Made my decision to go for CCIE

So as some of you may know I work for Cisco here in the San Jose. I usually come in 7ish, and leave around 7ish. I don't officially start working until 9am, and my "shift" ends at 5pm. But I only really work maybe 40% of the time.

My job entails more security aspects as well as design, and less implementation. So while I'm getting my hands slightly wet from a lab standpoint testing new designs prior to passing the buck off to the implementation team, it's providing me with a good amount of experience.

I went to lunch with a couple workmates who said I should totally get CCIE since I'll have more than enough time to implement most of the stuff here in my lab. And while I'm in the middle of it since all the topics for CCIE cover CCNP topics I should just get that on the way.

So here I am starting my CCIE R&S journey officially!

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reaper81

Welcome aboard! Working for Cisco you will have a big leg up on us other guys

mikej412

What about knocking out the CCIP too since QoS, BGP, and MPLS should also be useful for the CCIE R&S?

xenodamus

<---- envious....

...seriously, though - good luck!

chmorin

How exactly do you plan on doing this? Is there an attack plan?

TheShadow

Lucky guy they must of tested you when you weren't looking and found a high midiclorian count. Check your clothes for blood spots.

millworx

mikej412 wrote: »

What about knocking out the CCIP too since QoS, BGP, and MPLS should also be useful for the CCIE R&S?

Yeah that is a good point. I think so far the plan of attack is cover all the core routing protocols in depth and then take route, then cover all the core switching concepts and take switch. Then take TSHOOT and schedule my written exam afterwards. Surprisingly enough most of the guys here have all recommended GNS3 for labbing which is nice considering I can get IOS images now to test everything with.

CCIP is more inline with what I would want to get, because ultimately I would prefer to work in a datacenter environment. Most of my hands on experience with MPLS and BGP will be limited in the environment I currently work in.

millworx

Ahhhh this is so sweet. I'm loving my job more and more. So I signed up for the certification vouchers and now I'm gunna hammer out the CCNP exams next month.

I also got my manager to approve me for the Cisco 360 CCIE R&S Training, which is like $10k I think. Though there is an issue, for some reason there is a browser issue or something so I can't complete my registration. Hopefully tech support is on their A-Game because I want to start the labs!

chmorin

millworx wrote: »

Ahhhh this is so sweet. I'm loving my job more and more. So I signed up for the certification vouchers and now I'm gunna hammer out the CCNP exams next month.

I also got my manager to approve me for the Cisco 360 CCIE R&S Training, which is like $10k I think. Though there is an issue, for some reason there is a browser issue or something so I can't complete my registration. Hopefully tech support is on their A-Game because I want to start the labs!

Let us know how this goes. I don't know your background, but it sounds like you may be VERY quickly jumping in over your head. (I just don't see many people doing things as quickly as you seem to imply your plans are. If you have the experience, you will be fine. I just don't know.)

Turgon

chmorin wrote: »

Let us know how this goes. I don't know your background, but it sounds like you may be VERY quickly jumping in over your head. (I just don't see many people doing things as quickly as you seem to imply your plans are. If you have the experience, you will be fine. I just don't know.)

He will be fine so long as his manager is onboard. Everyone does certifications at Cisco, in fact it's actively encouraged. You just have to be careful about obsessing about them to the exclusion of your day job. The company will have appraisals and certification progress will be one box to tick. There will be many others so make sure you are ticking those on a daily basis too as well as your certification goals! A lot of jobs at Cisco have plenty of slacktime at work so you want to be actively studying during those periods. Grab all the support and training materials you can. But then you *must* deliver on your certification promises if you plan to be an elite SE. If after 2 years you have not cleared CCIE you will be seen as low hanging fruit. It might be that you are not ready for that sort of commitment just yet. If you are, then do it. If you are not then concentrate on bedding in during your first 6 months before overcommitting to your manager on the immediate certification goals. There are other things you need to excel at other than passing exams when working for Cisco and you need time and focus on the job to be good at those.

mikej412

millworx wrote: »

I signed up for the certification vouchers

So let me see if I have this straight....
You're on a contract job at Cisco and you don't get the free lab attempts that employees get.....

But you get vouchers for the regular exams? How about the CCIE written exams?

And you have a manager that ROCKS (with the access to the Cisco360 training)!!!

About the only way this can get better is they offer you a permanent job (and the free lab attempts) the day before you're going to schedule your first Lab attempt -- and offer you a big pay raise.

ehnde

millworx wrote: »

Surprisingly enough most of the guys here have all recommended GNS3 for labbing which is nice considering I can get IOS images now to test everything with.

Just to be clear, how will you handle labs dealing with switching? Are you going to route between virtual routers and real switches? Or just use real hardware when doing labs dealing with switches?

I'm wondering if you Cisco gurus know something I don't when it comes to dyamips and switches

mikej412

millworx wrote: »

Surprisingly enough most of the guys here have all recommended GNS3 for labbing which is nice considering I can get IOS images now to test everything with.

What about IOU and/or L2IOU?

The CCIE Lab Troubleshooting section used IOU in the past, and the story is they are now using L2IOU to add switching to the troubleshooting portion of the lab (rather than just have the L2/switch troubleshooting as part of the Lab configuration part).

Turgon

mikej412 wrote: »

What about IOU and/or L2IOU?

The CCIE Lab Troubleshooting section used IOU in the past, and the story is they are now using L2IOU to add switching to the troubleshooting portion of the lab (rather than just have the L2/switch troubleshooting as part of the Lab configuration part).

For those who do not know IOU and L2IOU are resources internal to Cisco.

millworx

Turgon wrote: »

For those who do not know IOU and L2IOU are resources internal to Cisco.

Exactly and that is all I can really legally say. Yes they exist.

And yes Turgon, you are right, my job does have a lot of slack time. I'm like 40% work and 60% sitting around. So it does afford me a lot of time to do what I please. And I'm more or less a study-a-holic. My girlfriend knocks on me all the time because I'de rather have my head burried in an RFC than spend time with her. I probably spend at least 4-5 hours a day studying, and labbing.

It may seem like it's a little ambitious of me, but I've been studying everyday for a very long time not to mention I've been implementing most of the things that are covered in the CCIE on a regular basis for a long time. I've just asked to have a CCIE rack provisioned for me for training; the way I see it, since I'm here, I might as well take advantage of everything I can.

As for the other question, regarding the vouchers. It will cover any of my written exam attempts. I'm not sure wether I can expense a lab attempt through my department or not, I'm sure I could get it approved provided I pass the initial written. But at the same time I'm new so I'm not pushing the envelope too hard yet. And I'm not ready for the lab exam YET... so it will be a little way down the line. Most of my collegues though would like to see me attempt it within a year though. So we will see how that goes.

Dakinggamer87

Good luck!!

APA

Good Luck!

Just out of curiosity.... what is your position at Cisco? I've never seen any jobs at Cisco with only CCNA experience.....?

Kudos to you for landing a job with them.... that will put you ahead of the rest of the CCIE wannabee pack... from a labbing\experience point of view....

Turgon

millworx wrote: »

And I'm not ready for the lab exam YET... so it will be a little way down the line. Most of my collegues though would like to see me attempt it within a year though. So we will see how that goes.

That's par for the course at Cisco. Providing your manager is fully supportive, with the internal resources you have going for you and the amount of free time you will have at work to study. If it's all good I would say press on and clatter it out inside two years with a first lab attempt inside 12 months. Bash the written out first though. You have the perfect peer group and study conditions working for this company. Most of the world's CCIE's work for Cisco. There is a reason.

millworx

APA wrote: »

Good Luck!

Just out of curiosity.... what is your position at Cisco? I've never seen any jobs at Cisco with only CCNA experience.....?

Kudos to you for landing a job with them.... that will put you ahead of the rest of the CCIE wannabee pack... from a labbing\experience point of view....

I am a network engineer, it wasn't a CCNA position, it was CCNP or higher recommended, but based off my experience they chose me, specifically all my experience implementing IPSec VPN's. And thanks!

Turgon wrote:

That's par for the course at Cisco. Providing your manager is fully supportive, with the internal resources you have going for you and the amount of free time you will have at work to study. If it's all good I would say press on and clatter it out inside two years with a first lab attempt inside 12 months. Bash the written out first though. You have the perfect peer group and study conditions working for this company. Most of the world's CCIE's work for Cisco. There is a reason.

Thats the general goal, I would like to get the written out of the way in the next 6-8 months. I already have a decent understanding of everything covered in R&S, with the exception of Multicasting, IPV6 and MPLS. I've been going to a group here that meets every saturday as a cert study group. I just got one of the guys to provision me a ccie rack. So I'm pretty stoked.

And I agree that Cisco does gobble up the worlds best CCIE's, surprisingly I'm sitting across from a female CCIE, which is even more rare in this industry.

Turgon

millworx wrote: »

I am a network engineer, it wasn't a CCNA position, it was CCNP or higher recommended, but based off my experience they chose me, specifically all my experience implementing IPSec VPN's. And thanks!

Thats the general goal, I would like to get the written out of the way in the next 6-8 months. I already have a decent understanding of everything covered in R&S, with the exception of Multicasting, IPV6 and MPLS. I've been going to a group here that meets every saturday as a cert study group. I just got one of the guys to provision me a ccie rack. So I'm pretty stoked.

And I agree that Cisco does gobble up the worlds best CCIE's, surprisingly I'm sitting across from a female CCIE, which is even more rare in this industry.

Well many of the world's best CCIEs also dont work for Cisco and there are a good deal of lady CCIEs out there. The only other advice I can offer is be careful of the assumed 40% of your day you are actually working, leaving the rest of the day free for study. You are in a new company and still bedding in, but it could be you are expected to be much busier with real work and learning about doing real work in there than you appreciate. Always check with your manager so you are regularly reassured that you are spending your works time appropriately. Three months into a new job is a bad time to be pulled for not doing what you have been actually hired to do.

You have a lot going for you. Good luck!

millworx

Well today was a fun day. Racked up 4 Catalyst 4900M's, 4 ASR1004's, 4 ASA5550's, 4 Catalyst 1750's, and 4 ASA5580's. Tommorrow it's time to configure them all.

I had to remove 6 Catalyst 3548XL-EN's and now they are just sitting in my cube begging for me to use them. I can only upgrade them to ios 12.0 though. Wondering if they are even worth saving or if I should just throw them in the e-waste bin.

Turgon

millworx wrote: »

Well today was a fun day. Racked up 4 Catalyst 4900M's, 4 ASR1004's, 4 ASA5550's, 4 Catalyst 1750's, and 4 ASA5580's. Tommorrow it's time to configure them all.

I had to remove 6 Catalyst 3548XL-EN's and now they are just sitting in my cube begging for me to use them. I can only upgrade them to ios 12.0 though. Wondering if they are even worth saving or if I should just throw them in the e-waste bin.

Sounds like you are getting busier at work.

millworx

Found gold in the e-waste bin today at work. I'm always keeping an eye out for things.

Got 2 Cisco 720 Supervisor Engines
and 4 48 Port Gigabit Ethernet blades for the Catalyst 6500.

And I found an unopened 871W router in there too.

This will be great addition to my lab!

Another mans junk is another mans treasure!

Some guy just got a 61" LCD TV last week.

BroadcastStorm

millworx wrote: »

Found gold in the e-waste bin today at work. I'm always keeping an eye out for things.

Got 2 Cisco 720 Supervisor Engines
and 4 48 Port Gigabit Ethernet blades for the Catalyst 6500.

And I found an unopened 871W router in there too.

This will be great addition to my lab!

Another mans junk is another mans treasure!

Some guy just got a 61" LCD TV last week.

Hey man that's awesome those things are definitely gold rush... must be good to work where your at...

Are you looking to building a 6500 for your lab? those will be nice to have for a lab.

millworx

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

Hey man that's awesome those things are definitely gold rush... must be good to work where your at...

Are you looking to building a 6500 for your lab? those will be nice to have for a lab.

Yeah, I also just snagged a WS-SUP32-GE-3B, but now I can't reach the rest of the blades because someone dumped like 20 Sun Thinblade servers on top.

So I think I'm going to buy like 3 empty chassis offa ebay and load them up with the cards I just snagged. Should defintely help me in my CCIE studies. Hooray for being able to run Native IOS on these Supervisors. The chassis are cheap.