Aiti Tribe Stories (27): The Growth Diary of a Neighboring Operations Engineer

[51CTO.com original article] The protagonist of this issue, sevenot, is not a technical expert, but he is on the road to becoming an expert. He was a young man in the past, and a veteran operator in the future. The more difficult the road to growth is, the more valuable it is. Here he shares some of his learning experiences and tips. If it can help you, it will be his honor.

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Do network operation and maintenance positions require certification?

Recently, a colleague in the office planned to learn network technology, and then everyone discussed whether it was better to learn Cisco or Huawei. While everyone expressed their opinions, sevenot also recalled the learning process of the year. He only got an HCNA, a junior certification, and a network engineer, an intermediate certification. In the absence of direct benefits, sevenot did not spend too much time and money on the certification, and he was not like some test-takers who could not live without certification. But this does not mean that he did not study, but he did not struggle with whether it was better to take the Huawei exam or the Cisco exam like his colleagues. He also struggled with this issue back then, and even asked the training teacher for advice, is Cisco better or Huawei better? However, the reason why he finally chose Huawei was simply because Huawei's exam was in Chinese.

Regarding certification, it is true that certificates can be used as a stepping stone and an important condition for salary increase and promotion. Many companies require certain certificates when recruiting people because these certificates can help them screen some people. But remember, the company's production depends on people, not certificates. You should shape yourself into an engineer that others think is reliable, not a "great achievement" academic bully. Certification is definitely not the purpose of our study. Our journey is to the stars and the sea! So when everyone is still discussing whether Huawei certification or Cisco certification is better, sevenot already has a clear answer in mind.

How to achieve normal monitoring operation from an operation and maintenance black hole

When sevenot was a senior in college, he got his NA certificate and found a job as a floor network equipment maintenance worker. Fortunately, the client he was on-site for was a government unit, and the floor network equipment was all H3C, and the equipment operation commands were very similar to those of Huawei equipment. For sevenot, this job was relatively simple and also suitable for an intern who had just started working. In these short 2 months, he learned a very important concept - keeping records.

Four months later, in early 2016, due to organizational arrangements, sevenot was assigned to a very challenging position, the province's private network maintenance. Yes, it was to do maintenance in a certain department. The province's private network meant that all the equipment of the provincial, municipal, and county-level related units had to be managed. At that time, the private network was like a black hole to him, with countless unknowns hidden in it. When he received the handover documents, sevenot was completely confused.

First, sevenot could only learn about the structure of the private network from a topology diagram from 2013. When he had been looking at it for a few days and had a little idea, his colleagues told him that the diagram was no longer usable. The company had done a network transformation in 2015, and the structure and equipment inside had changed a lot. He was confused at the time. Why didn't he have a new topology diagram after the transformation? Sorry, there was no new topology diagram. He hadn't had time to do it yet. He immediately felt like he was being cheated.

Secondly, the information handed over to Sevenot was too little, just a few equipment IP tables and a few password records. Is the province's private network operation and maintenance so rough? What bothered him most was the network equipment in the province. Their brands included Huawei, Ruijie, H3C, ZTE, Maipu, and basically all domestically produced ones. This is definitely not something that can be covered by a simple HCNA tutorial.

Well, it doesn't matter, start from scratch.

First, the topology map. This thing is like a map. Knowing a network is like knowing a city. You must first know the east, west, south, and north. Start with the provincial unit, using the original topology map, combined with the network transformation information, ask colleagues, and determine the location of the equipment bit by bit. If you are not sure, go to the computer room to find it and pull out the cables one by one. Important things must be said three times. You must label the network cables, you must label the network cables, and you must label the network cables. And the labels must be clear to others at a glance. Follow the unit specifications and never play around. Determine the topology of cities, prefectures, districts, and counties. This process is time-consuming and laborious, but this process will give people a very deep impression of the entire topology, so that after sorting out the topology, sevenot can draw it again with his eyes closed and write down the brand and model of each device.

Then came the problem. There were more than 130 core routing and switching devices in the province that needed Sevenot to maintain and manage, and some of them were brands he had never used. Allright, let the storm come even harder. First, look at the configuration. Yes, to look at the configuration, you must first know how the entire network is planned and operated, just like how a city's buses are set up. Although the commands of the equipment of these manufacturers are very different, the principles of network operation are similar. It's just that different manufacturers have different concepts for individual network protocols. Sevenot did not learn Ruijie, ZTE, and Maipu like he learned HCNA. He didn't have so much time. He just Baidu whatever he needed. This is different from traditional teaching, which first learns the theory, regardless of whether it is useful or not. This is very boring and easy to lose interest in learning. Baidu is a very pleasant learning mode. With the manufacturer's information, you can learn and use it immediately. This kind of learning with timely feedback is more effective for Sevenot. Soon, the basic commands of major manufacturers were memorized. In fact, he later discovered that the reason why he could apply knowledge to other areas was that basic knowledge was very important. During college, Sevenot passed the computer level 4 network engineer qualification and obtained the HCNA. The foundation was laid at that time.

*** is to organize the information, a job that requires patience and carefulness.

The whole process lasted for a long time, and not everyone can understand the hardship involved, but only those who have experienced it personally will understand the fun and gains.

Sevenot gradually realized that the skills and abilities of operation and maintenance can only be improved through continuous practice. Operation and maintenance are not like software development and integration, which have clear goals. The goal of operation and maintenance is to ensure that everything runs normally, and there are too many emergencies, and it is impossible to predict all that will happen. However, basic knowledge is very important, especially the principles and concepts, which are the basis for solving problems. We rely on this to form basic ideas for solving problems. Then, we need to practice continuously, constantly encounter problems, failures, bottlenecks and solve them, and accumulate our experience.

Closed-loop learning approach

The pitfalls he experienced have helped sevenot make great progress, and he gradually formed his own learning ideas.

1. Choose to study the materials provided by the manufacturer. These materials are the closest to the production environment, and you will not lose interest in learning because the textbooks are too dogmatic. The focus of selecting materials should not be on the manufacturer's category, but on the concepts in it. The focus of learning is on basic knowledge, especially principles and concepts. This will not only enable you to more clearly understand the differences between manufacturers, but also will not be overwhelmed by the overwhelming command lines. Basic knowledge is very important! Very important! Very important! For network data communications, protocol standards, operating principles and algorithms are the basic tools for understanding the network and the fundamental ideas for dealing with things. The depth and breadth of learning should be well grasped, and the limited time and energy should be reasonably allocated according to the current work needs. You must know that the body is limited, but knowledge is unlimited.

2. In operation and maintenance work, don't be afraid of too many things. The more problems and difficulties you encounter, the better (but don't let them affect the business). This is a process of accumulating experience and a time to increase value. We often see in recruitment information how many years of work experience are required, which makes sense. The more work experience you have, the clearer and more diverse your ideas for dealing with problems will be.

3. Return to basics and go back to the textbooks. Combined with the problems encountered at work, study more specifically. Here you can choose books that are written with more depth and put more effort into the depth. With the experience of work practice, learning will be more interesting.

Operation and maintenance is a reciprocating process of learning, practicing, learning again, and practicing again. Chairman Mao said: "Practice, understanding, practice again, understanding again, this form, repeating endlessly, and the content of each cycle of practice and understanding is relatively advanced to a higher level."

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