» A couple of random notes on progress CCNP Recertification: Study notes for the Cisco CCNP exam

Every so often I get a comment or email from someone working on their CCNP which is great. I thought I’d post an update on where I am.

My CCNP expired a couple of years ago. I started this website so that I could post my study notes for the recert exam and hopefully help others.

A few months into that, I got the opportunity to write a book which I took. This unfortunately caused me to miss my deadline, so my CCNP was then invalid.

My agent from my book also got me into writing about UNIX for various parties, which slowed down the pace of my recertification. Eventually I got my CCNA again, and BCMSN.

Late last year when the CCNP changed I contacted Cisco Press about becoming a technical editor for any of their new books. I got on as the technical editor for the upcoming ISCW book, and managed to get roped into writing the questions that go in the back of the BCMSN book that just came out, the ISCW book that I edited, and the BSCI book that’s coming out. I’m almost done all but the last part.

I’ve also been busy helping b5media with systems administration and LAMP scaling, which has further pushed off my recert.

I’m happy to say I passed ISCW a couple of weeks ago. I think the book that’s coming out is well written, and I owe my success on that exam to having spent so much time studying the manuscript as it was being written.

I hope to write BSCI fairly soon. I’ve been focusing my studying on IPv6, multicast, and SONA largely because those are the areas I am concentrating on for the practice questions. However I’ve also been working on OSPF and IS-IS because those are my weak spots.

I’ve also got a pile of Cisco Press books that I’d like to share my opinion on in the coming weeks. The new CCNP video mentor is quite good, and I just received the BSCI pocket reference. If you like O’Reilly’s Hacks or Cookbooks series, I think you’ll be happy with these references.