CCIE R&S Journal: I Want To Be The Best

Hello!

I have found there are very few blogs and less journals out there about CCIE's. Until I found this site. I am looking for like minded people to help me keep my eye on the prize.

My Goal: ATTEMPT THE LAB IN 10 MONTHS

My Study Plan: I am following EXACTLY what INE is asking of me. Preparing for the lab and by proxy be prepared for the written. Study for 4 hours on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends. I plan to read the books semi-outlined by INE, in that I will read probably 2 hours a day, until I've run out of books and then I will use the rest of the time to lab. So once I run out of books I will do 4 full hours of labbing. I would like to extend this to 6 hours a weekday and 6 hours each weekend day. While I am concerned about burn out, I've been in this situation before during my full time work and full time college days, so its at least familiar to me.

My Life: I work from home currently working on all JUNIPER all day every day. I've been in the field of network security with Cisco ASA for 2-3 years and have been in the R&S world with CISCO, specifically their newer command line platform as well as their IOS XE/XR type stuff. Working on Nexus for about 1-2 years. I currently work in my new job on all JUNIPER gear which makes studying a little more annoying, but nonetheless not horrible. Since I work from home I can study before and after my shift fairly quickly and easily.

Concerns: One of the main things I've noticed from stories is that the CCIE becomes longer then you expect, not due to your lack of wanting to study, but due to life stepping in the way. I am hoping that I can do my first attempt in 10 months confidently. I am also concerned if I am attacking this the right way, 4 hours a day, is that too little? Is that too much? Is 6 hours too much? I guess everyone is different.

Current Status: I am currently at the STP marker on the INE track. Doing Lab's in VIRL I've noticed unfortunate inconsistencies with how port-channels and STP works on that software so I may do rack rentals going forward.

Are there any tips? I will be updating daily (including today) to keep me honest with my goals. Is my goal of 10 months insane? Is it possible? I've seen some who've taken years on it, but I believe that is more due to life getting in the way and more important stuff to do then study hours a day on a cert.

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DAY 27

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Watched INE Videos - 2 hours
Configuring OSPF Not So Stubby Areas (NSSA)
Controlling NSSA Redistribution
Default Routing with OSPF NSSA

- Read Routing TCP/IP OSPF - 1 hours

Total Time: 3 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
No sleep, going to sleep study, can't hit my quota this day

==============================================================

DAY 28

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Watched INE Videos - 2 hours
Configuring OSPF Not So Stubby Areas (NSSA)
Controlling NSSA Redistribution
Default Routing with OSPF NSSA

- Read Routing TCP/IP OSPF - 2 hours

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Since I was so tired yesterday, decided to watch the same videos again for retention sake. Going to do an extra hour tomorrow or try to to make up for Wednesday 3 hours.

You're really going strong! Have you started using flash cards? I've found writing my own questions with simple answers is a good way to help with the retention. (extensive notetaking helps too..)

Being a CCNP what do you think about the Routing TCP/IP books? I can't decide if it's still enough "up to date" or if there's too much new stuff for it to be relevant. I hear the cases are what makes it a one of a kind book.

I haven't really been leveraging the scenario's too much or the after chapter stuff, but the case studies are fantastic examples of each small part of the technologies. I keep putting off doing the flash cards, but I think I should, I don't want to be in a mile deep and find out I should have.

I am finding out right now that there are some strategies I am doing that are working, such as consistency in keeping up with my time of study. Then there are some things that are not, such as slowly forgetting the command line or smaller reference points (How to configure xyz technologies). Since I am nearing the one month mark of doing this every day, I will likely do a small write up on this thread here on my experiences thus far.

As a CCNP the routing TCP/IP are pretty relevant still. Networking hasn't changed much and there are some things it does not have such as features for OSPF/EIGRP that have been added more recently, however the INE goes over such features and if you're reading the Command Reference and Configuration Guides from Cisco you will also find and catch these. I found by combining all this it helps a lot.

I'm not certain I will read other books, though I will likely read the MPLS/QoS books recommended by INE once I broach those topics.

DAY 29

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Watched INE Videos - 2 hours
OSPF NSSA Translator Election & Forwarding Address
OSPF Path Selection
OSPF Authentication

- Read Routing TCP/IP OSPF - 3 hours

Total Time: 5 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Tomorrow is day 30, how did I make it this far? Is this real life? IS THIS HAPPENING?! Haha

In all seriousness, I just got a CPAP machine, I never thought I would be so curious to wire myself up to a tube. But I'm interested to see if it gives me more energy to study. I mean, I've honestly never noticed, but now that I've been diagnosed I'm noticing more the symptoms then prior. My wife says I've been doing this since we met, like 8 years. So maybe I'm just used to it at this point.

Exciting to see if it changes things from "Operational" to "Overdrive" in my energy. I think tomorrow I will do a short write up of my experience with the CCIE battle thus far, probably won't do one every month, but it'll be probably of interest to those who are thinking of starting.

DAY 30: ONE MONTH!

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Watched INE Videos - FINISHED OSPF - 1 hours
Configuring OSPF Summarization
OSPF Route Filtering

- Did INE Labs - 3 hours
OSPF over Broadcast Media
OSPF over DMVPN
OSPF DR/BDR Election Manipulation
OSPF Network Point-to-Point
OSPF Network Point-to-Multipoint
OSPF Network Point-to-Multipoint Non-Broadcast
OSPF Network Loopback
OSPF Path Selection with Auto-Cost
OSPF Path Selection with Cost
OSPF Path Selection with Bandwidth
OSPF Path Selection with Per-Neighbor Cost

- Read Routing TCP/IP OSPF FINISHED - 1 hours

Total Time: 5 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Decided to do an hour shorter tonight then I wanted to. I may make up for it tomorrow. I am just not looking to burn through these labs all too fast. Tomorrow I will do a write up of my experience thus far, hopefully it will be useful to someone thinking of starting the journey.

DAY 31

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Read Cisco Config Guide - OSPF - 3 hours

- Did INE Labs - 3 hours
Discontiguous OSPF Areas with Virtual-Links
OSPF Path Selection with Non-Backbone Transit Areas
OSPF Path Selection with Virtual-Links
OSPF Demand Circuit
OSPF Flooding Reduction
OSPF Clear Text Authentication
OSPF MD5 Authentication
OSPF MD5 Authentication with Multiple Keys
OSPF SHA Authentication
OSPF Null Authentication

Total Time: 6 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Halfway through OSPF labs now.

DAY 32

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Participated in INE CCIE TSHOOT Class - 6 hours <-- Should this count? Sure I'll make it count for a 1/6th

- Did INE Labs - 3 hours
OSPF External Summarization
OSPF Stub Areas
OSPF Totally Stubby Areas
OSPF Not-So-Stubby Areas
OSPF Not-So-Stubby Areas and Default Routing
OSPF Not-So-Totally-Stubby Areas

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Doing the CCIE TSHOOT live class this week. Going to make it count a little bit but I want to press forward with my own studies as the TSHOOT is above my head on some topics I haven't yet hit anyway. But hey, its free. Also got very distracted during my labs today so I am going to put although class time was 6 hours and lab time was technically 3 hours, I am going to say 4 hours total of "value added" studying.

Nice going still! Of course the TSHOOT stuff should count! It's a big part of the lab too, what with the diag section and all!

Yeah, just sucks some things like multicast I have no idea what the hell they are talking about haha.

DAY 33

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Participated in INE CCIE TSHOOT Class - 4 hours <-- Counting for 1/4th

- Did INE Labs - 3 hours
OSPF Stub Areas with Multiple Exit Points
OSPF NSSA Type-7 to Type-5 Translator Election
OSPF NSSA Redistribution Filtering
OSPF LSA Type-3 Filtering
OSPF Forwarding Address Suppression
OSPF Default Routing
OSPF Conditional Default Routing
OSPF Reliable Conditional Default Routing
OSPF Filtering with Distribute-Lists
OSPF Summarization and Discard Routes
OSPF Filtering with Administrative Distance

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Tomorrow I will be done with OSPF labs and then I think on Thursday I will read through the command reference and kind of put a lid on OSPF on this pass. No doubt I will be re-reading quite a bit on all the routing protocols as I go. I don't feel as confident in OSPF, leaving it as I did with EIGRP. Which shakes me up a bit because I use OSPF every day. Pretty crazy how much you don't know until you dig this deep.

Hi,

Why don't you start a blog?

That is what I did when I was studying for my CCIE.

I wanted somewhere to put all my study notes and writing a blog post about OSPF or EIGRP really makes you focus on the content, making sure it is technically correct.

My advice to you would be to fully asses where you are today and study only on your weak points.

Book a full scale lab and give yourself 8 hours only to complete it - then honestly mark yourself.

Do not take time out, pause the clock - just do it end to end with no google.

By the end you will know pretty well how your studies are coming along and areas where you are weak.

The CCIE is not just about learning the technologies its about time management, efficient configuration and verification.

It took me about 3 years on and off, but worth it in the end.

Enjoy the journey you will learn a lot, but most important don't take your foot off the gas, and make sure you don't burn out and ignore your family.

Good Luck.

Roger
CCIE #50038
www.rogerperkin.co.uk

rogerp007 wrote: »

Hi,

Enjoy the journey you will learn a lot, but most important don't take your foot off the gas, and make sure you don't burn out and ignore your family.

Yep, that is the true balance right there. But keeping my foot on the gas for sure. Not sure if I want to go full on blog. I like kind of doing little posts here and there my study method doesn't tend to be formalized. I agree with what you said, but I am going to wait till I've gone through the tech one by one before going full scale.

I would like to think I could knock it out in 10 months going with the amount of time I do every day, but we will see. I see so many stories to the opposite, going over 1-3 years to get it that it feels a bit unlikely... but life, life gets in the way. So hopefully the next 10 months are a straight shot and I can take it and pass/fail and take it again.

Depending on their retake policy at that time anyway >.>

DAY 34

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Participated in INE CCIE TSHOOT Class - 4 hours <-- Counting for 1/4th

- Did INE Labs - 2 hours
Finished OSPF Labs

- Read Command Reference Guide OSPF - 1 hours

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
OSPF over (well first pass, you know).

DAY 35

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:
- Participated in INE CCIE TSHOOT Class - 4 hours <-- Counting for 1/4th

- Watched Redistribution videos - 2 hours

- Finished Command Reference Guide OSPF - 1 hours

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Tomorrow is Redisitribution and then the weekend will be all BGP. What fun! I haven't felt particularly productive this week. What with the TSHOOT class I haven't felt like hitting a 4 hour marker in my own studies, but I am going to try and bounce back hard next week and this weekend.

DAY 35

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Labbed all three Redistribution cases - 2 hours

- Read BGP in Routing TCP/IP II - 2 hours

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I did really well on the redistribution cases, 2 out of 3 finding it right away. The second one I don't think I would have fully figured out in the wild. I did fix it eventually with assistance, so I will watch and understand that video intently tomorrow. Onward to BGP.

DAY 36

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Watched Redistribution/BGP Videos - 3.5 hours

- Read BGP in Routing TCP/IP II - 2 hours

Total Time: 5.5 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
None

DAY 37

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Watched Redistribution/BGP Videos - 2 hours

- Read BGP in Routing TCP/IP II - 4 hours

Total Time: 6 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Sometimes I think "I'm going to bump up my weekend days to 7 or 8 hours"... then I realize 6 hours is a ridiculously long time. Man, not sure I want to add on. Haha

DAY 38: Not sure if good with BGP, or BGP is easier then I thought...

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Watched BGP Videos - .5 hours

- Finished BGP in Routing TCP/IP II - 4 hours

Total Time: 4.5 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
So far, I've worked with BGP a decent amount. Most specifically with AS_PATH prepending, local pref modifications and and IBGP and EBGP. In my previous work it was already installed, but I had to maintain it. I dealt with Route Reflection quite a bit as well so I had to have a good understanding of it.

I am catching myself off guard... waiting for the pain of BGP to come in. So far its just a protocol that isn't complicated, but it just has a butt-truck load of options and I think by that factor comes off as pretty deeply complicated.

DAY 39

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Watched BGP Videos - 2 hours

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 2 hours
Establishing iBGP Peerings
Establishing eBGP Peerings
BGP Update Source Modification
Multihop EBGP Peerings

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
So far so good through BGP. Maybe I'll make it out alive. Tomorrow I am going to make a point to make flash cards... hopefully.

Hi Bardlebee,

I am enjoying your posts and have also just started my CCIE journey. Quick question, when you watch videos online, do you focus on a single video series at a time, for example, just watching Brian Mcgahan's CCIE v5 Advanced Technologies video series? Or do you mix it up with different videos from different people? Curious to know your thoughts about this.

Dr169 wrote: »

Hi Bardlebee,

I am enjoying your posts and have also just started my CCIE journey. Quick question, when you watch videos online, do you focus on a single video series at a time, for example, just watching Brian Mcgahan's CCIE v5 Advanced Technologies video series? Or do you mix it up with different videos from different people? Curious to know your thoughts about this.

Only advice I can give is do what works for you. I am a novice still, only ankle deep into this. I am kind of going at this with brute force doing 4 hours a day, so maybe not all of it sinks in, though I feel like it is I may find out later it is not.

I am watching the advanced technologies videos, going exactly in order and doing the labs along side the videos. Its not always perfect, some days I'll watch 3 hours of videos and do two labs, some days I will do 3 hours of labs and one hour of videos. But I do try to do labs every day in the list provided.

I am thinking of doing flash cards. Never done them before, but I think I need every weapon in the book for this. Also I recommend being able to find every command for every technology in the Cisco documentation. Its very effective.

DAY 40

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Watched BGP Videos - 2 hours
NLRI Origination
Next Hop Processing

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 2 hours
Neighbor Disable-Connected-Check
Authenticating BGP Peerings
iBGP Route Reflection
Large-Scale iBGP Route Reflection with Clusters

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Day 40... wooo.. only... like 10 more of those maybe.

DAY 41

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.

THINGS I DID:

- Watched BGP Videos - 2 hours
BGP Bestpath Selection
BGP Traffic Engineering with Weight & Local Preference
BGP Traffic Engineering with AS-Path & MED
BGP Traffic Engineering with Communities

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 2 hours
iBGP Confederation
BGP Next-Hop Processing - Next-Hop-Self
BGP Next-Hop Processing - Manual Modification

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Feels good, at 51 percent of the videos now. That was fast...

DAY 42

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP

THINGS I DID:

- Watched BGP Videos - 2 hours
BGP Traffic Engineering with Communities
BGP Aggregation
BGP Traffic Engineering with Aggregation

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 2 hours
iBGP Synchronization
BGP over GRE
BGP Redistribute Internal
BGP Peer Groups
BGP Network Statement

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Ever feel like you're just going through the motions in your studies? That's how I've felt for the entirety of the BGP section. Hoping its all sinking in, I am not finding it super challenging to be honest, just diverse. Think the things I will need the most practice on are aggregate routes and maybe just practice communities, though I use communities in my job now, but just on Juniper.

DAY 43

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP

THINGS I DID:

- Watched BGP Videos - 2 hours
BGP Communities/Attributes

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 4 hours
All the best path selection labs

Total Time: 6 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Only labs that tripped me up were the really obscure "ignore as path" rules that aren't even in the ? menu. That and always compare med.

DAY 44

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.

THINGS I DID:

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 6 hours
BGP Backdoor
BGP Aggregation
BGP Aggregation - Summary Only
BGP Aggregation - Suppress Map
BGP Aggregation - Unsuppress Map
BGP Aggregation - AS-Set
BGP Aggregation - Attribute-Map
BGP Aggregation - Advertise Map
BGP Communities
BGP Communities - No-Advertise
BGP Communities - No-Export
BGP Communities - Local-AS
BGP Communities - Deleting
BGP Conditional Advertisement
BGP Conditional Route Injection
BGP Filtering with Prefix-Lists
BGP Filtering with Standard Access-Lists
BGP Filtering with Extended Access-Lists
BGP Regular Expressions
BGP Filtering with Maximum Prefix
BGP Default Routing
BGP Local AS
BGP Local AS Replace-AS/Dual-AS
BGP Remove Private AS

Total Time: 6 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:
6 hours of straight up labbing today. Dayum that was a lot. I identified some weak spots, namely just memorizing all the key regex as-path commands. Today was super draining to do labs this long, this is actually the first time I did labbing for 6 hours, but in 3 hours sections each. I imagine I will need to get used to this as the real deal will be something like 8 with short breaks.

DAY 45: The struggle is real.

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.

THINGS I DID:

- Finished INE BGP Labs - 2 hours
- Watched INE Videos - 1.5 hours
Faster Convergence
Protocol Failure Detection
- Discussed CCIE With Study Partner - .5 hours <--- probably doesn't count, I'll put an extra half our in tomorrow.

Total Time: 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

A bit of a rant/internalization below.

So, I have felt like this since... maybe the middle of BGP. But I feel like I am hitting this weird middle ground between apathy and... I can't put my finger on it. It isn't really apathy per say, but I feel like I am not hitting the videos (paying attention) as rigorously as I used to. For example, if they are going over topics I know real well, I will accidentally zone out and then miss a few important facts in which I have to re-watch ( I play it back when I think I missed something). I am going to take some time to internalize and really buckle down and cut this out now.

The biggest thing about the CCIE for me so far is consistency. But you can put in the time like I do and only half listen to videos or only half research topics and be in a worse off place. I will need to look into re-focusing my drive because its slipping a little. I still want the CCIE, I am still putting in the time, but I feel some days my endurance slips and I will just hit the check mark "Yep this lab is done" and move on. I feel this is a huge mistake and will bite me in the ass later.

I've said I would put together flash cards a hundred times, I am not sure where to start with those, so perhaps I will simply just start, starting tonight I will make a few. I am hoping I can find some online as well to assist in the numbers I have.

I think I just need to snap myself awake at the end of it. I finished BGP today, but it felt like a bitter victory due to how easy I perceived it to be and how little... effort I put into rooting out more difficult syntax. I will have to look back and re-assess myself on syntax I had problems with and re-engage those areas.

This was a lot of words to say I internalized how bad I suck at studying sometimes and that constant barrage of hours is even getting to my performance. Some say its best to take a break, maybe they are right, maybe they are wrong. I am not going to stop doing what I am doing, I am just going to watch my subconscious more and put forth the same drive I had in the beginning.

Day 45, a month and a half. One more of these and I'll be done of the INE content and perhaps do Narbik's or redo the cores of INE or both. I'd like to say I feel more confident now then I did starting, I do... in the stuff I've done. But it wasn't until I've gone this far that I truly realized even when I pass my CCIE.... I still won't know anything about anything. Networking is so huge man.

And now your realise how much of a ***** it can be. I am continually hitting that wall at the start of CCIE#2 and it was why it really took me 3 years to really get stuck in for the first one.

It is hard, but you have to dig in, not zone out and be committed. Trust me, it is not easy!

I need to stop zoning out myself

Yeah for sure. I have my bachelors degree, and this has been much much harder then that. At least with a degree you can chip away with finishing classes. This you have to be on point on every protocol on every level for all parts at one time. Which is super, super difficult.

I am lucky enough to where I don't have kids (yet) and I work from home so I am hoping there won't be too many distractions. I am still hoping for under a year, but I can definitely.... DEFINITELY see how this can take multiple years. I know one thing. When I am done I am going to take a long time off.

To quote Bruce Lee: -

To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever.

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