How much time for CCIE Written prep?

silalaval

Hi all,


My current CCNP will expire on the 06/2015. Im just wondering whether to take the CCIE written on just take a CCNP Switch exam.

I am currently reading the the official CCIE V5 Guide and I find it very, very dry... For example, I find the Spanning tree chapter good example on how hard those books are to study... I think the way Narbik explains thing is a bit dry and hard to understand.

My initial idea was to take the CCIE exam, but considering the time its taking me to digest those CCIE books I am getting a bit worried.

Do you thing 4 months is enough for the written?

fredrikjj

If you care about maintaining CCNP it seems kind of risky to rely on passing the CCIE written unless you are a very high level dude.

gorebrush

I did it in 3 months but the exam is not to be underestimated. If I were you with that little amount of time I'd just refresh the CCNP. When I took my written I had already done one of the CCNP Security exams so failing the CCIE written wouldn't have been a problem.

silalaval

gorebrush wrote: »

I did it in 3 months but the exam is not to be underestimated. If I were you with that little amount of time I'd just refresh the CCNP. When I took my written I had already done one of the CCNP Security exams so failing the CCIE written wouldn't have been a problem.

I agree... I think I will invest these 4 months preparing for the switch Exam and then continue on with the written, maybe September/October

d4nz1g

This test is kinda expensive.
I am trying to go as deep as possible on every topic, so I would take like 7-8 months (starting in about 2 months because right now I am focusing on Unified Fabric Support cert.).

I would not just go for it, in my opinion, you should be really ready for it, like a real expert

spiderjericho

Agreed. Recertifying a CCNP would be less test questions (ie less of a chance of trivia pursuit), smaller in scope, less expensive, etc.

lrb

The number I've seen is roughly 200 hours. I took my written when I was well into studying for my lab so I can't say exactly how many hours it was. Rather than try to rush passing the written, you could study and take SPADVROUTE or SPROUTE or something which is a little heavier on BGP than the ROUTE exam is, as this will give you a much better BGP foundation for the CCIE R&S exam. I wouldn't say either of these tests (even if you haven't used XR) are overly tough.

fredrikjj

I've also seen the 200 hours figure and it seems way too low. Maybe if you only study the cert guides and get a lucky pass? But then there are people who work with the stuff every day who don't need to study nearly as much as someone who is not. Maybe a guy like that only needs 50 hour to work on a few items on the blueprint that doesn't work with.

NOC-Ninja

Technologies you missed or you still don't get well at this point will catch up when you are studying the lab.
So its a matter of experience at work and how fast can you learn something new. These aspects does not apply the same for every person.

I dont think the v5 version is dry at all. Narbik and Terry broke it down very well. Its a better book that the past book.

I would use this and take my time. I would set up all my labs before taking the written.

gorebrush

200. Lol. Nowhere near enough.

Orion101

Take the four months and do the Switching exam, attempt the ccie towards the end of the year after you have enough practice and you understand the concepts.
The study material is very dry for real, i recommend this website though CCIE Training - CCIE Routing & Switching, Collaboration, Security, Service Provider, Data Center you can learn about ccie to a great extent with these guys, i used this site to pass my ccie security exams and im now doing the ccie rs with them also

networker050184

It's all relative. It's like asking how long it takes to get to California. Whether you are starting in New York or Oregon makes a lot of difference. Only you really know where you are at with the material and how much work you need.

gorebrush

networker050184 wrote: »

It's all relative. It's like asking how long it takes to get to California. Whether you are starting in New York or Oregon makes a lot of difference. Only you really know where you are at with the material and how much work you need.

Probably the best answer - I thought again about my "200, lol" comment. 200 may be enough if your already very sharp.

Took me 300 IIRC but I work with this stuff every day and have been CCNP since 2010..

reaper81

I think I was somewhere around 200-250 when I took the written but I was already a CCNP and working actively in the field.

ccie14023

I need to recert (man 2 years is fast) and the last time I took it, it was v4. I used the Boson practice test which was very good, but they don't have one for v5. Any recommendations from anyone? I can get the book but I was wondering if anyone came across practice tests that are adequate, but not NDA-violating rip-offs.

gorebrush

Well the v5 books would be obvious but in reality DMVPN and IPSec are two big additions though I didn't take the v5 written so can't comment on how much there is in the exam. As for practice tests, not a clue