Getting On Track With CCIE

It is widely accepted wisdom that a career in networking or IT should be based on a solid foundation and that that foundation be certified. A widely accepted certification standard is the CCIE. Network engineers who obtain this globally recognized certification instantly become marketable and in demand. The process used to be rather cumbersome, in that candidates need to travel to locations that offered the course. There were class room sessions, which could be substituted with online lessons, but the main problem was that candidates needed to have hands on experience. 

Cisco requires all the CCIE engineers to undergo a rigorous lab test to be absolutely certain that when a person is certified, this person knows the systems thoroughly. To achieve this, hands on experience was necessary to get intimate with the inner workings, quirks and characteristics of the server, switches and routers. Candidates needed CCIE Routing and Switching Lab experience to be well grounded in the system.

This was a major stumbling block in the certification process. However, it is no longer the case. Today, there are virtual labs that can simulate the hands on experience required by the certification. To get started on this, the first thing a candidate needs is to get CCIE Rack Rentals from anywhere on the internet. One can find a CCIE Service Provider just by doing a simple online search. These CCIE SP will be able to sign up any candidate with easy and speed.  They will also be able to provide all the necessary work books for a person to familiarize them with the virtual systems. Its like being in a physical lab and all the settings, right or wrong, will be replicated in the virtual system.

The road to becoming an Internetwork Expert is certainly not an easy one. Its not meant to be as the systems are complex and sophisticated and requires deep understanding to handle one. Once the training begins, one will realize that the programs in the workbook are usually well structured. The Cisco Rack that is in virtual reality acts identically to a physical one and the lab sessions mimic the real world superbly. The one advice many of the engineers who were minted in this fashion agree, is that there can never be too much hands on time. There is always more to learn and more fluency to garner. So the advice is that once you have rented the rack, spend as many hours as you can on it before taking the test. 
 

The actual lab test is allocated 8 hours to complete. That time frame should be enough to suggest to a candidate that the test is not to be taken lightly. Most successful candidates’ advice that if one is not sufficiently trained the time frame for the test will be inadequate to complete. It is a case of practice makes perfect. Remember to practice as many combinations of scenarios and problems. Trouble shoots the issues in combinations from one chapter of the work book to the next. Be creative with yourself test and make sure you go over the workbook more than just once or twice. The response time you exhibit, must be almost second nature.