Systems staff member Irene Jacobson shows the equiment in the CCIE lab to some of the guests attending the Open House.

The Departments of Computer Science and Engineering and Networking and Telecommunications Services at the University of Minnesota, in conjunction with Cisco Systems, Inc. have opened a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) Practice Laboratory.

The CCIE Practice Laboratory is ideal for networking professionals wanting to practice for the CCIE lab exam. They will have a chance to configure Cisco routers and other networking equipment in an environment similar to what they will see when they take the real CCIE lab exam.

The laboratory is equipped with two PCs, several types of Cisco routers and switches, as well as ISDN lines, a Frame Relay switch, V.35 patch panels, 10-Megabit hubs and token ring MAU's. A CCIE Practice Multiprotocol Skills practice exam, developed by Cisco Systems, is used to make the practice session as close as possible to the actual CCIE lab exam.

On May 5th Cisco sponsored an Open House for the CCIE Practice Lab and approximately 50 representatives from some of Minnesota's largest companies attended. The Open House included presentations from Computer Science and Engineering Department Head, Yousef Saad, Networking and Telecommunications Department Director Carolyn Parnell, and CCIE program team leader Jeff Buddemeier. Refreshments in the CCIE Practice Lab followed the presentations. This lab is beneficial for both Cisco and the CS&E department. The department gets to use state-of-the-art equipment in its research, local industry has a top-notch facility at which their employees can train, and Cisco provides a service to their customers who want to have CCIE certification. The cost of the lab is $500 per day; Cisco recommends at least two days in the practice lab before attempting the actual CCIE lab exam.

For further information, please contact either Irene Jacobson at 612-625-8526, jacobson@cs.umn.edu, or Jim MacDonald at 612- 625-5803, mac@cs.umn.edu.