Cisco Certified Support Technician - Part 2: Networking

This is the 2nd of the 3 CCST Certifications I studied and pass.

This is an interesting study as this was remind me of CompTA Network+ in 2010 where I was doing the 2005 version of Network+ (N10-003) as when I booked the exam the N10-003 was required and booked the 2009 version instead (N10-004) which I failed because there was very new stuff included IP6 and security side. Then resort to restudy again because of new technology. After the 5th attempt, I manage to pass. The best part was I was lucky because if I failed the 5th time I have to wait another year to resit and also CompTIA introduce the 3 year certification renewal so I got this CompTIA Network+ Certificate before 2011 or else Network+ will be under CE version (Continuing Education).

Now today, I am doing another Network exam, 14 years later. This time the Cisco Round.

There are lots to learn and throughout the years of Networking, a lot of things changed such as IP6, security and the cloud are in the picture.

I use Udemy for study and G-Metrix for practice test.

I spend 2 weeks to study the practice test before the exam.

On the exam, the exam covers network switch, screenshot of the command use in Cisco, understanding Address, Subnets, Diagnosis and the Concepts.

The subject itself is more Cisco based version of CompTIA Network+.

On the exam results, I though I fail because I did not get most questions correct, however I got a good score because of the partial credits accumulate the score which I did not see coming.

At the end I did pass the exam because of partial credit score.

It was a hard and shocking pass, but at the end of the day, 'Pass is a Pass'.

Cisco Certified Support Technician - Part 1: IT Support

 

This is the 1st of the 3 CCST Certifications I studied.

During my 20 years of doing Technical work, the practice test was very easy to pass.

I use Udemy for study resources and G-Metrix for practice tests. The same G-Metrix I use for Microsoft Office Specialist examinations.

On the exam and the practice test, you learn about not just basic technology, you need to understand the ticketing system when doing IT Support such as prioritising IT Support ticket when you work as an IT Helpdesk/Support, how you write and log Support Tickets, gather information from the end user when they had IT issues. Learn the troubleshooting tool, understanding basic security, Remote Tools and as well as basic networking.

By the way, they will briefly include Linux, MacOS and Android questions in the mix.

I did pass the exam successfully with a good score which is above 750 which is more than expected as the passing score is 700 points out of 1000.

I did enjoy the exam as this is similar to CompTIA A+. I remember doing the CompTIA A+ exam which was in 2009 which was few attempts to pass.

Since years goes pass the IT Support and CompTIA A+ exam has expanded because of all the new technologies evolved. Also, the IT Support is not longer about Desktop and Laptop, it is beyond that as this has include Mobile phones as my manager always say that 'Mobile Phones are just like PCs' which he is correct.

Since I pass this exam I have now regained my Cisco Certification Status since 2019 because I let my CCNA Networking Certificate expired and I did not renew it.

The next exam is the CCST Networking.

New Cisco Entry Level Certification

I was on my Facebook feed and I come across some new Cisco Certifications.

They are the Entry level Certifications. Unlike the CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician), Cisco created the new CCST Certification.

CCST is an acronym for Cisco Certified Support Technician.

Cisco Certified Support Technician was created in Late 2022 and I was not aware of this because I was focusing on Microsoft Server Hybrid Administrator Certification. I just found out recently (around November 2023).
Networking started in 2022, then Cyber Security. Now they are introducing the IT Technician Certification.

What is Cisco Certified Support Technician?
Basically Cisco Certified Support Technician is the new Entry Level Certifications for Cisco. I call it 'CompTIA' version of Cisco because the Cisco Support Technician Certification is the rival of CompTIA. Unlike CompTIA, CCST will be a bit of Cisco in it because it is Cisco based Certification.

Why do I call it CompTIA's rival?

Because the Certs and the subject matter experts are equivalent.

CCST IT Support = CompTIA A+
CCST Networking = CompTIA Network+ 
CCST Cybersecurity = CompTIA Securiy+

Some may disagree with me because they may assume CCST Cybersecuriy should be equivalent to CompTIA CySA+, however it is not because CompTIA CySA+ is more higher than CompTIA Security+.

The best part of them all is they do not expire. Meaning I will be 'Certified for life'.

It is the exam worth it?
The answer is 'yes' because this will teach you all the modern fundamentals of the subject and if you are new to IT. However if you want the Vendor Neutral style of IT which teach you the overall, then you can always choose CompTIA.

Also the cost of the exam is way cheaper than CompTIA and they do not expire.

I am planning on doing all the 3 Certification because I like to see how the exam goes and it is worth a try.

AI (Artificial Intelligent) needs Human Touch too

This will be an interesting blog produce because I had a lot thinking before I post this. The title of the video will be called 'AI which is (Artificial Intelligence) needs human touch'.

The reason I come up with the blog post because at my workplace, I manage Microsoft Intune from Microsoft 365 and I observe for many years that people and organisations always rely on Automation.

It is good that AI does the job for humans, but the people and developers never grasp to understand that AI still need human touch and human interaction.

For example, end users complain that the Apps does not update automatically or synchronise.

This is sometimes because they are not connect to the Wi-Fi to do the update or email does not sync. Even the syncing does not always work, this still requires human interaction to use the phone to swipe the phone to manually sync so the end users see new incoming email messages.

I realise the end users are so rely on everything Automated, they become lazy and useless. It is not the fault of technology. Technology does its best by make thing better. But it still requires end users to manually check, this is the reason why AI needs human touch.

I made a YouTube video using the Star Trek's V'ger which will come out soon, analogy because it does not matter how intelligent V'ger (Voyager 6) is, it became not just self-aware, but it gain conscious and sentiment. Now asking for a human touch because being intellectual logical is not enough so the solution is it requires emotions to learn and evolve.

It is very important in the Technology world that end users and people in Technology should not rely on anything Automated because it still need human interaction to do maintenance when things goes wrong and start using your brains to maintain.

Here is a clip below of the unofficial V'ger Translation:

Thoughts on HPE MicroServer Gen 11

I was looking at HPE Servers and I come across HPE MicroServer Gen 11 has been release few months ago (probably August 2024)

I did not know that HPE MicroServer Gen 11 has been released. I knew it was planned, but I did not know when.
I did some research so far HPE MicroServer Gen 11.

I look at at the Reddit form more information:
https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1fftzl9/hpe_microserver_gen11_handson_lessons_learned/?rdt=58766

So far, what I know is the CPU and Wattage are the same (Intel C252 and still 180w).

However this now have of the following:
- M.2
- 4 UDIMM DDR5 slots which can go up to 128GB RAM.
- 2 PCI-E Slot, PCIe 5.0 x16 and 4.0 x4. Both low-profile
- No iLO, but have iLO 6. However, iLO and Serial are optional

The motherboard as some new feature ports, but HP cannot identify what they are.

I thought about purchasing one but I will wait for a while because I purchase and upgraded my Gen10 v2 which I done a YouTube video on does since March 2024. Also the v2 does what I need at the moment as it have 64GB RAM and 8 Core / 16 vCore on Gen10 v2.