Cisco data center courses

[mikkymike95]

Hello guys, so I've I'd like to start my journey in cisco data center, but **bleep** the cisco courses are real expensive, a little above my paygrade. So perhaps does anyone have leads to access free or more affordable courses. Please and thank you.

[balaji.bandi · Accepted solution]

There are other vendors

CBTnuggests

pluralsight

Free many videos posted in Youtube.

[mikkymike95]

Thanks a bunch, this helped a lot. 

So by other vendors, which other vendors would you then also suggest, that has great potential as much, or almost as much as cisco, and whose courses and certifications are quite affordable.

[Sergiu.Daniluk · Accepted solution]

Hi @mikkymike95 

There are a lot of free resources available from cisco you can use:

+ ciscolive:

https://www.ciscolive.com/on-demand/on-demand-library.html#/

if you are new to ciscolive there are even some learning maps available per technology: https://www.ciscolive.com/on-demand/learning-maps.html

+ cisco learning network, where there are tons of webinars:

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/all-media

+ whitepapers:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/white-paper-listing.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/nexus-7000-series-switches/white-paper-listing.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/application-centric-infrastructure/white-paper-listing.html

+ config guides:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/application-policy-infrastructure-controller-apic/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

+ Cisco DevNet (If interested in automation, where you have access to sandboxes, practice labs, learning documents etc)

https://developer.cisco.com

Stay safe,

Sergiu

[mikkymike95]

Thanks a lot, this is really really super helpful.

Also one lame question please. So as regards to taking the ccna exam, I've heard from someone that when typing commands, it should not be abbreviated otherwise marks would be deducted, you must type it all out, is this true?

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

I do not know the answer to this question. Back when I took the CCNA exam, there were no commands to type.

You should ask this question on the learning network community: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/topic/0TO3i0000008jYHGAY/ccna-certification-community

Stay safe,

Sergiu

[mikkymike95]

Oh alright, thanks a lot.

[mrichinfinite · Accepted solution]

You do not have to type out any commands on the 200-301 CCNA exam. It is all multiple choice and drag-and-drop.

Also, I am not sure if you were looking for study material specifically for that exam or only for DC subject matter, but if you are looking for study material for CCNA, then I would suggest the following:

Purchase this book, read key parts of it, and take the practice tests that come with it:

https://www.ciscopress.com/store/ccna-200-301-official-cert-guide-library-premium-edition-9780136755494

Purchase these two products from Boson:

This for labs- https://www.boson.com/network-simulator/ccna-200-301-cisco-network-simulator

This for practice exams-

https://www.boson.com/practice-exam/200-301-cisco-ccna-practice-exam

For less than $400 you will have more than enough material right there to help you succeed.

Let me know if you have any questions or need anything else. Take care!

[mikkymike95]

Wow I had no idea, I always believed that there were simulation tests in the exam where you'd need to write commands, as fed by someone else. Probably he was referring to the old ccna exam.

Thanks a lot, this is really helpful and the links.

Thing is I do not even plan on taking the ccna exam, I was asking for someone. I plan to go straight to take ccnp, since I was told that I do not need ccna to take ccnp, and that the ccnp cert pretty much has ccna covered too. These links would prove helpful to my friend.

Ofcourse, if you also have materials for the ccnp data center that would also be great

Thanks.

[mrichinfinite]

So, you may already know this, but to achieve CCNP Data Center you will need to pass two exams. One is the DCCOR exam, and the other is a concentration exam of your choice. The list of exams can be found here: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/training-events/training-certifications/certifications/professional/ccnp-data-center-v2.html#~exams.

So, for the DCCOR exam, the cert guide is outstanding. I would recommend reading key parts of the guide to prepare you for the exam. Also, I recommend purchasing the practice tests along with the guide. You can find all of that here: https://www.ciscopress.com/store/ccnp-and-ccie-data-center-core-dccor-350-601-official-9780136588504.

Also, @balaji.bandi mentioned Pluralsight, and I would agree with that recommendation. They have a great course called 'Cisco DCCOR (350-601) Implementing and Operating Cisco Data Center Core Technologies' which covers the DCCOR material.

For the concentration exam, I am not sure what to recommend just yet as I do not know which concentration exam you plan on going for. Which one do you think you will pursue?

Thanks and have a great day!

[mikkymike95]

Yeah I know that thanks.

This is great, thanks.

Yeah I've been to Pluralsight, following @balaji.bandi suggestion, found some really great courses there including the DCCOR course.

Yeah about that, I'm actually not exactly sure of which to concentrate on lol...but if I'm to pick I'd go with DCID or DCIT, for now. DCACI seems interesting too lol.

Thanks once again guys... you guys have been really awesome and helpful in these community.