CCIE Data Center at Cisco Live Melbourne

Hi Guys

So you may have heard that Cisco Have announced at Cisco Live Melbourne the new CCIE Data Center:

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccie_data_center

Finally a more detailed blueprint is now available at the following location, I am on site at Cisco Live Melbourne and I will attempt to get as much information for you as I can, so far I have the following questions in mind, if you have any good idea's for questions please post below


1. How far away is the CCIE DC? When can we expect the written/lab exams to be available
Answered: Available in September for the lab, Written exam (beta) available in May

2. Given the very large requirements for a lab with the equipment listed on the CCIE DC, what plans do Cisco have to make it possible to access labs of this equipment?
3.  Will the Cisco 360 program be available for CCIE DC?
4. Do Cisco expect that the level of difficulty in regards to SAN will be the same sort of difficulty as the actual CCIE SAN, i.e. is there as much emphasis on FC

In terms of my study plans, I have ordered a Cisco UCS C200 to use for the Nexus 1000v work.

I want a fibre channel switch, but i have no idea how to get a very cheap Fibre Channel SAN of some description, does anyone have any ideas for this?

I will keep you all informed of how I intend to study for my CCIE DC!

Let the fun begin!


Hardware Blueprint:
Cisco Catalyst Switch 3750
Cisco 2511 Terminal Server
MDS 9222i
Nexus7009
- (1) Sup
- (1) 32 Port 10Gb (F1 Module)
- (1) 32 Port 10Gb (M1 Module)
Nexus5548
Nexus2232
Nexus 1000v
UCS C200 Series Server
– vic card for c-series
UCS-6248 Fabric Interconnects
UCS-5148 Blade Chassis
– B200 M2 Blade Servers
– Palo mezzanine card
– Emulex mezzanine card
Cisco Application Control Engine Appliance – ACE4710
Dual attached JBODs
Software Versions
NXOS v6.0(2) on Nexus 7000 Switches
NXOS v5.1(3) on Nexus 5000 Switches
NXOS v4.2(1) on Nexus 1000v
NXOS v5.2(2) on MDS 9222i Switches
UCS Software release 2.0(1x) for UCS-6248 Fabric Interconnect
Software Release A5(1.0) for ACE 4710
Cisco Data Center Manager software v5.2(2)
Lab Blueprint:
Cisco Data Center Infrastructure – NXOS
Implement NXOS L2 functionality
Implement VLANs and PVLANs
Implement Spanning-Tree Protocols
Implement Port-Channels
Implement Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD)
Implement Fabric Extension via the Nexus family
Implement NXOS L3 functionality
Implement Basic EIGRP in Data Center Environment
Implement Basic OSPF in Data Center Environment
Implement BFD for Dynamic Routing protocols
Implement ECMP
Implement FabricPath
Implement Basic NXOS Security Features
Implement AAA Services
Implement SNMPv3
Configure IP ACLs, MAC ACLs and VLAN ACLs
Configure Port Security
Configure DHCP Snooping
Configure Dynamic ARP Inspection
Configure IP Source Guard
Configure Cisco TrustSec
Implement NXOS High Availability Features
Implement First-Hop Routing Protocols
Implement Graceful Restart
Implement nonstop forwarding
Implement Port-channels
Implement vPC and VPC+
Implement Overlay Transport Protocol (OTV)
Implement NXOS Management
Implement SPAN and ERSPAN
Implement NetFlow
Implement Smart Call Home
Manage System Files
Implement NTP, PTP
Configure and Verify DCNM Functionality
NXOS Troubleshooting
Utilize SPAN, ERSPAN and EthAnalyzer to troubleshoot a Cisco Nexus problem
Utilize NetFlow to troubleshoot a Cisco Nexus problem
Given an OTV problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given a VDC problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given a vPC problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given an Layer 2 problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given an Layer 3 problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given a multicast problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given a FabricPath problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Given a Unified Fabric problem, identify the problem and potential fix
Cisco Storage Networking
Implement Fiber Channel Protocols Features
Implement Port Channel, ISL and Trunking
Implement VSANs
Implement Basic and Enhanced Zoning
Implement FC Domain Parameters
Implement Fiber Channel Security Features
Implement Proper Oversubscription in an FC environment
Implement IP Storage Based Solution
Implement IP Features including high availability
Implement iSCSI including advanced features
Implement SAN Extension tuner
Implement FCIP and Security Features
Implement iSCSI security features
Validate proper configuration of IP Storage based solutions
Implement NXOS Unified Fabric Features
Implement basic FC in NXOS environment
Implement Fiber channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
Implement NPV and NPIV features
Implement Unified Fabric Switch different modes of operation
Implement QoS Features
Implement FCoE NPV features
Implement multihop FCoE
Validate Configurations and Troubleshoot problems and failures using Command Line, show and debug commands.
Cisco Data Center Virtualization
Manage Data Center Virtualization with Nexus1000v
Implement QoS, Traffic Flow and IGMP Snooping
Implement Network monitoring on Nexus 1000v
Implement n1kv portchannels
Troubleshoot Nexus 1000V in a virtual environment
Configure VLANs
Configure PortProfiles
Implement Nexus1000v Security Features
DHCP Snooping
Dynamic ARP Inspection
IP Source Guard
Port Security
Access Control Lists
Private VLANs
Configuring Private VLANs
Cisco Unified Computing
Implement LAN Connectivity in a Unified Computing Environment
Configure different Port types
Implement Ethernet end Host Mode
Implement VLANs and Port Channels.
Implement Pinning and PIN Groups
Implement Disjoint Layer 2
Implement SAN Connectivity in a Unified Computing Environment
Implement FC ports for SAN Connectivity
Implement VSANs
Implement FC Port Channels
Implement FC Trunking and SAN pinning
Implement Unified Computing Server Resources
Create and Implement Service Profiles
Create and Implement Policies
Create and Implement Server Resource Pools
Implement Updating and Initial Templates
Implement Boot From remote storage
Implement Fabric Failover
Implement UCS Management tasks
Implement Unified Computing Management Hierarchy using ORG and RBAC
Configure RBAC Groups
Configure Remote RBAC Configuration
Configure Roles and Privileges
Create and Configure Users
Implement Backup and restore procedures in a unified computing environment
Implement system wide policies
Unified Computing Troubleshooting and Maintenance
Manage High Availability in a Unified Computing environment
Configure Monitoring and analysis of system events
Implement External Management Protocols
Collect Statistical Information
Firmware management
Collect TAC specific information
Implement Server recovery tasks
Cisco Application Networking Services – ANS
Implement Data Center application high availability and load balancing
Implement standard ACE features for load balancing
Configuring Server Load Balancing Algorithm
Configure different SLB deployment modes
Implement Health Monitoring
Configure Sticky Connections
Implement Server load balancing in HA mode