Industry Certification History:
Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert Written (CCIE Written);
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA);
Cisco IP Telephony Support Specialist (CIPT);
Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP);
Cisco Certified Academy Instructor (CCAI);
Linux Certified Instructor (LCI);
Linux Certified Administrator (LCA);
Mitel 3300 ICP Installation and Maintence Certified (this includes several periphery certifications like teleworker);
NEC IPKII Basic, Advanced, and IP Certified;
Oracle Certified Professional (OCP/DBO);
Certified Novell Administrator (CNA);
CradlePoint Network Associate and Professional (CPCNA and CPCNP).
Misc:
Technical editor for Sybex books.
Authored several Cisco based certification courses and labs.
Eagle scout (but that was a long time ago).
Personal Notes:
I have excellent troubleshooting skills with a well grounded knowledge of the OSI networking model.
This fact alone has generally made me the "5 alarm fire" guy at places where I've worked. When all else fails call Dax and he will riddle out the soution to the problem!
I feel that my networking knowledge is excellent. I'm comfortable working on a variety of routers, switches, firewalls, and other network hardware.
I have a strong grasp of several flavors of Linux as well as scripting languages such as Expect, TCL, and Python.
Developing, implementing, maintaining, and presenting technical training for Zscaler products.
To provide "real world" Dashboards or log files this training would include backend applications to generate traffic, or provide a website for the user to access to do something. These backend applications were most generally Docker containers running a Python script which in turn was running on a Linux VM in the AWS cloud. Any frontend websites were created using Flask or Bottle.
Continue developing, implementing, maintaining, and presenting technical training for Cisco products. The focus changed from purely security products in my previous position to focusing on routing/switching but in a manner of incorporating all Cisco products (security, data center, enterprise networking, etc.)
I feel I should call out that this means I work with VMware/KVM virtualization, Ansible automation, Python programming, Docker image creation, as well as just general Linux server services on a near daily basis. So, though I work *for* Cisco *on* Cisco features the surrounding skills to make demonstrations of those features include a lot more than just Cisco products and knowledge.
(On full-time contract to Cisco Systems.) Provide technical training on new Cisco security products. Basically this is the same position I had when working at ANI previously, with 100% of my focus being on Cisco Security Products (namely the Next Generation Firewall, or NGFW, also known as Firepower Threat Defense, or FTD). The difference this time around is that I also travel around the nation to deliver the lab and presentation that I've created direct to Cisco Partners. This position still requires me to build labs consisting of "enterprise network" topologies. I also design and build the presentation material (PowerPoint and visuals), along with a lab guide, that covers the pertinent content.
Assist the Account Managers in qualifying opportunies, spec out those opportunities, and help the customer solve their technical problems with well engineered solutions.
After 5 years as a "full time" contractor to Cisco I transitioned over to being a Cisco employee. My duties and responsibilities have essentially remained the same from my previous job through ANI so for the sake of brevity see the description of my duties from my ANI job as shown below. Of note, the only change with this transition is who is my target audience. Instead of building labs for the deployment engineers I now build demos for the pre-sales engineers to present in front of a customer.
(On full-time contract to Cisco Systems.) Provide technical training on new Cisco products. Design, build, and support labs on the new technologies forthcoming from Cisco. This requires me to build out full "Enterprise" mini-networks from the ground up. Typically this means configuring the infrastructure (routers,switches,ASA) for student pod access as well as administer several VMWare ESXi servers and the cooresponding VMs. VRFs, VLANs, IOL, Linux, MS, SSL VPN (AnyConnect as well as clientless) are routinely used during the buildout. Custom Expect/Tcl/Bash scripts, which are commonly needed for lab setup/teardown, are typcially programmed by me.
Though still working within this contract I've worked on the Security, Collaboration and Route/Switch teams. This has allowed me to be hyper-focused on ASA, Ironport ESA, QUAD, CUCM, as well as features of IOS (such as DMVPN, and AVC).
Manage statewide IT projects. Provide technical solutions to VoIP and traditional data networks. Lead consultant/programmer/troubleshooter for QoS issues. Provide security assessment and solutions for customer networks from SOHO to full Enterprise in size. Install Mitel and NEC VoIP phone systems.
Design and host database backed websites as well as provide DNS and email services. Perform system administration duties on Linux servers such as troubleshooting program/daemon problems, security audits, backups, and disaster recovery. Though all of these services (and more) have been hosted on either Slackware or Redhat/Fedora Linux, I am also familiar with Ubuntu, Arch, Mandrake, and SuSe.
Instruct for training centers worldwide. Provide technical training for all new instructors (train the trainer). Develop curriculum and design online labs for CCNA, CCNP classes. Design and deploy SQL database backed web site for instructional delivery. Topics included Cisco, Linux, and Oracle.
Designed and implemented WAN and LAN solutions for clients. Installed and troubleshot dialup POPs. Assisted in the maintenence of RAS servers and multipoint WAN links. Provided phone support for dialup and WAN customers. Maintained Linux servers. Maintained DNS records, Apache web servers, and Sendmail/qmail mail servers. Implemented network security from both the server and network levels. Programmed web based applications for clients with MySQL or Oracle databases.
Taught Cisco Networking Academy (CCNA) classes to local academy instructors and students.
Maintained local internetworking devices including Cisco switches, 3Com hubs, Cisco routers. Administered Novell NetWare (4.11 and 5.0) and Linux (Slackware) servers. Developed and implemented the district's 3 year technology plan. Taught Hagerman High School students Cisco Network Academy, A+ preparatory curriculum, and web design with multimedia products like HomeSite and Authorware. Supported school staff with technical issues.
Configured, installed, and wired the network. Troubleshot and fixed network and workstation problems. Built and installed workstations. Assisted in administering a Novell Netware 4.11 and Linux based network. Taught Kimberly High School students Linux and Apache.
Dealt with customers. Sold and built computers. Repaired and upgraded computers.
Managed and scheduled employees. Paid payroll and vendor billings. Maintained store inventories. Designed new pizza and pasta dishes. Marketed stores.