>BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) is usually used between central offices and large
>ISPs. I could write a short spiel on the subject, but to save time and space
>here on UT, I'll just provide a wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BGP .

Yes, well, the CCNA curriculum mentions it, but doesn't enter into details. Those are covered in CCNP, and from the little I have seen, it is quite complicated.

>I have a question, Hilmar. Is the CCIE still chewing up and spiting out just
>about everyone who takes the exam? Here in the States, the exam lasts about
>5 days. They throw you into a room filled with switches, routers, fiber, network
>analyzers and just about every cable in existance and then hand you a paper
>notebook, saying you have so many days to build this particular network.
>If I remember correctly, you have to get something like 98% of it correct or
>you fail immediately. Also, after the hardware exam, you have to take a very
>difficult written exam and pass it with a 95 or better or you're history. The
>exam costs around $10,000.00 US, and no refunds. I don't know if this is hearsay
>or not, but I've heard of PhD electronic engineers and physicists failing the exam
>on the first try. When you here that there are only 3500 or so CCIE's world wide,
>making anywhere from $300-$500 an hour, you have to wonder if the hearsay is
>actually close to the truth or flat-out accurate :^).

What you say sounds like it MIGHT be true, but I don't know. I don't know whether we have a single CCIE in Bolivia. The certification exams for this particular "series", BTW, are, in this order: CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate), CCNP (Cisco Certified Networking Professional), CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetworking (?) Expert). Cisco Networking Academy has preparatory courses for CCNA and CCNP, but not for CCIE.

I only heard that CCIE are the top experts, and that there are very few, so it makes sense that the exam is difficult - and costly. I assume a CCIE has to know LOTS of different technologies.

I, for one, am not even very keen on the CCNP certification, for now, because (a) my area of expertise is programming, more than networks, (b) it would take a lot of time to research the additional topics (although I do want to take the time to read SOME of these topics, for my CCNA students), and (c) Even the CCNP exam is too dear for me, right now.