In order to provide the best possible service to our customers, and to the CCIE community as a whole, we have implemented a new combination web forum / mailing list server as a free service. Internetwork Expert’s Online Community (http://www.IEOC.com) officially replaces our previous Discussion Forum as a place where you can discuss both general CCIE topics for all tracks as well as Internetwork Expert specific products.

IEOC allows you to create new posts and reply to other posts like a normal web forum, but you can also read and submit posts via email! For example if you email ccie-rs@ieoc.com your message will be sent out to all users subscribed to the “CCIE Routing & Switching Technical” email feed, plus posted on the web forum as viewable and searchable content. Personally this is my favorite feature of the new server, as I dread checking web forums daily, but I am completely obsessed with checking my email every five minutes.

Also keep in mind that this new service is not designed to be just for product specific support. All users, customers and guests alike, are welcome to join and participate. Simply visit http://www.IEOC.com, sign up for an account with a valid email address, then click on the Forum Subscriptions link from the main page. Forums are organized per topic basis for CCIE tracks, and per product basis for IE specific support. On this page you’ll see the unique email address that is used to post or reply to that forum, and a yes/no selection under Subscribe to add yourself to the email feed.

All CCIE tracks are also broken down into separate “General” and “Technical” forums, so if you want to spend endless hours debating the merits of CCIE vs. PhD, please feel free to do so in the “General” forum.

A good starting place for most candidates would be the CCIE Routing & Switching Technical forum (ccie-rs@ieoc.com). This forum, amongst the others, is going to be actively monitored by not only myself, but also Brian Dennis, Scott Morris, and Petr Lapukhov.

If you are interested in any custom forums or mailing lists please feel free to contact me directly.

Thanks!

Cisco posted an announcement today on the CCDE page of the Cisco Learning Network.

REGISTER NOW for the BETA Practical Exam
Cisco is now registering beta candidates for the CCDE Practical Exam. Cisco has finished development of the second exam needed to attain the CCDE certification, the practical exam, and is now soliciting candidates for the beta delivery.

Cisco will be offering this beta delivery of the exam on October, 1 in Chicago, Illinois at a VUE professional testing center. Only candidates that have a passing score on the CCDE qualification exam may register and participate in this exam. Exam beta pricing is $980US. Register Now by email at: ccdebeta@cisco.com

Luckily for me I live in Chicago so it won’t be too far of a trek. If the written exam is any indication of the content that will be tested on in the practical exam, it’s sure to be an interesting one. The good news is that I have just under three months to finish reading the few hundred thousand pages of Solutions Reference Network Design guides.

Also as a side note the Chicago Cubs are still in first place in the National League! If you are going to be in town for the CCDE beta shoot me an email. Maybe we can arrange an Internetwork Expert sponsored field trip to playoff baseball at Wrigley Field!