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 82

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Read Chapters on PfR,LISP and other non-lab topics - 1 hours

- Did Boson Practice Test and Reviewed All Topics Missed - 6 hours
...a bunch of them.

Total Time: 7 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

2nd test (Exam

from Boson I got a 650-700 (some questions I technically got wrong, but its because I misread them... I knew the answer) and even though its only been one day, I have invaluable resources to make me go to the next level.

I feel like I am studying for the CCNP again, only topic scope is huge. Like, I am going through the Boson exams and other official vendor exams and I am seeing the same type of formats. For example, its a good idea to know the timers of protocols. I am seeing questions that again and again point back to BGP attributes and BGP path selection. I am seeing questions a lot on IGMP version differences and other protocol differences between versions.

So the theme is the same, but the topic matter is huge. I think a good reason why I am getting so high of a score so far (remember I just started studying for the written yesterday technically) is I spent the first 3 months prepping for the lab, which is 70 percent of what is in the written.

I'm feeling fairly confident in passing by the time the test shows up. My only concern is that I re-re-found out that the retake policy IS 15 days after all. Before I thought it was 15, then I misread the Cisco site and thought it was 5... then I signed up for it... can confirm its 15.

On another note, maybe its because I've weened into this, but I no longer miss my free time. Is that weird?

DAY 83

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Reviewed All Topics Missed - 5 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!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Going slower tonight. Got a lot to work on tomorrow.

DAY 84 AND 85

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Reviewed All Topics Missed - 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours / 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Been taking it slower the past few days. Think I burnt myself out with those 8 hours days plus the opening of my Steam application on my computer was a huge mistake. I once again miss free time. Only 10 days to go till my Written attempt, feeling shaky on it...

Good luck with the written! But seriously how do you find the time to do 7/8 hours of study on a week day? Are you up studying until 2 am?

You will be the very best, like no one ever was.

Srsly I wish you the best

Yeah, which is why I burnt out a little bit this week. I work from home. So its easy for me to just start hitting the books immediately at 6pm after work. Like, super easy, I'm already in my chair, already in the console I just switch it to my INE rack rentals and go at it.

Now, when I say stuff like 8 hours or 7 hours or even 4 hours. Its very rare that I am in my seat, white knuckle tense studying like Rocky Balboa. I often get distracted, look on the internet etc. I lost focus, I go get a drink and sit at the TV for 10 min now and again. So when I say like 7/8 hours it is just that is the time of my focus. When in reality time spent studying could range anywhere from 6-8 hours, never a perfect time. I don't know that I could remember anything if I went straight 8 hours.

DAY 86

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Did another test, did some more studying - 4 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I'm going to try and focus on some topics that I haven't been covering lately. Things like VPLS and IPv6 differences. I am getting the sneaking suspicion that a lot of this stuff is very trivia based. That there are a lot of topics outside the scope of the lab that doesn't really bring... how do I put this, further skill to the engineer. I don't know. I don't see the need to learn about technologies that you aren't going to place in the lab, it just seems silly. Slight rant, but whatever.

I've read several reviews of the v5 exam and it sounds like a wack O' mole trivial pursuit game as opposed to a real knowledge tester, which is pretty disappointing. We shall see...

These weekdays I'll hit it hard because its just a week before the test. But I took it super easy over this weekend.

EDIT: Oh I took test 3 and got like a 780 - 850. I missed a lot of questions that I just didn't understand how it was asking it and then did the ol' face palm routine. But score is getting better. So there is that.

DAY 87

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Read up on BGP and RSTP - 2 hours

Total Time: 2 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Very low amount of studying (comparatively) to all my other days. I think I hit that 8 hours a day, I was going strong and then I just hit a brick wall of burn out. I've considered things mentally everything from quitting altogether to jumping back on the 8 hour a day horse.

I think the right answer is somewhere in the middle. That is, I think I will 'revert' back to 4 hour weekdays and 6 hour weekend days and see how I feel from there. I'm not quitting, never. But I won't lie that I've thought about quitting about 492745 times... you get the idea.

What makes this much more difficult is looking up obscure facts about MAC addresses or the tiniest things about topics not on the lab really DRAIN me. So I am hoping this is a bi-product of the type of study. Don't get me wrong, I've read like 8 books so far, I don't mind that. Its the wack O' mole hunting for factoids for the Written that's been dragging me down. Its not fun, yet its necessary. Some aspects will be needed for the lab, but in my opinion a large amount of it (the minutia that is) won't be important.

When I was doing my bachelors degree. I was working full time and doing full time school for four years. I never experienced burn out. Never. I think this is my first burn out event. Haha.

EDIT: Also, since I started working from home. I started gaining weight lol... I think having fewer hours weekdays will allow me to work out a little bit :P

I'm telling you.. you're not quitting! You're my inspiration so you better be sticking to it!

Never giving up, but I did post pone my written test. The dynamic of only being able to fail it four times in a rolling calendar year really upsets me, but I know why they do it. Still, one failure might mean a down hill spiral into not getting my CCIE at all. So I want to be careful.

DAY 88/89

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Various topics missed from test - 4 hours
- IPv6 Tunnels (all them) (RSTP/MSTP) - 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours / 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Kinda chugging along. I pushed my test back to the 30th because I simply didn't feel I was going to be ready next week. But, hey I am back to 4 hours a day and I think that is progress from my first impact of burnout. I need to light this candle again and hit it hard.

I honestly can't wait to get the Written over with. I now feel like it was a mistake to try for it early. Should have listened to my gut feeling. But its SUCH a detractor from the lab material, it is very frustrating.

Burning out is too easy with a CCIE. You need to rest as well as hit it hard - but I guess you will be wise to this now.

Haha, yeah that is for sure. I flew too close to the sun.

DAY 90

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Practice test 4 and various topic summaries - 4 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Got nearly a 900/1000 on my last Boson exam, maybe I should have not postponed my test. But from what I hear Boson in this case may be easier then the real thing. I will continue to work on my weak areas.

Also, NINETY DAYS of studying every day no matter what! Most days at 4+ hours of study! I must say its helped me tons at work be more confident in my design decisions and just troubleshooting in general even though I work on Juniper mostly. I feel like after the written I will be half way there to the CCIE Lab attempt because all I will need is practice, practice and more practice. Honestly the Written has been the biggest hurdle so far. You can't practice factoids into your brain... well I guess technically that is what memorizing is...

In theory I am 1/3 of the way to my goal that I set out (10 months for my first attempt) I think I may still be able to obtain it, though this written has set my time table back quite a bit.

DAY 91

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Watched INE Stackwise/PFR - 2 hours

Total Time: 2 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Today sucked too... but that's okay. Tomorrow is the weekend so that means more hours to make up for it.

I know the first thing I am going to do when this written is over with, is to cover all the things in the lists above. Those have been up there collecting rust since I've put them up there.

DAY 92/93/94

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Watched INE Videos (IPv6/Pfr) - 4 hours
- Read OCG Vol.2 - 2 hours
- Watched Services INE videos - 4 hours
- Did Random Boson exam (960/1000) - 2 hours
- Read OCG Vol.2 - 2 hours

Total Time: 4 hours / 6 hours / 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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Until I take my Written I may do updates every 2-3 days. I feel like neither I nor anyone else cares what I do daily at this point in time. The information is becoming second nature. I have a very good memory, which is only really bad when I am taking practice tests. I did a random boson exam and got a 960/1000, partially because I memorized the answers only going through the Q/A once on each question. Very frustrating. But a lot of things I was mystified on are pretty clear to me now. The only concern I have is do I know enough?

I said this before, but I honestly feel like the 4 attempts a year limit Cisco puts on the Written is a punishment to those doing this test legitly, I just feel like in the past Cisco tests didn't test me necessarily on logic/knowledge, but more on factoids that didn't make me a better engineer per say. Not saying the Written is anything such, but its possible to fail 4 times in my opinion, it is the hardest test in the track (next to the lab obviously) so I would really like to see an alternative.

I know the nature of why they are doing it, and I appreciate it. Maybe if they did 4 tries every 6 months I think I would be happier with that. But with a rolling calendar year, if I fail 4 times, man that would take the wind out of my sails of even pursuing the CCIE further.

Of course, if I fail 4 times, something else might be wrong... I dunno. I'm in the unsure stages of prepping for this test haha.

Still set for the 30th for now....

I love your thread and format. Awesome dedication and highly motivating for someone like myself, hoping to take on this same journey in mid 2016.

Best.

DAY 95-108

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.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- CCIE Written Varying stuff... INE Videos/Boson/Books/Flashcards

Total Time: 4 hours every day

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)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Uhhhh its been awhile. I take my Written on Wednesday come hell or high water. I am 60 percent certain I will fail it. Not because I haven't tried to study, but because I don't know what else to study. I've hit a wall of uncertainty. I don't know what I don't know and unfortunately the Boson exams are the only legit vendor (non-****) out there it seems. So I've already memorized the Boson questions of course so they don't test me on my faults.

I am pretty disappointed with the lack of material for legit test takers. Wish there were more vendors, I'd be willing to pay a few hundred bucks for some really tough written focused questions to gauge where I am. Oh well, I am going into this test specifically to gauge myself, I am not expecting to pass so I will try to not be hard on myself when I don't.

I haven't updated in 2 weeks because I was going to save it for when I attempted. And honestly no one wants to see me update the same thing every day, not me anyway. I have been studying every day, some days 4 hours, some days like the holidays 1-2 hours. I haven't bee killing myself because like I said I am kind of in an unknown spot of how/what to study at this point.

I'll know my weaknesses Wednesday, I'll update this thread then as well.

Good luck to ya! I totally understand the wall you are at. The best thing about a fail is that it identifies where you are weak for you to get better. Good luck to you and I look forward to your progress as I plan to set out on the same endeavor starting mid this coming year.

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Good luck to ya! I totally understand the wall you are at. The best thing about a fail is that it identifies where you are weak for you to get better. Good luck to you and I look forward to your progress as I plan to set out on the same endeavor starting mid this coming year.

Yep, I joked to my boss saying I am doing it just to fail. Sure I want to pass, but lets be realistic. There are over 400 topics on the CCIE and there are few study test systems that are legit. So its difficult to pin point the weak areas. I am in a spot where I am studying the same thing over and over and I don't know if its doing anything. Problem is, Cisco written tests (CCNP/CCNA etc) are notorious for BS questions like asking mac addresses or smaller details that are literally google knowledge. But that is just me pre-bitching before I take it

Im thinking you are over prepared in my opinion at this point!!!

Good luck today Bardlebee, I've followed this thread from the beginning so be sure to check back in once you get the pass!

Good luck Bardlebee! Same as bharvey, I've followed this thread since the beginning.

Thanks guys. I'm keeping a level head. Just realizing this is just a test to find my weak areas. I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

I failed, not by a lot. No matter how much you tell yourself you will be okay with it or you are just testing yourself. It is horribly frustrating to fail and upsetting. So I am going to hold off on reviewing my experience until I've drank my sorrows away and I have a clear head.

Sorry to hear Bardlebee. It's always discouraging to see when people fail these certs after so much effort and studying. But on the flip side, it's always good to see how people refocus and attack it the next time.

Sorry to hear about that.

Ok here are my thoughts after I've had some time to settle down a bit.

First Attempt: Fail (I don't think sharing my score is against NDA, but to be safe I won't list it.. I was pretty close to passing)

This has been the first cert test I have failed. I've gotten close numerous times, particularly my SWITCH and ICND1. So maybe I am taking this a bit harder. I'm getting it over it quickly and bouncing back.

Question Difficulty: I felt the questions were fair when they were fair. Its hard to describe and obviously I can't share the topics specifically, but when the questions asked what I felt were accurate portrayals of protocols, I dominated those questions. When they asked questions that were, in my opinion, very corner case (such as MAC address knowledge of protocols or worse) I did not fair well. Taking time to take it all in I feel like a good 1/4th of the exam questions were difficult to be difficult, not difficult to test your knowledge and I felt that wasn't particularly fair.

Wording/Grammar: I saw a few grammar mistakes such as misspelling which I was surprised to see, none the less that didn't detract from the question, to be fair. I was just surprised on a 400 dollar test it would be there. On the drag and drops.. not sure how much I can say. I had technical issues with dragging an answer on top onto the right side where once the answer was removed again (to see what was under it since I forgot the wording) the sentence was cut off permanently. It happened to me once and I never placed an answer on top of another drag and drop until 100 percent sure because of it. I think because of it I got the drag and drop wrong, but I am not sure of course.

I also felt the wording was poorly written. Such in the case that I had questions that I knew the right answer to, but the wording was so obscure I had to triple check myself and in the end I wasn't sure, purely on the wording. I tried to of course eliminate all wrong answers best I can, but I think there were 5 questions I felt that could have needed a complete wording over haul.

Overall Score: I did the best on Layer 3 and Security. Two fields I've worked in for a few years so I am glad I didn't mess those up too bad. I didn't fair as well in Layer 2 as I'd like. I did not fair well in written-only topics, which surprised me because I hit those pretty hard. Funny, the things I labbed months ago are still in my head. I thought I had PfR etc down pat, but it shows I have some ways to go. I also did poorly in Infra Services which I knew was not a strong suit of mine, so more work is needed there.

Final Thoughts: At the end of the day, I failed the test. I shouldn't blame wording or corner case topics as I would expect from a Cisco test. I failed it. I'm seeing that I can try for the test unlimited times, which takes a huge weight off my shoulders. I can't afford to miss this four times as unlikely as it seems. Well, I can afford it. I don't NEED to be a CCIE. At the end of the day I make great money and do great work (I think?)

Looking back, I would say 50 percent of the test had fair questions, maybe 15 percent of the questions I could have done better with better knowledge. And the rest I really feel needs either better wording or removed from the CCIE. I strongly feel if they should not have topics outside of the lab. Or make the CCIE Written a separate certification if you are going to do it. I understand the nature of why they are doing it (they want you to be well rounded, such as IS-IS being popular) but let that be part of the lab too and take out something from Infra Services... its the Route and Switch CCIE, not the Services CCIE :P

But I'd like to take my first lab attempt this year, preferably Juneish... This written has kicked me harder then I anticipated. But it shows I need growth.

Success is not about winning and passing all the time. Its about failing so much that you have succeeded. I'll come back stronger and harder then ever and I'll be better for it. If I can confirm that there are unlimited tries, I am going to do it again in two weeks.

In short: I feel exactly how this guy feels about the test: http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccie/108817-passed-ccie-r-s-written-v5.html

Link doesn't seem to work for me... I'll just post his stuff here:

"Well, I haven't seen too many write-ups of the CCIE R/S Written version 5, so I thought I would try to help the community out. On a personal note I reached the 10-year mark as a CCIE, and the biennial recertification is becoming more and more burdensome. I may go emeritus next time. I've also been working at Juniper for 5 years, and my Cisco knowledge is not quite where it was before I started here. Also, as an architect, I do far less hands-on work than in the past, so that doesn't help either.

For my first attempt at the CCIEv5 I attempted to do what had gotten me through the last exam (v4) two years prior. At that time Boson had a very good set of four practice exams, and I went in when I was passing the Boson exams at 90% or higher. Well, Boson has not released the v5 version of their exam, but I had the old ones still installed. Figuring that the v5 exam couldn't be that different, I re-ran the old Boson exams and then used the blueprint to supplement my knowledge for any area that was different. I failed miserably.

Second attempt. I did an extensive brain **** of the questions I remembered and made sure I could answer them if they cropped up. Then, I basically took the advice of someone on LinkedIn and went through the blueprint line by line, reading the Cisco docs for each subject area, and inputting questions about these areas into an Anki flashcard database. I developed 242 flash cards in Anki. If you're not familiar with Anki, it is a spaced-repetition flash card system that is a very effective tool for quizzing yourself on any subject. My advice is, however you want to memorize stuff, just google each subject area and read the docs. If it's MLD, look up "Configuring MLD". Just looking at that doc as an example, at the top there is an information section which gives you general facts about the protocol. For example, it tells you that MLD cannot be manually enabled, but is automatically enabled under certain circumstances. Write that down, learn it. Learn as many of these factoids as you can. Then study how the protocol works so you understand it, and don't just have factoids. Usually there is an example of how the protocol works. Read it, think about it, reproduce it on a sheet of paper. Then study the config guides carefully. Make notes on tricky spots, like whether a timer is in minutes or seconds.

You should also memorize the standard stuff, admin distances, reserved 224 addresses, LSA types, etc., etc.

OK, this said, a couple thoughts. I took my first Cisco exam in 2000, I have two CCIEs and one JNCIE. In short, I've taken a LOT of tests. In addition, I have been a question writer for Juniper exams and have been through our own process for developing tests. The CCIE v5 written is doable, but overall poorly written. There were a few questions that I can't believed they released. They were either intentionally worded confusingly, or none of the answers was correct. I saw one where the answers provided were clearly wrong, and I ran it in the lab when I got home just to be sure. There are a lot of "factoid" questions which are not that hard to answer, but these really prove nothing. When I wrote the questions at Juniper, we were specifically told NOT to ask silly things like "what MAC address does protocol X use" or "what IP protocol number is used for Y"... These just waste time. I'm not saying we were always successful, but as a Juniper test-taker myself, I've found our questions to be fair and reasonable. This test was silly. I'm not sure who they have writing their exams, but the fact that IGMP is listed as a layer 2 technology on the blueprint gives you some idea that they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Anyhow, I hope this helps some folks taking this exam."

Sorry to hear that mate, take a few days rest and then get straight back into the reading. Unfortunately, the two CCIE written tests I have taken (R&S, SP) are both a matter of remembering stupid facts like "what is the default timer for $protocol" or "what is the default MAC address for $protocol". There are some good questions, and a lot of trivial pursuit ones. I took the SPv4 one right after it had been released and there were a lot of errors in it that I left comments on, so I'm sorry to heard that the R&Sv5 one wasn't much better.

In any case, keep up the study and remember what you are working towards. Once you have finished your CCIE lab and gotten your numbers, you won't care how many times it took to pass exams, you will just care that you stuck with it.

For sure, I've been rewarded 10 fold with my knowledge already. That number though is the ultimate goal and I knew I was going to take some hits climbing to the top. Going to take a day or two to just do light studying, maybe an hour or so, then hit it the same. I will likely schedule for the 15th for another swing. I was probably about 10 questions off from passing.

Thank you for the motivation everyone!

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