General review of Cisco CCIE certifications

Vendor: Cisco

Certification Overview

The Cisco Certified Internetwork certification ranks among the most prestigious certification globally and is also recognized as the best certification in the networking industries. There are nine domains of the CCIE expert certification that individuals can select from and they include:

• CCIE routing and switching
• CCIE Collaboration
• CCIE Data center
• CCIE service provider
• CCIE service provider operations
• CCIE Voice
• CCIE wireless
• Cisco CCIE program

The different domains ensure that candidates obtain the necessary skills and knowledge required in the internetworking systems.

CCIE wireless certification validates the skills and knowledge of the wireless local area networking and the expertise of other wireless networks, technologies that are fundamental to Cisco and the theoretical facts about the wireless systems. The candidates are therefore tested in the CCIE written exams to ensure that they perfectly understand the core requirements.

On completion of the CCIE exams, the candidates are able to obtain certain job roles. The individuals who specialize in the CCIE security certification have the option of working as

• Security engineers
• Support engineers
• Security advisors
• Systems administrators

There are therefore varied benefits that accompany each of the CCIE certifications. With the certification, the candidates acquire skills and knowledge that relate to the configuration, installation, maintenance, deployment and the troubleshooting of Cisco network solutions and other related systems. The certification also ensures that the best practices are undertaken and correctly applied in the field. Moreover, the candidates get the opportunity of managing all the policies correctly regardless of the networking media. The CCIE security certification validates the skills that relate to device hardening and prevention of defaults and intrusions into the security systems.

In order to be certified the candidates are required to have certain prior requirements. The benefit of the CCIE certifications is that there are no prior requirements and the candidates are only recommended to have the following:

• Three to five years of job experience before attempting the certification
• Familiarize themselves with the contents of the actual syllabus before attending any CCIE security training.

The CCIE written exam is the most important exam since it gives the candidates an opportunity to attempt the lab exams. The candidates are therefore required to have an in depth understanding of the topics that are covered in each of the CCIE written exams.

The fundamental topics that are tested in the CCIE security written exams include:

1. Networking fundamentals
2. Security concepts
3. Cisco security network products
4. VPNs
5. Prevention of possible intrusions
6. Firewalls and identity services
7. Management of policies
8. Hardening of devices
9. IPv4 and the IPv6 concepts and their relevant solutions

On attaining the CCIE training, the candidates sit for the exam and on completion; they attain the CCIE certification that is valid for a period of two years. The candidates are then required to recertify by:

• Pass the current CCIE written and lab exams
• Pass the latest CCDE service provider written and practical exams
• Pass the Cisco Certified Architect interview
• Attempting other advanced levels of the CCIE certification

Required exams

There are no exams that the candidates are required to sit before opting for the CCIE certifications. On enrolment of the CCIE training, the candidates are required to have enough practice of the exam questions before attempting the final exams.

The CCIE certifications exams are divided into two; the written and the lab exams. The candidates are therefore required to pass the written exams before attempting the lab exams that tests ion their practical skill.

Required courses

In order to accelerate the acquisition of the CCIE certification, it is recommended to obtain courses that are offered online. The CCIE online training ensures that the candidates familiarize with the contents of the syllabus and understand the requirements of the CCIE written exams. The CCIE voice certification for instance requires the candidates to undertake the layer 2 and the layer 3 course in order to understand the basics and the operation of the basic networks that are converted into voice in the long run.

Study materials

Generally, the CCIE study materials are readily available online and they offer they offer the best guides especially for the CCIE written exams and the lab exams. The candidates undertaking the CCIE Data center certification have the privilege of using the following resources:

• CCIE data center training videos
• CCIE data center online resources
• CCIE data center lab experience
• CCIE reading list and hard copies

These resources provide lots of practice questions that sharpen the skills and knowledge areas that are validated in the CCIE written exams.