CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure by Saria

CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure

By Saria

There were many vital announcements on the agenda at Cisco Live last year. One of the most significant was the revamping of the program for certification. Various new certifications were introduced (such as DevNet's CCNA and CCNP). I decided to write about this since I was a part of that certification process for a few years. I'm sharing this blog as a personal blog, and the opinions expressed here are my own and not officially sanctioned.

At Juniper, I had the chance to write questions for an exam the service provider wrote. It was a fantastic experience, and I received comprehensive training from the certification program in correctly writing exam questions. I'm not sure what made me decide to participate as an accredited (certifiable?) person; I saw it as an ideal chance to contribute to the program. After I joined Cisco, I immediately partnered with the certificate program in this city by offering the services of a query writer. I received my training through Juniper, in addition to being an active CCIE working on the programmability aspect. It was a great fit and a fantastic opportunity to renew your certification without having to pass the test. You can write or review questions to get your CCIE renewed.

Since I was the manager of an entire team in the business unit that was working on programmability and Software-Defined Access, It was logical for me to discuss with software developers about adding these subjects to the exam. I can tell you that there was much internal discussion regarding this issue since there was much debate about how the CCIE exam has a reputation for being difficult, and the purpose of our Intent-Based Networking solutions is simplicity. A product manager even suggested an additional CCIE course for SD-Access, which I immediately rejected due to this reason.

However, as I frequently make clear on this blog and elsewhere, SDN technologies do not eliminate the requirement to employ network specialists. SDN products, and all SDN devices, can be highly complex due to their automation. Automation allows us to create more complicated products, generally. It would help if you didn't have to manage every component of SD-Access manually. But, we still need engineers who know what automation tools are doing and how to interact with the various components that make up an extremely complex solution such as SD-Access. Network engineers won't disappear.

This is why we needed SD-Access, SDWAN, and device programming (NETCONF/YANG, for instance) to be included in the lab. We need engineers who understand and are aware of these technologies. The certification program is an excellent opportunity to teach people about the basics of these technologies. I, along with a few people on my team, have worked for several months on this CCIE program to create the new framework, which evolved into the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure. The long-running CCIE Routing and Switching will cease to exist.

The CCIE exam has constantly been updated to reflect the changing requirements of networking. The R/S exam is no longer offered with ISDN or IPX, and it shouldn't be. The market is looking for more automated solutions, and the exam keeps up with the times. The new model could be intimidating if you're preparing to pass this exam. But, CCIE exams have always been difficult. Consider the following: if you can pass this exam, the resume will fill you with skills that allow you to be highly marketable.

This new version of the CCIE (we always abbreviate things, you know?) can be broken down in this way: ●

60% represents classic networking, one of the most fundamental routing protocols we have all come to know and love.

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25-25% is SDx: and SD-WAN. Mostly.

15% of the cost is for programming. NETCONF/YANG, controller APIs, Ansible, etc.

How do you prepare yourself for this? Just like you study for any other subject. Would you be able to research it and even test it? There's plenty of information available on these subjects, and I'll offer some suggestions:

Programmability You don't have to be an expert in programming in the exam section. It's not about determining if you can write complex programming, but if you understand the fundamentals well enough to complete specific tasks with scripts or Ansible. Instead of CLI. DevNet includes a wealth of instances of sending NETCONF messages, reading data off the router, or switching using programming interfaces. Download them, play around with them, spend some time learning Python basics, and then relax. ●

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The Learning DevNet provides a tremendous source. Hank Preston, an evangelist for DevNet, has published numerous resources about programmability. There is also the book on IOS XE programmability that I created with my colleagues.

Laboratory: It is possible to download lab programmability software quickly using your laptop. Python, as well as the client software, are both free, as is Ansible. If you have lab equipment, you may want to create a Linux VM or install some tools on your laptop.

Software-Defined I've said it before, a complicated device to test. To connect a device to an SD-Access fabric, select it and select "Add to Fabric." What can you test? Since these are all new technologies, it is essential to know the various components of SD-Access/SD WAN and how they work together. What is the policy process? What are the ways that fabric domains communicate to domains that are not fabric? There's plenty to research here. ● ●

Learn: We've published books on SD-Access as well as SD-WAN. We are also moving to integrate much of our information into Cisco Communities.

Lab: This is a bit more difficult. We're trying to get SD-Access in the hands of Learning Partners, so you'll be able to have access to the software. We're also working on the virtualization of SD-Access to the greatest extent possible to make it more accessible to use in labs. There's no time frame on this, but I'm sure we'll be able to do the former shortly.

They are massive, but they are exciting modifications that are exciting and huge. I've been blessed to find a job in the field. However, this new exam can also help others follow this direction.