Cisco finally has announced what we’ve known was coming for about 6 months or so….an update to the CCNP Exams available starting March 10th, 2010. The new exams are simply called ROUTE, SWITCH, TSHOOT, with the latter not available until April 30th. So, if you’re working on your CCNP, you have until July 31st to finish using the old exams: BSCI, BSMSN, ONT and ISCW. The new CCNP offers a nice, new path for Cisco CCNA® certified network engineer and will provide you with a solid foundation for those interested in the Cisco CCIE® R&S.

There are two nice benefits about the latest exams: you’ll spend only $450 instead of $600 to get your CCNP (we’ll see how long that lasts), and you now get 120 minutes instead of just 90 to complete them.

Cisco has provided four various paths to achieve your CCNP, depending upon how far along you presently are with your CCNP Studies and exams. You can find the page describing each of those four paths here.

There are some interesting changes in the courses that will definitely affect the way that I’ll be teaching the 12-day bootcamp. First, the ROUTE and TSHOOT courses have some very cool e-learning lessons that you can only get from a Cisco Authorized training company. This means that if you do not go to an authorized bootcamp or class, you will not get said e-learning modules and yes—the information in them is absolutely vital to meeting the exam objectives! I’ve always wondered about people who claim they’ve passed the exam by just reading a book or using brain dumps, but now, I no longer will. In the new Cisco World, without attending an authorized course, getting the information required to pass will be next to impossible without doing something really shady—something that honest people with well, brains will realize is just not worth the risk. Cisco is not known to be the least bit forgiving of ill-gotten certifications! I am not saying you can’t self-study, it just seems that Cisco is making it harder to do so. Inside the Cisco Authorized kits will be a CD that allows access to the all-so-important material. So, how can we pass these exams without the new curriculum? Beats me.

Okay—that said, the ROUTE part of the CCNP provides you with information and labs on how to plan, configure, and verify the implementation of complex enterprise LAN and WAN routing solutions, using a range of routing protocols and securing routing solutions to support branch offices and mobile workers. There are more than 7 hours of extended e-learning outside of the classroom needed to meet the exam objectives.

The SWITCH part of the CCNP gives you with information and labs on how to plan, configure, and verify the implementation of complex enterprise switching solutions, using Cisco Enterprise Campus Architecture. The exam objectives also cover securing integration of VLANs, WLANs, voice, and video into campus networks with switches.

Lastly, The TSHOOT part of the CCNP supplies you with the information and labs on how to plan and perform regular maintenance on complex enterprise routed and switched networks, plus use technology-based practices and a systematic ITIL-compliant approach to successfully pull off complex network troubleshooting. I’m really interested to see what Cisco will use from ITIL in this exam. BTW… This course is all hands-on labs and has 9 hours of extended e-learning lessons.

With all this in mind, I really can’t say the CCNP will become any easier to attain, that’s for sure. The writing on the wall is that it’s going to be harder to instruct the course effectively and harder for the students to pass the exams unless they have some serious study and hands-on lab time. So if you are trying to finish your CCNP or wanting to get your CCNP, you’d better get with it. The bar is seriously rising soon!

Cisco has video information regarding these CCNP updates found here.

While we’re all waiting with baited breath for the new exams to be available so we can finally get the skinny about what’s going on, be sure and check out www.globalnettraining.com for some sweet New Years’ special offers from the only place that delivers the highest quality Todd Lammle Cisco Authorized training!

Cheers!
Todd Lammle

Taking off from where I left off last month….There are < 10% of the reserved blocks from IANA left to allocate, which means there is only about twenty-six 256 blocks. At this rate, the allocation of all addresses will happen on September 23, 2011. This is actually 17 extra days then I reported last month.

But wait- that’s only about 626 days from now….and when I wrote my last blog around Thanksgiving, 30 more days have passed- time is running out quick.

Also remember in my last blog I told you that a new RIR policy was created in 2008 that tells the IANA “When you’ve just allocated the last of six /8 network blocks, give us the remaining five unallocated network blocks!”, so right now we only have nineteen more block to hand out before this happens!

Looking back, It would have been helpful if the original designers didn’t reserve so many addresses to begin with when allocating IPv4 addresses. Here is the breakdown (remember that each /8 represent 16,777,216 addresses!):

• Sixteen /8’s for multicast use. This is probably the most useful reserved address space, but this is still more reserved addresses than are typically used.
• Sixteen /8’s for some unspecified “future use” that never happened…
• One /8 for local identification (0.0.0.0). Cisco had also reserved this range for router broadcast use that never happened.
• One /8 block for private use (10.0.0.0/8) – this one is actually helpful, and not too wasteful at all.
• And here’s a head scratcher for you…14.0.0.0/8…Something about public data networks, but I’ve never seen this used, and we never will either.

• And let’s just end with my personal favorite: 127.0.0.1/8. Now who was the genius that thought of this beauty? 16 million+ addresses wasted just to test your local IP stack. Nice.

• And the addresses ranges from 240.0.0.0 on up are reserved as well in RFC 3330 for some future use that we’ll never see as well.

Now I am no math genius, but if you take all those /8 addresses reserved (not counting the 240 through 255 addresses, which is a lot more addresses!) and if you multiple them by 16,777,216…well, now that’s a lot of reserved addresses. 603,979,776 to be exact, and considering that we only have about 318 million address left to allocate (to IANA & RIPE) worldwide – for the rest of our lives – this just shows how wasteful the designers of the first RFC’s were. And just as another reminder: we need about 190 million new addresses a year – and that is in this bad economy too. What happens if we get another rebound in the economy worldwide?

Sooner or later the unallocated address pools will run out for each RIR which means that life of an IPv4 network will be harder and harder to maintain, and certainly more expensive! Just try and buy some /28 or /29 addresses for your small company or home business and see how much the prices have already sky rocketed!

If this exhaustion problem hasn’t already made you very aware that you need to start deploying IPv6 products and services as soon as possible, then nothing will change your mind at this point.
So, what are your options? If you are an IT professional, get in an IPv6 class and just start learning some basics. If you are running a routed network, put together a test bed of routers running dual-stack routing and get some hands-on experience.

As for Cisco, my CCNP certification class is doing more and more IPv6 configurations every month now, and I have heard that Cisco is going to go even deeper into IPv6 even at the CCNA level. So at a minimum, get a book and start reading up on IPv6…it is in your future!

In the meantime, be sure and check out www.globalnettraining.com for some end of year specials and where you’ll find the best and only Todd Lammle Cisco Authorized training!

Cheers!
Todd Lammle

Want to read something startling to wake you up today? Here it is:

Projected IANA Unallocated Address Pool Exhaustion: 06-Sep-2011

Projected RIR Unallocated Address Pool Exhaustion: 29-Aug-2012

Or to put it another way – that’s only about 643 days from now….

Let me start at the beginning for a minute…the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet protocol resources and provides these resources to the Regional Internet Registry’s (RIR) who, in turn, delegates resources to their customers, which include ISP’s and end-user organizations.

Sure, there are a few other steps & details, but you can get the general idea that everything starts with IANA, and basically ends with RIR’s decisions on how to allocate the last remaining IP addresses. IANA’s IPv4 exhaustion has been predicted by scientists for decades so let’s just skip back to just the last six years….

In 2003, after the .com boom had already went “boom”, some various scientists predicted we had until about 2021 before we had anything to really worry about in our corporate or home based networks, which for them, would be long after these “scientist geniuses” were retired, or more likely dead (thanks mostly in part to PAT… [I mean thanks to PAT that we would still have IP addresses unallocated, not that the scientists are dead]).

However, a new study in the spring of 2008 shows that we have less than 10% of reserved unallocated addresses available and that we’re going to be lucky to even get to 2012 with our current IPv4 addresses in place, and we’ll start seeing address allocation problems occurring within the next year!

But what has created this massive address exodus from IANA in the last few years and how will it affect me?

First, I have to make some basic assumptions in this blog since I am not sure that anyone understands the exact question that I am trying to answer, because figuring out the IANA allocation amount and how fast it is being depleted is much like playing in the stock market. However, by assuming that 2010’s growth will be much like 2008 and 2009, we can just do the math based on the last year and a half.

This just seems like a good idea on where and how the prediction of when the unallocated IPv4 address will run out….or you can stop reading now and just keep believing what you are probably thinking…”That this is someone else’s problem” ….and you can just keep ignoring the problem, at least for another 643 days, give or take a few days.

But to answer the question about what is creating this problem in the first place, we have to understand what the world needs, and to quickly put things into perspective, the world needs IP addresses more than the U.S. needs oil. To be even more exact, at the end of 2003 the address consumption rate was about 64 million a year, and at the end of 2009 it is believed to be 192 million per year, which gives us about two more years before the IANA starts getting Social Security.

With all this in mind, understand that a new RIR policy was created in 2008 that tells the IANA “When you’ve just allocated the last of six /8 network blocks, give us the remaining five unallocated network blocks!”, which means the demise of the IANA forever. Wow, now there’s something to contemplate. It is very possible that IANA was both created and retired in your lifetime, and what a history it created!

Be sure and stop by next week and get up-to-the-minute updates on the depletion of the IPv4 unallocated address space. In the meantime, be sure and check out www.globalnettraining.com for some end of year specials and where you’ll find the best and only Todd Lammle Cisco Authorized training!

Cheers!
Todd Lammle

In my last blog, I talked about the new 15 IOS code and discussed the reason why they jumped from 12 to 15 in their code—well, my theory of why they did anyway. I also started a discussion about the new licensing they will be using, plus, their newest Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2). But right now, the types of licenses that Cisco will be providing with their new routers are what I really want to focus on.

Types of Licenses

First and foremost, how does this change what you need to buy? Answer… That depends on exactly what you need from the router. And to answer that question at all, you just really need to know about the types of licenses that will be available regarding them.

Okay, Licenses are first categorized by their time frame, or how long they are good for.  Check out the following figure—the time frame is either specified as permanent or temporary as shown by the top green boxes:

Permanent Licenses

Just as you would think, a Permanent license is good for the life of the device on which it is installed.

Temporary Licenses

A Temporary license can be used for evaluating new capabilities or an emergency situation. A temporary license allows a feature set to be used for 60 days of actual usage. When the 60-day period expires, the device will continue to operate normally until reloaded. After the reload, the device will default to the original functionality before the temporary license was enabled. Only the actual time that the temporary license is enabled counts towards that 60-day limit. The Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) can provide an extension license for longer trials or other circumstances. Or, you could opt to just never reboot your router, and you’re golden!

Technology Package License

A technology package license is similar to the current image and licensing types that you are used to (i.e. advanced IP services, advanced security, etc.). however, instead of the many types that you have now, there are now just four:

• IPBase – basic entry functions
• DATA – includes MPLS, ATM, Multi-protocols, IBM support
• UC – unified communications, VoIP, IP Telephony
• SEC – security, IOS Firewall, IPS, IPSEC, 3DES, VPN

Software Licensing Framework

Alright, last thing before we tie this post off. We mentioned the Cisco Licensing Framework and Cisco Software Activation. This is the primary control part of this whole scheme to “help the customer track hardware, software, add services, upgrade images, and transfer licenses easier”. Oh, and it ensures that Cisco gets paid for every little thing too.

So let’s go through the whole process here. You go out and by a new ISR G2 router, it works the same way if you own one already and are buying new features as well. Ok, so you have it or buy it, first thing you get with the purchase is a Product Authorization Key (PAK). The PAK is an 11 digit alphanumeric key.

With the PAK you access the Cisco Licensing Portal, www.cisco.com/go/license and provide the PAK, serial number, and Product ID of the device. hA license file will then be generated for that specific device and that device only. You can download the file or have it emailed to you. Finally, you have to install the license file onto the router. This is much more complicated and time consuming than anything we’ve ever had to do before. However… Cisco doesn’t want to discourage you and make you complain….

So, to further “help” you in keeping track of all this licensing and to make it easier for you download and install the licenses. Cisco has made a handy application that you can install on a management workstation. This program is called Cisco License Manager (CLM). It is does some similar discovery functions and operates a lot like the Cisco Configuration Assistant (CCA).

Be sure and stop often as I update my blog with the latest and greatest Cisco intel. In the meantime, be sure and check out www.globalnettraining.com for some end of year specials and where you’ll find the best and only Todd Lammle Cisco Authorized training!
Cheers!

Todd Lammle

Cisco’s 12.x code has definitely proven to be a very stable operating system. But since change is a given, Cisco has gone through a lot of revisions, and it’s finally time to morph into the 13.x code. But no… wait! 13 is bad. Buildings don’t have a 13th floor, and even if they do, elevators don’t go there! 13 is a superstitiously cursed, unlucky number here in the U.S.

Friday the 13th has been cursed since the 16th Century because that’s the day that the King of France attacked and attempted to jail all of the members of the secretive society, the Knights Templar. Reading folklore tells us that a vast fortune disappeared at that time too, and no, the Masons didn’t bring it to the U.S. nor did Nicolas Cage find it a couple years ago.

Yet, strangely enough, the also secretive and private Swiss banking system began around the same time all this vast fortune from the Knights Templar disappeared. Okay, so I’m not a historian, I’m a Cisco networking guy, so I really don’t how much truth there is to any of this, (if any), but it’s sure some sweet fodder for great stories and movies.

Cisco appears to feel a bit superstitious too… they skipped the 13.x code and went to… 14.x code? Nope. Not 14 either, because 14 happens to be a really nasty number in parts of Asia. So to keep anyone from getting the willies, Cisco’s jumped to the new 15.x code! The actual reason for skipping versions 13 & 14 code is of course, nothing but a rumor, but it it’s a fun way to start to this blog. And just as with secret societies and bank accounts, no one’s talking!

(more…)

Alright, let me make sure everyone knows this fact straight away: No matter how lofty your personal goals may be, the first hurdle we’ve all got to jump on our way to networking stardom is to conquer the all-important Cisco® CCNA test and get that certification. And all should agree that this must be achieved prior to talking the other professional level certifications, like CCNP, CCNP Wireless, CCSP and CCVP. But is it really? Is it actually the gatekeeper it’s believed to be?

It is true that the CCNA exam is a notoriously difficult test that can present a serious road block for some, but once you’ve nailed it, you can then get to work collecting all those other valuable certifications. And of course, we all know that Cisco certifications are the industry standard for networking professionals, but don’t you just sometimes wonder what Cisco is actually up to when it comes to all those different certification tracks? I know I do!

I blogged regarding the CCNA Concentrations (CCNA Wireless, Security & Voice) in an earlier post, and most of that information is still definitely valid, however, there have been some slight changes that I need to tell you about to clarify some increasingly common misconceptions. I get asked questions about this subject nearly every day, so here’s your intel…
(more…)

If you’ve been paying attention to what the latest must have certs from the Cisco world are, then you’ve definitely heard about the happening new CCNP Wireless track. If you haven’t, no worries, I’ll get you up to speed right here: The latest, greatest professional level cert is the CCNP Wireless Certification that sits squarely between the almost as recently announced CCNA and CCIE Wireless Certs. (Why it isn’t called the CCWP is presently beyond me, but I promise to fill you in as soon as I find out. I mean, that’s what I’d call it, wouldn’t you?)

Anyway, so you know, the CCNP was just unveiled this June, but the exams won’t be available until late July 2009. This means that if you’re skill-set is already pretty solid, it would be a really good idea to get yourself on Cisco’s wireless certification path ASAP to keep your edge. For those of you that currently may not be as high up on the I.T. food chain as you’d like, this freshly-minted wireless certification trio is exactly what you need to get you to the top!

The new Cisco Wireless career path looks something like this:

Although there are no laws against aiming way high and going straight for the CCIE Wireless exam, know that there still isn’t, (as of this writing), a single person who’s come close to succeeding at that.

Why? Well, the CCNA Wireless course and exam combine to present an unusually tough challenge as a first step certification, and the next step — the CCNP Wireless Cert — is so packed full of leading edge technologies, passing the exams is a nicely notable achievement in itself.

These factors make going for the gold and hitting the legendary and formidable CCIE Wireless course/related exam without getting your CCNA and CCNP Wireless certs first, is about as wise as attempting to ace the MCAT and get into med school in 6th grade.

Just because you can take these exams doesn’t mean you should, because doing so without the proper preparation and knowledge is basically a great way to waste your hard earned dollars. These exams are hard enough when you’re armed with the knowledge that you’ll lock in during the class, so don’t waste cash by skipping these vital prerequisites! After all, this is a big reason why the CCNP Wireless was introduced in the first place—to bridge the knowledge gap and increase your odds of success in attaining the ultimate— your CCIE Wireless Certification!

Okay, so here’s a preview of some of the technologies covered within this new CCNP Wireless track: (to see the exam objectives and course outline for the CCNA Wireless, click here)
The CCNP Wireless is made up of four more modules taken after the CCNA Wireless. They look like this:

Lastly, here’s a brief description of each of these courses and what they cover:

• Implementing Cisco Unified Wireless Mobility Services (IUWMS) v1.0
  The IUWMS course is designed to give students a firm understanding of how to integrate mobility services into the network as well as tune and troubleshoot the WLAN and implement indoor enterprise mesh networks. Plus you get to play with the very new Mobility Service Engine (MSE) devices.
• Implementing Cisco Unified Wireless Voice Networks (IUWVN) v1.0
  The IUWVN course is designed to give students a firm understanding of how to integrate VoWLAN services into the WLAN and be able to implement VoWLAN, QoS, and high-bandwidth applications into the wireless network.
• Conducting Cisco Unified Wireless Site Survey (CUWSS) v1.0
  The goal of the course is to provide students with information and practice activities to prepare students to technically plan and conduct a wireless site survey. The student should be able to design the RF network and conduct a post installation assessment to ensure compliancy.
• Implementing Advanced Cisco Unified Wireless Security (IAUWS) v1.0
  The goal of the course is to provide network professional with information to prepare them to secure the wireless network from security threats via appropriate security policies and best practices, as well as ensure the proper implementation of security standards and proper configuration of security components such as ACS and NAC.

Note: While there is no exact order you must complete the courses or exams, I highly recommend taking and completing the Site Survey course as a first step. This course/exam provides the material best suited after the CCNA Wireless course/exam and will ensure you have a sure-footed foundation for the other three courses/exams needed to achieve the highly desired CCNP Wireless.

There you have it! The four courses needed for the CCNP Wireless certification. As I already mentioned, the exams for each of these courses will be available in September.

I am teaching a CCNA Wireless class in Dallas soon. Hope to see you there!

Cheers!
Todd Lammle
CEO, GlobalNet Training

The year to focus on winning the battle, not the war!
I’m not saying to give up on big dreams–no way…We need those to keep us motivated! I’m just saying that grasping every opportunity— however small— will be an important key to success this year. Yes, we all know the media can hype things now and then because freaking us out is really good for ratings, but it’s not exactly breaking news that our country/the world is undergoing a pretty challenging period fraught with an unprecedented type of financial debacle that has, and will likely affect all of us. Possibly, dramatically!

But we can’t just respond by shrinking in fear and curling up in a ball. Instead, this is a time for taking action and facing our problems directly. Rethinking our priorities and remapping our life-strategy is critical now, and by overcoming each obstacle— each battle— we can and will ultimately succeed and win our personal wars. For many, one very important battle to win relates to that hugely important asset known as our job. We need to take some serious strategic action to protect this and secure our professional well being. In a world where speculation seems to be everywhere, I can assure you that one very wise, safe and sound place to invest is in furthering you and your career!

That’s because if we focus on bettering ourselves during these challenging times, we’ll be poised and ready to score the best top-drawer positions that will inevitably become available when— even as, things begin to turn around. History tells us that most often the best times follow the worst, and this means that making the right moves during hard times can and most likely will result in greater rewards than you’ve dared to even dream of later!

So, how can you best ensure that you keep your job and income, find a new one— maybe even a better one? Take a moment to envision the end of 2009 and how you will get there.

I’d say to stick to the fundamentals and take a conservative, long range approach toward your career by acquiring some solid training and adding to your present skill-set. For me, I have my sights on more training and the CCIE Wireless certification.

Each merit, capability and talent you can gain is a battle won in the ultimate goal of winning your war over lost or reduced income and/or employment! By arming yourself this way, you will be able to get a job, keep or significantly advance your current position. You may even become flexibly equipped to change careers and re-enter the workforce in a more dynamic, lucrative sector. The key is to concentrate like a winning racehorse that unwaveringly looks forward toward the goal without getting distracted by the thundering hooves of negative chatter and influences. Stay motivated, stay in training, and stay focused on the prize!

Another way to look at this process is like going for a base hit in a baseball game. After all, four of these make a run, and a few more of them added up together can win the game. What I’m saying is that something that looks like a small opportunity, like a base hit, can lead to a big win— a job, advancement–even a shiny, new career! You really can win in 2009, but to do so, you’ve got to stay motivated and forget about that home run – that’s so 2005! Instead, turn off the T.V. search for, find, and apply yourself to the one, most promising opportunity you have today— it’s there. It may be just a base hit, but it very well could lead to getting you some serious game. As one opportunity evolves into another, you’ll gain momentum, and even more importantly, fulfillment and increased motivation— things that are much more powerful than influence and money. And ironically, you can’t possess either influence or a sustainable income without being motivated!

One opportunity you have in front of you today is GlobalNet Training— a source of the kind of powerful knowledge that can equip you with everything you’ll need to succeed in the prosperous and ever-growing field of I.T. Except for attitude— that part is up to you. However discouraged you may currently be, it’s got to be you that chooses action, empowerment, and success over defeat and ruin. GlobalNet Training meets the full range of I.T. training certification needs— all the way from Introduction to Networking, to Cisco and Microsoft Certification, Security, and my personal favorite, Wireless networking. Armed and equipped with solid, certified skill-sets like those we offer, even the world of 2009 and beyond can truly be your oyster!

So, let’s get some major game going, get motivated, trained and ready to build our best lives beginning now in 2009— one base hit gained, and one battle won at a time!

All the Best!

Todd Lammle
CEO, GlobalNet Training, LLC

It’s not exactly breaking news that so many of us are either struggling to keep our current jobs, or battling with intensifying competition to secure a new one. And as this recession deepens, contending with trials of keeping and/or finding a good job are only certain to intensify.

Not so long ago, as long as you behaved well, showed up for work reliably, and did what was expected of you, your job security probably wasn’t anywhere near the top of your list of concerns. But those days are unfortunately gone— people now need to do more than just the basics to ensure and sustain their employability. In this present climate, you need to stand out and stay ahead of the ever increasing pack of candidates that are vying for any and all available positions. This has always been a good idea in the quickly evolving networking field, but now, it has become a vital necessity!

In I.T., one  great way to really shine and prove just how valuable you are is to earn certifications. I’ve heard so many stories of people with certifications beating out rivals with years of experience on them for the very reason that they were certified and their competitor wasn’t. I’ve even hired people because of this reason alone myself!

However, I do have to say that holding just any old network cert won’t get you where you want to be. Just as a holding degree from an institution like Yale tends to be a lot more impressive than having one from some no-name academy, getting your certification from some brain dump just won’t gain the innate respect and validate your worth to a potential employer like being certified by a well-reputed, authorized, industry standard training facility will.

You can be successful! Let me help you find your path.

You can contact me on my forum or through my training company at www.globalnettraining.com.

Cisco just announced new certifications in the market and they’re super exciting! Of course, a lot of you are already writing me about when my books will be out… All I can say is I’m pounding the keyboard as fast as I can and that yes, I wish I could figure out some way to do that while sleeping too! But since I haven’t figured out how to do that yet, just hang in there-at least I’m not on strike!

Anyway, I actually want to talk to you a bit about the old network certification path first, starting with the CompTIA certifications that led to the CCNA. Referring to the figure below, a newbie to the networking field would start off by studying, learning, practicing on LANs and probably some hosts and servers as well. After that, they’d possibly take the CompTIA Network+, Security+, Server+, A+, etc:

Moving right along, with the foundational background of the CompTIA certifications in hand, our newbie’s next logical move would be to dive straight into the Cisco CCNA — either through the Certified Entry Network Technician (CCENT) or by just taking the CCNA exam (640-802). Of course, all this assumes that the Newbie has made a career choice and opted for the “Networking” path.  Makes sense…

Once you’ve nailed your CCNA, you’re good to go for the professional level certifications like, Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP) or Cisco Certified Voice Professional) (CCVP) as shown here in the next figure:

But let’s say you still want more. At this point, all paths lead to the veritable PH.D. of Cisco Certs-the Cisco Certified Internetworking Engineer (CCIE). People really don’t have to subject themselves to the special torture of the lower level certification process CCIE gauntlet, but getting through it alive and well definitely has benefits. (At the very least, you get major props and bragging rights!)And, although many people have tried many paths (many times), the most popular way to tackle this monster is step by step: CCNA, CCNP, then the CCIE Routing and Switching (R&S) lab. Over 50% of the pushes for the CCIE summit take this route!

But as I said, Cisco has tweaked things and changed its various professional paths to networking nirvana. Yep…Cisco even put a new one on the radar — it’s all pretty cool!

For instance, if you were going with the foundational CompTIA certifications, you can still take:

1. Your basic CCENT/CCNA Routing and Switching Cisco foundational certifications.
2. The CCNA, CCNA Security, then the CCSP, and finally the CCIE Security.
3. The CCNA, CCNA Voice, the CCVP, then the CCIE Voice.
4. The new, most exciting one of these is the new CCNA Wireless Certification path. Start with your CompTIA foundation, grab your CCNA, and then head straight for the CCNA wireless. In the near future you’ll go to the Cisco Certified Wireless Professional (CCWP) and then on to the CCIE Wireless.

Cisco has my full attention here — are you with me?

(Note: The basic CCNA, either through the two test method of ICND1 or ICND2, or the one test method of the 640-802 exam, is a requirement before any other CCNA certifications.)

Let me show you what Cisco’s new approach to certification looks like:

Okay-you can see that yes, it’s true, there are now four paths, and you get to choose any of them from beginning to end-sweet! (Again, the advanced Wireless certs are not announced yet – hopefully soon.)

So which path is for you? Since they’re all awesome, I’d say, “take them all!” But that’s just me. I bleed Cisco blood, what can I say? Seriously, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, which is why the changes Cisco has made are so exciting. So many options — so many ways to succeed!

Oh, and just so you know, I’m going to be teaching all of these new courses soon at GlobalNet Training, inc, in Dallas, Texas-the exclusive reseller of my “Cisco Authorized Todd Lammle BootCamps” *.

Cheers!

Todd Lammle

*All courses are delivered by Internetworking Training, inc. a Sponsored Organization of FastLane.