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OK here’s a little update.

I ended up taking a little break from CCIE SP study because… let’s be honest CCIE R&S ate up almost two years of my life, not to mention CCNA/CCNP before hand, so I’ve been wanting to live a little.

However, I’ve had the need to pick up some Juniper skills for a few up coming jobs in the real world. Some of the higher ups where I work are feeling a little anti Cisco at the moment, so are pushing out some Juniper gear instead, which is fine compared, to some of the schlock they pushed from other vendors that have just been complete fail, where money talked and bullshit literally walked (no names here ). 

So over the last few months I’ve been reading some Juniper material, and finally took the plunge and hit out the M/T track for the JNCIS. Which I’ve found to be much more interesting than the ER arm… If you’re already got a CCNP or CCIE under the belt and some real world experience with Juniper this shouldn’t be a hard slog Juniper make free in PDF format all their M/T track out of print JNCIA/S/P/E  Sybex material free to download from their site. I’d recommend reading these. The ER/EX material is available through their fast track program.

My only criticism is the actual test isn’t that much of a experience compared to Cisco Professional series exams for CCxP. The feeling is almost a throw back to the old CompTIA’s (Network+/A+ etc) style format.

I’d probably like to follow through with the JNCIP/E exams afterwards, but Juniper’s Lab availability isn’t anywhere near Cisco CCIE lab availability, with locations, they only set a specific day at a specific world wide location. They’d probably most likely involve international flights to do them in Singapore at this rate, but the pay off for having them might not be all that much.

Still waiting for my CCIE to start paying off $$ wise.

Also I’ve notied the JNCIS-M JN0-303 is due for an update in April 2010.

If you’re looking at an alternative to Cisco certifications, or looking at expanding your horizons like all good networkers should. You should check out the Juniper fast track program, and take up some of the discounted offers on Juniper Certifications for the Enterprise tracks, especially if you have exposure to Juniper equipment.

http://www.juniper.net/training/fasttrack/

I’ll be looking at boosting my own Juniper knowledge once I get this CCIE lab out of the way. There’s also no shortage of reference material out there on the net. Again something to look into if you are wanting to get an edge career wise.

Only the Juniper Network Certified Internet Associate (JNCIA-EX) has been announced so far.
Enterprise Switching Certification Track.

Designed for experienced networking professionals with intermediate knowledge of the Juniper Networks JUNOS software, this written exam verifies the candidate’s basic understanding of Internet technology and related platform configuration and troubleshooting skills.
JNCIA-EX exam topics are based on the content of the Operating Juniper Networks Switches in the Enterprise instructor led training course.

The JNCIA-EX certification is valid for two years. Recertification is achieved by passing the current version of the JNCIA-EX exam.

Course details:

Operating Juniper Networks Switches in the Enterprise
Course No: EDU-JUN-OJXE

Length: Four days

Cost: $2,400 (US) Schedule and Registration

Course Overview
This four-day course discusses the configuration of Juniper Networks EX-series switches in a typical network environment. Key topics include a platform overview, user configuration interfaces, initial and secondary system configuration tasks, operational monitoring of an EX-series switch, Ethernet switching concepts, the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), inter-VLAN routing, switching security protocols and features, IP telephony features, and design and implementation considerations.

Objectives
After successfully completing this course, you should be able to:

Describe common deployment options for the EX-series switches.
Perform operational monitoring tasks typically associated with EX-series switches.
Install and configure an EX-series switch in a network.
Form a Virtual Chassis system by connecting multiple EX-4200 switches.
Configure and monitor virtual local area networks (VLANs).
Create a loop-free network environment using the STP.
Implement inter-VLAN routing using static and dynamic methods.
Define and apply routing policy and firewall filters.
Secure a switch port using available port access security features.
Configure and monitor IP telephony features such as Power over Ethernet (PoE), voice VLAN, and Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP).
Design and implement a Layer 2 network using EX-series switches.

I wonder if this will eventually merge with the JNCIA-ER, JNCIS-ER, and JNCIE-ER tracks eventually…