Cllv - Tag - Fryguy's Blog

Cisco Live Attendee Expectations

Fryguy — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 08:00:56 +0000

A few months ago (wow, has it been that long) I did a post on Cisco Live 2011 – Why you should go… and wanted to now follow that up with what you should expect while you are there as well as what you should bring with you. If this is your first time I hope that this helps, if this is your 2nd, 3rd, etc time – please post in the comments with suggestions. Each and every one of us experiences the event a little different, so sharing is always helpful and appreciated.
What do you need to bring with you for this event and what should you do to prepare? Pack a good size suitcase and leave room! You have the chance to get so many shirts, bags, whiz bangs, and other nick-knacks at World of Solutions you will need the space. Not to mention if you shop at the Cisco Store there and get shirts, books, golf balls, pens, etc – you will need a place to take all that stuff back with you. The first few years I would up shipping things back, and that does get expensive real quick!

Cisco Live 2011 Schedule

Fryguy — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:22:21 +0000

Figured I would put up a quick post with my current Cisco Live class schedule. This is my schedule as of today and, as always, is subject to change. All times are in Vegas time!

Saturday
	Fly and check in at Mandalay Bay as well as register for the event

Sunday
	8:00 – 17:00	TECDCT-8001	Next Generation Data Center Infrastructure

Monday	9:30 – 11:30	BRKARC-3470	Cisco Nexus 7000 Switch Architecture
	12:30 – 14:30	BRKARC-3471	Cisco NXOS Software – Architecture
	15:00 – 17:00	BRKRST-2335	IS-IS Network Design and Deployment

Tuesday	8:00 – 9:30	BRKRST-3045	LISP – A Next Generation Networking Architecture
	10:00 – 11:00	GENKEY-4700	Keynote and Welcome Address
	12:30 – 14:30 15:00 – 15:30	BRKCOM-1005 GENNOC-9190	UCS Systems Architecture Overview Cisco Live NOC Tour (CCIE/NetVet)
	16:00 – 18:00	BRKCRS-3144	Troubleshooting Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches

Wednesday
	8:00 – 10:00	BRKCOM-2006	UCS Reference Architecture for Enterprise Applications
	10:30 – 11:30	GENKEY-4701	Cisco Technology Keynote
	12:30 – 14:30	BRKDCT-2121	Virtual Device Context (VDC) Designing and Implementation Considerations with Nexus
	16:00 – 18:00	BRKVIR-3013	Deploying and Troubleshooting the Nexus 1000V virtual switch

Thursday
	8:00 – 10:00	BRKCOM-1002	Data Center Architectures and Virtual Private Data Centers with UCS
	10:30 – 11:30	GENDCT-4642	Town Hall: Data Center
	12:00 – 14:00	BRKARC-3472	NX-OS Routing & Layer 3 Switching
	14:30 – 15:30	GENKEY-4702	Closing Keynote: William Shatner
	16:00 – 17:30	BRKMPL-2108	Global WAN Redesign Case Study

Friday
	Fly home!

Cisco Live 2011 – Why you should go. . .

Fryguy — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:06:30 +0000

Well, it is almost that time a year when all the “Networkers” get together at the annual Cisco Live event. It is still a few months away when I am writing this – but as we all know – time slows down for no one. I wanted to take a few moments and share with you why I attend as well as why you should consider attending. Please keep in mind that my experience is a bit different from the normal attendee as I am considered a NetVet as well as a CCIE, and being that we get a few additional perks during the event.

Cisco Live Day 2 and Day 3 recap

Fryguy — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:52:10 +0000

Well, the days continue to tick away here at Cisco Live 2010.
Day 2 was rather uneventful to be honest, it is basically a day of classes and then the opening of World of Solutions (WoS). World of solutions is where all the vendors get together and try to get you to listen to a sales pitch for perhaps some free trinkets. At one time I would have listened just to get the free stuff, but I have learned over time that what you get is usually not worth the time.
The one nice thing about when WoS opens is that the Cisco store here opens as well. The Cisco Store is nice as you have an opportunity to purchase Cisco Press books at a discount as well as trinkets that you can bring back to co-workers. They also have shirts and other gear, so it all depends on what you are looking for.
Day 3 was the keynote from John Chambers, that is almost worth the price of admission itself. John is a person that is very good in front of an audience, he knows how to get them engaged and walks around and does eye-to-eye communication with people. He does not stay on stage and just speak, he engages.
During the keynote they always demo cutting edge technology, and this year was no different. On Day 3 they announced the Cisco Cius – a tablet type computer for a connected world. Here is a video to the ad and demo what was given at Live – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEk2MI4ZGlQ&feature=related
The Cius is an android based tablet, so it is based on open standards and code. This device has some great potential for education, home-office workers, as well as anyone who is a road-warrior as it is WiFi/3G/4G capable.
Also on Day 3 is the CCIE/DE NetVet reception with John Chambers. This is an invitation only event open to Cisco Live NetVets who hold a valid CCIE/CCDE certification. (A NetVet is a person who has attended as least 3 of the past 5 Cisco Live conferences. ) During this reception there is wonderful finger food as well as drinks in abundance. What makes this event wonderful is that it is an open forum between the NetVets and John where anything can be asked. There where may good questions asked from Partner relations with regards to Advanced Services; hardware lead-time issues; futures of the Certification Track (future CCIE tracks a well as perhaps something more advanced); to even the future of John’s role with Cisco.
To end out Day 3 for those who have CCIE/CCDE certifications was a part at Rio at the VooDoo lounge. Cisco reserved the lounge from 8pm to 11pm for the private party. Food was wonderful, alcohol flowed, and mingling was great. It is a chance to meet some of the more prestigious certification holders as well as see friends from last year that you sometimes do not get a chance to run across.

Cisco Live 2010 – Day 1

Fryguy — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:46:34 +0000

Well, the first day of Cisco Live is now in the books for me. There have been a few bumps and scrapes on the first day, but all-in-all I would call it a success.
What problems did we encounter on the first day? Well, it seems as that some of the support staff was not sure of times and hours as well as where the registration line was. Minor things there, and to be honest that is expected on the first day. Most of them are locals who have not worked this conference before and need to get familiar with everything as well.
Another problem that we experienced was wireless. The CiscoLive SSID was not working for the first hour or so of class. Not sure what happened, but they did get it fixed quickly and we where back up and running. What was impressive about the wireless was the speed, there was no problems there at all. I ran a speed-test report and was pulling 13megs on my iPad.

The rest of the day was uneventful, which is a good thing. My CCDE class was wonderful – Russ White was one of the presenters for the class. If you do not know of Russ, you know of his work. He is one of the people who have written CCIE labs for probably all tracks, the CCDE tests, as well as I am sure he is part of the CCA board. Russ is an ubergeek without question.
The rest of the night, well lets just say if you see my tweets on Twitter, you know we had a good time. And that is the other part about Cisco Live that some people seem to miss. It is a chance and a time to meet new friends, have a good time, and enjoy renewing friendships from previous years.
Later on I will try to blog some excerpts from my classes, especially the 8-hour CCDE one that I took on Sunday.

Let the travel begin

Fryguy — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:56:41 +0000

Well, time for the travel fun to begin. In a few hours I will be landing in Vegas for cisco live. I will have to admit, this is looking to be one of the best ones ever!