2011/11/21 <Valdis.Kletnieks@vt.edu>
On Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:40:08 EST, Tyler Haske said:
I'm looking for a mentor who can help me focus my career so eventually I wind up working at one of the Tier I ISPs as a senior tech. I want to handle the big pipes that hold everyone's data.
OK, so I'm not a mentor from a Tier-1, and I don't directly monkey with routers as part of $DAYJOB. But anyhow... :)
With great power comes great responsibility. Be prepared for high stress levels. ;)
Also, keep in mind that unless you're insanely brilliant, three things will happen before you get experienced enough to be a senior tech at a Tier 1:
1) You will have grey hair (at least some).
Not at all required.. Although you may grow a few belt loops and maybe ruin a marriage or two trying to get there early. Also, don't forget to read, cert guides, config guides, websites, RFC's. Grey hair and wisdom aren't mutually inclusive.
3) You'll have learned that handling a big pipe at a Tier 1 isn't all there is to running a network - and in fact, quite often the Really Cool Toys are elsewhere. Sure, they may have the fastest line cards, but they're going to tend to lag on feature sets just because you *don't* want to deploy cutting-edge code if you're a Tier-1.
Totally agree. I touch alot of routers some of them close to what Tier-1 would use. I also have a few friends that work in large ISP's. I'd say their ultimate goal is to touch a little as possible which is usually as unglamorous as it sounds. Also, alot of things are scripted so much of what you touch may not be as fun.
As an example, AS1312 deployed IPv6 over a decade before some of the Tier 1's could even *spell* it (find out why 6bone existed - it's instructive history). I'm sure that MPLS didn't make its first appearance in TIer-1 core nets either. And the list goes on.. (Hint - where did the Tier 1's get the IPv6/MPLS/whatever experienced engineers to guide their deployment? :)
Also, how many junior and mid-level guys leave a Tier I for a network where they can touch things and then come back as experts. Also, the intermediate job tends to pay for certs and training which is a plus.