My Path: … and one day it started

After being graduated in computer science (in Senegal 2006) I went back home (Mauritania, I know you don’t know where it is) with many programming codes in my head, lol, I was a real geek who doesn’t sleep at all 🙂

I started to work as a programmer for .NET applications and specially working on web services stuffs for MS SharePoint platform.

One day the infrastructure team was planning to re-build the company network. I said myself ok, you did good networking courses at the university you can listen and help them. Seems they have some issues for traffic differentiation at layer 2.

Then I spoke, telling them they just have to use different subnets. lol.

There was a guy who took CCNA courses, he said no we have to create VLAN to separate the traffic and for each type of traffic (or department) we assign a different subnet. That was a shock for me. Then I started to dig deep in my brain trying to remember what virtual LAN means. No results, he tried to explain no way to get what he was talking about, I never practiced in my networking classes, and even never saw a real switch, only 16 port old d-link switches.

The big shock was, when he connected by serial to a 2950 switch and opened hyper terminal (never new what the utility of this software) then started to type some commands. It was like I was dreaming; how come I did not know a switch can be configured (with UNIX-like commands) 😦

I could not sleep well for days. Then I started doing my research about CISCO and CCNA courses. One week later I resigned and went back to Senegal in January 2007 to take CCNA courses. At home, everybody was questioning why why why? No one could understand, know they do.

Its how it started and since I am having fun. I passed the CCNA on March 2008. After that I started to prepare CVOICE, few months later I found it will be hard to get the material to practice for the CCVP.  As I am with BGP MPLS so much at work, I switched for CCIP which I complete at the end of 2009. In June 2010 I completed the CCNP and decided to go for the CCIE R&S which I started to prepare right after.

I started read almost all the recommended books and passed the written in December. And since, I am preparing for the lab which I am planning to sit for in next December in Brussels.

 
 

Hope more fun is ahead 🙂

 
 

Aliou