CCDE

Overview In previous posts I’ve covered most of my thinking about general preparation/alignment with the CCDE practical, the resources I used to help in passing it and how to deal with the test day-of. This one is to outline a bit more of my methods of using the study materials to prepare. This should be the last piece regarding CCDE testing. Strength in Numbers This is extremely straight forward: join a group. In all seriousness I felt this was the single greatest contributor to my… Read More »CCDE Success: Study Methodology

Overview This post is about covering three key ideas in preparing to take the CCDE and how to validate those ideas through the use of scenarios . The ideas are being minimally qualified, being technically complete,  and being connected to the scenario. The ideas combine to provide success on the test. Being Minimally Qualified Being minimally qualified means understanding the necessary depth of knowledge that is needed on a topic. As an example, it is important to understand QoS, the models of it, how it can help (or hinder) a design,… Read More »CCDE Success: Understanding It and You

Well, as predicted I made it about 300 pages into the End-to-End QoS book before needing a new topic. As I had a large chunk of time to spend last week I decided to bear down on MPLS; a technology I was less familiar with and really needed to clarify my understanding of. To that end I worked to finish Definitive MPLS Network Designs and also make headway in MPLS Fundamentals. Definitive MPLS has really excellent explanations but its density was too great for my… Read More »Study Materials: MPLS

As promised I finished it, IP Multicast, Volume I. I enjoyed the book and it certainly improved my understanding of multicast. I was struggling at the end to make it through the chapters on IPv6 and Troubleshooting but I do notice I get subject fatigue after so many pages (generally around 300 or so). I’ve nearly updated all the mind-map bits and will get a fully updated version posted soon. Next, as I mentioned, is End-to-End QoS Design. I’ll be honest in saying I’m not… Read More »Book Complete: IP Multicast, Volume I

Well, I broke from my plan in finishing IP Multicast, Volume I and completed Optimal Routing Design (or ORD as I’m using in my internal notes) first. I am almost complete with the Multicast book as well – just a bit more on the IPv6 portion but I needed a break from pure multicast and got sucked into ORD and finished it. It is a great read and very, very easy to consume I think. It does a great job of laying out each major protocol… Read More »Book Complete: Optimal Routing Design

Reasoning for the Post It seems customary to write one of these posts after attempting a CCIE or CCDE. At first, I resisted as I didn’t see much value in reporting my experience out – at least not over what others have already written and can be found with a Google search (which is far more likely to return a result than this posting). Nonetheless while attending the excellent session LTRCCDE-3006 at CiscoLive this year I was proven wrong. I took the session for the… Read More »CCDE Practical Take #1, May 30th, 2018

I finally finished a study book in its entirety – QoS for IP/MPLS Networks. I’ve been bouncing between different texts, depending on what mood and topic struck my interest. I’d also been reading on many topics I am already familiar with to try and bolster and deepen my understanding and draw connections between things. I’ve decided to pause this idea and instead focus in on a major area/concept and read all the way through to completion. I get “credit” when I’ve completed reading the book,… Read More »Book Complete: QoS for IP/MPLS Networks