Picture of the day

Read the book that you enjoy!!

If i have it, ..

I try to search some used cisco switches and routers in Ebay..and i found this sets really cool to conduct real LAB test.The seller points out that we can do CCNA, CCNP and CCIE lab test.

Actually, It has one Cisco router model 3640,  four Cisco router model 2610, two Cisco switches model 2924 and other cables. It’s good enough to do the lab test. The price is 699.99 US.

Ah..but it is so sad that the seller doesnt ship internationally. Its weight is around 75 pounds. I cant imagine how much it costs if i ship by myself  here.The seller also said it will not have any problems with customs for used computer equipments.

I really want to have my own real LAB world!  It’s still a dream?  It even gonna cost me more if i ship it to my country after i finish my mission here..

(It can be considerable too coz i can open my own cisco class in Cambodia with these equiptments..:)  )

Salaries Survey by certification 2009

Global Knowledge and TechRepublic have partnered to create a comprehensive IT salary survey. With over 14,150 responses, the 2009 report has turned out to be one of this year’s most relevant and revealing salary surveys in the industry.

Survey in USA

* (Salary per Year)

Source: 2009 IT Skills and Salary Report by Global knowledge and TechRepublic

Top 10 Certifications for 2009

1.      Cisco CCIE: As one of the most difficult certifications to obtain, the CCIE is an excellent credential for a professional. The thriving networking field demands high skilled professionals and the CCIE is the top of the line. Average Salary $93,000.

2.      CISA: The Certified Information Systems Auditor certification from ISACA association is also very popular and profitable. CISA professionals serve the company as Information Systems auditors dealing with security controls and business controls of Information Systems. Average Salary $115,000.

3.      CCSE: The Checkpoint Certified Security Engineer is another high level security certification for professionals working with the Checkpoint Firewall-1 product. Average Salary $90,000

4.      MCSD: This is a Microsoft certification about solution designs using Microsoft products. The Microsoft Certified Solution Developer is expected to know all enterprise Microsoft solutions and use business analysis skills to suggest the best solution for a specific customer. Average Salary $88,000

5.      PMP: Another certification that requires high skills and lots of experience. The Project Management Professional is required to possess extensive experience in project management such as a Bachelor’s degree with 4,500 hours of project management work. Average Salary $101,000.

6.      CISSP: Another security certification in the list shows that security is a hot topic for getting certified in 2009. A Certified Information Systems Security Professional is required to pass a rigorous 6 hours exam (250 questions) covering 10 domains in information security. It is said that the CISSP knowledge is 10 inch deep by 10 miles wide!! Average Salary $94,000.

7.      RHCE: Red Hat Linux is the most popular linux flavor. Red Hat Certified Engineers should possess the skills to configure networking and security on Red Hat OS. The exam is actually a 5-hours hands-on test on configuring Linux. Average Salary $83,000.

8.      SCJP 6.0: This is the Sun Certified Java Programmer certification. Designed for programmers with skills on Java 2 development platform. Average Salary $75,000.

9.      CAPM: This is another project management certification, but less demanding compared to the PMP. The Certified Associate in Project Management requires professionals to possess 1,500 hours of project management experience. Both CAPM and PMP certifications are awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI) which is a highly respected institution in the industry. Average Salary $75,000.

10.   Cisco CCVP: The Cisco Certified Voice Professional comes as number 6 in latest ZDNET survey for highest paying certifications. Voice over IP and IP Telephony technologies are always hot and should be expanding even more in the future. Cisco holds maybe the top position in IP telephony, that is why CCVP engineers are in high demand. Average Salary $89,000.

The salary is different according to countries. This salary maybe more applicable in USA

* All Salary are calculated per Year

Source: About.com by Dori Reuscher

Salary Survey Report for CCNA Certification in USA 2009

Median Salary by Job position- CCNA certification  in USA

Median Salary by Year Experiences – CCNA Certification in USA

Median Salary by Employer Type- CCNA certificate in USA

* All salary is calculated per year

Source June 2009

In preparation

I’m preparing to get CCNP certificate level qualification. The first step is to get BSCI 642-901(Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks) which mainly focuses on routing protocol like EIGRP, OSPF, IS-IS, BGP, IP multicast and IPv6 . It really provides us more detail and advanced concepts  of routing protocols than CCNA does.

The resources I am using:

Cisco press- CCNP quick reference book by Denise Donohue, Brent Stewart, Jerold Swan.First printing June 2008

Cisco press- CCNP BSCI official exam certification Guide book fourth Edition by Brent D.Stewart, Clare Gough.  July 2007

Training Video – CBT Nuggets BSCI 642-901 by Jeremy Cioara

CCNP video Mento by Kevin Wallace ,published by Cisco press.

For Lab simulation software, I hope Packet tracer still can work out smoothly or i will need to find another way to do the lab practice.

Hopefully, i can finish all of it and go for the exams in the second week of next month.

My own experience with CCNA

Just want to share my own experience i got from CCNA exams. Here is the following resources that i used to get the certificate.

Sybex book  – CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide 6th by Todd Lammle : It is the best selling book. It is around 1000 pages. Even it is abit thick but you will not find it boring to read.The writer really provides simple, clear explaination.You can get alot of concepts from this book.

Sybex book – CCNA Fast Pass 3rd Edition by Todd Lammle: It is another book by Todd. It is around 500 pages.It is a quick summary from the 1rst book. After you finish the first book, you ‘d better read through this book to review the main points.

Video Training- CBT Nuggets Cisco CCNA exams Pack 640-802 by Jeremy Cioara: It is quite helpful to go though this video training to clear out all your cloud. It is designed with clear explaination, and Lab configuration illustration.

Packet Tracer 5.1  software: It is created by Cisco. If you dont have real switches and routers  to practise, you can use it as your virtual lab configuration practise.It is greatly helpful though.

Tips:

-  Read through the book and try to get the main points as much as you can. Take note for the main points while you are reading!!   Practise questions and every lab that the book provides. Dont skip it !!

-  Practice Subnetting /route summarization / VSLM until you can do it well. (Subnet in head)

- Practice labs until you are clear with configuration commands for the main configuration things such as routing protocols, VLANs,  ACLs, NAT and Frame Relay  and so on…

- Dont ignore the output of configuration. Try to read through it and understand it well coz some of questions will be troubleshooting types.

- Review concepts again and again until you get most of the things in your head. Do  Practice Tests (Mock Test)  as much as possible so that you will be familiar with the exams types and you will learn how to control your exams timing well.

- The best tool is GOOGLE to clear out all the clouds 

Last thing is Practice , Practice and Practice!