CCDE V2.1 – Study Plan

*Note: No dogs were harmed during this photo nor “Durante La Tormenta” of the decade-and-a-half plus (and counting) of studying involved here…

Network Design might be one of the most fragile yet complex things within the IT industry as a whole. OK, maybe I’m a little biased… So, like most “projects” or “goals” in my life, I began by wanting to learn “just a little bit more about” this, and just kept going from there. With regards for learning the material for the Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) Certification, I tried very hard to keep track of the valuable links and information I came across while studying for it.

This Certification, and its two individual, yet conjoined, parts is quite a beast. There is so much content across so many traditional “Tracks”, “Paths”, or “Disciplines” of Networking to cover, for each part of these exams. As you may or may not be aware, the content spans the gambit on Network Infrastructure Design Technologies (mostly layers 1-3 of the OSI model) including: Routing & Switching, Service Provider, Data Center, Security, Voice, Wireless, Cloud, IoT, Plex VM Servers, etc… OK, maybe Plex is a stretch. Or… Could it be viewed as a “Content” or “Application” Provider, which could potentially leverage hot, or cold, potato routing along with content or data caching? I’m just saying, “Streaming Media” (*Cough* NetFlix *Cough*) is a thing right? Also, let’s not forget three additional non-technical skills required to get the full spectrum here: general business knowledge [and how to communicate technical contents to non “Geeked out” people], reading comprehension and the ability to see the “bigger picture” to suit the business’ goals [not just because it’s a cool technology that you can configure in your sleep].

Unlike most of my CCIE Study plans, taking aim at this certification was not fueled by my undying love/hate relationship of renewing my Current Active Certifications, but to push my knowledge to yet another level and [hopefully] obtain a professional dream I have been chasing since early 2005. I had heard about this “CCDA” design certification “thing” back in 2005 at the boot-camp I had attended twice, and was hooked on the idea of network design ever since. Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. I had to attend a bootcamp twice in order to obtain my first certification… Also, on a not-so-well-known sidenote, I failed a combined number of 6 out of the 8 exam attempts I sat for to achieve my original CCNA back in 2005. See? Even us “Experts” fail before we Succeed.

+++ (Most Recent) “Official” start date 2020.02.17 +++
“Official” start date: 2015.12.26 – More on that paradigm in the CCDE V2.1 – Journey post.

“It depends” – Every Network Architect and Designer
“Look at me… I am the Architect [Captain] NOW!” – Adaptation from Captain Philips
“What I learned on Networking [Jefferson] Street” – A tip of the hat to Family Guy.
“show ip route, please?” – A gentleman with two first names and no clue.
“Son… Your Network has a condition…” – Rhodey aka War Machine
“So… What y’all routin’ ’bout?”

CCDE V2.1 Written/Practical Reading and Extended Study List

Some items listed below were performed in parallel (mostly the reading). To keep myself from becoming completely numb on a specific topic, I would mix up a chapter or two from one book supplemented by a second or third book’s chapter on that same topic. Also, sprinkling in a video or two (at 1.5x playback while taking notes worked for me) helped keep it freaky fresh. I’ve also included some milestones I used to gauge myself on my readiness of a specific topic [and some old exams that influenced my path]. This goes without saying, but the below study plan helped me on my journey. However, I wanted to share some resources I found helpful along my journey as well. Please remember, learning and retaining knowledge TAKES TIME. I hope the list below is helpful for anyone looking for some direction.

• 15*+ years of “Professional” experience between Help-desk, Servers, Hypervisors, Network Administration, Network Engineering, Network Design, IT Consulting, Tinkering in various basements, Labbing, Reading and working with/for, customers. Not to mention sessions my mentors, peers and homies through the years… *this number does not include learning, and work with Pops… See the Journey post for more info regarding that timeframe..
• Exam: CCNP Switch (642-813) Written Exam. Failed. – Completed 2011.07.06 (It’s funny bc I was “really good at switching” at this point. LOL)
• Exam: CCNP Switch (642-813) Written Exam. Failed. – Completed 2011.11.29 (I had it “all figured out” this time)
• Exam: CCNP Switch (642-813) Written Exam. Passed. – Completed 2011.12.07 (Third times the charm?)
• Exam: CCNP Route (642-902) Written Exam. Passed. – Completed 2013.01.03 (I hated routing. It was “too hard”)
• Exam: CCDA DESIGN (640-722) Written Exam. Passed. – Completed 2013.04.11 (“The Ghost” and I studied and took this one very close together)
• Exam: CCDP ARCH (642-874) Written Exam. Passed. – Completed 2015.05.21 (The spooky trend continued w/ “The Ghost” and myself here)
• Live GoTo Meeting Session: Service Provider Design Workshop by Orhan Ergun – Completed 2017.07.15
• Excel File: Cisco’s CCDE Written Learning Matrix. I used this as a guide to create my MindMap to help me list out all of the links, PDFs, books and content.
• Cisco Live Presentation: The Cisco Certified Design Expert
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s Self Paced Layer 2 Network Design Training Course – Completed 2020.05.02
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s Self Paced Network Design Fundamental’s Course – Completed 2020.05.03
• Excel File: Mohamed Radwan’s CCDE Study Plan 2020. This was available with his Self-Paced CCDE Technology training. This file really was a HUGE help with organizing all of the technologies as well as keeping me on a schedule.
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s Self Paced OSPF Training Course – Completed 2021.01.11
• Video Course: Available at Cisco.com – Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) Training Videos – Completed 2021.01.08 (Thank you Ammett for sharing these with me). I am also recommending these videos also to anyone taking their CCIE Written or CCDE Written exams. Especially the Programmability, Cloud, and Evolving Tech videos. And… they’re free.
• Book: Cisco Press: Optimal Routing Design (One and a half times) – Completed 2020.09.09
• Impromptu Labbing of CAM and ARP tables for extending layer 2 VLANs between switches.
• Book: Cisco Press: Design Cisco Network Service Architectures (ARCH) – Third Edition (2nd Read-through since CCDP) – Completed 2020.11.03
• Impromptu labbing of Multicast. I’m not gonna lie; it’s been a minute since I last labbed and used it. Of course, multicast streaming testing was done with Burn Notice…
• Book/ePUB: Round 1 of Nick Russo’s – Cisco CCIE/CCDE Written Exam Evolving Technologies Study Guide – Completed 2020.11.04 – This man’s contributions to the community and my success as a whole, I can’t even quantify.
• Exam: Round 1 of the CCDE Written Exam (352-001). Failed the exam. Way too early of an attempt. – 2020.11.07
• Started reviewing my pain points from the first round of the Written Exam. I have had very little exposure to Large Scale Service Provider Networks, so I zeroed in on those technologies as well as the Evolving Technologies technologies on the written exam’s blueprint.
• Cisco Article: Resilient Ethernet Protocol (REP)
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKCRT-8001 – CCDE: The Cisco Certified Design Expert (Session 1) (Webcast)
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKCRT-8002 – CCDE: The Cisco Certified Design Expert (Session 2) (Webcast)
• Cisco CVD: Traditional WAN Design Summary
• Cisco CVD: Intelligent WAN Deployment Guide (iWAN) <– Now considered “Legacy” but still a good guide to start with.
• Book/ePUB: Round 2 of Nick Russo’s – Cisco CCIE/CCDE Written Exam Evolving Technologies Study Guide – Completed 2021.01.02
• Exam: Round 2 of the CCDE Written Exam (352-001) – Passed! – 2021.01.06
• Booked the Practical Exam for May 18th, 2021. -Completed 2021.01.07 – Time to get to work.
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2315 – Definitive Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2337 – OSPF Deployment in Modern Networks
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST -2336 – EIGRP Deployment in Modern Networks
• Assessment: CCDE Simulation Assessment Exam from Mohamed Radwan. Not exactly an exemplary score. A clear indication that I need to continue to study and think as more of a Network Design Engineer, rather than an CCIE “Hair-on-fire” Implementation Engineer.
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-3363 – Routed Fast Convergence – Completed 2021.01.23
• Book: Cisco Press: BGP Design and Implementation – Completed 2021.01.29
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s Self Paced BGP Zero to Hero Course – Completed 2021.01.31
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKMPL-2102 – Designing MPLS-based IP VPNs – Completed 2021.02.04
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2045 – Advanced Technologies and Concepts for Extending L3 VPN Over IP-based WAN Transport – Completed 2021.02.05
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2044 – Enterprise Multi-Homed Internet Edge Architectures – Completed 2021.02.07
• Book: Cisco Press: Definitive MPLS Network Designs – Completed 2021.02.09
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKMPL-2100 – Deploying MPLS Traffic Engineering – Completed 2021.02.09
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKCRS-2501 – Campus QoS Design-Simplified – Completed 2021.02.12
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2042 – Highly Available Wide Area Network Design -Completed 2021.02.13
• Book: Cisco Press: The Art of Network Architecture: Business-Driven Design – Completed 2021.02.17
• Book: Cisco Press: Routing TCP/IP Volume 2 (First Edition) – Multicast Chapters (5, 6 and 7) Re-Read. I had read this a while back for my original CCIE in R&S, probably in 2013 or 2014 but still great stuff. Completed (again) 2021.02.21
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKIPM-1261 – Introduction to IP Multicast (Learn how Multicast is actually more like Grub Hub than you think. No Joke.) -Completed 2021.02.21
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKIPM-3017 – mVPN Deployment Models -Completed 2021.02.21
• Live Webex Session with Mohamed Radwan and Zig Zsiga – How to Design Scalable Campus Networks for CCNP ENSLD (aka old school “CCDP”) – Completed 2021.02.25
• Live Webex Session with Mohamed Radwan – CCDE Technology Training – Advanced Transport Session (SR, EVPN, CGNAT, and Use Cases) – Completed 2021.02.27
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2041 – WAN Architectures and Design Principles – Completed 2021.02.27
• Podcast: The Routing Table Podcast – What Does A Good Network Design Look Like? – James Bensley, Senior Network Design Engineer – Completed 2021.02.27
• The Network Collective Video Replay: Episode 9 – What Your Mamma Never Told You About OSPF – Completed 2021.02.27
• Podcast: Zigbits – ZNDP 026 – Cisco Live US 2018 Network Design & CCDE Focused Sessions – Completed 2021.02.28
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKSEC-2020 – Firepower NGFW Deployment in the Data Centre (and Enterprise Network Edge) using FTD – Completed 2021.03.01
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKSEC-4054 – Advanced Concepts of DMVPN -Completed 2021.03.01
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKRST-2116 – IPv6 From Introduction to Intermediate in 90 Minutes – (“The Internet Broccoli.” Just watch it…) – Completed 2021.03.04
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKCRS-2031- Enterprise Campus Design: Multi-layer Architectures and Design Principles – Completed 2021.03.06
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKCRS-3036 – Paving the way to Intent Based Networking: Routed Access – Completed 2021.03.06
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s CCDE Scenario with Russ White (From the Self Paced CCDE Training Course) – Completed 2021.03.07
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun & Zig’s CCDE Scenario MAG Energy (From the Self Paced CCDE Training Course) – Completed 2021.03.07
• Book: Orhan Ergun’s In-Depth CCDE Book – Completed 2021.03.08
• Podcast: Zigbits – ZNDP 023 – CCDE Practical Exam Recommendation and Tips – Completed 2021.03.09
• Video Course: Mohamed Radwan’s Self-paced CCDE Technology Training Course – Completed 2021.03.10
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s Self Paced CCDE Training Course – Completed 2021.03.10
• Podcast: Zigbits – ZNDP 010 – An overview of the Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) Certification with Jeremy Filliben – Completed 2021.03.10
• Live Webex Session with Mohamed Radwan – Check in to make sure that I am moving in the right direction, discuss my prep thus far, and plan the next steps for the practical exam. Also let’s not forget the most important topic of this webex… Real Madrid fans uniting – Completed 2021.03.13
• Video Course: INE’s 3 CCDE Scenarios with Brian McGahan (ISP/ASP/Enterprise) CCDE Design Expert v2.1 Exam Review – Completed 2021.03.14
• Book: Cisco Press: Top-Down Network Design (Third Edition) {First 4 Chapters} – Completed 2021.03.15
• Book: Russ White / Ethan Banks – Computer Networking Problems and Solutions: An innovative approach to building resilient, modern networks {Part III. Chapters 21 – 24} – Completed 2021.03.16
• Video Course: Orhan Ergun’s Self Paced Service Provider Training Course – (Round 2) (FedEx and eBay. Well played, Orhan… Well played…) – Completed 2021.03.19
• Assessment: CCDE Simulation Assessment Exam from Mohamed Radwan (Round 2). Better score than my previous attempt (aka progress) – Completed 2021.03.19
• Built a CCDE Practice Scenario: Self Built – CCDE Scenario 001 – Bud Incorporated Network Design – Completed 2021.03.20
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKSPG-2535 – Next Generation Network Architectures: A Practical Path to Network Transformation – Completed 2021.03.22
• Podcast: Zigbits – ZNDP 052 – Top Network Design Sessions From Digital Cisco Live US 2020 To Make You The Best Designer – Completed 2021.03.22
• Cisco Live Replay: DGTL-BRKCOC-1052 – “Everybody Work from Home”: How We Scaled our Remote Workforce Securely – Completed 2021.03.23
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKEWN-3014 – Best Practices to Deploy High-Availability in Wireless LAN Architectures – Completed 2021.03.24
• Live Webex Session with Mohamed Radwan and Zig Zsiga -How to Design IP Address Plans that Scale For CCNP ENSLD (aka old school “CCDP”) – Completed 2021.03.24
• Live Webex Session with Mohamed Radwan, Orhan Ergun and Daniel Dib – How to Achieve the Desired Balance Between Life & Work (aka “Moments of Clarity”) – Completed 2021.03.25
• CCDE Practice Scenario: CCDE Scenario Based Training-s1 (Scenario 1) by Mohamed Radwan – Completed 2021.03.27
• Book/PDF: Non-Technical Guide to The CCDE Practical by Zig Zsiga – Completed 2021.03.28
• Podcast: Zigbits – ZNDP 085 – Cisco Live 2021 Network Design Sessions – Completed 2021.03.28
• CCDE Practice Scenario: CCDE Scenario Based Training-s1 (Scenario 1) by Mohamed Radwan – Completed 2021.03.28
• Video Course: Mohamed Radwan’s Self-paced CCDE Bootcamp (Scenario 1) Review – Completed 2021.03.28
• Cisco Live Replay: PSOCRT-1010 – A License To Design – The Cisco Certified Design Expert Certification – Completed 2021.03.30
• CCDE Practice Scenario: CCDE Scenario Based Training-s2 (Scenario 2) by Mohamed Radwan – Completed 2021.03.30
• Video Course: Mohamed Radwan’s Self-paced CCDE Bootcamp (Scenario 2) Review – Completed 2021.04.01
• Book: Cisco Press: End-to-End QoS Network Design – Second Edition – Fantastic book. Quite intimidating to look at, with it’s 2″ spine, but well worth the couple of month read-through of the 900+ page count. – Completed 2021.04.04
• Book: Michel Thomatis – Network Design Cookbook: 2nd Edition – Great book to help modularize your design options. Completed 2021.04.04
• CCDE Practice Scenario/LeanPub: CCDE Practical Exam: Practice Scenario 1 by Marwan Al-Shawi – Completed & Reviewed 2021.04.05
• Book: Orhan Ergun: Service Provider Networks – Completed 2021.04.11
• CCDE Practice Scenario: Self Built – CCDE Scenario 001 – Bud Incorporated Network Design – Reviewed 2021.04.11
• CCDE Practice Scenario/LeanPub: CCDE Practical Exam: Practice Scenario 2 by Marwan Al-Shawi – Completed & Reviewed 2021.04.13
• O’Reilly Online Video: Large-Scale Network Design: Best practices for designing elegant, scalable, and programmable networks with OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, and BGP routing protocols by Russ White and Alvaro Retana – Completed 2021.04.26
• Book: Cisco Press: CCDE Study Guide by Marwan Al-shawi – (One and a half times {sort of}*) Completed 2021.04.28. *More on that in the Journey Post.
• CCDE Practice Scenario: CCDE Scenario Based Training-s3 (Scenario 3) by Mohamed Radwan – Completed 2021.04.28
• Video Course: Mohamed Radwan’s Self-paced CCDE Bootcamp (Scenario 3) Review – Completed 2021.04.28
• CCDE Practice Scenario/LeanPub: CCDE Practical Exam: Practice Scenario 3 by Marwan Al-Shawi – Completed & Reviewed 2021.05.02
• Blog Link: Enterprise and Service Provider—Once more into the Windmill by Russ White – Read a few times for a more holistic view.
• CCDE Practice Scenario/LeanPub: CCDE Practical Exam: Practice Scenario 4 by Marwan Al-Shawi – Completed & Reviewed 2021.05.03
• CCDE Practice Scenario: CCDE Scenario Based Training-s4 (Scenario 4) by Mohamed Radwan – Completed 2021.05.04
• Video Course: Mohamed Radwan’s Self-paced CCDE Bootcamp (Scenario 4) Review – Completed 2021.05.05
• CCDE Practice Scenario/LeanPub: Mohamed Radwan’s CCDE: The Practical Guide: Replicating the Exam Experience with Real-Life Scenarios Book. – Completed 2021.05.05
• Cisco Live Replay: BRKOPT-2002 – IP+Optical and Multi-Layer Networking – Completed 2021.05.05
• Podcast: Zigbits – ZNDP 074 – Demystifying the Role of The Network Designer with Mohamed Radwan – Completed 2021.05.06
• Blog Link: Cisco’s CCDE Certification Articles and Unleashing CCDE blog/articles written by both Cisco and other users. CLN changed quite a bit so the direct links may be broken. Best to navigate from the link in this bullet point and search.
• Blog Link: Orhan’s Posts about Inter-AS MPLS Option A, Option B, and Option C were good reviews. Again, I don’t have much “professional hands-on” experience in the SP arena…
• Book/PDF: Round 2 of Non-Technical Guide to The CCDE Practical by Zig Zsiga – Completed 2021.05.13
• Video Course: Round 2 Orhan Ergun & Zig’s CCDE Scenario MAG Energy (From the Self Paced CCDE Training Course) – Completed 2021.05.13
• Reviewing all my notes from CCDE prep and other items in my OneNote over the past decade and a half.
• MPLS L3VPN Labbing in EVE.
• Re-Reviewing the scenarios above.
• Exam: CCDE Practical Exam V2.0 (352-011). Failed the exam. Exam Completed: 2021.05.18 – Of all of my exams, this one was hands down the one I had the most fun taking.

If you made this this far on this post, I commend you. It was quite a challenge to carve out time between life, work, COVID, taking care of my study Buddy for a few weeks, and everything else in between. As with most things in life, your mileage may vary as opposed to mine. While your nose is to the grindstone, don’t forget, it’s not all about the destination; the journey is where you make the real progress and memories. Keep learning!

Stark Out…

For my second time around, here are the additional resources I referenced 🙂