Why people find design material boring...

I have figured it out. I now know why people always say the CCDA/CCDP material is so dry and boring.

Its because they shouldn't be studying for this in the first place!

Why? If you are a break/fix guy, or work in a NOC, or basically just don't actually get to design high level large network architectures, this stuff is going to mean nothing to you and put you to sleep!

I took the CCDA while still working in a NOC. Sure I saw some of the things it talked about applicable to our networks, but I didn't care enough. It was the hardest book to get through, and I did not enjoy it at all (like most people).

However, now that I have moved into a Sr. Engineer position that I am actually making the design decisions and fixing it, this material is like gold to me now! Every chapter in the CCDP book has something that I have put to use in the last few months, from new deployments, to fixing old ones.

So yes, the books are a little repetitive at times, but the material really does make sense when you start to apply it as solutions in the real world. The design track is not just another stone in the Cisco Cert Pyramid, it actually holds some value!

*disclaimer* I am not trying to say there is no value in studying for this, just trying to give insight as to why a lot of people hate this track (I was one of them).

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Turgon

GT-Rob wrote: »

I have figured it out. I now know why people always say the CCDA/CCDP material is so dry and boring.

Its because they shouldn't be studying for this in the first place!

Why? If you are a break/fix guy, or work in a NOC, or basically just don't actually get to design high level large network architectures, this stuff is going to mean nothing to you and put you to sleep!

I took the CCDA while still working in a NOC. Sure I saw some of the things it talked about applicable to our networks, but I didn't care enough. It was the hardest book to get through, and I did not enjoy it at all (like most people).

However, now that I have moved into a Sr. Engineer position that I am actually making the design decisions and fixing it, this material is like gold to me now! Every chapter in the CCDP book has something that I have put to use in the last few months, from new deployments, to fixing old ones.

So yes, the books are a little repetitive at times, but the material really does make sense when you start to apply it as solutions in the real world. The design track is not just another stone in the Cisco Cert Pyramid, it actually holds some value!

*disclaimer* I am not trying to say there is no value in studying for this, just trying to give insight as to why a lot of people hate this track (I was one of them).

Once you move to the Senior Engineer space you are often called upon to help with infrastructure direction. In the contract roles I work it's HLD and DLD's for deployments. Could be a new datacentre design or a migration, or networking design for a new hosted application or what have you. That and some 4th line support thrown in. The details I produce and the network implementors do the configuration. Im glad you find some of that stuff useful. Resellers are keen on it as well for pre sales work.

mikej412

GT-Rob wrote: »

I have figured it out.

I think you "nailed it"

CChN

Aye, the material reads like a Cisco marketing exam but if you can power through the buzz words you'll find some insightful best practices.

Check the design zones for validated designs:

Design Guides [Cisco Validated Design Program] - Cisco Systems

Viewing the network from a high-level can be fun. It's just what you make of it.

Firemarshalbill.com

In my position as a senior sales/design engineer I find the CCDx stuff very useful. It even helps when I use the CCDx stuff to explain designs to customers. And even better when I see an RFP that is is written by someone with a design certification I know how to answer it

The engineers that I am hiring are getting extra points on their ranking if they hold the DA or DP certification

Morty3

I think CCDA is a lot of fun, and I work with general IT...

Forsaken_GA

I guess how interesting the CCDA is depends on when you approach it. I took it after I finished my CCNP, and somewhere in this forum is my rant about how much I detested the CCDA. I'm a little more favorable towards the ARCH exam, however, though I do feel like I wasted some time with both exams.

veritas_libertas

Would I be wrong to say to it is all about how you like to view a network? Kind of a big picture vs. many small detailed pictures?

Forsaken_GA

The Design track is mostly about building a network with best practices in mind, and a particular design philosophy. Using Cisco solutions, of course.

Real world tends to be a little more... chaotic. If you're troubleshooting someone elses network, and the only thing you know is the 'recommended' way to do things, you're going to end up a bit limited. Sometimes you run into things that work, but they took 5 steps when 2 were needed, and you have to have an almost jedi like ability to divine wtf the other guy was thinking. Or you just say screw it and do an in place redesign of the network, including a migration plan to limit downtime as much as possible. That's when life gets *really* fun. (And I'm not being sarcastic... I think it's kind of fun to hold almost god like power over whether or not the customers get to keep playing WoW that night

)