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The expert-level certification is the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert(CCIE). It is the highest level of professional certification that Cisco provides. There are five active CCIE tracks, as shown below. As of April 6, 2008 there are 16,335 people with active CCIE certifications in the world.

The CCIE is comprised of a written exam and a "lab" exam (each in the specific area of the chosen track). The written exam is required to take the lab exam, and has a cost of $315 USD per attempt. Upon passing the written exam, the candidate is qualified to have a first attempt the lab exam for eighteen months. If the first attempt is unsuccessful the candidate has three years from the date the written exam was passed to successfully complete the lab. If a candidate does not pass the CCIE lab in that time, they must pass the CCIE written exam again before making additional attempts at the CCIE lab exam. As many attempts can be made to pass the lab exam for up to three years after passing the written, so long as the first attempt is within 18 months. There is a minimum waiting time between attempts of one month.

The CCIE Lab is currently $1,400 USD per attempt and are offered only at ten Cisco lab exam locations worldwide. The locations are Bangalore; Beijing; Brussels; Dubai; Hong Kong; Research Triangle Park, NC; San Jose, CA; S?o Paulo; Sydney; and Tokyo. Some CCIE tracks do not have lab exams available at all locations. For example, the Storage Networking lab is available only at the Research Triangle Park, NC and Brussels locations. In addition, according to a survey by Cisco the average cost to prepare for CCIE certification is $9,050 as of April 2006, spent mostly on practice equipment and self study material. This is partially offset by the increased salary the certification commands, which a March 2007 Network World article estimates at 10% - 15% over similarly experienced engineers who do not have a CCIE.

The lab is an eight hour hands-on exam designed to demonstrate that the candidate not only knows the theory, but is also able to practice it. Many prospective CCIEs need multiple attempts to pass the lab exam.

CCIE Written Exams: 350-001,350-018,350-020,350-021,350-023,350-026,350-029,350-040,350-030

CCIE Lab Exams: 350-001 lab,350-018 lab

CCIE Numbering and Recertification

Upon successful completion of the hands on lab exam, a new CCIE is awarded a CCIE number. The first CCIE number allocated (in 1993) was 1024, and has increased incrementally from there. A lower number indicates that the CCIE was awarded some time back, a higher number indicated a more recently awarded certification.

Any CCIE who obtains further CCIE certifications, is not awarded any further numbers, the new CCIE certification is awarded under the same number as the original.

Every two years a CCIE has to take a CCIE written test to recertify—absent this, the CCIE is suspended and cannot receive any benefits from Cisco.

Source: Wikipedia.com