Cisco Service Provider Track???

RoDDy · January 11, 2016, 10:00:42 AM

Hi Guys,

I was previously heading down the R&S track but given my recent job change (full service ISP), I am seriously considering going the SP route now. The network I am working with now is full of a lot VRFs and MPLS stuff. I am still trying to get a full grip on it, as I only knew the basics of it before.

I think SP will be a better change for me right now as it is directly related to the work I am/will be doing now (I would say CCIE level stuff). So it should come natural. My only thing is that there is no official guide and anything on it, so i will have to seek out each topic and learn it thoroughly, as I would for work anyway.

Does anyone have any thoughts, experience and/or advise on this certification track? Or any advise on whether or not its a good move for me or if i should continue R&S for now and then move over to SP?

Any advice is welcome.

-Roddy

icecream-guy · January 11, 2016, 11:02:31 AM

cisco certs are such downers these days, it seems one has to work with an integrator to gain experience in breadth of topics covered in some of these exams, sometime I don't even think it's worth it. If I didn't have to renew my CCNP R&S (I'm in a Cisco R&S shop right now). I'd probably just move on to other vendors material,

deanwebb · January 11, 2016, 11:32:17 AM

Agree with Mr. Ristau. There's good info in the official cert guides, usually, so you might want to get a used one to review.

routerdork · January 11, 2016, 12:30:03 PM

I'd say R&S is the foundation for what you will learn in SP so finish up your R&S as well.

icecream-guy · January 11, 2016, 12:42:17 PM

Quote from: deanwebb on January 11, 2016, 11:32:17 AM
Agree with Mr. Ristau. There's good info in the official cert guides, usually, so you might want to get a used one to review.

2nd rant..... and there are so few official guides, for certs outisde the CCNA and CCNP R&S. wading through exam blueprints on the web site it like getting teeth pulled.

srg · January 11, 2016, 01:33:45 PM

Take the expanded blueprint, spreadsheet it, look up the topics and create your own index on where to find the information. You'll need to do this regardless of the official certification guides, they will never be exhaustive enough for you to pass any exam using them alone anyway.

deanwebb · January 11, 2016, 02:03:49 PM

Quote from: ristau5741 on January 11, 2016, 12:42:17 PM
Quote from: deanwebb on January 11, 2016, 11:32:17 AM
Agree with Mr. Ristau. There's good info in the official cert guides, usually, so you might want to get a used one to review.

2nd rant..... and there are so few official guides, for certs outisde the CCNA and CCNP R&S. wading through exam blueprints on the web site it like getting teeth pulled.

Agree a million percent. R&S gear is also the easiest to acquire, given how much of it there is out there and that most of it can run without needing fancy licenses.

icecream-guy · January 11, 2016, 02:41:38 PM

Quote from: srg on January 11, 2016, 01:33:45 PM
Take the expanded blueprint, spreadsheet it, look up the topics and create your own index on where to find the information. You'll need to do this regardless of the official certification guides, they will never be exhaustive enough for you to pass any exam using them alone anyway.

I do like that idea, I will also include searching on the Cisco.com web site, for related documentation, as you never know when....

I ran across this studying BCMSN, I had an exam question on a topic, I was looking for extra guidance at cisco.com, exact same question on the test as it was explained in the Cisco docs, with same diagrams. That question was easy.

wintermute000 · January 11, 2016, 03:08:59 PM

Firstly, stop griping

Yes it sucks not having a OCG. Deal with it....

Secondly, this is the list. Taken from https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/thread/42687

I'd add that R&Sv5 covers more SP topics than you might think. You need basic MPLS chops and MPLS-VPN, a lot of BGP and VRFs including MPLS-VPN import/export is definitely all in there, written and lab

THe main things in SP that is not in R&S is L2VPN (VPLS etc.), MPLS-TE with RSVP, ISIS, IOS-XR and metro ethernet.

The good news is, being 2016, you can actually lab the SP track XR component now in VIRL.

CCNP SP Overview:
The Essentials of CCNP SP Webinar by Cisco Learning Network (Requires Registration)
CCNP SP Syllabus (CLN)

For all IOS XR topics:
Cisco IOS XR Fundamentals by Mobeen Tahir, Mark Ghattas, Dawit Birhanu, and Syed Natif Nawaz
Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers Configuration Guides

The main differences between IOS-XE and "classic" IOS:
What is IOS-XE?
Understanding IOS-XE Version Numbers and Licensing
The IOS-XE File System
IOS-XE High Availability
Other than these differences IOS-XE is a lot like the IOS with which you are already familiar. The configuration is nearly identical.

SPROUTE Topics:
OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 Routing in Service Provider Environments
And IS-IS, IPv4, and IPv6 in Service Provider Environments
Routing TCP/IP Volume I, Second Edition by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll
BGP Routing in Service Provider Environments
Routing TCP/IP Volume II by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll
Internet Routing Architectures by Sam Halabil
Route Manipulations in Service Provider Environments
For Route-maps and policy routing in classic IOS and IOS-XE
Routing TCP/IP Volume I, Second Edition by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll
For IOS-XR Route Policy Language (RPL)
Implementing Routing Policy on Cisco ASR 9000 Series Router
High Availability Routing Features
Understanding and configuring BFD
Understanding Graceful Restart and NSF
OSPF Graceful Restart RFC3623
ISIS Graceful Restart RFC3847

SPADVROUTE Topics:
BGP Routing in Service Provider Environments:
Routing TCP/IP Volume II by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll
Internet Routing Architectures by Sam Halabi
BGP Case Studies
BGP Design and Implementation by Randy Zhang and Micah Bartell
Multicast Routing in a Service Provider IP NGN Environment:
CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide, Fourth Edition by Wendell Odom, Russ Healy, and Denise Donohue
Routing TCP/IP Volume II by Jeff Doyle and Jennifer Carroll (Does not cover SSM or Bi-Dir PIM)
Source Specific Multicast
Bi-directional PIM
IPv6 in a Service Provider IP NGN Environment:
Keith Barker's IPv6 Video Series provides a good introduction to the basics.
Migrating to IPv6: A Practical Guide to Implementing IPv6 in Mobile and Fixed Networks by Marc Blanchet
Deploying IPv6 Networks by Ciprian Popoviciu, Eric Levy-Abegnoli, and Patrick Grossetete.
CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide, Fourth Edition by Wendell Odom, Russ Healy, and Denise Donohue
High Availability Routing Features:
Understanding and configuring BFD
Understanding Graceful Restart and NSF

SPCORE Topics:
QoS in a Service Provider IP NGN Environments:
QoS for IP/MPLS Networks by Santiago Alvarez
QOS Exam Certification Guide by Wendell Odom and Michael J. Cavanaugh
End-to-End QoS Network Design: Quality of Service in LANs, WANs, and VPNs by Tim Szigeti and Christina Hattingh
IOS-XR LPTS
Hierarchical QoS on IOS-XR
MPLS/LDP in a Service Provider IP NGN Environment:
AND MPLS Traffic Engineering in a Service Provider IP NGN Environment:
MPLS Fundamentals by Luc de Ghein
MPLS-Enabled Applications: Emerging Developments and New Technologies by Ina Minei and Julian Lucek
Transport Technologies:
(This one is harder because these are basically all items that I learned through on-the-job training and experience. I don't have good training materials for them.)
DWDM (Wikipedia)
Cisco IPoDWDM Benefits

SPEDGE Topics:
VPN in Service Provider IP NGN Environments:
Introducing VPNs (CLN Video)
Cisco GETVPN Deployment Guide
Cisco VPN Technology Comparison (PDF)
MPLS layer 3 VPNs in Service Provider IP NGN Environments:
MPLS Fundamentals by Luc de Ghein
MPLS and VPN Architectures Volume II by Ivan Pepelnjak, Jim Gulchard, and Jeff Apcar
Layer 2 VPNs in Service Provider IP NGN Environments:
Layer 2 VPN Architectures by Wei Luo, Carlos Pignataro, Anthony Chan, and Dmitry Bokotey
Carrier Ethernet in Service Provider IP NGN Environments
Layer 2 VPN Architectures by Wei Luo, Carlos Pignataro, Anthony Chan, and Dmitry Bokotey
ASR9k Carrier Ethernet Model
Cisco QinQ Configuration (ME3400)
Provider Backbone Briding (Wikipedia)
Metro Ethernet Network Architecture Framework Part 1: Generic Framework (PDF)
Metro Ethernet Services Definitions Phase 2 (PDF)

that1guy15 · January 11, 2016, 03:34:08 PM

With my recent job change I am also getting the bug to jump on the CCIE SP. Not sure if I want to go down that road again though...

As for material here is how I see it.

CCNA level (same as High School) - Spoon feed most of the information with well defined study plans
CCNP level (Bachelors/Masters) - Mix between fed information and find your own or point in the right direction, but still with a clear study plan
CCIE level (Doctoral) - We ant givin you shit and the blue print is pretty much everything. Good luck!

As you move up in your career you should be able rely less and less on others. At any job a Sr level guys is expected to operate independently with little to no direction. Same should be said for certs. Yeah it does suck that only the popular tracks have OCGs but it is what it is. There are tons of resources out there to cover the blue-print and more. You just have to organize and build a game-plan.

RoDDy · January 13, 2016, 02:29:53 PM

Thanks guys. I will probably stay on the R&S path and if anything just get separate reading material etc. that go into greater depth on specific topics in R&S and also those not included in R&S.

PS: I am liking the XR. I have a lab setup with it right now. "Commit" is my new best friend.

that1guy15 · January 13, 2016, 03:34:10 PM

Yeah Im learning it too. Been fighting a code upgrade on our lab 9ks for the past 3 days though.

These install packages are f'n huge...

So far I like XR a ton more!

routerdork · January 13, 2016, 03:40:16 PM

Quote from: that1guy15 on January 13, 2016, 03:34:10 PM
Yeah Im learning it too. Been fighting a code upgrade on our lab 9ks for the past 3 days though.

These install packages are f'n huge...

So far I like XR a ton more!

Haha I had a flash drive dedicated to IOS-XR code and SMU's. Some things were a pain in the ass! But they're an awesome box.

NetworkGroover · January 13, 2016, 04:57:37 PM

To the OP, you're not the only one struggling... it's very odd for me that I'm not really studying anything right now because certs basically don't exist for the topics I work with. I knocked out Arista's associate cert, and I think I'm going to do the VMware Network Virt. one just for S&Gs to get a little better grip.. but other than that.. I dunno.

I've rolled around with the CCIE R&S for a while now... but I'm having a really hard time justifying it to myself enough that I want to put in what's required. Which is a shame considering I bought all the books and INE package.

wintermute000 · January 13, 2016, 05:17:03 PM

The NSX cert is wicked because its a backdoor into letting you do the normal VCP tracks without the normal prerequisite of attending a official 5 day training course (i.e. a 1-week, 3k USD barrier to entry... for a bloody NP level cert)
That, and NSX is wicked too