Why are the salaries of network engineers so different?

What are the salaries of network engineers? In fact, there are high-paying and low-paying positions in any industry. The difference in treatment depends on where the difference lies. So what is the difference between a network engineer with a monthly salary of 5,000 and a monthly salary of 20,000?

Let’s not talk about the difference between CCNP and CCIE level certificates, nor the difference between how much you understand as shown in the picture below.

Just look at the following two questions, which can actually reflect the level gap between network engineers.

01

A building has 20 floors, and two access switches need to be installed in the weak current shaft of each floor. Each switch must be divided into VLANs, configured with Trunks, and configured with a management IP address and a user name and password for remote login.

Now all the switches are still in the warehouse on the 10th floor. If you were asked to go to the site and arrange a few colleagues to cooperate with you in the implementation, what would you do?

According to some textbooks, the equipment should be put on the shelf first, then connected, and then powered on to write the configuration. I'm sorry, if you do this, it will only make your colleagues suffer.

First of all, this building has 20 floors. You have to run all the floors to carry so many switches to the racks, which is very tiring. After the racks are completed, you have to run all the floors again and write configurations for each switch by plugging in the console cable. Isn't this also tiring?

Secondly, if there are one or two switches with problems and you find that they cannot be started after being put on the shelf, do you have to take them off the shelf again? You may think: "These switches are new machines that have just been unpacked, how could they be damaged?" Hehe! Don't rush to argue, I have encountered this problem several times.

Finally, weak current shafts are usually narrow and dusty. Do you feel comfortable squatting inside, holding a computer in one hand and typing on the keyboard with the other? Don’t you feel pain when you carry the computer with one hand and run up and down the stairs with the console cable in the other hand?

What should be done?

• First, disassemble the switch in the warehouse, install the interface module and "ears", then power on the switch to check whether it is normal, write down all the configurations related to network connectivity, and save them.
• Then label the switch to indicate which floor it is for and which device number it is (or write it on the switch casing with correction fluid).
• Finally, put it on the shelf. After putting it on the shelf, the network will be connected as soon as the network cable is plugged in.

02

Let's idealize this problem: a single Layer 3 switch (model Cisco 3750) used as a gateway in a branch office is damaged. Now you are asked to replace it with a Layer 3 switch of the same model, what would you do?

You may think: since the switch model is exactly the same, there is no need to change the configuration. Just copy and paste the configuration of the previous switch.

You may also be influenced by "Problem 1" and say: "I wrote the configuration completely, saved it, took the equipment to the site, replaced the broken machine directly, put the new machine on the shelf, and it worked as soon as the network cable was plugged in."

Sorry, you answered wrong again! Why?

• First, it is impossible to back up the configuration of a Layer 3 switch in a small branch office every day. For example, if the last backup was a week ago, the configuration given to you is exactly the configuration from a week ago. Can you guarantee that no one has changed the configuration of this switch within a week? So can you guarantee that pasting your configuration into a new device will make the network fully accessible?
• Second, switches in production environments, if they are in units with a high security level, will generally be configured with "login source address restrictions" and "Console port passwords". These passwords are all ciphertext passwords. If you copy and paste the encrypted string of these ciphertext passwords intact, can you guarantee that it is the password the customer told you? If you arrive at the site and there is a problem with the network and you cannot log in to your device, what will you do?

Therefore, it is a correct idea to update the configuration first and then put it on the shelves.

But remember: the configurations that should be flashed first are those related to network connectivity. Write down the VLANs that should be assigned to the interfaces, the trunks that should be configured, the IP addresses and routes that should be written, clear the console password, set a Telnet and simple username and password, and save.

After the new equipment is installed and the network is confirmed to be completely unobstructed, the so-called console password, the so-called user name and password required by the customer are configured as required. After you test it correctly, delete your simple user or strengthen its password.

The network engineer gap

These two problems do not involve any advanced network technology, but their solutions realistically reflect the differences in the levels of network engineers.

In fact, the difference in the level of network engineers is not just that I know all kinds of network protocols, but you only know static routing. It is more reflected in your ideas of network design and solving network problems, whether you can solve the problems quickly and correctly, and whether you have dug some holes for yourself.

The so-called experience and technology means that when encountering a project or problem, you know clearly which step to do first and which step to do later, how to avoid risks, and how people can collaborate to solve the problem with half the effort.