The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert Routing and Switching (CCIE Routing and Switching) certifies those skills required of expert-level network engineers to plan, operate and troubleshoot complex, converged network infrastructure. This certification is a complete, 360-degree, blended learning program to increase competency and build the skills that are necessary for expert certification.
The lab exam for the CCIE Routing and Switching certification comprises of a 2 hour Troubleshooting section, a 30 minute Diagnostic section, and a 5 hour and 30 minute Configuration section. The candidates are allowed to choose up to 30 minutes from the Configuration section and use it in the Troubleshooting section.
The eight-hour lab exam tests your ability to configure actual equipment and troubleshoot the network in a timed test situation.
Candidates are presented with a series of trouble tickets for preconfigured networks and need to diagnose and resolve the network fault or faults. As with the configuration section, the network must be up and running for a candidate to receive credit. Candidates who finish the troubleshooting section early may proceed on to the diagnostic section, but they will not be allowed to go back to troubleshooting.
The eight-hour lab exam tests your ability to configure actual equipment and troubleshoot the network in a timed test situation. The candidate must make an initial attempt of the CCIE lab exam within 18-months of passing the CCIE written exam. In case the candidate does not pass the lab exam within three years of passing the written exam, he must retake the written exam before being allowed to attempt the lab exam again.
The documentation by Cisco is available in the lab room, but the exam assumes knowledge of the more common protocols and technologies. Using the index, one can navigate through the documentation. The candidates are not permitted to bring outside reference materials into the lab room. Any suspected equipment issues must be reported to the proctor during the exam; once the exam is over, adjustments cannot be made.
The proctors grade the labs after making sure that all the criteria have been met. The automatic tools are used by the proctors to gather data from the routers in order to perform preliminary evaluations. In order to achieve an overall passing score, the candidates must reach a minimum threshold in all three sections.
A flexible and integrated learning program is provided by Cisco using instructor-led and self-paced training, hands-on exercises, assessments, and practice exams to build up the expert skills required for the CCIE Training and certification. Specially trained and authorized learning partners are available for the Cisco expert-level training for CCIE routing and Switching. There are other individual Cisco training courses which can fill in gaps in a candidate’s experience or knowledge.
The CCIE Routing and Switching certification is designed for those network managers, professionals, senior network engineers and architects who are responsible for implementing and troubleshooting today’s complex converged networks in enterprise networking environments.
This expert-level certification gives due recognition to the knowledge and experience in network infrastructure technologies. It validates the technical expertise required for implementing and troubleshooting complex networks and helps to improve network uptime, increases user productivity and provides business agility.
The author of this article is associated with inter-networkz, a very reputed network and security training provider company. They conduct various network and security certification courses such as Cisco CCNA Training in India.
