CCIE

The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert, or CCIE, is a technical certification offered by Cisco Systems. The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) and Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) certifications were established to assist the industry in distinguishing the top echelon of internetworking experts worldwide and to assess Expert-level infrastructure network design skills worldwide. These certifications are accepted worldwide as the most prestigious networking certifications in the industry. The CCIE and CCDE community has established a reputation of leading the networking industry in deep technical networking knowledge and are deployed into the most technically challenging network assignments. The Expert-level certification program continually updates and revises its testing tools and methodologies to ensure unparalleled program quality, relevance and value. Through a rigorous written exam and a performance based lab, these Expert-level certification programs set the standard for internetworking expertise.

The program is currently divided into six different areas of expertise or "tracks". The CCIE track in which one becomes certified determines the different aspects of networking technology. One may also choose to pursue multiple CCIE tracks in several different categories of Cisco technology: Routing & Switching, Service Provider, Security, Collaboration, Data Center, and Wireless.

According to Cisco, less than 3% of Cisco Certified engineers obtain CCIE certification and less than 1% of the networking professionals worldwide, and the average candidate will spend thousands of their own dollars and spend at least 18 months studying while pursuing it.

CCIE candidates must first pass a written qualification exam and then the corresponding hands-on lab exam. An in-depth understanding of the topics on the exams and three to five years of job experience are expected before attempting certification.

There are two test sets for the requirement for certification

Details: Lab exam consists of a 2 hour Troubleshooting section, a 30 minute Diagnostic section, and a 5 hour and 30 minute Configuration section.

There are seven tracks of Expert Level certifications. It was designed for the requirement of the industry.

CCIE holders would be able to apply the CCIE Emeritus if thay are approaching their ten year anniversary of CCIE licence.

It is alternative way of recertification for the CCIE license instead of passing the written exam. This program is managed by the principals Flexibility, Diversity and Integrity

Regarding a new approach to networking with Software-defined networking, There are some critics about CCIE certifications with the challenging corner-case scenarios of written and lab exams. However, the principal of networking is still same and a router or a switch is a physical device or just a piece of software, the fundamental Networking operations remain the same in the real-world internetworking. CCIE still relevant to the Software-defined networking era.

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