Things have been a little quiet around here, so I wanted to put up a quick post recapping what I’ve been up to as well as things coming down the pike. I’ve been on quite a run since my last post. The main time sink was passing several tests to keep our Cisco “Advanced Data Center Architecture Specialization” before it expired on 7/1. The upside is the material was mostly the same as what I studied for my CCIE DC. The downside is that my CCIE DC is useless for this specialization. Yes, I’m a little bitter. Here’s are the tests that I had to speed run.
- 300-165 DCII (Implementing Cisco Data Center Infrastructure)
- 300-175 DCUCI (Implementing Cisco Data Center Unified Computing)
- 300-180 DCIT (Troubleshooting Cisco Data Center Infrastructure)
Similar to the CCNP R&S, I didn’t find the tests unfair, but there is a good deal of useless trivia. This is always going to be the case with mid-level certifications and I wish there was a better way. I spent between 2-3 weeks for each test reviewing my CCIE notes and doing some light labbing, as well as making notes on any new material (thankfully there wasn’t much). I was surprised how much knowledge I’d retained from my CCIE studies for subjects I’m not working with every day. Keeping that infrequently used knowledge has always been a struggle for me, so this process was a useful refresher before I start the process of recertifying my CCIE. I’m going to use the continuing education option to recertify, and it will be with new subjects (programmability) instead of rehashing subjects I’ve already studied. So in the end this was a stressful, but worth while exercise.
After completing the testing bonanza, it was time to head to Cisco Live in Orlando. I’m planning on writing a longer recap of Cisco Live in the next few days, so I’ll save the details for that post. One of my tweets did manage to make it on the giant screens at the closing keynote, which was pretty cool.
Family vacation this year was at Folly Beach, SC. If you have never been, I highly recommend you make the trip. It’s a great beach with lots of fun restaurants, bars and shops. It’s only a short drive from Charleston, which provides plenty to do if you get bored. The highlight was kayaking/paddleboarding down Shem Creek only few feet away from dolphins. We even saw a manatee. Make sure you visit Jack of Cups and Taco Boy if you are in Folly!
It’s almost time to wrap this up. Before I do, I should mention that I have a bit of a role change at work. My title is changing to Principal Engineer, and I’m going to be focusing on product development and research. This aligns well with my interests, and I’m excited to see what the future brings.
To finish, here’s a teaser of a few blog posts I’m working on:
- Full Cisco Live recap
- CCIE journey/thoughts
- Guacamole remote access with containers
- L3 (routing) over vPC
