CCIE Collaboration books...

cisco_nerd

Hi TE,

Havn't posted on here for a while, however I am at the stage now where I want to seriously devote myself to CCIE Collab. I am aiming at taking the written exam towards the end of the year/earlier next year... but trying for November. and the lab end of next year depending on how things are going. I am working in a voice role with a telco (managed services) at the moment so in a good position to take advantage of the extra hands on time.

I have done some research online for resources and have come up with a few lists but just want to see what other people have used for the written exam. This list from Pearson pops up a bit - Recommended Study Resources | Exam Profile: CCIE Collaboration v1.0 Written (400-051) | Pearson IT Certification - most of these items are online PDFs from Cisco and the rest are CCNP Voice books.

Are the INE Voice/Collab bundles the be all to end all for self study? I have most of the equipment already to build the full voice lab at home with just a few extra items required so that's not a big concern for me at the moment.

I am more or less concerned at the moment with the written exam resources (while building a condensed version of the topology to test out some features - prob just a single site cluster with an AD for LDAP sync/auth and maybe an exchange for CUC integration), once I have passed this monumental hurdle I will focus more on lab stuff.

If there is any further guidance any of the other CCIE gurus can part with I will be ever so grateful!

Cheers.

Alex90

I'm using IPexpert for everything voice/collaboration related. Workbooks are good, they do a technology one and one for the lab. Same for the videos however they are labelled as written and lab. I find the rack rentals very good as well, you can only book in 3:45 hour slots unlike INE but they are still very good. I'm not quite onto studying for CCIE Collab yet but it's my overall goal, just trying to bang out CCNP Voice on the way. There is also a CCIE Collab guide available but only as an ebook.

cisco_nerd

Hi Alex90,

Thanks for the insight. Do you use any other resources like Cisco press books or own equipment?

I had a look at IPExpert as I hadnt even researched them and they to be have a wider array of options for voice/Collab. The "Ultimate self study bundle" looks good! Is this what you have been using so far?

Cheers

Alex90

For my voice studies I'm using IPexpert and INE mainly, but also CBT nuggets for the CCNP Voice side of things. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I sure that INE haven't released Collaboration specific workbooks, they are still using the Voice workbooks. Mark Snow used to do them but he has left INE and I'm not sure who is taking over, I did hear that Vik from Collabcert is covering the bootcamps until they get someone else. I'm reading all the CCNP Voice books plus some of the white papers on UCCX/E and the SRND etc. Additionally there are books like SIP Trunking and Gateways and Gatekeepers that are worth a read.

I have a 2 year pass with IPexpert so I can watch whatever I like and have access to workbooks for every track. Then you can just buy rack rentals on top of that! I do have a small lab at home but I just find it easier to do rack rentals and you can get them fairly easily with a bit of planning.

cisco_nerd

Ok cool, thanks for the info Alex90