Goals for 2013

As the year closes, and it turns out the world didn’t end, it’s time to start planning for 2013 (especially since I don’t know when the next doomsday is supposed to be).

My 2012 in review:

• Obtained CCNA Data Center (possibly the first outside of Cisco, literally days after it was available)
• Obtained CCNP Data Center (probably not the first, I know I tied with one guy at least)
• Didn’t pass the CCIE Data Center written (beta or actual)
• Ran a marathon in Australia (continent number 4 for marathons, shooting for all 7)
• Saw a total solar eclipse (part of the previous trip)
• Australia is the 30th country that I’ve visited (and I’m not counting airport layovers, such as Egypt and Japan)
• Did more aerobatic pilot training

Fruity drinks with Kurt Bales in Australia in 2012

May career goals for 2013:

• Pass CCIE Data Center written in Janurary
• Obtain CCIE Data Center in 2013
• Obtain VCAP-DCA
• ABL (Always Be Learning)

Flying a plane upside down in 2012

I think career wise, getting CCIE DC and VCAP-DCA are plenty enough for a 12-month span, as both are very tall orders. And though ambitious, with the current support system I have and resources publicly (such as vBrownbag) and that I have through Firefly, they’re both doable for 2013. I’ve got some thoughts on that particular combination of certifications which I’ll go into in another post.

There are a couple of technologies that look exciting for 2013 that I’d like to take a (closer) look at. Openstack for one, and how it relates to data center as I have only a vague conceptual understanding of it. VXLAN, STT in VMware, NVGRE in Windows 2012 Server, and the overlay technologies in general. Checking out the other hypervisor vendors, especially (and the condescending Unix administrator in me is going to throw up a bit in my mouth when I say this) Hyper-V 3.

So those are my goals for 2013. Yours?