7 hours it took to clear the driveway after last weekend's snow. (Last time I buy a house with a looooong driveway!) But in a mere 48 hours and I'll be on my way to the beach. I've got a bad case of Spring Fever, and it's going to translate into a brief break from the CCNP lab series - to get your opinions, get some ideas for later in the Spring, and to avoid getting knee-deep in ISCW right before going to the beach.
So, let's say your boss gives you $1500 in capital to buy gear to study for CCNP - gear the company will own, but you can keep it at home or at work while you study. He also gives you enough budget to go to one CCNP-related course. There's not enough $$ to go to a bootcamp that covers multiple courses - the courses each cover 1 of the 4 exams. Which one do you take? Feel free to post some reasons why as well.
Next, imagine you found a co-worker or mentor that could spent a day with you teaching you and helping you experiment in a lab regarding one of the major topics in the CCNP track. Which topic would it be? You can assume this fictitious person actually knows something about the topic, at least a lot more than you do. I've listed some of them in this next survey. I'll maybe do some questions/answers on those topics later this spring.
Finally, I'd be curious how much time you spend working on Cisco routers and switches if you're also currently pursuing CCNP. I've always thought that most people working on CCNP already had jobs with significant job requirements to work on the gear, but maybe not. So... just people working towards CCNP answer this one, but tell me what percentage of your job role involves planning/implementing/troubleshooting/whatevering Cisco routers and switches.
Look for me to return to the blog the week of March 24th - talk to you then!
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.
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CCNP Lab prices
Hi Wendell
While hunting around Ebay I found this place
http://www.cablesandkits.com/cisco-equipment-cisco-routers-c-50_84.html
Now they have $100USD Cisco 3640 Multifunction Router Bundle - 64D/16F, No Faceplate and currently they have a special for US shipping of only $5.
Thats a siginificant saving all because the face plate is missing, and who really cares about the face plate in a lab?
You can have full flash/ram as well for $53USD extra from Ebay.
Unfortunately I'm not in the US so the shipping costs blow the price right out, but if you are in the US, the price seems very cheap, and with 2 x 3640's have 2 routers can do just about anything you could want in the CCNP.
The prices for some of the other bits and pieces is a lot cheaper for the older items than we've discussed here previously.
Anyhow, have a look and price up what you think CCNP lab should have from the parts available from these guys!
Thanks for all your articles Wendell
Cheers
Shaun
We don't need no stinkin' faceplates
Shaun,
I agree, I'll take the cosmetically damanged stuff for a home lab any day - and that particular deal is still on their web site today. And it comes out to a little over $160 US to get the router and max the memory, assuming you're over in the states, at least. Works for me!! Thanks for the site - it's certainly worth bookmarking for next time I'm serious about buying. (I'll probably still to Ebay for the price estimates, just to reduce the time to search.)
Cheers
Wendell