MSPRP Complete

As expected, I was able to knock off the MSPRP exam without studying. A little better knowledge of XR would have been very helpful, but I had a high enough score on it and the remaining sections to carry myself through.

On to MSPVM

CCNP SP Operations Page Live

Cisco has the CCNP SP Operations page up now:

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

CCNP SP Operations

Now it's time for me to begin working on CCNP SP Operations. This certification is not fully live yet, but the details are at https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-8149

There are 4 exams required:
642-770: Operational Foundations for Cisco Service Provider Core Networks (OFCN)
642-775: Maintaining Cisco Service Provider Routing Protocols (MSPRP)
647-780: Maintaining Cisco Service Provider VPNs and MPLS Networks (MSPVM)
642-785: Maintaining Cisco Service Provider Quality of Service (MSPQS)

All 4 show up on Vue's website, so it looks like the certification is fully live.

Now I just need to decide what to take first.
OFCN is all about processes and management tools. I'll need to study a lot for that so I'll hold off for now.
MSPRP focuses on BGP, OSPF, and IS-IS. Sounds like a great place to start!
MSPVM is the MPLS exam. Another good one!
MSPQS covers QoS. Not a bad topic but I'm a little rusty on some of the details.

So I should be able to knock out MSPRP and MSPVM by the end of August. I'll give myself another 2 weeks on MSPQS and then 6 weeks on OFCN. That would get me the CCNP SP Ops by the end of October. I like doing my CCIE studying over the winter anyway, so the timing should work out well.

CCNA SP Operations Complete

Well, I decided I'd just go ahead and take the SSPO exam 640-760 so that I can target my studying a little better. I was pleasantly surprised when I scored a pass.

The blueprint and study questions on Cisco's site are pretty accurate. I was also happy that most of the information on the exam was pretty relevant. I didn't find many of those "who the heck cares" questions. So all in all I'd say it was a pretty good exam.

CCNA SSPO Review Questions - Set 3

Key Performance Indicator:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_indicator

Incident Management vs. Problem Management:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Technology_Infrastructure_Library#Incident_Management

CCNA SSPO Review Questions - Set 2

Here's what I need to review for Set 2:

Network Management:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_management

FCAPS:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCAPS

NMS Model:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Management_Network

Cisco information center:
http://www.ciscosysteme.com/en/US/products/sw/netmgtsw/ps996/index.html

Cisco ip solution center:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/netmgtsw/ps4748/index.html

CCNA SSPO Review Questions - Set 1

The quiz is located at https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-7318

Topics I need to review:
NGN Architectural Layer
Service Exchange Framework
ITIL
eTOM

For NGN Architecture, there's an ASR9k link which seems the most relevant:
http://cisco.biz/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps9853/solution_overview_c22-501795.html
I'll be reading this many times over.

Service Exchange Framework is here:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns549/net_implementation_white_paper0900aecd80592c03.html

Cisco's Introduction to eTOM:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/technologies/collateral/tk869/tk769/white_paper_c11-541448.html

As for ITIL, there's a comparison to eTOM on the above link. We'll see if I need to know more than that.