/12 Lab Prep: Hours reading: 385. Hours labbing: 110

Taking a time-out to add the CCVP. Capitalizing on a current IPT pilot project.
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Comments

  • larkspurlarkspur Member Posts: 235
    did you know it was nortel going in? Do they have plans to move away from that platform.
    just trying to keep it all in perspective!
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  • cdad2000cdad2000 Member Posts: 323
    Nortel is very similar to cisco. The switches are easier to configure. There is a CLI, but Nortel has a GUI, which is easy. Trust me, you'll be a expert in 2 months.
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  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    Once you have all the standards down you can pick up on the vendor specific stuff pretty quick. Nothing beats Cisco though :D .
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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  • NetstudentNetstudent Member Posts: 1,693 ■■■□□□□□□□
    We just went with the NOrtel 5510's and 5520 POE models and I like them. They have a http based GUI as well as a menu driven initial setup, and a CLI. They aren't quite as granular as IOS but they are pretty good. A lot of the commands are the same as IOS and the prompts are about the same as far as enable mode configuration mode, ect...

    STP config options are setup a lot different in the NOrtel OS.
    There is no place like 127.0.0.1 BUT 209.62.5.3 is my 127.0.0.1 away from 127.0.0.1!
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  • sprkymrksprkymrk Member Posts: 4,884 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Never used Nortel, but wanted to say "congrats" on the new job. icon_cool.gif
    All things are possible, only believe.
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  • jamesp1983jamesp1983 Member Posts: 2,475 ■■■■□□□□□□
    congrats
    "Check both the destination and return path when a route fails." "Switches create a network. Routers connect networks."
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  • techEDtechED Member Posts: 55 ■■□□□□□□□□
    :D congrats on the job.
    The real bonus: you will be a multi-platform expert in the end. sweeet icon_exclaim.gif
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  • mikearamamikearama Member Posts: 749
    Thanks guys... I appreciate it. And yeah, pretty pleased about the role. And I went from driving 45 minutes to having to drive 3... or a 23 minute walk (did it this morning... sweet).

    I was rather surprised to get the gig. Coming from cisco-only environments, I didn't expect much, but I killed the tech interviews, and had no trouble with the stp/ospf/vlan questions. That, and my charming/charismatic/effervescent/dynamic/etc personality... oh, and good looks... and voila!

    I spent the morning adding a couple AP's to the more than 300 already in place, and discovered a great version of a wireless controller used here called Symposium. Playing with the nortel switches wasn't too much of an issue... I guess having a Cat1924 as part of my home lab paid off after all, as the cli was almost the same. And, my last gig at Toyota had a few left over Baystack 450's, so so far so good.

    @larkspur... there's been no mention of moving away from nortel. If it's in the plan somewhere, it would explain a lot.

    @teched... yeah baby, yeah! On top of Nortel, they use Checkpoint firewalls, so might as well own them too.

    And as a bonus... oh my god, the scenery!!! Beaucoup women! (read: girls. At 38, I'm starting to feel like a dirty old man).

    Mike
    There are only 10 kinds of people... those who understand binary, and those that don't.

    CCIE Studies: Written passed: Jan 21/12 Lab Prep: Hours reading: 385. Hours labbing: 110

    Taking a time-out to add the CCVP. Capitalizing on a current IPT pilot project.
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  • mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Congratulations! icon_cheers.gif

    Sounds like its a nice place to work! :D
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
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  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    Congrats. Good looks eh? Did you show some skin? :P


    Which university are you at now btw?
    http://frozenrouter.blogspot.com
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  • mikearamamikearama Member Posts: 749
    Durham College / UOIT. Out in Oshawa.
    There are only 10 kinds of people... those who understand binary, and those that don't.

    CCIE Studies: Written passed: Jan 21/12 Lab Prep: Hours reading: 385. Hours labbing: 110

    Taking a time-out to add the CCVP. Capitalizing on a current IPT pilot project.
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  • Mrock4Mrock4 Banned Posts: 2,359 ■■■■■■■■□□
    mikearama wrote:
    At 38, I'm starting to feel like a dirty old man).

    Mike

    From a 17 year old younger Mike to another Mike......it's because you ARE a dirty old man.


    Just kidding..wanted to say congrats as well. It's always good to hear about fellow IT pro's finding jobs they enjoy...and learning new technologies is always good.
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  • Aquabat [banned]Aquabat [banned] Inactive Imported Users Posts: 299
    do they have nortel phones too?
    i herd u leik mudkips lol
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