How to become a efficient network engineer?

Guys can you give me insights on the duties of a network engineer? All I know is to configure and monitor a network, but how do yo monitor, what application would be the best network monitoring software?

A little career guidance please

I want to be an network engineer someday and I don't know what will I study, I'am currently studying CCNA. and after CCNA I'am confused on what to study. thank you!

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inscom.brigade

The comp tia section has good stuff, the network has a program called N+, also Security is good the S+.

tycoonbob

CompTIA is great if your starting in IT. If you pass your CCNA, I wouldn't bother with Network+. Security+ then CCNA Security would be great if you are wanting to get into security. Could later follow up with something like OSCP and maybe CEH (which is almost a waste anymore).

Aside from that, I would recommend other CCNA certs such as CCNA Voice, or CCNA Wireless (later get OSWP), if either of those specializations interest you. Or you could just aim for your CCNP. Regardless, make sure you are getting your hands dirty in a lab at home if you aren't working in networking yet.

JDMurray

It's usually the technical specialists in the NOC that do the monitoring and the engineers in the DC that do the implementation and maintenance. The NOC personnel will use many software applications--both custom and commercial--that interpret syslog messages and SNMP traps sent by every network device and collected at a central event log repository. HP Network Node Manager is a typical program used to detect and alert on specific events that could mean trouble.

Once trouble is suspected, NOC personnel will log into the actual device(s) and run a variety of "show" commands to diagnose what the current state of a device is. Logging in is either via a GUI or CUI (command line). This means you need to know your way around both UNIX/Linux and Windows in addition to every device-specific GUI and OS the enterprise network uses. You should at least be familiar with the certifications available by all of the major network equipment vendors, including Cisco, Juniper, Check Point, Citrix, F5, and VMware. This is where TechExams.net can really help.

networkjutsu

CaptainL wrote: »

A little career guidance please I want to be an network engineer someday and I don't know what will I study, I'am currently studying CCNA. and after CCNA I'am confused on what to study. thank you!

After CCNA, try to find a job that will allow you to transition to engineering type role. A lot of companies nowadays look for a jack of all trades network engineers - meaning you know wired, wireless, voice, security, and etc but they do understand that not a lot of candidates are well versed in all these technologies. Having said that, I still believe that pursuing CCNP after CCNA is still a good thing to do. You'll hear CCIE R&S time and time again that they recommend you to have a good grasp in the routing & switching first before moving onto other specialities.

powerfool

Monitoring can be an entirely different beast from the network itself. How far do you want to take it? You can do simple SNMP monitoring with products like Solarwinds, or you can go with MS SCCM. You can also setup netflow on routers and switches and pull network metrics from header data... or you can do full packet capture at various network points (usually ingress/egress points, like straddling firewalls and such). It can get crazy. I spent a year deploying and training network folks on a seriously in-depth setup for a 20-site deployment. We did full packet capture 24/7 and were able to hold up to a week's worth of network traffic and analyze it retrospectively or use it for metrics. Insane stuff, really. To pull that off, I think we had more disk storage than the storage team... and 10Gig Ethernet is coming out and there are devices out there to pull line speed to get 4 links for of it... 40Gig Ethernet will follow.

CodeBlox

We use Solar Winds Orion and have Netflow setup like powerfool mentions.

CaptainL

JDMurray wrote: »

It's usually the technical specialists in the NOC that do the monitoring and the engineers in the DC that do the implementation and maintenance. The NOC personnel will use many software applications--both custom and commercial--that interpret syslog messages and SNMP traps sent by every network device and collected at a central event log repository. HP Network Node Manager is a typical program used to detect and alert on specific events that could mean trouble.

Once trouble is suspected, NOC personnel will log into the actual device(s) and run a variety of "show" commands to diagnose what the current state of a device is. Logging in is either via a GUI or CUI (command line). This means you need to know your way around both UNIX/Linux and Windows in addition to every device-specific GUI and OS the enterprise network uses. You should at least be familiar with the certifications available by all of the major network equipment vendors, including Cisco, Juniper, Check Point, Citrix, F5, and VMware. This is where TechExams.net can really help.

Is UNIX/linux used only for monitoring? I think I've read somewhere about it used on servers. *confused*

powerfool wrote: »

Monitoring can be an entirely different beast from the network itself. How far do you want to take it? You can do simple SNMP monitoring with products like Solarwinds, or you can go with MS SCCM. You can also setup netflow on routers and switches and pull network metrics from header data... or you can do full packet capture at various network points (usually ingress/egress points, like straddling firewalls and such). It can get crazy. I spent a year deploying and training network folks on a seriously in-depth setup for a 20-site deployment. We did full packet capture 24/7 and were able to hold up to a week's worth of network traffic and analyze it retrospectively or use it for metrics. Insane stuff, really. To pull that off, I think we had more disk storage than the storage team... and 10Gig Ethernet is coming out and there are devices out there to pull line speed to get 4 links for of it... 40Gig Ethernet will follow.

What lab setup do I need when I want to monitor the SNMP? and also that full packet capture, what setup and how can I do it? this is what I want to know, I want to setup my lab that can monitor my network. thank you!!!!

tycoonbob

powerfool wrote: »

...
or you can go with MS SCCM.
...

I think you mean MS SCOM.

JDMurray

CaptainL wrote: »

Is UNIX/linux used only for monitoring? I think I've read somewhere about it used on servers. *confused*

The UNIX and Linux operating systems are used on most every network box because they are well known and (generally) stable OSes and typically free of licensing cost. Servers are more likely to use a licensed release of UNIX or Linux (such as RedHat Enterprise Linux) because of the maintenance support and enterprise-class SLA needed by many organizations. Windows is most often avoided because for every box (and VM) that has a copy of Windows installed a licensing fee must be payed to Microsoft. This extra licensing cost is something that equipment vendors try to avoid to help maintain competitive pricing.

paul78

CaptainL wrote: »

What lab setup do I need when I want to monitor the SNMP? and also that full packet capture, what setup and how can I do it?

I like your enthusiasm. One of the important traits to be successful in IT or any profession is to have a passion for your craft.

I think that based on your line of questions, setting up a lab and performing packet analysis may be a bit premature. Perhaps start with just having a decent computer and learning more about what an operating system does and how it interacts with the hardware. And then about how that computer communicates with other computers.

Using certifications as a means to provide structured learning with an end-goal is a decent way to learn about IT and it's related disciplines. If you like the idea of having an exam after learning to validate your learning - perhaps start with Comptia certifications - see here - CompTIA.

If funding is an issue - a great way to gain the knowledge is via youtube or the free college courses which are offered via the Internet. Perhaps you can also start here if you are a self-motivated learner:

www.coursera.org
www.edx.org
Free Online Classes | Online Learning | Academic Earth

On youtube - the CBT Nuggets channel is a good place to start - CBT Nuggets Channel - YouTube .

kurosaki00

CaptainL wrote: »

Is UNIX/linux used only for monitoring? I think I've read somewhere about it used on servers. *confused*

I would consider all the Comptia basic certs lol
A+, Network+, Security+, Linux+
You should start from there

also you should research very well what a NetEng does
If you do that, you will see what technologies they are usually exposed to, and from there you can decide what studies you should take

Mike-Mike

JDMurray wrote: »

It's usually the technical specialists in the NOC that do the monitoring and the engineers in the DC that do the implementation and maintenance. The NOC personnel will use many software applications--both custom and commercial--that interpret syslog messages and SNMP traps sent by every network device and collected at a central event log repository. HP Network Node Manager is a typical program used to detect and alert on specific events that could mean trouble.

Once trouble is suspected, NOC personnel will log into the actual device(s) and run a variety of "show" commands to diagnose what the current state of a device is. Logging in is either via a GUI or CUI (command line). This means you need to know your way around both UNIX/Linux and Windows in addition to every device-specific GUI and OS the enterprise network uses. You should at least be familiar with the certifications available by all of the major network equipment vendors, including Cisco, Juniper, Check Point, Citrix, F5, and VMware. This is where TechExams.net can really help.

My title is Network Administrator I and JD described my job perfectly with the whole NOC personnel part

CaptainL

JDMurray wrote: »

The UNIX and Linux operating systems are used on most every network box because they are well known and (generally) stable OSes and typically free of licensing cost. Servers are more likely to use a licensed release of UNIX or Linux (such as RedHat Enterprise Linux) because of the maintenance support and enterprise-class SLA needed by many organizations. Windows is most often avoided because for every box (and VM) that has a copy of Windows installed a licensing fee must be payed to Microsoft. This extra licensing cost is something that equipment vendors try to avoid to help maintain competitive pricing.

thank you for your information!

paul78 wrote: »

I like your enthusiasm. One of the important traits to be successful in IT or any profession is to have a passion for your craft.

I think that based on your line of questions, setting up a lab and performing packet analysis may be a bit premature. Perhaps start with just having a decent computer and learning more about what an operating system does and how it interacts with the hardware. And then about how that computer communicates with other computers.

Using certifications as a means to provide structured learning with an end-goal is a decent way to learn about IT and it's related disciplines. If you like the idea of having an exam after learning to validate your learning - perhaps start with Comptia certifications - see here - CompTIA.

If funding is an issue - a great way to gain the knowledge is via youtube or the free college courses which are offered via the Internet. Perhaps you can also start here if you are a self-motivated learner:

www.coursera.org
www.edx.org
Free Online Classes | Online Learning | Academic Earth

On youtube - the CBT Nuggets channel is a good place to start - CBT Nuggets Channel - YouTube .

I don't know but I don't want to take CompTia exams(atleast for now) but not for linux+ since I'am very interested at it. Currently, I'am studying my CCNA (a little more polishing then I'm good to go). I can take the exam anytime soon but my studies hinders me on labbing.

thank you for your suggestion paul, I appreciate it!

veritas_libertas

You don't have to actually take the exams to learn from the material. I would grab the A+ and the Linux+ books and just read through them. You will learn and be better off for it. I wouldn't worry about actually taking the exams.