Benefits of CCNP Data Center cert.

I haven't seen many job sites that ask for the CCNP DC cert, but it seems pretty practical. I'm not a "Data Center" engineer per se, but often I'm working in DC and doing some planning relating to power and design. I'm familiar with Cisco UCS as I've deployed the B-Series and several C-Series models relating to Cisco Voice.

Has anyone saw any benefits from getting the CCNP DC? I'm curious because the investment is about $250/for two CCNA DC exams and then five CCNP exams. It's about $1750 should you pass each exam on the first attempt.

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VAHokie56

I just moved but as soon as I get settled in my new house I am buckling in for this exam. I think the stuff offered to learn on this exam is the foundations of the future of the networking field. Maybe I am just being paranoid but any net engineer ( not inside 10 years of retirement) who thinks we will get to use IOS for the next 30 years then retire is nuts. Networking is moving towards ideas like openFlow and comparable , I think its a smart idea to start jumping on the bandwagon or at least start making steps in setting your self up...who knows maybe I am just paranoid but "I like money" and don't want it to stop coming in!

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FloOz

Yup the data center track is what I am pursuing as soon as I finish up CCNP. Like @VAHokie56 said, I also believe the technologies that are taught through that track will build a great foundation for the future of networking.

sieff

Would you say that CCNP DC is the new CCNP R&S? I do feel that IOS is becoming obsolete. Not in the sense that it's no longer needed, but a lot of junior techs have the CCNP R&S and you no longer have to be a senior level engineer to deploy 500-1000 user LAN environments.

filkenjitsu

In Chicago, most jobs paying 90 - 120k a year are asking for CCNP and/or CCDP. I think that the CCDP is a better known certification and I have seen a lot of companies asking for it for their Senior Engineers and Architects. The CCNP Data Center cert is one for the future though! Data Centers are popping up all over the place and the market is ripe.

My plan is: finish CCNP, then onto CCNP Service Provider, then CCDA, then CCDP, then maybe onto CCIE: R&S if I feel my life can take it. I can definitely see myself going after data center stuff in the future, but I think the payoff for the next 3 - 5 years would be CCNP and CCDP over CCNP Data Center. I only say this because I have been getting an email alert from Indeed.com every day for a while now listing available Network Engineer jobs in Chicago and I look at the requirements for every job. I have never seen CCNP Data Center or CCNP Service Provider (I want this one for myself) ever asked for. I do not do searches on Data Center jobs though.

pert

The cert just came out, and the stuff you see in postings is from HR. This is a cert that most people don't care about, but those who have data centers will care about extremely highly. If a company has a data center with Nexus this cert is a huge deal to them. If they don't its absolutely worthless. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you should average that out into it being mediocre. Either you really want to learn this stuff, or it doesnt apply to you at all. Figure out which camp youre in.

My thoughts on the DC/Nexus stuff are that your foundation in routing/switching is of little help and you need to learn much more on top of that for the DC. If you're going to be learning this stuff anyway, why not follow the established curriculum and pick up the cert as well? I know for me the CCNA wireless is not particularly valuable, but I had to teach myself Wireless anyway, so I figured why not get the cert while I'm at it?

NetworkVeteran

I have never seen CCNP Data Center or CCNP Service Provider (I want this one for myself) ever asked for.

CCIP / CCNP-SP is great--if you work at a service provider. CCNP-DC will also be great--if you work with data center networking. As PERT says, these are specialist certifications, either very helpful or nearly useless depending on what you do.

In my estimation, data center networking skills are searing hot, with few really "getting" how it works. I have strong basic skills in that area, and I'm constantly surprised how few even know it at that level.

VAHokie56

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

CCIP / CCNP-SP is great--if you work at a service provider. CCNP-DC will also be great--if you work with data center networking. As PERT says, these are specialist certifications, either very helpful or nearly useless depending on what you do.

In my estimation, data center networking skills are searing hot, with few really "getting" how it works. I have strong basic skills in that area, and I'm constantly surprised how few even know it at that level.

Agree. Data center is a specialty exam and if all you do all day is work on the WAN and bring up remote BGP sites to a MPLS solution the SP is better. I am fortunate to work around most of the technologies on the DC exams and the more I know the more of that type of subject matter projects I will get. I just do not want to be on a interview in the next 3 -5 years where I do not know fabric path or USC and that has become the norm.

networker050184

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

As PERT says, these are specialist certifications, either very helpful or nearly useless depending on what you do.

My thoughts exactly.

sieff

I got some really good exposure to Nexus and UCS while doing Voice. I was doing what I thought was going to be a routine voice deployment, but when I dug deep the client bought Nexus, B-Series UCS gear and NetApp for off box storage. It was a great learning experience and I'm starting to think that technologies will be more intertwined with the DataCenter, so now since I've done an install in practice I just ordered some books and I'm combing through it to get an understanding. Before I was reading cisco docs and pinging anyone that would respond to my emails. Several ppl carried me through that install.

Mrock4

The demand for certs is ultimately driven by what people are running. In the grand scheme of things, most people are still running IOS. We've had a HUGE demand for Nexus gear in the 12-18 months, and as that continues to grow, customers will need to find people with a DC background to maintain their gear. So in short, I strongly believe in the next 12-24 months the CCNP DC is going to be very sought after..it just takes some time for the market to catch up.

pert

I worked with the Nexus line, but I am not expert. It seemed pretty clear to me that the future was there, not in IOS. I think the market for this is already here, regardless of what you see in job ads. Only DCs need DC people though! Finding people who know their way around Nexus and UCS is hard to do. I will go down DC track after I finish Design, or I might do security first. It depends on where I see the need being.