DATA CENTRE 101 | WHAT CERTIFICATIONS DO YOU NEED TO WORK IN A DC? CCNA? ANY AT ALL?! 

I'm famous now.

Unfortunately, lots of entry lvl gigs ask for CCNA but when u work there, its just answer phones, emails and a bit of network monitoring. Actual config changes on FWs, routers and switches might be 0-10% of your daily tasks. Every NOC is different.

I've been a Data Center Technician for a year with Quality Technology Services (QTS) in Atlanta, GA. The certifications and required experience dependents on the what the company you are applying for requires for the positions. Personally my company was looking for more Fiber Optic termination and splicing experience than hardward/networking experience. Lucky I had both fiber and networking experience. I worked for AT&t as a project fiber lead and network technician in the US military. My past work experience got me the job, but CompTIA Sec+ and Net+ got me at Technician II and a pay raise. Best experience to have is Fiber experience, and minimum of CompTIA Net+ just to add to your resume to land a job.

The trick to work in a DC (or any IT job), apply for it. Impressing the right person in the interview with your attitude, willingness to learn, and having the right mindset will get you a job a lot faster than any certificate.

You have just fuel my energy to keep pushing even tho is sometimes frustrating to be a network engineer. Thanks for the advice.

I already work in DC environment and I don't think CCNA is required at all. Network admins/architects look after all that stuff. As a DC manager or tech you will spend more of your time focussing on environmental monitoring, Power, Air Con, access control, UPS systems, patching, config management, asset management, capacity management and installations. I'm doing all of this and still cannot configure a cisco switch. Gradual experience has got me to where I am now rather than courses and certifications.

Simple video but full of knowledge and I happy to listen to him all day. This is so precious thing I have watched today. By he said in the video, not only benefit to who interested in working in DC environment but also who wants to work in the IT industry. These tips are so valuable and thank you very much for sharing this.

Obviously you are a man with a big heart, may God bless you each and every day

I like how he gave advice to the viewers even that he's working in DC environment already.

sees the size of the books* bro imma sell burgers, peace.

Entry level rack and stack engineers need to be able to lift a server, BE ON TIME, be clean, and have a work ethic. That is about it. All you are going to be doing is putting servers in racks and cabling them up. It is entry level. Anything on your resume that makes you look better will help you get the job over someone else. But nothing is better than a prompt hard worker. You will see what you need to do to work your way up when you get there.

a+, network+, and then dive into what you want. I'm working directly on my MCSE next instead of any routing and switching because then you'll become a network engineer and not into a 'DC'. However, your employer might require or not require these things. I've got a handful of the comptia's and my experience got me promoted to become an IT Sys Admin. Sadly, experience > certs in this field.

Thank you Zack, for that. I am currently doing a course with both CompTIA A+ and Network+ and find you'r videos very informative. Thank you.

Great video. I'm on the infrastructure network team for my org and I've been playing a HUGE part in our on-prem data center migration to a colo facility. It's been a wonderful experience and I've learned a lot about data centers and even refined my routing and switching skills on Nexus gear. I hadn't ever been in a position where I could configure, lab, and work with Nexus gear! Was a pleasure.

I am surprised this video didnt cover storage. Dell / EMC side, all training is provided to engineers from Dell (merged into TechDirect late 2019). Its incredibly dry and not fun work at all for DC side stuff. NetAPP and HP also have their own training. I dont think CCNA or higher is necessary for DC engineers. Those people who need actual network understanding are going to be network admins, who are typically not going to be onsite. Engineers who work inside the DC are typically going to be Smart Hands, so they perform the tasks they are given with config being delegated only if remote config is not possible by the system admins or network admins. For aspiring engineers, I recommend starting with CompTIA A+, do 2-3 years helpdesk to get exposure to IT, then look into Virtualization (VMWare is probably a good bet), while also attempting to get a few years of server admin (RedHat and Win Server). After about 4 years, you should be well suited to start trying to get into Data Centers. Just keep in mind that DC jobs are quite often very bad for work life balance (shifts, sev1 tickets at 3 am oncall, etc). You will find after a few years in a DC that the work becomes highly repetitive. At this point, I recommend moving into management, or branching off into one of the support roles (Server, storage, architect, projects). DC Engineers are only 1 step up above Helpdesk in terms of raw experience required, so career potential is not great. If you are autistic, dont like people, or generally enjoy working alone, DC work can be quite rewarding.

I am a CIO ... and he is ABSOLUTELY right! Certs are NOT a replacement for experience and a great attitude. Start at entry level and you WILL be promoted quickly w a great attitude and an ability to learn

Thank you for the positive and clear information. Stay positive. Thanks

Amazing work guys! (as usual)

I grabbed a Data Center Technician role with no data center experience. With being primarily a Mac technical support guy. I really should have gotten a cert though. The interview would have gone much better. Though I have studied a bit of CCNA,AWS,A+ and a bunch of random other stuff. These people were absolutely willing to train the right person. Be the right person!

Nice X220 you've got there Raf, it's really cool to see in 2019 companies using almost "classic" thinkpad

I'm in school for networking right now. I'm super happy with it, i know right now I'm going to get my CCNA cwna and the security+ certs. I hope I get into the field right out of school. Love the videos!

I've done installation and relocations of hundreds of rack servers, blade servers (HP, Dell, IBM, Huawei, Cisco, etc) SAN storage under HP 3PAR, Dell EMC, Cisco UCS for many data centers in Malaysia for Telco companies, Banks, Government agencies, etc.. no CCNA, no Comptia, no A+. Installed Esx on the blades before joining them to the hypervisors vSphere vCenter. Only VCP and Citrix CCA certifications that I have. You're right, the experience is very important.

Thanks for your education, I will take your advice seriously.

Great video. Totally agree experience over certifications for a datacenter technician. Everyone thinking of working in a datacenter just apply. This market is growing insanely fast and could provide a good career path.

Wow I expected and you made it thanks brother

This is a great recommendation. The only thing I would add on to job experience is interpersonal skills. Knowing how to talk to people is huge

Thank you guys for these videos! It helped me gain more understanding in dc field.

This is awesome, as someone starting out new in the field (NOC) watching your videos has given me good insight as to what I can expect in the future as my role as a NOC Engineer progresses.

Just passed my CCENT and this make me happy

I have those and I love them.

you nailed it when you said job experience,

Great advice! Keep posting videos like this mate.

Love this channel!

Thank you for the excellent subject. I use this as a guide to study my certificates and I hope ano day be employed in a DC.

thank you for your advice and motivation ! This helps a lot.

Very helpful thank you so much, now I am working on HND in NETWORKING studying about cloud computing.

another good video, thanks Custodian DC next, "do and do not" cable management at DC

Thank you for the valuable input.

Thank you. That was very helpful.

Honest review ever! Great speech!!

Great video, I really love this channel! Thank you

I finished my MCSE in NT4 a long time ago now (feel free to laugh) and I'm not working in a data centre but it sure did set me on the path to a great life. Study and work hard when you are young and you will likely do very well. This is a great career choice.

Keep doing this videos. Amazing videos

Also having rhel cert could help. And not forget about SAN and clusters :)

Thank you this was a very good video and gave me some very good information. I am working on getting my A+ certification and I have my Bachelors degree in Cybersecurity.

Thanks very much for the advice and video.

great video love the channel keep it up

easy for understanding... Thank you very much..

En verdad me encantó este vídeo. Soy un joven solo con enseñanza media y trabajo en una empresa pionera en licenciamiento Microsoft, Symantec, Dropbox, Adobe, etc. Y trabajé con ellos en un proyecto de migración de correo. Y me contrataron para que aprendiera todo sobre Azure. Actualmente tengo un mes con ellos y ya tengo la AZ-900, 101, 102, 103 y vamos estudiando para las MS-500. Ver algo así. Donde la experiencia más que la certificación es importante, es muy motivacional!

Thanks bro! your advice 👍 well done

Thank You so much for the enlightenment!

Great video! Loved the content and quality.

Thanks this helped me out on what possibilitys I could go in to after college.

Great video. Great information, thank you

The bigger question is how much of that is actually being used or how much of that could you recite now, because the vast majority of these certs are just money makers and the knowledge covered in them so broad someone may end up using just ten pages out of the thousands they read for them. I studied for a lot of the comptia stuff because I got it for free and honestly stopped reading most of them half way through because there was so much in there that is so specific you may never need it. I find it really troubling that IT companies jump onto these certs as if they are a guarantee someone isn't going to stuff a usb port into a 480V socket, but in reality when you don't do that stuff every day you forget 90% of it. The experience and what you have worked with does count more toward your actual capability, unfortunately the middle management assigned to hire you on often hasn't a clue on what is needed or are so high up in their clouds of having done these certs themselves that they want to justify it to themselves to not hire someone up on "their level". I have talked to so many of this category that I am now no longer surprised when these companies screw up royally. I even have personal experiences with companies making demands of entry level applicants only to then not even deliver to their customers aka me. I have a hatred for networking because of the often forced complication introduced because someone somewhere decided that that was the ultimate way of doing things because it enabled a feature or design that only they would use. There is so much bullshit being pushed around that it is hard to find a company that isn't filled with middle management morons or dreaming upper management that completely botch something up. I went self-employed because of all that and really think the future isn't in ever larger tech-giants, if GitLab is anything to go by anyways. The landscape is changing faster and faster the larger you are the worse prepared you are to adapt.

thank you bro! i really want to make that career change to ccna now

A very helpful video , this may change my life ! , thank-you very much sir !

Definitely insightful.

The best of us use thinkpads👍😁loving the channel by the way. I have servers cooled with your damp air systems without the drying bit😬

Great video and suggestions thanks

That moment when you realize you've watched so many of their videos that you thought you were subscribed, but noticed that you weren't....doh!!

This is a very good chanel. Hi from México guys!

thanks mate, you were helpful. thumbs up 🤟

Love this video and data center

Loved one..

Hey it's really good stuff for who want to learn about DC.

thanks for this video bro it will helps me a lot specially for me i have CCNA and MCSA and MCSE Security

As a senior consultant i say you got it very right. And if all else fails. Always bring an old-style Thinkpad with you for bonus points with any employer worth working for. ;) (Was it maybe an X200s you had there?)

Very good suggestion. Being working for Microsoft for 3 yrs now I can truly say those words are correct. Microsoft never looks at any candidate who has too many certificate and doesn't know anything.

From tunisia ✌👏👏👏 keep going

Excellent video, one of the few RU-vidrs who knows what he's talking about; however I do disagree with his Certification take. I would recommend anyone starting on the IT field to get the CompTIA's A+ and Network+ first so the new technician can have a solid understanding of the subject. Then follow it with Security+, all these certifications alone count as 1 year experience; then continue your education with CCNA to learn about routers, switches and protocols. As a bonus try to get Linux+, a lot of Data Centers require technician to know about Linux. Good luck to you and godspeed.

Thanks a lot for this video.Its light but Very heavy.

Recent graduated with my Associates in Cybersecurity: Networking Administration. I got 5 certs out of it, A+, Net+, Security+, Network Pro, and CCENT. Now it's just finding a job in an area that has very few IT jobs. Probably will have to start out small and relocate down the road.

Thanks .... Its realy helpful

Thanks for the insight.

Thanks for the video.

tnx for this video this is was really good to hear :)

Great work bro.

Yes i want to read these books

great video guys

Good sharing video, Thanks you.

Thanks guys

I'm a data center operations engineer and I've also been a infrastructure technician and I have 0 certs and 0 degrees/0 education

GREAT EXPLANATION THANK YOU, FROM INDIA

May be this video can change my life in covid-19 quarantine 🤣🤣

Thanks for the video

I had CCNA self study and I did the exam and passed It was so easy, for those who want to start, routing is very fun and logical. U can use simulators on computer to build and practice for the exam. I was going to study CCNT but I switched to Stock trading :D

Wow this is informative!!!! He was the same guy on the other video I watched. He works nigh shift.

Passed my new ccna 200-301 exam. Old ccna 200-125 is mentioned in this video. Those who want to pursue ccna it could take 6-8 months covering these books (volume1 &volume2 new editions as of writing this comment) with hands on labs. Took me 7 months, lots of new topics were added as compared to old blueprint, exam was a serious brain teaser. Though only constant studies will help to pass the exam. Good Luck everyone

LOL I have a passport and I'm motivated!

Invaluable advice. My take away is 'Willingness to learn'. I am interning at a government smart city project with Huawei Fusion module 1000 - 2000 data centers. I have experience with Cisco routers and switches but excited to learn about Huawei.

Raf is awesome

Great video

CCNA Route switch and comptia network+ are fairly different I'd say. Currently have a CCNA route switch, it's far more in depth and really what's makes it Cisco proprietary is you learn Cisco CLI. Everything thing else is transferable. I was studying for the Net+ but stopped since I got the CCNA. One thing that the Net+ has over the CCNA is the broad range of topics it covers. Stuff like cabling, wifi, security, cloud, satellite and subnetting. It doesnt go in depth, the Net+ is a great overview of networking, nothing more. CCNA you cabling, enterprise level subnet design, layer 2 connectivity, access switches vs distribution switchs vs core switches. Spanning tree, troubleshooting layer 2, mac address, ipv4 and ipv6 addressing. Routing protocols like EIGRP, OSPF, RIPv2, eBGP, QS, network monitoring, snmp, switch stacking, little bit on cloud and satellite. I'll give you this tip ICND1 is switching intensive and ICND2 is routing intensive. Now that doesn't mean there isn't any routing on ICND1 exam, there's plenty and there's plenty of switching on the ICND2 exam. It's just routing is weighted more on the 2and exam and switching is more on the first exam.

Education will get your first job. From then on, experience is the way forward.

Microsoft trained me out of High School and I I'm hooked at 34 still.

thank you very much!

I’ve studied Information Technology at Bologna’s University and after one week from the degree i have started a job in a Wisp with a Mikrotik Environment. After 2 years i have learn a lot of about networks and routing and a little experience about php development. But my dream is working in a DC so i’ve decided to move into another Job and now i work in Bologna in Laboratori Guglielmo Marconi as a System Administrator for a various types of customers in their DC. I really love Linux and Virtualisation like vmware and recently proxmox and his world. I hope that one day i become a Senior Administrator, maybe in virtualisation environment, maybe in Custodian :-)

Thank you!

Thanks for the great information, new subscriber here.