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| Topic | Stuff is starting to get real at work again... These are stressful times. |
| CableZL 04/05/17 6:34:13 PM #3: | orcus_snake posted... how did you get enough experience to desigh a ntework like that? I worked my way up through getting certifications. In November of 2012, I got a job as an entry level NOC tech, which was pretty much the perfect spot for me at the time. I knew a tiny bit about networking, and I was on and off studying for Cisco certs. About 6 months into that job, I hadn't progressed as much as I thought I would. So, I got serious about studying in May of 2013. 8/22/2013 - CCENT exam passed (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) After studying for and passing the CCENT exam, I knew a ton more about networking than I did before. I then went on to study for the CCNA. 12/23/2013 - CCNA Routing and Switching exam passed (Cisco Certified Network Associate) After studying for and passing the CCNA route/switch exam, I gained a lot more knowledge still. I was able to diagnose and troubleshoot more complex networking problems on my own. I opted to go for CCNA Security next. - I got promoted to "Tier II Data Technician" in the NOC. I was essentially the lead tech for networking trouble tickets that came in. 6/25/2014 - CCNA Security exam passed Again, I gained a lot of knowledge here. I understood how VPN tunnels worked, which was my primary reason for wanting to get this certification. A couple months later, we happened to get a trouble ticket about VPN tunnel connectivity that I was able to run with on my own and solve by working with carriers and the customer. I just kept getting better and better as I studied more and more and got more certs. Next up was the 3 CCNP Routing and Switching exams. CCNP Route, CCNP Switch, and CCNP TShoot - I got promoted to network engineer. This is where I started getting a bit of experience with network design. I mostly dealt with small networks for customers with just a router or two and a few switches at the most. (Can't remember the exact date) - CCNP Route passed Finally, I learned about BGP, which is the major routing protocol that makes the internet work. After I passed CCNP Route, one of our customers had a complex routing problem between the US and China that reoccurred. It had been an issue that would pop up every few months, but no one was able to solve it. I dug in and got it solved within a few days. CITIC, A telecom in China, was causing global routing loops for a ton of networks. I had them put a fix in place for ours, but I have no idea if they ever fixed the February 2016 - CCNP Switch passed I don't know why this kept happening, but shortly after I passed CCNP switch, a customer had a complex switching problem that I was able to resolve on my own. I think we'd just get complex things and escalate them to engineers without looking into the issues too much. The higher ups definitely noticed that I was getting better and better at my job as I kept studying. April 2016 - CCNP Tshoot passed I didn't study for this exam much. It really just covers subjects from the switch and tshoot exams. I bought a book for it and realized it was essentially just ~900 pages of review, so I just decided to take the exam and see how I did. I failed the first time because the exam format is way different and I ran out of time. I took it a week later and passed. I wouldn't say I got better after taking this exam, but after passing the 3rd of 3 exams, I officially had the cert. CCNP level certs are extremely valuable, and tons companies are looking for network people who have them. The company I work for being one of those, and they hired me in May of 2016. --- ... Copied to Clipboard! |
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