Fast Lane Nexus Training

[ZiPPy]

Has anybody attended a Fast Lane training, or heard anything about them?  I'm currently eyeballing the Configuring Cisco Nexus 7000 Switches DCNX7K course.  I need to get some serious hands-on experience on the N7K.  I've been waiting patiently for VIRL, to take advantage of labbing NX-OS.  But from what I've heard the NX-OS features are pretty weak in VIRL.

Enough is enough, I need to get my feet wet with N7Ks.  These few N5Ks around the office aren't cutting it for me.  Not to mention, they are in prod.

I need the knowledge, I want the knowledge, I will sell my left kidney to get the opportunity to sit behind that bad boy and learn!  Looking at a company who is heavy on Nexus, and thinking about making that jump. 

Any thoughts?

[wintermute000]

i've done fast lane courses in Australia.
The quality depends on the instructor. The materials are all decent as its official Crisco as is the labs, but I've had a really good, engaging instructor (Ex TAC, ex Cisco BGP team etc. guy taught me QoS) and also poor ones so its a bit of a crapshoot.
Whatever it is though is going to be better than those diploma-mill type cram / exam centre schools with sweet-FA lab gear and instructors only from a certain ethnicity whom you can't even understand (and strongly suspect they dumped their certs anyway).

It is horrifically expensive would never actually pay my own money for it... usually around what 5k for a week? WTF

[ZiPPy]

Thanks wintermute000.  I figured it would be dependent on the instructor, but at least the overall vendor is reputable.  I'm trying to avoid exactly what you were talking about, with the instructors that can't teach for crap, hard to understand and dump(b) professor.  For that penny they better damn well know the material.

I'm actually going to invest my own money on this one.  Hell if my current employer sends me, and I try to stay positive and see it as opening doors elsewhere.  I know it's a lot for the class $3700 + hotel about $1200 + airfare about $400.  Xmas bonus + credit card + drive to learn.  Meh, fawk it I gotta do what I gotta do.

We all look at things as being expensive.  These vendors and companies are trying to make a profit, as we all do.  So many of us don't spend that money.  We are froogle, we are cautious, and we save.  We have to these days being family guys, paying bills ect...  But you know what, there has to be times when you just say I need to do this for me.  Because in the end I know it will benefit me.  If I die tomorrow, that's something I can say I did upstairs, that I went for even thought it was "expensive".  I'm just trying to stay positive and keep it in the light, otherwise I'll never do things like this for my myself.  I'll just find myself waiting and waiting and waiting on a company to send me.

Cheers,

[wintermute000]

TBH its not worth it. If you have console time on real 5ks and do some book learning thats enough for you to be able to sink-or-swim in most jobs short of ones specifically focusing on Nexus.

Now if you are hell bent on specifically focusing on nexus then good luck to you!!!

[icecream-guy]

take the course, it you are not happy with the instruction, bitch to the company, if they are pro-customer, they should let you sit the course again for free, less additional airfare and hotel..

[ScottF]

We used fastlane for some BCN bespoke training, like others have said the quality depends very much on the trainer. Our guy was called Vassil Nikolov and he was excellent, infact probably the most knowledgable trainer I've come across. I know he does the Nexus courses across europe so I would highly recommend him.

[Fred]

I'm actually going to invest my own money on this one.

Email them and ask for a discount.  You never know...