Today I completed the Jobleader ICT Management course, which began last November.
After messing tinkering for some time with Python
and Nornir
I felt the need of some more structured approach to speed up the learning process.
The very same day I received and email from Kirk Byers advertising his Nornir Automation Training . That’s destiny!
Keeping up with the new releases of the various manufacturers is an important part of the job of every network engineer. Usually it is enough to see the videos available online but from time to time it is necessary to take one more step.
Cisco has released the new Catalyst 9000 family that integrates with 1/20/2019 12:11:45 PM and ISE to build an SDA network. The Catalyst 9k family, strong of IOS XE, also allows programmability levels not previously possible.
This week I’ve attended a training about Cisco ACI DCAC9K .
Based on my personal experience no training can cover all the topics or all the use cases but I think this training with a cover-to-cover read of Deploying ACI can help to build the basis to start the ACI journey with strong fundamentals.
This week I attended a two days training of Cisco DCINX9K .
The training is focused on Cisco Nexus 9000 switches in NX-OS mode.
NX9K can run two different software images, the full ACI image with all the cool SDN stuff and the traditional NS-OX image with some cool features like Python , Rest API, VX-LAN and more.
Now it’s time to improve my Python skills and borrow a couple of boxes to do some labs.
After the first week of the INE bootcamp I spent the weekend relaxing a bit and reviewing the topics on the doc-cd.
The second week confirmed the high level of this training, long hours and Brian Dennis showing us a lot of scenarios and how to spot a problem before it happens instead of just troubleshooting it later.
My favorite days were MPLS and Multicast, followed by redistribution and OeR but I must say that I found in every single day something new.
I spent this week in London attending the first part INE CCIE R&S 10days bootcamp with Brian Dennis . I stay in London for the weekend to review some topics and be ready for the second part next week.
The bootcamp runs from 9AM to 8PM and it’s all hands on, no videos, no slides, no workbook to follow line-by-line, there are just Brian, the console and the diagrams he does on the fly to explain the topology and the processes involved.
This week I’m attending Cisco DCUCI course in Milan. I have no experience on blade servers or Cisco UC plaftorm and it’ll be a great opportunity to learn new topics and move another step towards the datacenter.
I’ve prepared for this course watching Cisco PEC videos and reading the two must-read books from Silvano Gai:
I/O Consolidation in the Data Center Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Cisco provides an emulator for the Cisco UCS , available only to Partners.
Today I officially start my CCIE R&S journey.
I decided to follow the Cisco track from CCNA to CCNP and then attempt the CCIE exam, written and lab.
After spending a lot of time researching for the best study material I decided to purchase the IPExpert’s Blended Learning Solution. I’m paying for it out of my pocket, a big investment tha I hope will be worthwhile for my professional career.