CiscoTips

The ASR 9000 has 6 times more capacity and is 4 times faster than any other router in the same category. It is able to transmit data at a rate of 6.4 terabits per second. What does this mean? It means that it is capable of transmitting 200 dvd video / sec or 250.000 mp3s / sec or 500.000 e-books / second. Therefore, the bandwidth capacity of the ASR 9000 router is 10 times of the Cisco ASR 1000. For example, the ASR 9000 supports 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to homes, compared to common legacy E1 or T1 connections which used to have around 1.5 to 2 Mbps.

«We really believe that the IP (Internet Protocol) traffic on the Internet will be growing by 46% annually up to 2012 while the bulk of traffic, about 90%, will be consumed by video,” said Pankaj Patel, senior vice president who manages the company’s relationships with telecommunications carriers.

The ASR 9000 has innovative technology for proactive management of video signals which are particularly difficult. It can repair and offer an excellent image quality and performance for HDTV and other video services, state executives of Cisco. It is ideal for companies such as AT & T and Verizon because they offer more and faster Internet video to mobile phones and for the PC consumers.

As a corollary, the company adds that the ASR 9000 operates 40% more effectively than other competing products, helping to save the planet and saving money for the network operators.

So far, some of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, including Softbank Corp. Japan have signed for the acquisition of such devices. The ASR 9000 router is using the same operating system as the Cisco CRS – 1 that transmits data with rate of 92 trillion bits per second and which now ‘runs’ for more than 200 telecommunication operators in the high speed lanes of the world wide web. When the Cisco launched CRS-1 in 2004, some analysts said that these heavy duty network machines (weighing 2,300 pounds and having a height of 7 feet) did not satisfied customers’ wishes. They even predicted that the San Jose company will not sell more than 50 units. Pankaj however stated that Cisco now sells at least 50 such routers per week. Last year, the company earned 39 billion U.S. dollars just from the sales of ASR routers.

Glen Hunt, an analyst at Current Analysis said that Cisco’s new router will cost providers at least $ 80,000. The ASR 9000 can be installed close to homes and business premises of consumers. This model took 4 years to get out to production and had cost $200 million U.S. dollars. According to Ray Mota, director of sales strategy of Synergy Research Group, the ASR 9000 will fill a gap in the production chain of Cisco and will help the San Jose company to maintain its market share. Cisco competes with companies like Alcatel – Lucent and Juniper Networks in the sales of routers. However, Cisco controls 59% of the market compared with Alcatel – Lucent controlling 15% and 14% for Juniper.

One of the most popular Cisco certifications (probably after CCNA) is the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP). A CCNP is like the Master’s degree in the Cisco qualifications arena (CCNA can be considered the Bachelor’s degree and CCIE is the PhD degree!!). With a CCNP certification, a networking professional proves to be a highly qualified specialist for planning, building and maintaining medium to large IP networks.

On January 25, 2010 Cisco announced drastic changes to CCNP certification. The most important one is that instead of taking 4 exams you now need only 3 (ROUTE exam, SWITCH exam and TSHOOT exam). The old 4-exam certification path option will be available until July 31 2010. After that date, only the new 3-exam option will be available. However, from now until July 31 you can mix and match between the old and new exams accordingly.

More details about the new CCNP update below:

• BSCI, BCMSN, ISCW, ONT exams are available until July 31 2010.
• ROUTE exam (642-902) and SWITCH exam (642-813) will be available from March 10, 2010.
• TSHOOT exam (642-832) will be available from April 30, 2010.
• Exams are becoming even more hands-on (for example the TSHOOT troubleshooting exam is mostly hands-on practical concepts).
• Before July 31, 2010 BSCI exam can substitute for ROUTE exam or vice versa.
• Before July 31, 2010 BCMSN exam can substitute for SWITCH exam or vice versa.
• Exam price will be $200 per exam instead of $150.

Overall, the new CCNP update maps better to real-world network environments. Although the exams are less than before, I think it will be more difficult to pass without having actual practical experience with Cisco routers and switches (at least 2 years I would say).

For more details about the new CCNP certification, visit the Cisco link here.

I found the following interesting article about the advantages of getting a Cisco certification as an important step in your career advancement in networking. Another important reason that I would add for getting a Cisco certification is that you will force yourself to learn the theory behind network technology and not rely only on hands-on practical experience (which is also important of course). Learning the theory behind networking technology concepts will tremendously help you in troubleshooting (if you are a field engineer) or in properly designing networks (if you are a network designer and planner).

Article:

If you work in the information technology field, or if you are trying to break in to start your career, getting a certification is a crucial step. Companies often require at least one IT certification to qualify for a position. There are many choices for which certification to pursue, though. Here are four great reasons why you should consider a Cisco certification for career advancement:

1. Cisco is a trusted name in the industry. Cisco is one of the world’s leading providers of IT and networking solutions. That gives them a lot of credibility in the technology world. As a result, employers place a lot of trust in Cisco to certify knowledgeable workers. After all, who better to test your skill with technology than the people who created that technology? Adding a Cisco certification to your resume lets you benefit from their very reliable name.
2. There are a wide variety of Cisco certifications to choose from. Cisco may specialize in computer networking, but there are dozens of specializations to choose from in their catalog of certifications. Whatever your particular IT interest is, there is probably a Cisco certification that is right for you. Interested in network design? Try a CCNA, CCDA, or CCDP. Is network security your thing? Then look into getting a CCSP. You can even specialize in voice, wireless, or storage networking. Research the type of specialization that interests you, and then plan out the certification path that suits your goals.
3. Cisco certifications follow a distinct career path. Cisco makes it very easy to turn your certification pursuits into a career track. There are seven main paths for Cisco certification: Routing and Switching, Design, Network Security, Service Provider, Storage Networking, Voice, and Wireless. Each path contains a separate set of certifications that build on one another and prepare you for increasing levels of responsibility in your field of specialization. You can use these certification paths as a guide to building your career. Just find a position that requires the entry certification level, and then continue increasing your certification level and seek out new positions or internal promotions that match your current level of certification.
4. Getting a lower-level certification prepares you for certifications higher up the chain. Cisco structures their certification paths in a unique way, where lower level certifications qualify you for more specialized certifications further up in the hierarchy. Most IT pros start out with the basic CCENT certification, which is a prerequisite for most other Cisco certifications. The Associate level CCNA certification usually follows, since it qualifies you for more certifications at the Professional and Expert level. This makes those low-level certifications even more valuable. Not only do they give you a boost in your career, but they also open up certification doors for you should you choose to advance your education and continue to specialize.

If you are convinced, you can find out more about Cisco certifications, paths, and levels at http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/index.html. Once you decide on which path to take, consider enrolling at a qualified certification training school to help you prepare for your exam. With a little guidance and practice, you will be able to pass your Cisco certification exam the first time and start enjoying the benefits to your career right away.

Shawn Livengood works for TechSkills, a career training school with over 25 campuses nationwide. TechSkills offers career training programs for IT certifications, healthcare services, accounting, and project management.

Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shawn_Livengood

The Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) is the new brand name given by Cisco to the older Call Manager Express (CME) system. The concept is the same however: IP Telephony software running on Cisco routers. Therefore, the CUCME is a normal Cisco router (models supported are 1800, 2800, 2900, 3800, 3900 series) with a special IP Telephony software (call manager software) installed on the router’s flash memory. The CUCME system serves as the call control node to facilitate IP Telephony communications in a small to medium size Enterprise.

Usually there is a single CUCME system in each LAN network, with several IP phones connected on the LAN switches. An enterprise with several sites connected over a private IP WAN network can establish full IP voice communications between sites by configuring H323 communication between each CUCME router. A simple example with a two-node topology is shown below.

CME-A node has local IP phones with numbering 500x and a WAN IP address of 1.1.1.1. On the other site, CME-B has local IP phones with numbering 600x and a WAN IP address of 2.2.2.2. By establishing H323 voip communication over the WAN (between 1.1.1.1 and 2.2.2.2) we can have full IP telephony conversations between the IP phones of both sites.

CAUTION: Because the actual VoIP RTP traffic communication between site A and site B will be running from one IP phone to another IP phone, there must be full IP routing established between the IP phone subnets.
The CUCME configuration to establish H323 between the two sites is shown below:

CME-A

CME-A#show running-config
dial-peer voice 6000 voip
destination-pattern 60..
session target ipv4:2.2.2.2
dtmf-relay h245-alphanumeric
codec g729r8

CME-B

CME-B#show running-config
dial-peer voice 5000 voip
destination-pattern 50..
session target ipv4:1.1.1.1
dtmf-relay h245-alphanumeric
codec g729r8

The dial-peer configuration on CME-A tells the system that in order to reach the destination pattern 60xx the session will be established with IP address 2.2.2.2 (i.e CME-B). The inverse applies for CME-B.

Note: Make sure to select one of the high compression codecs ( such as g729, g723) in order to save bandwidth for voice calls over the WAN network. Each VoIP conversation using a high compression codec (g729, g723) will use significantly less bandwidth compared with the traditional G711 codec.