CCIE Security

BroadcastStorm

Hi Guys, I know I'm pretty far-off to even getting close to this highly respectable certification hehe I guess it's not bad to be a dreamer, anyway my question is I am currently dealing with alot of security with my new position, and wanted to find out how long does it take to accomplish the innevitable? and how much experience? what gears are requires?

I am currently supporting a good 150 sites consisting which are mostly using ASA5505, the corp has 5520 and IPS/IDS appliances etc. etc. etc.

shednik

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

Hi Guys, I know I'm pretty far-off to even getting close to this highly respectable certification hehe I guess it's not bad to be a dreamer, anyway my question is I am currently dealing with alot of security with my new position, and wanted to find out how long does it take to accomplish the innevitable? and how much experience? what gears are requires?

I am currently supporting a good 150 sites consisting which are mostly using ASA5505, the corp has 5520 and IPS/IDS appliances etc. etc. etc.

How long? Depends on how fast of a learner you are, and how much time you have on your hands.

I support about 15 ASAs in North America where I'm the primary person who administrates and does any new implementations. With a large arrary of ezvpn connections for small SOHO routers, anyconnect, and some other vpn based stuff.

I think Ahriakin would be a perfect person to answer but I haven't seen him posting much recently.

I'm just worried about the IPS experience since I have no access to it.

mikej412

Security Track - CCIE - Cisco Systems

There are no formal prerequisites for CCIE certification. Other professional certifications or training courses are not required. Instead, candidates must first pass a written qualification exam and then the corresponding hands-on lab exam. You are expected to have an in-depth understanding of the topics in the exam blueprints and strongly encouraged to have three to five years of job experience before attempting certification. You can review the exam preparation materials included on this page for more information.

You can find the links to the exam blueprints (Written & Lab) on that link above. Equipment and Software/IOS versions has it's own link on that page, as well as the Book List and a link to other online resources.

If you have lots of free time, no life, and a job that isn't demanding and gives you plenty of work time to study, then you could be read for your first Lab attempt within a year.

If you do have family, friends, pets, and kids that demand attention and a job that's a massive time and energy suck, then you may want to take the slow road. If you can set aside a couple hours a night (and an occasional weekend day) for a couple of years, you should reach the point were you are ready for your final push where you do need the support of friends, family, and work and can disappear on weekends for a couple of months.

You can get some idea about the CCIE journey by reading Ahnakins CCIE thread: http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccie/36057-ccie-sec-lab-diary-how-make-ahriakins-brain-implode.html

Reading Turgon's thread will give you an idea of the slow road (and hopefully some hints about balancing family and work and CCIE studies - hint: family comes first): http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccie/21535-1st-ccie-lab-attempt-blog-help-candidates.html

Building a home CCIE Security Lab can get expensive, but you can check out the Docs web page on the GNS3 web site to get some idea about a virtual solution -- which will work to start your studies. Then you can shift to rack rentals for your final push when you're ready.

Ahriakin

shednik wrote: »

I think Ahriakin would be a perfect person to answer but I haven't seen him posting much recently.

Guilty, sorry, work's been hell for months...it's slowly starting to quieten down and we have some more manpower on the way so mebbe I'll be able to get on more.

To the OP as has been said it's very subjective. Your experience, dedication, support at home, learning ability, budget (for the quality of training materials, labs etc.) and work environment are all key. Many moving parts. Post CCSP I did my written in 3 months, Lab roughly in 6. I only had access to medium sized networks at work but thanks to the wife only had to work 20 hours min. a week so I could dedicate ~60 hours or so to study and labs each week which was a great help.

BroadcastStorm

Thanks for the input guys, I am getting all my resources together:

CCSP CBT Nuggets Series
Upgrading my 2950's with 2960's
Upgrading my 2611xm with 2800's
Added CISCO881GW-GN-A-K9, and AP 1242AG
Added 7960 IP Phones
Added a VM ACS server

I will add a 48U rack to get myself organized, one thing I want is to make sure I come out as an expert and labbing gnawing through my trek, and not get burned when I am in the high-level field, afterall I will be viewed as an expert when I succeed.

I'm not sure yet how far this track will touch the world of voice and wireless, I will learn as I go.

My new job will be a huge help with my preparation, since it spans 160+ S2S VPN sites, mostly using ASA equipments, as well it's paranoid security having a mindset of a DoD, anyway we'll see how far I go.