Seems like most everyone these days is talking about jobs and job prospects. A friend of mine has even gotten in the habit of just asking "have you got a job currently" instead of the usual innocuous greetings. So, continuing on this thread for another post or two, let me ask the following question:
Are CCxP's better off in today's job market than CCIEs?
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I spent a lot of time with family and friends over the last couple of weeks, and had lots of conversations about the possibility of getting laid off, getting a new job before companies folded, and anything related to jobs. And it's also a new year, which is the most likely time for folks to think about setting goals. Those topics together got me thinking - what should the average networker do for setting professional development goals in 2009? Get deeper skills, or get broader? Get certified, or focus on the skills while ignoring the certs? Read more
So maybe you're running around, getting last minute presents, trying to work a ton today so you can rest easy over the long weekend... and you need a break. Coffee at the local Panera, whilst listening to even more Christmas carols? Stopping by holiday party leftovers in the conference room? Or how about refreshing your memory on how OSPF deals with External type 1 LSAs?
For those of you opting for the latter, if you didn't do so already, check out the previous post on Type 5 external type 2 LSAs. Read more
Well, at least one of you asked... and I did promise! Next we'll move on to Type 5 (external) LSAs. (yeeha!) But if you didn't yet vote for your top requests from Santa for this year, at least relative to Cisco certs, pop back to Tuesday's post to weigh in. This topic will take me a few posts, so let's jump right in. Read more
Do you get stacks of catalogs in the mail this time of year - often from places you've never bought from? It starts about mid-November at our house, going from 3-4 catalogs a week to 3-4 catalogs a day showing up in the mail.
The fun part is when the toy catalogs arrive. My daughter dutifully looks at every page to the point where she can almost quote the marketing copy, and starts circling stuff she might want. The list gets... long. Read more
OSPF LSAs tend to give people some heartache - but why is that? I'm not immune to it either - it's a topic for which I've personally had multiple "a-ha" experiences over the years, as things become clearer. I'm sure part of it is that many of us have jobs with networks that just don't use OSPF. Even if you use it, it's not like you're trouncing through the OSPF database every day when troubleshooting problems. Read more
I started a thread of posts on OSPF config issues a few posts ago. This week, I'm going to load up and wrap up this one example, and maybe take us a little deeper on OSPF after that. But first, today, I'll get to answering the OSPF Router ID question, the neighborship question, and then discuss the issue of what the routers advertise - so on the next post, I can discuss what LSAs flow.
First, to wrap up the Router ID issue, here's what each router chooses. (To see the full config, go here.) Read more
Even Jeff Doyle tells me that I should do a little blogging with OSPF. What's a networker to do with that kind of backing? ;-) And a few others expressed some interest as well - in understanding LSAs better, in multi-area designs, in deciphering some of the show commands, and in some of the oddball cases.
When prepping for a Cisco exam that covers OSPF - which is several of them - you need be ready to notice whether a pair of routers that share the same layer 2 network (same VLAN, same FR PVC, same pt-pt link...) can become neighbors. Read more
Well, being away from a while presents me with the dilemma of trying to decide where to go from here for the next few weeks and months. I could ramble on whatever's on my mind that day, changing topics each time, or try to get something more cohesive going. Should I talk about the value of certs? Lab gear (again)? Pick a techie topic? Alas, so many choices, so little time.
I'll probably jump around a bit in the coming month or two, but I've decided to start out with a post or two on OSPF. Read more
Well, it's been... a little over 4 months since I last posted. For a first post back in the saddle, I figured I could say a lot of things - maybe I'll end up there before I end this ramble - but it made me wonder how my own life and struggles for balancing time commitments would have been different if I was working towards important cert(s) or some other professional development goal. Read more
From Cisco Subnet editor: Just a quick note to say that Wendell Odom regrets that he has not been able to update his blog of late. He is holed up working on the CCNA 640-802 Network Simulator, which is scheduled for release on Oct. 24 by Cisco Press. The simulator aims to help users develop hands-on configuration and troubleshooting skills as they prepare for the CCNA 640-802 exam. You can read more about the product here. In the meantime, we wish Wendell the best of luck as he puts the finishing touches on the product and we all look forward to his return to his blog.
(Wendell here - Kevin's wrapping up today on CCNA Security - thanks, Kevin!) Kevin Wallace, CCIE #7945, CCSI, CCSP, CCNP, CCDP, CCVP, is a full-time instructor of Cisco courses for SkillSoft Corp. and is an author of several Cisco Press titles. Kevin’s Cisco experience spans 19 years and includes positions as a Network Design Specialist for Walt Disney World and as a Network Manager for Eastern Kentucky University. Read more
Wendell here. I've asked Kevin Wallace to take a few posts to discuss CCNA Security. Please fire away all the questions you have on this new cert! Thanks...
Kevin Wallace, CCIE #7945, CCSI, CCSP, CCNP, CCDP, CCVP, is a full-time instructor of Cisco courses for SkillSoft Corp. and is an author of several Cisco Press titles. Kevin’s Cisco experience spans 19 years and includes positions as a Network Design Specialist for Walt Disney World and as a Network Manager for Eastern Kentucky University. Read more
When writing books, I have to stick to the topic. Blogging (supposedly) can be whatever's on your mind - quite a different beast. Today, I'm hitting a lot of small topics on a brief ramble.
First, I'll be doing a chat session for Network World on Tuesday the 8th at 2PM Eastern US time. Join in the fun, ask whatever's on your mind. Or, go to http://www.networkworld.com/chat/ and queue up your question now. The official topic is " Cisco certs and Building a Home Lab", but I'll listen to anything that makes it through the content filters. Read more
I mentioned Wednesday in this blog that Cisco announced three new CCNA exams this week at Networkers: CCNA Voice, CCNA Security, and CCNA Wireless. On the flight down to Orlando, I was pondering the question "why". Turns out that my #1 guess as to why was the main reason I heard from Cisco when I asked at the booth this week. But, just as importantly, I thought is was important to consider what the new certs are not supposed to be.
First on what it's not: It's not a new requirement on Channel Partners. Normally, cert changes have some requirements on Channel Partners, which then results in more time/expense, but no such requirement exists in this case. (Well, at least for today. Never know down the road. That's just me thinking out loud, by the way.) Read more
It was a Networkers 1998 - Philadelphia, I believe - where Cisco first announced CCNA to the general public. Now, 10 years later at Networkers 2008 (aka Cisco Live), Cisco is announcing some major additions to CCNA.
I'm going to repeat this a few times so there's no question: the existing CCNA is NOT changing per Cisco's announcement this week. What is changing is that Cisco is expanding the CCNA program, adding three new certifications that have the CCNA name:
Good old 10 year old CCNA keeps the same name. Read more
Friday I posed an open-ended IPv6 addressing question. Today I'll start working towards the solution - but more importantly, I want to find out whether you personally, if you were preparing for the CCNA exam, would want to read/study IPv6 address (only), or whether you would also feel the need to practice IPv6 commands on gear/sim/Dynamips.
Before you answer, let me tell you an assumption I'd like to make when working through this: let's take Cisco's exam topics at face value. If you look at the CCNA and ICND2 exam topics, you'll see the following (quoting http://www.cisco.com/): Read more
I promise I'll get to the next post on IPv6 Wednesday sometime. It's been unusually hectic of late, as opposed to normally hectic. But before I whine any more, on to the non-technical purpose of today's blog entry: if you're at Networkers next week, you'll see lots of giveaways from Cisco Press at the bookstore - and this blog is the only place we're announcing one of the giveaways.
Here's the deal. You get a bunch of books if you win (somewhere more than 1, but less than 10, TBD). To enter, you have to stop by the bookstore between 3-4PM local on Tuesday, June 24th, to enter the drawing. Read more
Way back a few weeks ago, when I had wrapped up the CCNP lab series, I asked via survey what CCNA topics you'd most want me to talk about in the blog. The top vote getter was IPv6. I had planned on getting back to basics a bit, picking a topic, offering some sample questions, and doing some CCNA exam prep topics here in the blog.
At the same time, there were more than a few requests for me to write more about labs and gear, and particularly about the whole "now that I bought the gear, what do I do with it" thing. So, I'm going to try and weave the two together, and we'll see how things go. Read more
Wow, I wrote my last post on a bit of a whim, and we got a great discussion going. Less than 10% of us think it'd make the Cisco Associate and Professional exams worse by moving to completely CLI tests. More surprising to me was that close to 70% thought that an all CLI test improved their chance of passing, with only 16% thinking it would decrease their chance of passing. Also, around 30% of you through that a 75 minute exam could hold 15 or more Sim/Simlet questions! Read more
Odom, CCIE No, 1624, splits time between writing books for Cisco Press and teaching classes for Skyline ATS. In his 25-ish years in the networking industry, he has worked as as a pre-sale and post-sale SE for a few networking vendors, as well as a network engineer implementing network technology. Wendell has spent the majority of the last 15 years teaching, consulting, and writing about networking technologies, most of which in some way relate to Cisco products. His books include titles on QoS, CCIE R/S, as well as several titles related to CCNA certification, including the September 2007 book CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (CCNA Exam 640-802) (Read a sneak peek of chapter 7). Click for the list of current titles by Wendell.
The opinions expressed in this Weblog are those of the writer and may not represent the opinions of Network World.
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