THE BLOG

The Three Biggest Mistakes I've Made In My Career career success Mar 02, 2021

We’ve all heard the saying, “Hindsight is 20/20.” However, a lack of clairvoyance about the future shouldn’t prevent us from boldly taking our next career step.

Steve Jobs...

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Interview with Anthony Sequeira career success ccie r/s general info Mar 15, 2018

In this post, I'm excited to share with you my latest podcast episode, where I'm interviewing my good friend and world-renowned Cisco trainer Anthony Sequeira.

In this episode, Anthony...

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Configuring QoS with Cisco's Intent-Based Networking career success ccna r/s Jan 09, 2018

Over the past few months, you might have noticed Cisco’s publicity push regarding intent-based networking. The first time I saw this new brand messaging was at the Las Vegas McCarran...

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What I Would Do If I Were Starting Over career success Oct 03, 2017

A common question I hear from people just getting into the Cisco world is, “Kevin, what would you do if you were starting from scratch?” Sometimes, that question takes the form of,...

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Introduction to GitHub for Cisco Network Engineers career success Sep 12, 2017

Software Defined Networking (SDN) can use a network controller to help orchestrate the monitoring and configuration of multiple network devices, allowing for faster configuration and more...

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Overview of Cisco's CCNA Cyber Ops Certification career success Aug 22, 2017

Many people ask me what technology (e.g. route/switch, collaboration, data center, etc.) they should pursue, based on industry demand. For years, my response has been, “There’s demand...

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The 3 Biggest Mistakes I've Made In My Career career success Aug 08, 2017

We’ve all heard the saying, “Hindsight is 20/20.” However, a lack of clairvoyance about the future shouldn’t prevent us from boldly taking our next career step.

Steve...

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How "Deep Work" Can Advance Your IT Career career success Jun 27, 2017

Recently, I bought the book Deep Work, by Cal Newport. The book gives us a strategy for becoming much more productive. In hopes that you’ll read the book too and really apply it in your work,...

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The Siren Call of Brain Dumps career success Jun 06, 2017

Back in my high school days, I took a class in mythology, and one of the stories that really stands out to me is the story of the Sirens. These Sirens were alluring creatures, with amazing voices,...

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What is a "Leaf-and-Spine" Data Center Topology career success May 09, 2017

For decades, we’ve heard about Cisco’s three-tier network design where we had the following layers: (1) Access, (2) Distribution, and (3) Core. The Access Layer connected to our end...

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Comparing Cisco IOS, NX-OS, and IOS-XR career success Mar 28, 2017

It was 1989 when I first laid hands on a Cisco router. Specifically, it was a Cisco AGS+ router. Well, actually, it was called a “brouter,” because it did both bridging (software-based...

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Introduction to Python for Cisco Network Professionals career success ccna r/s Mar 20, 2017

The day-to-day tasks of Cisco network engineers are in the midst of a major industry shift. Specifically, we’re moving away from traditional command line interface (CLI) commands, and...

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Fundamentals of the Internet of Things (IoT) career success ccie r/s ccna r/s ccnp r/s Feb 02, 2017

It's another one of those buzzwords we're hearing a ton these days, the Internet of Things, or IoT for short.

But what exactly is it, and how's it going to impact us as networking professionals?...

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5 Tips for Your Technical Resume career success Aug 09, 2016

You’ve earned your certifications. Maybe you have a college degree, and hopefully some technical experience. Now, it’s time to sell yourself to a prospective employer. We all know...

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Your Learning Calendar career success Jun 28, 2016

There are lots of things that I intend to get around to, sooner or later. One day, I’m going to clean out a bunch of old clothes from my closet. One day, I’m going to clean out my...

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The โ€œJob โ€“ Experienceโ€ Paradox career success Jun 14, 2016

It’s a timeless paradox… “How can I get a job without experience, and how can I get experience without a job?” If you find yourself in such a situation, this blog post is...

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5 Essential Books for Your Cisco Career career success May 12, 2016

When I was around 20 years old, I used to go into bookstores and look for a book (something on a technical topic, a business biography, or on personal development) that I could afford. However, I...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 7: A Certified Success career success Mar 07, 2016

Having the appropriate Cisco initials after your name (e.g. CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE) is a shortcut way of letting someone know your relative skill level. Even if you’ve got the skills and are at...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 6: Getting Your Hands Dirty career success Feb 17, 2016

While documentation is indispensable in your mastery of Cisco technologies, at some point you have to “get your hands dirty.” In other words, you have to actually configure the...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 5: Tomes of Wisdom career success Jan 31, 2016

In high school, I really, really disliked reading. My reading speed was slow, and I found most of the assigned books were boring to me. Since this was back in the 1980s, before audio books really...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 4: Time Alchemy career success Dec 20, 2015

While having lofty goals is key to propelling your career into the stratosphere, if you don’t have time to take action on your goals, what good are they? I shouldn’t say that you...

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The 3 Things I Do To Start My Day career success Dec 07, 2015

The way you start your day can have a huge impact on your productivity. Over the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with creating a “morning ritual,” which is a collection...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 3: The Curiosity Key career success Nov 18, 2015

Walt Disney is one of my personal heroes, and the following quote from him beautifully sets the stage for this blog post’s topic, curiosity:

We keep moving forward, opening new doors,...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 2: When Life Gets In The Way career success Oct 09, 2015

In a previous blog post we considered how to effectively set our goals to reach our “destination address.” However, no matter how well we plan, it seems that occasionally, life gets in...

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Lessons I Learned from Disney โ€“ Part 5: Dreams Come True career success Sep 29, 2015

When you see an advertisement for Disney Parks, and they show their tag line, The Place Where Dreams Come True, you might conjure up images of children meeting their favorite pirate or...

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Your Route to Cisco Career Success โ€“ Part 1 Goals: Your Destination Address career success Aug 25, 2015

About three years ago, I wrote a little e-book entitled Your Route to Cisco Career Success. Although it’s available in Kindle format from Amazon, you can download a free PDF of the...

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3 Lessons Iโ€™ve Learned from John Chambers career success Jul 15, 2015


John Chambers has been the CEO of Cisco since January of 1995, but on July 26, 2015 he is stepping down and going into semi-retirement. Replacing him at the helm of Cisco is Chuck Robbins.

To honor...

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Three Memorable Quotes from Cisco Live 2015 career success Jun 24, 2015

Just a few days ago, I returned from Cisco Live 2015, which was held in San Diego, California. As always, is was an educational, exhausting, and exciting week.

Enjoying Cisco Live 2015 With My...

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Lessons I Learned from Disney โ€“ Part 4 (The Advantage of Adversity) career success Jun 04, 2015

In the first three parts of the Lessons I Learned from Disney series, we’ve talked about lessons learned when I was working at Walt Disney World. However, in this installment, let’s...

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3 Tips to Ace the Technical Interview career success May 27, 2015

At some point in your networking career, you are almost certainly going to face the dreaded technical interview. In this blog posting, let’s answer the question, “How do you go in and...

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Lessons I Learned from Disney โ€“ Part 3 (Balancing Urgency with Impact) career success Apr 09, 2015

Mid afternoon, around 3:00 pm, is a prime time for checking into hotels, and the same holds true for Disney’s many resorts. These days, when you check into a Disney resort, you’re given...

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Lessons I Learned from Disney โ€“ Part 2 (Who Broke Mickeyโ€™s e-Mail?) career success Feb 20, 2015

Back in 2000, when I was working at Disney World as a Network Design Specialist, all disney.com e-mail accounts ran on two e-mail servers affectionately known and Pain and Panic (named after...

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Lessons I Learned from Disney โ€“ Part 1 (When to Praise โ€“ When to Coach) career success Jan 21, 2015

Anyone that knows my family and me, knows that we are huge fans of all things Disney. Besides just being a guest at various Disney destinations, I was privileged to be a cast member for the...

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Certification vs. Degree: My Take on the Age-Old Debate career success Dec 18, 2014

For years, the debate has raged about which is better. Is it better to focus on getting certifications or to earn a college-degree? Excellent points are to be made on each side of the argument....

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How Can a Tomato Help You Study for Cisco Exams? career success Dec 08, 2014

You’ve got a massive Cisco Press library; you’ve bookmarked key websites; and you’ve even subscribed to my blog :) Hopefully, you are super disciplined, and you’ve...

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