CCNP Service Provider Certification
Greetings, Habr!
Due to my professional interests, I quite often come across articles on how to prepare and pass certain certification exams of the well-known vendor Cisco. But the trouble! Not all certification areas are equally popular. Routing and Switching (R & S) is always and everywhere written about everyone’s favorite, Voice and Security are discussed a little less often, and some tracks are completely ignored. The other day I finished submitting the CCNP Service Provider track. Achievement is small, whether it is the case of colleagues who pass the CCIE. Goal, no matter how cool, noble, even if you work with different vendors.
The level of "Professional" can be achieved much faster, and talk about it.
What is remarkable CCNP SP?
I will provide a small review on this track, explain to whom it can be useful, and whether the game is worth the candle. I will also tell you what you may need to prepare, and express my opinion on whether the exams correspond to the complexity of the “professional”.
It seems to me that the main audience of those who are interested in this series of certification, one way or another connected with the work of operators(cap) . The same CCNP R & S is often dealt with zero experience or with the desire to break out of the meager range of tasks of a junior network engineer, and some for a tick at work. CCNP R & S it as a foundation, as the main line, historically established path of thousands of engineers.
')
Unlike R & S, the situation with the provider track is quite different. Few dared to take CCIP immediately after CCNA and without work experience.
Another thing is to break away from the fetters of the enterprise and start playing big with dozens of gigabits of traffic. Notice, I don’t belittle the complexity of other directions at all, I just heard from my colleagues more than once that the problems of the operators are really serious and interesting. Probably for this reason, almost all of my employees in the department have a combo from CCNP + CCIP, and earlier this was a completely natural development.
With the advent of the new track, the migration program from the old one appeared:
According to this diagram, the current CCIP can get the coveted status by passing 2 examinations out of 4. CCNP R & S must pass 3 out of 4, which is not bad either. There is also an interactive diagram:
www.cisco.com/web/learning/tools/ccip_migration_tool.html
The first thing I thought about when I looked at the list of topics was a suspicion that Cisco just wanted to get an extra penny. Yes, he does, but more on that later, since this is not the only argument for creating a track.
I can’t talk about the complexity and questions of the tests according to the terms of the agreement that Cisco dictates in all exams. But small reviews with comments I will give.
The conditions, I tell you, are practically sound. I am very pleased that engineers who have a CCNP R & S / CCIP / CCIE (any) may not take the CCNA Service Provider.
Moreover, according to the diagram ROUTE = SP_ROUTE, but in reality the list of topics ( 642-883 SPROUTE ) is still different, at least due to IS-IS and IOS-XR. Everything is more or less transparent here, even though the enterprise and the operator are different levels, the routing does not go anywhere. Only its context and requirements for it change.
To get the status, you can not pass it on to those who mastered the old track “642-661 BGP” or composite “642-691 MPLS + BGP”. And here begins the most interesting. If you pay attention to the exam topics, then topics on BGP occupy about 1/3 of all necessary for passing the set of knowledge. Appeared Multicast, IPv6, NSF / NSR.
It is assumed that you already know the basics of BGP, and a little more than in ROUTE, and exactly as much as in SP_ROUTE. Multicast pleases simply by its presence in such a sound track. I still do not understand why he is not in the CCNP R & S, because the topic was in the old BSCI exam (642-901). Topics ipv6 relate to and multicast, and many other topics, such as NAT464 and various tunnels for the dual stack. NSF / NSR come down to Graceful Restart (when there are 2 RPs in the chassis) and a couple of watch labs with Wireshark.
List of topics 642-885 SPADVROUTE .
There is already a powerless migration. “More new themes compared to the old track?” - you ask. Judge for yourself:
List of topics 642-887 SPCORE .
Also does not tolerate replacement in the migration diagram. Half of the course is allocated for MPLS L3 VPN, another third - xconnect and VPLS, and the rest only requires you to know about the existence of certain technologies. It seems scanty, but the exam is somewhat reminiscent of the “642-832 TSHOOT” from the R & S track, it is good to pass it last. If you do not own redistribution in IGP, do not know the basics of BGP and do not know how to configure MPLS, then you will encounter some difficulties for each of the listed points.
EoMPLS and VPLS are not so many. I am sure it would be much more difficult for me if I did not know what it is, long before the exam.
From the topic MPLS VPN with Carrier Supporting Carrier, too, do not expect serious requirements for the exam.
List of topics 642-889 SPEDGE .
IOS-XR is like the highlight of the track program, the main justification for its existence and the reason for canceling the CCIP. The architecture of iron in the track, you probably will not find, almost everything comes down to the knowledge of syntax and config. But no one bothers you then read "iOS XR Fundamentals".
There are also requirements for knowledge of IOS-XE, but by God, in the context of the track it is 1 in 1 as IOS (12/15).
The same as with XR, you need to be able to do it with IOS / IOS-XE. 7600 and ASR1k have not disappeared from carrier networks, right?
Separate songs on XR deserve emulators on exams. That's horrible! I cannot disclose the details, as I have already said, but this is nonsense, and not an XR check. On ADVROUTE and EDGE shamelessly buggy "?" And "TAB", and the list of allowed show-commands is cut to the minimum. Often the command was not displayed completely, treacherously giving out “Hostname #”, ignoring the space, but showing the remainder of the output after several Enter. The problem is not met at all, but unpleasant.
Even in this situation, it seemed to me that the CLI labs are somewhat more interesting than the solid GUI of the CCNP Security track.
Instead of good XR knowledge labs, they added questions like "In which mode should I set up a feature?", And response options of this type "(config-bgp-vrf-nbr-af) #". I can only sympathize with those who tried to learn the textbook teams.
Not everyone is ready to give their money for a week course in the center of training and testing. Self-study is a familiar solution for most CIS engineers. But the trouble is, many are stopped by the lack of the Official Certification Guide. Many tracks are regularly updated, and guides are added, albeit with a delay, and SP was put aside.
Here Bradford Chatterjee wrote down what and where you need to read on exam topics:
learningnetwork.cisco.com/message/230879#230879
But it is reliably known that for people studying under the network academy program there are Student Guide books. If you have a familiar Cisco instructor, then maybe he will share this literature with you. I have not seen these books on the Internet; I will be grateful for the links.
Student Guide turned out quite good. But there is also a strong disappointment in the Multicast topic, as I think it was written by Hindus. Nevertheless, the volume covered in the book "CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide, 4th Edition" on this topic will be enough.
In addition to the aforementioned book by W. Odom, there are very decent Cisco Press publications on the topics studied:
Also, any "tsiskar" should not deprive of the documentation on Cisco.com, which is very, very much. There definitely have all the themes, and without water. Only here it will be very difficult to determine the amount of knowledge on the subject required for passing CCNP SP.
If you are an instructor, and you have something to add, I will be grateful for the information in the comments.
Laba, as the lack of literature, can confuse and frighten, below shows the topology recommended for studying the track.
I want to draw your attention to 6pcs. ASR9k and 4pcs. ASR1k. What test center is able to pull such a lab? I dare not reply to you. But there is also information that Cisco gives academies access to its lab. For example, here wrote about it:
simple4ip.com/blog/rus/2013/03
Personally, I am very lucky, my beloved employer in the lab has a couple of XR devices. Many of you probably thought: “I could have done without studying the glands in production”. "Hardly" - I will answer you. I think that there would not be enough experience for such a feat, especially since not every operator uses the full range of protocols presented in the track in everyday life. But I do not consider studying this beast a bit effective.
But not everything is so hopeless with laby. I think this is the best set:
I think that this is not the minimum necessary equipment, but for me personally this is a comfortable minimum. By the way, ME switches were not particularly useful, so make your conclusions.
Many engineers who passed the CCIP (and not only) used the wonderful dynamips tool or the GNS3 GUI to prepare. For some of the themes of the new track, it will also be useful. For example, it was more convenient for me to use Multicast Labs on one computer with virtual machines using the VLC-player.
With the emulator for IOS-XR, the situation is more difficult. Many of you already know that Cisco employees have long had access to such a tool within the company. Moreover, such an emulator is used for CCIE SP labs. Wide access for mere mortals, while remains in question, many are completely confident that this will not happen.
Perhaps the best way to answer the question will be an explanation of why it took me personally.
The employer pays for the exams, I reinforce the experience I got in production, I move smoothly to the CCIE written, I show the authorities motivation and growth. Useful and pleasant, that's all.
Despite the fact that Cisco has announced the CCIE R & S 5.0, I can confidently say that many of the topics sounded above are necessary for taking the 4th and 5th versions of the exam. For CCIE SP and even more so.
If interested, here is the information on the new version of CCIE R & S:
www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/expert/ccie_rs/docs/ccieRS_examUpdates4-5.pdf
I do not think that the link will be superfluous in the framework of this article, perhaps, someone even prefers to immediately move to the CCIE.
Everything sounds great, but there is a downside; The market is occupied not by one vendor, and the target in the form of CCIE is no longer as beautiful and honorable as it was several years ago. Moreover, the leading figures of carrier networks will most likely move immediately to the level of an expert, rather than a “professional”.
Having passed the last exam, I felt a slight feeling of disappointment, as the certificate says almost nothing about my level of preparation. If we add to this an army of dumpers, implausible labs on the exam and a share of other vendors in the market, the tasty status may not seem so attractive.
However, I cannot name any of the track courses a configuration guide. I ask security officers not to be offended, but the course 642-618 Firewall 2.0 on this background looks exactly like the Configuration Guide, and in the GUI. Yes, there are several thousand ACL lines on the command line and a politician is a silent horror, but ASDM is not a panacea, is it?
The list of topics in CCNP SP is also quite good. Perhaps you will not meet in the production of all the described topologies, but you will surely fill your hand. But the current CCIP does not offer anything substantial, except for the IOS-XR shell, multicast and one line in the summary, which is a pity.
So, if you are clever, bold, but green, then if you have a nine-ton, it would not be superfluous to get CCNP SP, along the way delving into the tricks of the operators. If IOS-XR did not give up to you at all, then perhaps a written exam on the CCIE R & S will be more useful (and much cheaper).
UPDATE: Cisco has released IOS XRv, now you can prepare without hardware, except for those 3GB of RAM for each virtual router. Images for virtualization
Exam Topics:
642-883 SPROUTE
642-885 SPADVROUTE
642-887 SPCORE
642-889 SPEDGE
Migrating from CCIP:
www.cisco.com/web/learning/tools/ccip_migration_tool.html
Literature:
learningnetwork.cisco.com/message/230879#230879
Due to my professional interests, I quite often come across articles on how to prepare and pass certain certification exams of the well-known vendor Cisco. But the trouble! Not all certification areas are equally popular. Routing and Switching (R & S) is always and everywhere written about everyone’s favorite, Voice and Security are discussed a little less often, and some tracks are completely ignored. The other day I finished submitting the CCNP Service Provider track. Achievement is small, whether it is the case of colleagues who pass the CCIE. Goal, no matter how cool, noble, even if you work with different vendors.
The level of "Professional" can be achieved much faster, and talk about it.
What is remarkable CCNP SP?
- He replaced the CCIP in 2012;
- Without proper work, you would hardly want to pass on something like that;
- IOS-XR is abundant in it;
- Almost 2 years have passed since the appearance of this exam, and no one has written the Official Certification Guide.
- Many engineers are frightened by problems with the equipment for labs.
I will provide a small review on this track, explain to whom it can be useful, and whether the game is worth the candle. I will also tell you what you may need to prepare, and express my opinion on whether the exams correspond to the complexity of the “professional”.
It seems to me that the main audience of those who are interested in this series of certification, one way or another connected with the work of operators
')
Unlike R & S, the situation with the provider track is quite different. Few dared to take CCIP immediately after CCNA and without work experience.
Another thing is to break away from the fetters of the enterprise and start playing big with dozens of gigabits of traffic. Notice, I don’t belittle the complexity of other directions at all, I just heard from my colleagues more than once that the problems of the operators are really serious and interesting. Probably for this reason, almost all of my employees in the department have a combo from CCNP + CCIP, and earlier this was a completely natural development.
Certification terms.
With the advent of the new track, the migration program from the old one appeared:
According to this diagram, the current CCIP can get the coveted status by passing 2 examinations out of 4. CCNP R & S must pass 3 out of 4, which is not bad either. There is also an interactive diagram:
www.cisco.com/web/learning/tools/ccip_migration_tool.html
The first thing I thought about when I looked at the list of topics was a suspicion that Cisco just wanted to get an extra penny. Yes, he does, but more on that later, since this is not the only argument for creating a track.
I can’t talk about the complexity and questions of the tests according to the terms of the agreement that Cisco dictates in all exams. But small reviews with comments I will give.
The conditions, I tell you, are practically sound. I am very pleased that engineers who have a CCNP R & S / CCIP / CCIE (any) may not take the CCNA Service Provider.
Moreover, according to the diagram ROUTE = SP_ROUTE, but in reality the list of topics ( 642-883 SPROUTE ) is still different, at least due to IS-IS and IOS-XR. Everything is more or less transparent here, even though the enterprise and the operator are different levels, the routing does not go anywhere. Only its context and requirements for it change.
SP_ADV_ROUTE.
(usually written together)To get the status, you can not pass it on to those who mastered the old track “642-661 BGP” or composite “642-691 MPLS + BGP”. And here begins the most interesting. If you pay attention to the exam topics, then topics on BGP occupy about 1/3 of all necessary for passing the set of knowledge. Appeared Multicast, IPv6, NSF / NSR.
It is assumed that you already know the basics of BGP, and a little more than in ROUTE, and exactly as much as in SP_ROUTE. Multicast pleases simply by its presence in such a sound track. I still do not understand why he is not in the CCNP R & S, because the topic was in the old BSCI exam (642-901). Topics ipv6 relate to and multicast, and many other topics, such as NAT464 and various tunnels for the dual stack. NSF / NSR come down to Graceful Restart (when there are 2 RPs in the chassis) and a couple of watch labs with Wireshark.
List of topics 642-885 SPADVROUTE .
SP_CORE.
There is already a powerless migration. “More new themes compared to the old track?” - you ask. Judge for yourself:
- MPLS / LDP and MPLS / TE were aware of “642-611 MPLS”;
- "38% QOS", is clearly less than in the many beloved "642-642 QoS";
- Transport Technologies. Do not worry, no Frame relay and DWDM will disturb your mind.
List of topics 642-887 SPCORE .
SP_EDGE
Also does not tolerate replacement in the migration diagram. Half of the course is allocated for MPLS L3 VPN, another third - xconnect and VPLS, and the rest only requires you to know about the existence of certain technologies. It seems scanty, but the exam is somewhat reminiscent of the “642-832 TSHOOT” from the R & S track, it is good to pass it last. If you do not own redistribution in IGP, do not know the basics of BGP and do not know how to configure MPLS, then you will encounter some difficulties for each of the listed points.
EoMPLS and VPLS are not so many. I am sure it would be much more difficult for me if I did not know what it is, long before the exam.
From the topic MPLS VPN with Carrier Supporting Carrier, too, do not expect serious requirements for the exam.
List of topics 642-889 SPEDGE .
IOS-XR as the main OS of the course.
IOS-XR is like the highlight of the track program, the main justification for its existence and the reason for canceling the CCIP. The architecture of iron in the track, you probably will not find, almost everything comes down to the knowledge of syntax and config. But no one bothers you then read "iOS XR Fundamentals".
There are also requirements for knowledge of IOS-XE, but by God, in the context of the track it is 1 in 1 as IOS (12/15).
The same as with XR, you need to be able to do it with IOS / IOS-XE. 7600 and ASR1k have not disappeared from carrier networks, right?
Separate songs on XR deserve emulators on exams. That's horrible! I cannot disclose the details, as I have already said, but this is nonsense, and not an XR check. On ADVROUTE and EDGE shamelessly buggy "?" And "TAB", and the list of allowed show-commands is cut to the minimum. Often the command was not displayed completely, treacherously giving out “Hostname #”, ignoring the space, but showing the remainder of the output after several Enter. The problem is not met at all, but unpleasant.
Even in this situation, it seemed to me that the CLI labs are somewhat more interesting than the solid GUI of the CCNP Security track.
Instead of good XR knowledge labs, they added questions like "In which mode should I set up a feature?", And response options of this type "(config-bgp-vrf-nbr-af) #". I can only sympathize with those who tried to learn the textbook teams.
Literature and Laba.
Not everyone is ready to give their money for a week course in the center of training and testing. Self-study is a familiar solution for most CIS engineers. But the trouble is, many are stopped by the lack of the Official Certification Guide. Many tracks are regularly updated, and guides are added, albeit with a delay, and SP was put aside.
Here Bradford Chatterjee wrote down what and where you need to read on exam topics:
learningnetwork.cisco.com/message/230879#230879
But it is reliably known that for people studying under the network academy program there are Student Guide books. If you have a familiar Cisco instructor, then maybe he will share this literature with you. I have not seen these books on the Internet; I will be grateful for the links.
Student Guide turned out quite good. But there is also a strong disappointment in the Multicast topic, as I think it was written by Hindus. Nevertheless, the volume covered in the book "CCIE Routing and Switching Certification Guide, 4th Edition" on this topic will be enough.
In addition to the aforementioned book by W. Odom, there are very decent Cisco Press publications on the topics studied:
- MPLS Fundamentals by Luc De Ghein
- Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide, Second Ed (642-642).
Also, any "tsiskar" should not deprive of the documentation on Cisco.com, which is very, very much. There definitely have all the themes, and without water. Only here it will be very difficult to determine the amount of knowledge on the subject required for passing CCNP SP.
If you are an instructor, and you have something to add, I will be grateful for the information in the comments.
Laba, as the lack of literature, can confuse and frighten, below shows the topology recommended for studying the track.
I want to draw your attention to 6pcs. ASR9k and 4pcs. ASR1k. What test center is able to pull such a lab? I dare not reply to you. But there is also information that Cisco gives academies access to its lab. For example, here wrote about it:
simple4ip.com/blog/rus/2013/03
Personally, I am very lucky, my beloved employer in the lab has a couple of XR devices. Many of you probably thought: “I could have done without studying the glands in production”. "Hardly" - I will answer you. I think that there would not be enough experience for such a feat, especially since not every operator uses the full range of protocols presented in the track in everyday life. But I do not consider studying this beast a bit effective.
But not everything is so hopeless with laby. I think this is the best set:
- 1 PC. Cisco ASR9k. It is possible and more, but one should be enough, but with the version of software 4.3 can do everything that is needed. Alternative - XR12000 router;
- 1 PC. Cisco 7600 (or 6500, it does not matter here). Not everyone has this toy either, just as a variant of a PE router that can do SPAN sessions and other useful things;
- 2-4pcs. ISR routers, for example Cisco 2811 or even 1801 (just find the software).
I think that this is not the minimum necessary equipment, but for me personally this is a comfortable minimum. By the way, ME switches were not particularly useful, so make your conclusions.
Many engineers who passed the CCIP (and not only) used the wonderful dynamips tool or the GNS3 GUI to prepare. For some of the themes of the new track, it will also be useful. For example, it was more convenient for me to use Multicast Labs on one computer with virtual machines using the VLC-player.
With the emulator for IOS-XR, the situation is more difficult. Many of you already know that Cisco employees have long had access to such a tool within the company. Moreover, such an emulator is used for CCIE SP labs. Wide access for mere mortals, while remains in question, many are completely confident that this will not happen.
Who should pass the CCNP SP?
Perhaps the best way to answer the question will be an explanation of why it took me personally.
The employer pays for the exams, I reinforce the experience I got in production, I move smoothly to the CCIE written, I show the authorities motivation and growth. Useful and pleasant, that's all.
Despite the fact that Cisco has announced the CCIE R & S 5.0, I can confidently say that many of the topics sounded above are necessary for taking the 4th and 5th versions of the exam. For CCIE SP and even more so.
If interested, here is the information on the new version of CCIE R & S:
www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/expert/ccie_rs/docs/ccieRS_examUpdates4-5.pdf
I do not think that the link will be superfluous in the framework of this article, perhaps, someone even prefers to immediately move to the CCIE.
Everything sounds great, but there is a downside; The market is occupied not by one vendor, and the target in the form of CCIE is no longer as beautiful and honorable as it was several years ago. Moreover, the leading figures of carrier networks will most likely move immediately to the level of an expert, rather than a “professional”.
Results
Having passed the last exam, I felt a slight feeling of disappointment, as the certificate says almost nothing about my level of preparation. If we add to this an army of dumpers, implausible labs on the exam and a share of other vendors in the market, the tasty status may not seem so attractive.
However, I cannot name any of the track courses a configuration guide. I ask security officers not to be offended, but the course 642-618 Firewall 2.0 on this background looks exactly like the Configuration Guide, and in the GUI. Yes, there are several thousand ACL lines on the command line and a politician is a silent horror, but ASDM is not a panacea, is it?
The list of topics in CCNP SP is also quite good. Perhaps you will not meet in the production of all the described topologies, but you will surely fill your hand. But the current CCIP does not offer anything substantial, except for the IOS-XR shell, multicast and one line in the summary, which is a pity.
So, if you are clever, bold, but green, then if you have a nine-ton, it would not be superfluous to get CCNP SP, along the way delving into the tricks of the operators. If IOS-XR did not give up to you at all, then perhaps a written exam on the CCIE R & S will be more useful (and much cheaper).
UPDATE: Cisco has released IOS XRv, now you can prepare without hardware, except for those 3GB of RAM for each virtual router. Images for virtualization
Key links.
Exam Topics:
642-883 SPROUTE
642-885 SPADVROUTE
642-887 SPCORE
642-889 SPEDGE
Migrating from CCIP:
www.cisco.com/web/learning/tools/ccip_migration_tool.html
Literature:
learningnetwork.cisco.com/message/230879#230879
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/207182/
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