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Thank you so, so much for the kind words and support, your words really mean a lot. Trust me, I to this day remember wasting about 3 days with that src/dst checkbox when I was first getting used to the cloud. Luckily for us, we had a supportive client, but the documentation and "gotcha" threads weren't out there as much back then. I do think that I want to deploy a Palo in Azure and see what "subtle" differences exist between the two Cloud providers from a configuratin perspective. But wow, it has been a year since I did this mini-series. But again, thank you so much and many blessings to you and yours!

I appreciate your thoughtful insights on the CCIE journey and its impact on technical maturity, I couldn't agree more. It's encouraging to see the certification's enduring respect and trust within the industry. Thank you for sharing your perspective as well as your support!

I mean that's a real tough one, as I can only give pointers, tips, as each individual is unique and I haven't met too many that passed on the 1st attempt, not that it cannot be done. There's no substitute for sitting through an exam for 8 hours and the nerves, etc. and for first time takers, honestly time almost always gets the best out of people. Therefore muscle memory with the fingers and commands along with shortcuts for commands will help more than one would think. Find a mock exam/lab that simulates a large topology and each topic is useful to not only get used to large topologies and troubleshooting how one issue impacts other sections of it, but also points out weak areas to focus on. Cisco's labs and booking time, especially with DNAC/SDWAN, I would definitely strongly advise that after passing the Core exam (or whatever the equivalent of the Written is called these days), I think you need to pass that to book time (could be wrong or could have changed). Then having an accountability partner or going through it with 1 or 2 other dependable candidates helps as well. Once you getting closer, working sessions to watch one of you go through a mock lab and then help each other out, and then rotate, I found that to help. But again, just so much but really no substitute for just sitting for the exam the first time, and that's where the true lessons (pass or fail) will come. Definitely hoping for a pass, but the journey along the way and swat equity will go a long way at letting you know where you ultimately stand before the exam. Hoping that helps at least a little.

Yeah, I've always honestly wanted to do CCIE Voice (Collaboration) but didn't ever have a job where I really dealt with voice a lot, and I think it's very, very tough not having experience. But I think even for us Network folks, we tend to do or need to know some parts of the Security blueprint, and I've been casually reading the books and content for 5 or 6 years (probably a few week's worth out of each year), but was going to go for it a few years back. All the tracks have a little interest to me for one reason or another, but R/S, Security, and possibly DC are the only ones I'd see myself having a role with (in a past life maybe Service Provider, but no desire at all nowadays).

Appreciate it and looking forward to reflecting on this next lab experience in the summer (hoping it all works out)!

Thanks !!! Inspiring !!!

Thank you for your support and trying my best!

😂 Thanks so much for watching and for the honest feedback! I appreciate you sticking with it despite the slightly misleading title. I’m really happy the part about the journey and personal growth resonated with you-that's exactly what I hoped to share. Your support and insights mean a lot!

Appreciate the question and honestly felt like "let me just record a video response" this morning and just got through publishing it. Hopefully it's what you're looking for, but if not, let me know in the comments and thanks again for your support as well as the idea for today's video!

😂 I appreciate it and yeah, I tried my best to not make it that bad, but didn't know whether I hit the mark or not. But truly do appreciate the comment and your support as well, wishing you all the best.

Oh, psshhh probably 10 years of learning and failing, but after 2 failed attempts and a long break between attempts 2 and 3, and hunkering down that last time, it was 9 months when I decided on that last attempt. Once you learn some things, even in failure, you don't have to start back at ground zero so that helped a lot by just trying to identify my weak areas and address those.

Hit me up on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/andre-k-93a450162/

You got it and I couldn't agree more! Sometimes that's exactly the way it goes and to see it as an opportunity to learn is truly the best approach to life, work, and anything else. 🤘

Haha! That's a great way to think about it...and keep up the hard work and dedication and thank you so much for the kind words and support!

Appreciate that, and congrats on your first role. Though I wish I had the time to have a one on one with all who reach out, it is tough getting schedules to sync. Where are you located?

That's a tough question and I've been debating creating a video for a longer response (probably will here within the next two weeks), but in my opinion, it takes a while for most to truly understand when it's no longer of value (myself included), and because most spent time, money, and sweat equity, it's tough letting any cert go. But when folks leave the industry, change fields within I.T., etc, it can make that decision easier, but one each has to decide on their own to be honest and most of us hold on to certs that have these renewal costs for far too long.

Gotta keep pushing and challenging myself and I've always been fascinated but didn't take the red pill like you said until now! We'll see where Morpheus leads us...

In this particular instance we used the EC2 instance connect (with a VPC endpoint) to reach it via the private IP. On a true production network, your private subnets would generablly be reachable while connected to a VPN.

I appreciate your support and please know that the journey is honestly what it's all about and that's an acculmination of your life... your story, the memories of all the ups and downs, lessons learned, failures, successes, etc. Relish and cherish it all and don't be afraid to sometimes pivot or feel like you have to complete "an entire journey" all at once. There is no one correct path and just knowing that you said "building a strong foundation" lets me know that you're on the right path. Keep doing your thing and onward and upwards!

@@andreking2k Thank you for your kind words Andre. Those words really inspired me to go ahead to face CCNA exam. Appreciate your love.

Thanks bro and yeah, seeing this "try harder" concept even early in the studies. Definitely will embrace it and just keep pushing. Watching this Kyser Clark interview and I don't think the first question got you on the time, but the "who's your favorite hacker," I think if you thought of that right away you were golden! But keep doing great things as well and we'll definitely have to get up soon.

Appreciate that support, espcially watching this video lol... not many view on this one, but thank you so much!

No worries and appreciate your support!

Appreciate it!

I really appreciate that, and glad you found the video helpful!

Hahahaha... was super rough with all this weight gain, but appreciate ya!

I'm glad you enjoyed the video! 🔥 Rarely do TH-cam shorts but probably should more often!

Thank you so much and appreciate your support, see your comments here on a few videos and it means a lot!

@@andreking2k It’s great seeing someone succeed in a dream I couldn’t accomplish. Started networking long ago but got no certifications at all.

I appreciate it!

No worries at all and appreciate the support. Love the name "NetworkBruh!" But wishing you all the best not only on that exam, but honestly in your entire journey. It goes by quick (the ups, downs, easy and tough times) and you'll find yourself in reflection so keep you eye on "your prize" and continue to re-assess your goals and you can truly achieve whatever you set your mind to. Onward and upward my friend and Happy Holidays!

Sure, that's a great idea and one I hadn't thought of for my content on this channel. I probably can do that mid-December as I need to record a few Palo Alto videos. But I honestly used to have another channel "Create With Dre" and I still laugh at this video here - th-cam.com/video/qJHfPzOLkJU/w-d-xo.html - but although I talked about editing the videos, don't think I every discussed the equipment used (camera, arms, etc). But thank you again for your support and I promise I will get that one in the hopper within the next few weeks, so thanks again!

Thank you so much! 🙌🏿 It means a lot to hear that you found the series valuable. I’m glad it’s been helpful, and your support keeps me motivated to keep creating. If there’s any specific topic or challenge you’d like covered in the future, let me know-I’m always here to help. 👊🏿

@ yeah i’ll be tuning in for all the content, i’m actually doing this AWS lab over the weekend, the one struggle Im having so far is getting the NAT policy to hit, The EC2 endpoint is reaching the FW as i’m seeing the logs on the FW to 8.8.8.8 but it keeps aging out, Virtual router has a default route and a route from the Inside interface, I ran NAT Policy match command on the CLI and the source NAT rule matched it going to the outside interface from the ec2 instance IP. In the VPC the outside Interface has 2 routes, Local route and the default route pointing to the IGW. Any suggestions?

Apologies for the delayed response, but thanks for the inspiration for the video I just created and it will answer your question/issue. But thanks again: th-cam.com/video/Db8Ix7G3UQs/w-d-xo.html

I truly do appreciate that and it (along with life) has definitely been a journey full of "ups and downs," but just have to keep pushing through it all.

I wouldn't know how to answer this, back in the day a CCIE could definitely almost always command around $200K, but the landscape has changed, and it depends on what else you bring to the table as I personally feel a lot of organizations have undervalued a great network resource like the CCIE. I think on average, with exerpience, being able to handle yourself in an interview, it's still hard to see a CCIE making below $130 - $150K here in the U.S.

@@andreking2k Thx for the reply Dre. I am looking to switch careers, and just finished studying CCNA. Gotta do more review though, before I am confident in taking the exam. As a pure beginner who doesn't know anything, I feel those numbers you quoted feel kind of underwhelming? From what I can gather, general consensus (and I can be totally off), it will take an x amount of time to get the CCNP from the CCNA, and another x amount of time to get the CCIE after CCNP. And in your words, such as "sweat equity," "support of family," "grueling" make me wonder from purely a salary standpoint if it is worth it? I know everyone is different, and there are endless variables to consider, but I know some dudes in electrical engineering and software engineering making 200k in what I feel like was a fraction of the grind. Makes me want to re-evaluate the return on investment.

@@ChineseSe7en I hear you, and it's honestly tough to relate someone studying/coming in new versus someone that's got 15+ years in the game. For us taking it back then, it was the cream of the crop, but of course now Cloud roles, security (all types of flavor - should consider IAM roles), etc have taken flight and that's what I meant by networking is sort of undervalued/underappreciated a lot. I don't think salary/money these days would be the number 1 driving factor to get a CCIE coming in fresh, it's for those that have been in and it's of course the top cert. Everyone has their different reasons, but again, it's just a different day and time from 2012 - 2016 when I think the heyday of CCIE salaries was. Still worth it, but probably not in the "is the juice worth the squeeze" in what you're after (time committment vs salary). I'd probably steer you in more of a Cyber or Security Tool role, as I honestly don't know about developers 3 - 5 years from now to be honest, but Identity Access Management (IAM) and knowing OAuth/SAML and how to integrate it can pay pretty good in a skill that can take 1/2 the time. But like all things in I.T., it takes time in an environment to see various problems and learn methodologies for troubleshooting and being calm under pressure. That's why you've kind of got a loaded scenario there. But go with what you can see yourself enjoying for at least 5 years and one that you embrace the challenge. Cause this CCIE is super hard, and like I said, the numbers show that less than 800 (roughly 2-3 a day) achieve it across the ENTIRE WORLD... but wishing you all the best in either case and keep me posted!

Absolutely! It's that journey of facing setbacks and finding the grit to keep pushing that makes it all worth it. Honestly, even if I had failed my third attempt, I’d have taken some time off to regroup and then got right back on the horse. It's those moments of getting knocked down and finding a way to come back swinging that teach us the most-both in networking and in life. Thanks for sharing; and like you said, it's definitely a humbling experience that shapes you! Thanks for your support.

Thank you so much for watching! I’m really glad you found the video helpful - it means a lot to know it resonated with you. Keep pushing forward on your own personal journey, and don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything you’d like to discuss. Appreciate the support!

Nice, and glad to hear it. Thank you so much for your support and making it to the end of the video. I know you can attest to the late nights and early morning studying, and I am wishing you all the best. If you haven't already, I would say don't discount the CCIE labs that Cisco offers online (think it was $50 when I was studying), as the SD-WAN really, really helped me get familiar with things there. But keep doing your thing and wishing you nothing but success, and I know you've got this and hoping to hear what # you get!

Thank you so much!

Apologies for the delayed response, but thank you so much for all of your support. It should be viewable here: checklist.com/a/cl_zLiA6htjTgQXIOMRk-LSI4VVbYWfPo

Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad to hear that you enjoy the videos and appreciate the "we" I use-it's definitely meant to include everyone following along. We're all in this together, learning and growing! I completely understand the challenge you're facing with setting up a working lab environment. It can be a bit tricky, especially with platforms like EVE-NG due to licensing constraints from vendors, including Cisco. This often limits the kind of content I personally choose to freely share regarding the installation or detailed lab setup. There are several creators out there that walk you through the set-up and my friend Silesio does a great job in this video: th-cam.com/video/LqleNBt-V_w/w-d-xo.html but if it's something more than just the EVE-NG setup you're referring to, let me know. You noted "...how to setup my working lab, how to setup for, how to setup code etc.." so I'm not sure what specific use case you're wanting to achieve, but again, just let me know where you're stuck and I can point you to some existing resources, help you out through email, or whatever gets you up and running. However, if you're interested, I can certainly consider creating a setup guide using Cisco's VIRL (which is a paid option) or Packet Tracer, which is free and great for getting started. Both are excellent platforms for lab work, depending on what you're looking to achieve. But again, I cannot speak for other creators, just myself. Again, thank you for the positive feedback-I'm here to help! Let me know if you decide on one of those alternatives or if you have any other questions. Keep pushing forward and always know that you've got this!

@@andreking2kit seems my follow up comment disappears

mobaxterm.mobatek.net/download.html - I think it's up to 10 devices that can be managed in one session without a license (I use the unlicensed version and have no complaints). Another cool thing is you can managed an RDP session in a tab as well (love that when needed).

The tool is Mobaxterm

@@antifics Thank you!

Oh most definitely, next video will probably use these same routers and configure the ssh configs needed to begin using Netmiko. Part of the overview I will be sure to demonstrate pulling configs (might hold off on receiving alerts and details like that), but definitely will do!

Lol, thank you man. Yeah, the aim is the iteratively incorporate these thems into building out separate functions and then have a menu-based script that even has choices for configuring EIGRP, OSPF, static routing, etc... just little by little, and piece by piece and hoping to learn about ways to make it "event-driven" to somewhat take the user out of the equation. Getting to that state of coding/automating might mean getting into building an application or two 😎

@@andreking2k You're welcome. Exactly 😉.

@@andreking2k You're welcome. Exactly!

You're welcome!

You're welcome!

Hello and thanks for your support. Feel free to hit me up at andre.king@vacybersolutions.com.

Hey! First off, thank you so much for the kind words and for watching the video all the way through. It really means a lot to hear that my journey resonated with you, and I’m so glad it’s helping you stay focused on your CCNP path. I totally get how distractions can creep in-it happens to all of us-but it’s clear that you’ve got the determination and mindset to achieve that goal. I can relate to your ISP experience-those hands-on Layer 1 & 2 jobs can really build a strong foundation, and I bet those troubleshooting skills from Verizon are making you a beast when it comes to Layer 3! That type of experience is invaluable, especially when tackling the more abstract concepts in certifications like the CCNP and eventually CCIE. Keep pushing through, because the feeling when you reach the finish line is unlike anything else. If this video can help even a little to keep you on track, I’ll definitely keep making more! Best of luck with your studies, and I know you’ve got what it takes to knock that CCNP out of the park. Stay focused, and thanks again for the support-keep me posted on your progress!

Thanks homeboy! Yeah, we definitely can expand on this in many ways including that. Could create a dictionary of dictionaries with each containing the key-value pair for each parameter and then iterate through the main dictionary, I think that's the way I'd go. Ultimately, I think this is building up to creating functions with menus, to be more interactive, but I'll work on that example this week and post it. Thanks for the idea and appreciate you checking your boy out. Onward and upward!

Thank you for the question and support. For my career, not much in the sense of the current role, but more so on the contracting side, it may open up opportunitie (business/entreprenearship things). For me, it's just another challenge and I think it will force me to up my game when it comes to Terraform and Ansible (items I don't necessarily have to use on the job) and I just want to learn, grow and absorb the material and find a way to contribute back to the community (with the acquired knowledge) whether it be through the journey, shortcuts that I learn along the way, free materials, etc. Overall, I think it will just help me add some skills to the toolbelt for when scenarios present themselves for design solutions. At this level, that's a lot of what it becomes. But again, just committing myself to this journey and trying to focus a bit more from other distractions. Loving it so far though! Thanks again.

@@andreking2k That's awesome!I have the same goal of one day being able to have the knowledge to be a contractor and provide corp-to-corp services. I'm only a CCNA right now still learning how to map out a network with CDP neighbors but you are inspiring me to go even harder. Thanks so much!