My CCNP Data Center thread

I've moved on to start studying for my CCNP: Data Center as of the beginning of this month. I'm going to go ahead and start charting my progress here to keep myself moving and motivated. Since there are no dedicated CCNP DC resources out there, I'm utilizing the CCIE DC reading list, the INE CCIE Data Center videos, the configuration guides and the INE DC rack rentals to get me there.

Here's the reading list I own and progress I've made on each book so far:
Data Center Virtualization Fundamentals - 75% done [should be finished within the next week or two]
Data Center Fundamentals - 50% done [Reading of this book is on hold - It's very dry and I had to mix up my studying]
NX-OS and Cisco Nexus Switching - 0% [Not Started]
Cisco UCS - 0% [Not Started]
I/O Consolidation in the Data Center - 0% [Not Started]
Storage Networking Fundamentals - 0% [Not Started]

INE Videos:
CCIE Data Center: Written - 30% done [Very easy to follow]
CCIE Data Center: Unified Computing Course - 0% [Not Started]
CCIE Data Center: Unified Communications on UCS - 0% [Not Started]
CCIE Data Center: Storage Course - 0% [Not Started]
CCIE Data Center: Nexus NX-OS Primer - 0% [Not Started]
CCIE Data Center: Nexus Course - 0% [Not Started]
CCIE Data Center: Nexus 1000v on UCS - 0% [Not Started]
CCIE Data Center : Implementing Nexus - 0% [Not Started]

DC Rack Rental hours Completed (since late February): 42

It's probably going to take me forever to get through this track because I'm am going to read/watch all the books and books above but the goal is to learn as much as I can. After I'm done reading and watching the above, I'll start going through the configuration guides and play around more with the DC rack rentals. I'm not going to bother setting dates for when I am going to take these exams but rather take them when I feel comfortable with my skillset in the topics of the exam.

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dsgm

Enjoy and congrats on the nuptials

Iristheangel

Back from the wedding. All went well there.

I went through the entire CBT Nuggets for 642-997 and reviewed the objectives for the exams. Based on what I've seen, I don't need to review all the Nexus guides before taking these tests so I decided to set my test dates: 11/15 and 11/22 for the 642-997 and 642-980. I'm going to commit to labbing 2 hours a day and getting through the INE Nexus videos (NX-OS Primer, Nexus Course, Nexus 1000v on UCS, and Implementing UCS). It's pretty ambitious but I think I could get through four video series in four weeks while labbing. I'll just need to sleep a little less.

Wish me luck and I'll continue to post notes as I go. After I finish the CCNP DC, I'll be starting a new thread in the CCIE area.

dsgm

Good luck, i am going to go down this path in the future, one step at a time but like to read your posts.

Once again good luck!!!

Iristheangel

I definitely need to update this thread. It's been an intense couple of weeks of study. I finished the NX-OS book before the wedding and kept studying up until the day of the wedding. I took one day off after the wedding to enjoy a day on the beach and then I was back in study zone.

I've been labbing and going through the INE Nexus videos pretty consistently for a couple of weeks now and am starting to feel pretty confident. The regular route/switch topics in Nexus are easy but it was just getting adjusted to turning on a feature, slight syntax changes or how the network command is dead for most routing protocols. Most of the challenge is getting used to the order of operations for vPC and the little caveats that come with OTV but overall, it's not extremely hard material if you have a decent route/switch background.

I've been speaking with my employer about getting them to pay for my CCIE DC bootcamp that I want to get next year and they agreed to factor it in the budget if I get the CCIE DC written finished by the middle of December at the latest (!!!!!!!!) so of course I'm in a mad rush to finish the CCNP DC. I've been up until 4AM almost every night the last week studying and labbing and I pushed my CCNP DC Nexus exams to Monday... as in tomorrow (!!!!!). So yeah... a little stressed over here but one thing that made me feel a lot more confident was an internal training class I attended on Friday at my work. We went through a Nexus and UCS whiteboard session where we had to call out the individual components and functions of a Cisco data center as we whiteboarded and I knew every answer. The guy running the class was a CCIE R&S and was working on his CCIE DC so he was trying his hardest to stump me but I was able to answer every question through the whiteboarding session which amazed me. We finished off the class with a hands-on lab. I finished early on the lab which made me feel pretty great.

So here's where I'm at as of today:
Feeling comfortable with:
OTV (config/troubleshooting), LISP (config, not troubleshooting), vPC/vPC+/Enhanced vPC (Order of operations, config, troubleshooting), Nexus 1000v (Config/troubleshooting - NOT installation), multicast (ASM, SSM, configuring BSR, static RP, Auto-RP, etc - Light troubleshooting as well), FEX (Config and troubleshooting), HA (Config), FHRP (config and troubleshooting for VRRP and HSRP, config for GLBP and light troubleshooting - need to brush up), RBAC, AAA, CFS, FabricPath, ISSU, NPIV/NPV, single-hop FCoE, VSANs, VDC, and most of the other topics

Things I'm starting to get comfortable with after my cramming this weekend:
Multi-hop FCoE, zoning, VDC templates, VM-FEX, CMP

Things I still need to work on and I'll probably be up all night practicing: QoS, MPLS and CTS

So that's where I'm at. I'm a bit on the stressed side today while I'm cramming and trying to get ready for the exam. I'm pouring through over 400 pages of Nexus notes I've taken and trying to lab everything I'm rusty on. If I do pass the exams tomorrow, I'll probably put all my notes in a zip file and post them here so whoever comes after me can use them.

Concerned Water

Good luck.

broli720

Great progress. I know you've been working really hard on this track and it will pay off in the end.

Alex90

Good luck

down77

Iris just an update. The IP Expert WB is much more in depth than the INE WB, but the Videos aren't as good as INE. Keep this in mind as you progress towards your lab attempt.

Great progress so far! Keep up the good work

Iristheangel

Update:

After about 8 months of study, 8 video series, 7 books and probably about 80-100 hours of lab time, I'm now a CCNP Data Center.

Whew. I can say that the tests were lot easier than my CCNP R&S exams but it felt like a different learning curve since I was forced to learn about technologies a bit outside my comfort zone (SAN, UCS, etc). The Nexus content I found a lot more enjoyable and easier to adapt since it still had to do a lot with the lower levels of the OSI model (2/3).

For anyone thinking about taking this trek and are worried about the lack of CCNP-specific materials, these exams are COMPLETELY doable. I would recommend the CCIE DC reading list (7 books total) and the INE videos. You will need to lab with Nexus equipment in order to pass these exams but with UCS, you could probably get away with the emulator 100%. The config guides are your friends. Be sure to read through them and the design guides to understand the configuration, best practices, and troubleshooting for things like vPC, OTV, FabricPath, etc.

Thanks everyone for your support. I'm going to be wrapping up this thread as I head over to the CCIE forum to start studying for the CCIE DC written. I'm aiming at taking it before the end of the year and rolling right into the lab. CCIE DC 2015 or bust! I'm committed to giving the time and energy to make it happen!

Concerned Water

Iris the go-getter. Congrats!!!!!!

fredrikjj

I'm impressed by your consistency.

Alex90

Great achievment, well done! It's very motivating reading your threads.

Congrats

OfWolfAndMan

Congrats Iris. I admire your persistence. I have briefly read into data center technologies, and was initially going to go with the security track, but am starting to think of going the way of data center as I have an interest in the data center/sdn path right now. I currently have the DCV fundies and the nx-os book, but none of the others. My question to you is would it be better to pay INE for some tokens to lab or is there a cheaper solution? And do you typically type all your notes or is it a combination of writing and typing?

Alex90

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

Congrats Iris. I admire your persistence. I have briefly read into data center technologies, and was initially going to go with the security track, but am starting to think of going the way of data center as I have an interest in the data center/sdn path right now. I currently have the DCV fundies and the nx-os book, but none of the others. My question to you is would it be better to pay INE for some tokens to lab or is there a cheaper solution? And do you typically type all your notes or is it a combination of writing and typing?

The only downside to the INE DC tokens is that you first have to buy the CCIE DC workbooks before you can buy rack tokens.

Storage_DC

Hi All,

Found this thread yesterday and I have been held spellbound by the brute determination demonstrated by Iristheangel.

Who says the world cannot be a better place through determination.

The whole thread was like a soap opera that ended with a sweet conclusion. Congrats Iristheangel on your knowledge expansion and ultimately your CCNP certification, more grease to your elbow.

Iristheangel motivated me beyond explanation, I have been lost in the actual direction to take to tackle the Datacenter certification track and knowledge aquisition being that it is the closest to my preferred field in IT, I have told myself that I was going for it but I was inundated with the sheer number of books and videos that I need to peruse. Thanks Iristheangel for making this happen, I am no novice in the certification ladder so I really really appreciate the sheer determination, time, resources and soul that you poured into this. Please post the name of your CCIE thread here so we can follow.
Gracias to all other contributors too. This is the best thread ever for me because I was able to get a 100% solution to my problems.

joelsfood

Congrats, Iris!

I definitely agree on the CCIE:DC books/videos working for the CCNP:DC.

On the INE videos, I find Mark's videos/audio much more tolerable if you increase them to 1.3x playback speed. I don't have the same trouble with Brian, but Mark's I have the same trouble as you do.

Iristheangel

OfWolfAndMan wrote: »

Congrats Iris. I admire your persistence. I have briefly read into data center technologies, and was initially going to go with the security track, but am starting to think of going the way of data center as I have an interest in the data center/sdn path right now. I currently have the DCV fundies and the nx-os book, but none of the others. My question to you is would it be better to pay INE for some tokens to lab or is there a cheaper solution? And do you typically type all your notes or is it a combination of writing and typing?

Thanks for the congrats

I type my notes on Google Docs usually. I used to do handwritten notes but my handwriting is horrible and I'd often have unusable notes after. With my current notes, I can ctrl-F to find a certain part and use bold to call out commands. Makes it easier to lab every chapter when I'm done

Iristheangel

Thanks for all the support.

@Joel - I definitely know what you mean about Mark Snow. He's a smart guy but man... his teaching style doesn't jive with me. I sometimes feel like it's death by powerpoint. As far as Brian, he's definitely quite a bit better but sometimes there are tangents when he's labbing that seem a little disorganized to me (i.e. when he fat fingers something and he spends 10 minutes trying to fix it or declares it's a bug).

Overall, I love the INE CCIE R&S videos but I felt the DC videos were a little disorganized or dry at times. I'm not sure if IPExperts is going to be vastly better but I know their workbooks are and their rack rentals are supposed to be a lot less limited than INE's. I'll probably mix and match both when I'm not labbing at work.

vrrphsrp1

Congrats Iristheangel !!!
Your experiencie is the inspirations for other persons !

I will follow your tips. I have already read some recommended books