CCDE STUDY PLAN
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DEC 16, 2020 ON LINKEDIN
I've had several people ask me lately about how to pursue their CCDE certification. Most of these individuals are CCIE certified or have the equivalent knowledge but are more design-focused in their career and want a certification that reflects this expertise. In order to make this an easily referenced document (and noting this is for the current CCDE v2.1), I am putting the information down here.
Step 1: Read the CCDE Study Guide and note any technology discussed that you do not have down stone cold. Make a list for step 2.
https://www.ciscopress.com/store/ccde-study-guide-9781587144615
Step 2: Watch Cisco Live videos on any topics that you don’t have complete familiarity with. Below is a sample list:
Campus Networking:
BRKCRS-2661 - Designing Layer 2 Networks - Avoiding Loops, Drops, Flooding
BRKCRS-2031 - Enterprise Campus Design: Multilayer Architectures and Design Principles
BRKCRS-2888 - Advanced Enterprise Campus Design: Converged Access
BRKCRS-3036 - Advanced Enterprise Campus Design: Routed Access
BRKSPG-2210 - Designing Programmable Access Networks
Core Routing:
BRKRST-2338 - ISIS Deployment in Modern Networks
BRKIPM-2444 - EIGRP – An in depth look at the Protocol
BRKIPM-3010 - Which Routing Protocol? - IPv4 and IPv6 Perspective
BRKRST-3051 - Core Network Design: Minimizing Packet Loss with IGPs and MPLS
BRKRST-3363 - Routed Fast Convergence
BRKRST-2336 - EIGRP Deployment in Modern Networks
BRKNMS-2202 - Ethernet OAM: Technical Overview and Deployment Scenarios
BRKRST-3020 - IP LFA (Loop-Free-Alternate): Architecture and Troubleshooting
WAN and Service Provider Networking:
BRKRST-2041 - WAN Architectures and Design Principles
BRKCRS-2040 - WAN and Remote-Site Deployment using Cisco Validated Designs
BRKRST-2042 - Highly Available Wide Area Network Design
BRKRST-2044 - Enterprise Multi-Homed Internet Edge Architectures
BRKIPM-3017 - Advanced mVPN Deployment Models
BRKMPL-3101 - Advanced Topics and Future Directions in MPLS
BRKSPG-2051 - Evolution of Service Provider Edge Architectures
BRKMPL-2102 - Designing MPLS-based IP VPNs
BRKMPL-2109 - MPLS Solutions for Cloud Networking
BRKMPL-2333 - EVPN: Network Virtualization Solution for Next Generation Enterprise DCs, DCI and SPDCs
BRKSPG-2207 - Redundancy Mechanisms for Carrier Ethernet and Layer 2 VPN Services
BRKRST-3321 - Advanced - Scaling BGP
BRKMPL-2108 - Designing MPLS in Next Generation Data Center: Case Studies
BRKSPG-2777 - What DC Fabrics Can Teach Us About SP Core Design
BRKRST-2124 - Introduction to Segment Routing
Data Center and Cloud Networking:
BRKRST-3045 - Introduction to LISP and VXLAN
BRKDCT-2456 - Building Multi-Tenant DC using Cisco Nexus Switching
BRKDCT-3378 - Building Data Center Networks with VXLAN BGP-EVPN
BRKDCT-2615 - How to Achieve True Active-Active Data Centre Infrastructures
BRKDCN-2600 - Design Considerations for Data Centre Infrastructure Solutions
BRKMPL-2115 - MPLS Architectural approaches for Data Center and Cloud
BRKACI-2003 - ACI Multi-pod and Multi-Site Design and Dployment
BRKACI-2125 - ACI Multi-Site Architecture and Deployment
BRKDCN-2657 - Design and Implementation of DCI Networks
BRKARC-2259 - Architecture of NFV Platform for Orchestrating Cloud-based & vBranch Managed Services
BRKDCN-2404 - VXLAN Deployment Models - A practical perspective
Security and VPN:
BRKSEC-2000 - Securing Borderless Networks
BRKSEC-4054 - Advanced Concepts of DMVPN
BRKSEC-2881 - Designing Remote-Access and Site-to-Site IPSec Networks with FlexVPN
BRKSEC-3036 - Advanced IPsec designs with FlexVPN
BRKSEC-3054 - Advanced IPSec with FlexVPN and IKEv2
BRKACI-2250 - Cisco End-to-End Datacenter Security Architecture
BRKDCN-3001 - Leveraging Micro Segmentation to Build Comprehensive Data Center Security Architecture
IPv6 Topics:
BRKRST-2301 - Enterprise IPv6 Deployment
BRKSPG-2067 - IPv6 Design and Transition Mechanisms
BRKSPG-3300 - Service Provider IPv6 Deployment
BRKSEC-2003 - IPv6 Security Threats and Mitigations
BRKSEC-3200 - Advanced IPv6 Security Threats and Mitigations
Services:
BRKRST-2501 - Enterprise QoS
BRKRST-2056 - The QoS Paradigm Shift
BRKCRS-2501 - Campus QoS Design-Simplified
BRKRST-2513 - QoS Design For IPSec VPNs
BRKEWN-2010 - Design and Deployment of Enterprise WLANs
BRKRST-2515 - QoS Design and Deployment for Wireless LANs
BRKIPM-2008 - Advanced Topics in IP Multicast Deployment
BRKNMS-1801 - Building the Ultimate Network Management Architecture
BRKUCC-2006 - SIP Trunk Design and Deployment in Enterprise UC Networks
Emerging Technologies:
DEVNET-1101 - Getting Started with OpenStack
DEVNET-1104 - OpenStack Enabling DevOps
BRKNMS-2446 - Do IT with DevOps
BRKIOT-2113 - Internet of Things for the Enterprise
BRKIOT-2025 - Building Large Scale IOT Architectures
Bonus Review:
BRKCCDE-3006 - CCDE Lab Review
Step 3: Read books on subjects you feel the need to build upon to gain a full understanding. This can and should be done concurrently with step 2. Suggested reading list:
MPLS Enabled Applications, 3rd ed.
MPLS in and SDN Era
IP Multicast, Volume I/II
End-to-End QoS Network Design, 2nd ed.
IPv6 Fundamentals, 2nd ed.
Optimal Routing Design
BGP Design and Implementation
Definitive MPLS Network Designs
The Art of Network Architecture
Nick Russo’s Evolving Technologies
Step 4: Re-read the CCDE Study Guide to once again check your current understanding of the overall topics. Decide for which technologies you need to repeat steps 2 and 3. Read the associated RFCs and any others you feel are valuable (e.g. RFC 4271, etc.).
Step 5: Now would be a good time to take the written exam.
Step 6: Practice Labs
Jeremy Filliben’s Mailer and WebEx follow-up Meetings
Martin J Duggan Practice Lab Exams
Step 7: Round back on steps 2 – 3 for any technologies that tripped you up in the practice labs. Again, RFCs are your friend.
Step 8: Take the practical exam.
Make sure you evaluate every option and possibility against the business requirements and technological constraints. Do not give the generic Best Practices answer as it will likely be wrong based upon these insights.
Make sure you read the question thoroughly, connect with the scenario at a personal level, look for the missing information in each scenario, and know what information you already have.
Step 9: Repeat until you succeed.
There you have it, an easy 9-step plan to CCDE success. Personally, I believe that the CCDE is the best certification from any vendor I have ever taken. It won't gain you a whole lot of notoriety or HR emails (as a CCIE may), but for those "in the know," it'll certainly gain you significant respect.
Good luck!
