Jncia/jncis + cisco?

cisco_nerdcisco_nerd Member Posts: 198
in Juniper
Hi to all the Juniper certified folk... just wondering if it is good value to be certified on both teams (Cisco + Jun)? I would assume that it would be good to understand Juniper as a bonus, but how much worth is out there for the Juniper certs?

I havn't had the chance to work on Juniper gear as my organisation typically uses all Cisco equipment, but I have made an account with the FastTrack program as it is a source of (free) information and study notes to get a leg up.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.
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  • NetworkVeteranNetworkVeteran Member Posts: 2,338 ■■■■■■■■□□
    cisco_nerd wrote: »
    Hi to all the Juniper certified folk... just wondering if it is good value to be certified on both teams (Cisco + Jun)? I would assume that it would be good to understand Juniper as a bonus, but how much worth is out there for the Juniper certs?
    That depends on how often you work on Juniper gear, of course..

    The Cisco certifications already cover most of the protocols/technologies which is 80% of the battle. E.g., if you already know how BGP operates (covered by CCIP or CCNP-SP), when using another vendor you might ask "Where is the knob equivalent to next-hop-self?" The biggest boon of getting the JNCIA for me has been the ability to more quickly navigate around the JunOS CLI and especially to understand the configuration mode. I'm pretty comfortable now configuring or troubleshooting the routing/mpls features on JunOS I already knew how to do on Cisco devices. And I use JunOS enough this is a day-to-day advantage.

    I am considering Juniper's SP certifications because there are some differences in how they approach MPLS which I already mostly get.. but I work with them often enough that a more in-depth understanding and speed would help.

    If you only have a CCENT and your company doesn't work on JunOS gear, I'd focusing on increasing the depth of your knowledge (CCNP) before you work on your breadth (JNCIA). Not knowing much about ISIS/OSPF/EIGRP or BGP is going to be a bigger hurdle for your advancement than not knowing the specific JunOS commands for them--which you can always look up.
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  • f0rgiv3nf0rgiv3n Member Posts: 598 ■■■■□□□□□□
    NV summarized it pretty much all in one post there. The one thing is if you aren't and don't plan to be hands-on Juniper then don't get a Juniper certification. It's easy to forget JunOS commands if you don't use them. Also, it's a 2 year life-cycle so it's kind of high maintenance as far as that goes. I work with Juniper SRX firewalls and am not sure if I will be renewing my Juniper certs in a year from now.
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  • cisco_nerdcisco_nerd Member Posts: 198
    Cool cheers, thanks guys! ill pout Juniper in the background then until its a more relevent bit of kit that I operate.

    On the knowledge front, I do have a fair degree of knowledge with Cisco.. i've been playing with it for years now and i've studied the CCNP books etc. its only now that I'm actually doing the tests for the paperwork side of the story.

    Thanks again.
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  • AldurAldur Member Posts: 1,460
    I'd recommend picking up your CCNA first, and then it sure doesn't hurt picking up a Juniper cert, such as the JNCIA. Keep in mind that Juniper offers big discounts through the Juniper learning portal that won't be around forever.
    "Bribe is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The X makes it sound cool."

    -Bender
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