DevNet Expert Training

Can you predict the outcome of this Python script? What is going on? my_list = ["i", "n", "f"] my_string = "".join(my_list) my_number = float(my_string) print(my_number == my_number + 1)

Enjoying my new Cisco Champion swag 😁🥤👕

Getting feedback is crucial I train people for the DevNet Expert exam. Recently got this review 👇 """ * * * * Andreas is a legend It is obvious that Andreas has put significant time and effort into this experience. This is by far the longest training I have ever taken in my professional career. But even after Day 6, I felt sad that it was ending. At the end of the week I felt energized, confident, and ready to take on the exam (after some more practice, of course). I love how Andreas structured the content in a way that made sense and consistently tied everything back to the blueprint. As someone who has never taken an expert level exam, the blueprint was initially intimidating - but now I feel like I know what I need to do. While the lessons were great, I got the most value from the hands on experience with the incredible lab environment that Andreas has built. This hands on experience was exactly what I needed to gain confidence in these technologies. The lessons and workbook activities alone are worth the prices - but you get so much more. """ So in summary, the DevNet Expert Masterclass: - Has great lessons - Builds confidence - Is worth it's price -- How did you study for your expert-level exam? --

Setting up a practice lab environment for DevNet Expert held back my exam preparation back in 2022. Sure, Cisco provides a VM image for the CWS (Candidate Workstation) that you can use as a starting point. That's great :-) But what about all the rest? You also need a Kubernetes cluster, some network devices, secret management engines, telemetry stacks, Cisco NSO, Cisco ACI, CI/CD runners, a Source-of-Truth, observability agents and a bunch of other software. Finding available CPU and RAM capacity for running all of that isn't always easy. And then you have to put in all the hours for installing, integrating and maintaining all of that software infrastructure. This can prevent you from focusing on your goal: learning about NetDevOps. When I studied for CCDevE back in 2022, nobody provided a rack rental service for DevNet Expert. I had previously used rack rental services my other 3 CCIEs (R/S, SP and DC). This had saved me a lot of time and money. So after passing the exam, I decided to create my own DevNet Expert rack rental service. It's cloud based, scales to "infinity" and can be placed at your nearest GCP region! You can all get a free trial if you want to check it out. Just let me know in the comments below if you are interested.

Standard based vs. vendor specific YANG models is something DevNet Experts need to know about. 👇 Standard YANG models are developed and maintained by standard organizations like IETF and IEEE. They are vendor-neutral and aim to provide a common language for network element configuration. These models are designed to ensuring compatibility across different platforms. On the other hand, vendor YANG models are specific to a particular vendor's device. They are created to leverage proprietary features that might not be covered by standard models. These models can be more detailed and offer functionalities that are unique to a specific product. In case of IOS-XE, the YANG model hierarchy "kind of" resembles the command line structure. This makes it easier to get started and finding the features you need. Standard models are much more generalized and in many cases forces us to work with a much deeper data hierarchy . Standard models are updated very rarely, while vendor models are maintained along with the operating systems like IOS-XE and NX-OS. -- What is your experience with the standard and vendor models?

The 5 most important things in your DevNet Expert, CCIE or CCDE study strategy is not found on the blueprint. 👇 Let's have a look at them 1) Support from your family and friends You will need to dedicate 20-30 hours per week. This will impact the people around you. 2) Support from your employer If your certification journey is sponsored by your employer, you need to align expectations for budget and the time you will spend. 3) Apply what you learned ASAP If there is any way you can incorporate your newly learned skills into your day job, this will be extremely effective. If it's not possible, then you need to define your own use cases in your home network or similar. 4) Take care of your health Be sure to sleep enough, eat healthy and exercise regularly. You don't need to train for a marathon or hit the gym every single morning. But regular exercise impacts and boosts your brain capacity as well. 5) Build a routine Plan in advance when you will be studying, and make sure you create a good environment where you can focus. Add recurring events to your calendar so you are sure that you study for at least 20 hours per week. What else do we need to be aware of when studying for a CCIE exam?

CCIEs receive an estimated 75% increase in salary. This included DevNet Expert. Take the fast track to Expert-level: 👇 Make sure you understand the structure and value of Cisco's certification program. Associate → Professional → Expert is still the proven path. (CCNA → CCNP → CCIE) Cisco's current release cadence keep their exams more up to date than ever. With the concentration exams you can piece together a CCNP or CCDevP certification that reflect your own area of expertise. There's no set start or finish line of Cisco certifications. I never got the CCNP badge and have never taken the DevNet Associate exam, but I still became a multi-CCIE with 5x Expert-level certs anyway. Find a mentor and aim for high-quality training. Going on this journey alone is difficult and time consuming. Time is money - remember the 75% 👆 Take good care and ownership of your career. Certifications alone doesn't do it. You need to prove your value with applied skills to advance. What impact did a CCIE, CCDE or CCDevE certification have on your career, or what do you hope to gain from it? 👇 / DevNet Expert Training

The DevNet Expert exam topics list is crazy! After the Masterclass my students usually find it u͟n͟intimidating. Here's why: 👇 - Exam topics are re-organized in a progressive way that slowly builds complexity through the Masterclass - We decode the DevNet Expert blueprint and software list together to figure out the depth and width we need to practice - All lessons and workbook exercises are relatable and based on real industry usage. - Students do not get detailed step-by-step instructions in the workbook. They need to think by themselves, utilizing the resources provided in the workbook. - Workbook exercises are carefully crafted to force students into using the documentation resources. All docs are different, and we need to learn to navigate each of them before the exam. - At the end of every chapter students go through a quiz to verify what they learned. - They get access to an industry leading instructor that can answer questions or participate in technical group discussions. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀. Share your most impactful learning experience below! 👇

Self-paced learning vs. instructor-led training Is there a clear winner? Let's find out 👇 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳-𝘭𝘦𝘥 : 100% focus on the content for the duration of the course. 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 : Gives you flexibility to study whenever you want. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳-𝘭𝘦𝘥 : Has room for personal guidance and group discussions. 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 : You can pause, rewind or speed up. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳-𝘭𝘦𝘥 : A live instructor can adapt the explanations and scenarios for the students. 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 : Less expensive, even though the production effort from the instructor is higher. I my instructor-led, live and online DevNet Expert Masterclass you actually gets the best of 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵! All lessons will be recorded, and rack rentals are available for a 2nd/3rd/4th pass of the workbook and labs. What learning method do you prefer?

The YAML struggle is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 real! You only need these three syntax tokens 👇 Dash (-) is used to indicate an element in a sequence (aka. list) Colon (:) is used to separate keys from values Space ( ) is used as indentation for nested structures. T͟h͟a͟t͟'͟s͟ ͟i͟t͟!͟ People do struggle with the indentation though. But it is actually no different from Python where whitespaces are also part of the syntax. YAML has a number of advantages over JSON: - Smaller and more concise files - Line-based data structures works great with tools like 𝚐𝚒𝚝 and 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏 - #Comments are supported inline - Much more readable for non-programmers. (Even this list is valid YAML!) Many major components on DevNet Expert blueprint use YAML, including Ansible, Kubernetes, Docker Compose, OpenAPI Specs and GitLab CI/CD What do you prefer: YAML or JSON? / DevNet Expert Training