My CCIE Thread

Sorry I couldn't come up with a more creative thread title, but this one will have to do. So after I passed CCNP I was going to put CCIE on the backburner until Narbik's new "bridge" book came out. Since then though, I decided to set up all the vendors labs (INE,IPX,Narbik) in IOU. But then one lab lead to another and I found myself spending hours upon hours in the workbooks. So... I think I will take a rather odd approach to this certification.

I'm going to jump right into labbing without having read the dozens of books you usually need to read. I will read as I go though. I am not going to study for the written exclusively but will instead target the lab right away. When I'm ready for the lab, I will take the written then book the lab right away. How does that sound? Would love to hear some constructive criticism but after being able to do 101 Labs for CCNP in my sleep I feel like I can hop right into these labs and read as I go. What I don't want to do is read 20 books. pass the written, then scramble for the lab in 18 months. So with that out of the way, here is what I will read in the next month:

1. MPLS and VPN Architectures(almost done).
2. QoS by Odom(love Odom)
3. Developing IP Multicast Networks

I think these 3 books will hit my 3 weakest areas and I can still continue to lab, which I really enjoy doing.

Thank you for reading, I will update this thread as I go.

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Forgot to mention, my goal to take the first lab attempt is for the summer of 2019, so I have a little over 3 years to get ready. I took a half day today and finished MPLS and VPN Architectures so I'm very glad to have 1 book read and out of the way.It will also help me in my quest for CCNP SP. I took notes the old fashioned way and highlighted a bunch of stuff in the book. I'm employing an active reading strategy Petr Lapukhov talked about in his blog a few years back. Basically you read and try to ask questions as you go and write down the answers. I don't have time to re-read these books so hopefully this method makes for easy review when it's time for the written.

I also did a couple of iPexpert and Narbik labs today. Finished IPX labs 5 and 6 and Narbik's Physical to Logical I from the Foundation workbook. Feels like I did bunch of grunt work and didn't learn anything new, but it's a nice start. I am using a mixture of IOU and 3560e switches to do the labs. For quick and dirty labs, I just use IOU. For heavy switching labs, I hit the rack.

Small update: I finished Volume 1 of Narbik's Foundation labs and read the first 2 chapters(about 130 pages worth) of Odom's QoS book. I really like Odom's teaching style and since I'm also going for CCNP SP, it seems like I'm killing two birds with one stone with my book selections. I feel like I could have done more labbing, but I wasted a lot of time setting up the topologies. Thankfully, I saved everything by lab # so when it is time for Round 2, I will just fire them up and will be ready to go.

I also bought $35 worth of tokens from iPexpert just to see what they offer and how their lab compares with mine. I don't think I will be buying more tokens from them and here is why. My labs load/reload much quicker than theirs! That is not even going into the fact that you have to schedule time slots in 4 hour blocks ahead of time and sometimes the time you want isn't listed. For R&S, it is no question that I will be using my own lab over theirs. My labs load/reload in matter of seconds and theirs take around a minute. I will revisit them for SP and Security in the future.

Keep it up koz, sounds like you're making great progress. Good to know about the QoS book.

I'll be picking that up later in my studies after the Layer 3 section.

What lab setup do you have at home?

Scales wrote: »

What lab setup do you have at home?

I have 4 3560e switches that I use for heavy switch labs and the rest I do in GNS3/IOU. There is also the option of connecting the switches to GNS3 but I have not got to the full-scale labs yet. I have a PC with 32 GB ram that I dedicate about 16GB to the GNS3 VM. Once my Macbook Pro comes in the mail I will set up a server and all 32 will be dedicated to GNS3 VM.

I have a VIRL subscription but I do not use it for CCIE R&S labs becuase it is too slow. I'm really concerned with speed and being able to hop from lab to lab and VIRL is just too slow.

koz24 wrote: »

I have 4 3560e switches that I use for heavy switch labs and the rest I do in GNS3/IOU. There is also the option of connecting the switches to GNS3 but I have not got to the full-scale labs yet. I have a PC with 32 GB ram that I dedicate about 16GB to the GNS3 VM. Once my Macbook Pro comes in the mail I will set up a server and all 32 will be dedicated to GNS3 VM.

I have a VIRL subscription but I do not use it for CCIE R&S labs becuase it is too slow. I'm really concerned with speed and being able to hop from lab to lab and VIRL is just too slow.

How did you find Narbiks workbooks in GNS3/IOU? I have an ESXi set up with some real switches and have been looking at getting Narbik's workbooks.

Scales wrote: »

How did you find Narbiks workbooks in GNS3/IOU? I have an ESXi set up with some real switches and have been looking at getting Narbik's workbooks.

I can only speak about the Foundation workbooks because I haven't go to the Advanced ones yet, but so far everything has been a breeze in GNS3/IOU. If you are using IOU, you will have to adapt to the interface numbers. For instance he uses Fa0/0 so you use E0/0 instead. For some of the serial interfaces, he uses S1/4 and IOU only goes up to S1/3, so pick something else. Small inconvenience when following along but you get used to it. If you want to match his interfaces exactly you can use IOS instead of IOU, but it will slow you down and I personally find setting Idle PC values over and over such a drag.

Lastly, his Foundation and Advanced workbooks have huge sections on switching so if you have real switches you are good to go. For routing labs that require a switch or two, I have found it faster to just use L2 IOU images instead of hooking up my switches.

koz24 wrote: »

I can only speak about the Foundation workbooks because I haven't go to the Advanced ones yet, but so far everything has been a breeze in GNS3/IOU. If you are using IOU, you will have to adapt to the interface numbers. For instance he uses Fa0/0 so you use E0/0 instead. For some of the serial interfaces, he uses S1/4 and IOU only goes up to S1/3, so pick something else. Small inconvenience when following along but you get used to it. If you want to match his interfaces exactly you can use IOS instead of IOU, but it will slow you down and I personally find setting Idle PC values over and over such a drag.

Lastly, his Foundation and Advanced workbooks have huge sections on switching so if you have real switches you are good to go. For routing labs that require a switch or two, I have found it faster to just use L2 IOU images instead of hooking up my switches.

Thanks so much - should have added on the ESXi I run CSR1000V.

Scales wrote: »

Thanks so much - should have added on the ESXi I run CSR1000V.

Oh, I don't know much about that. Does that setup support serial interfaces? Cause Narbik uses a ton of serial interfaces in his labs.

I know the new GNS3 VM runs on ESXi https://github.com/GNS3/gns3-gui/releases It replaces the old IOU VM and now all qemu and IOU will run in this new vm.

Hey Koz, great job on started the CCIE. It's a journey but one that will ultimately help you become a better engineer. I don't know if you know this or not the INE and Narbik GNS3 configs are easily found here:
Narbik GNS3 updated for v5 | RouterGods
INE GNS3 updated version 5 | RouterGods

Hopefully that helps save you some time

Where's the best place to pick up Narbik's workbook?

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Where's the best place to pick up Narbik's workbook?

Micronics Training

Iristheangel wrote: »

Hey Koz, great job on started the CCIE. It's a journey but one that will ultimately help you become a better engineer. I don't know if you know this or not the INE and Narbik GNS3 configs are easily found here:
Narbik GNS3 updated for v5 | RouterGods
INE GNS3 updated version 5 | RouterGods

Hopefully that helps save you some time

Thanks! I didn't know about this. Grabbing them now

Danielh22185 wrote: »

Where's the best place to pick up Narbik's workbook?

I know you're in the process of getting your CCNP but if you want to get a head start you can jump into the Foundation workbooks with what you know. The switch labs will help you in SWITCH as well.

Iristheangel wrote: »

Micronics Training

Cool that is what I found as well, just making sure. Thanks!

koz24 wrote: »

I know you're in the process of getting your CCNP but if you want to get a head start you can jump into the Foundation workbooks with what you know. The switch labs will help you in SWITCH as well.

Kinda what I was thinking

Just lining up my resources.

I powered through Narbik's Foundation Vol2 workbook using the gns3 topologies Iris linked. Having the topologies all set up and good to go really saved me a bunch of time. I also read another 100 pages in the Odom QoS book so I'm making progress in the reading department as well. I could have done more CCIE work, but I'm also doing CCNA SP and Security on the side-- I need these done and out of the way so I can begin the NP(I'm just uisng the CCIE SP reading list since there are no CCNP SP books)

I've also found I have a lot more time to do all of this than I originally planned. I basically cut 1 hour of sleep(only need 7 hrs going by some studies), video games, lunch break, and the gym. What's cool about my job is that I have a work from home option so I basically never go into the office unless its an important meeting. I wake up at 5am and have a good 3hour block before I start work. After work, I have a good 5 hour block before I go to bed, so in total about 9 hours a day I can dedicate to study. On the weekends, I plan on doing 12 hour days which will still leave me with a good 5 hour for leisure activities. This of course means I have no life whatsoever but such is the price I'm willing to pay. In a sad way, I feel lucky that I'm single and have no family to keep me from achieving my goals.

I also halted my job search a little bit because I'm unable to part with my working from home, especially now that I started this. I'm in the Boston area so commuting into the city is not an option and neither is the i495 commute. I will just be patient and continue chipping away.

Sounds like you now have the time to really get into it. Tackling multiple certs at once seems daunting, but you seem to have the drive.

siggnation wrote: »

Sounds like you now have the time to really get into it. Tackling multiple certs at once seems daunting, but you seem to have the drive.

Haha yeah, but there is a lot of overlap between SP and R&S. The 2 Doyle books, the Multicast and QoS books, Internet Routing Architectures, etc. I see why SP is such a popular pick after R&S. I can't say I'm super interested in Security though, just doing it because I have to.

*Personally* I'd probably be concentrating on one area. At least stick to SP and R&S because they naturally go together (well SP extends off R&S really). Security is, eh, a lot of it is older stuff and sometimes really dry. Some of the older platforms are really dull compared to the offerings nowadays.

I plan to hit Narbik Advanced Volume 1 pretty hard this weekend.25+hours. I will start with the switching labs tonight and see how it goes over the weekend.

The topics are:

Switching
DMVPN
RIPv2
EIGRP
OSPF
Redistribution
BGP.

gorebrush wrote: »

*Personally* I'd probably be concentrating on one area. At least stick to SP and R&S because they naturally go together (well SP extends off R&S really). Security is, eh, a lot of it is older stuff and sometimes really dry. Some of the older platforms are really dull compared to the offerings nowadays.

Agreed it feels dry to me too. I don't think I'll ever be a network security engineer but I can see myself as a telco-head in the future. Just trying to round myself out a bit since I keep seeing security in job ads. What I'm not sure of though is what the SP market in the Boston area is. I imagine I should be able to find something.

To be absolutely honest I used to really dislike security in general, just found it a bit of a nuisance and hinderance.

However, my attitude has changed a lot over the past few years and now I actually find Security really interesting and learning it all is very useful. I probably don't need to do another IE at all, but I figure while I am in a job that affords me the time to study, I might as well make hay while sun shines. I may contemplate doing a 3rd as well because I'm a bit nuts like that. I may do SP.

Finished Narbik Advanced Volume 1. My eyes are tired and I am tired. I felt like I learned a lot and if I am being honest, I need more work on DMVPN and BGP.

I also watched a Brian McGahan video from INE and in it he talks about how it is a mistake to "learn by lab" and it is one mistake a lot of people make. So maybe I need to take another look at my approach. What I think I'll do next is put Narbik Advanced Vol 2 on the backburner for now. I will finish the Odom QoS book and I will then read Doyle Vol I, Doyle Vol II, Internet Routing Architectures, and Developing IP Multicast Networks. All of these books are good for RS and SP.

I am too tired to lab or read anymore tonight so I will just hit up VODs with beer and pizza.

I haven't posted in the thread for a while so it's time to update on where I am. I finished Odom's QoS and Doyle Vol I. I will wait for the new edition of Doyle Vol II which is suppose to be out this July according to Amazon.

I've been very busy and haven't had as much time to dedicate to CCIE as I would like. I haven't labbed in a while and am itching to lab something . I think the plan is to read Internet Routing Architectures next and then I will get back to labbing, perhaps starting with IPX.

I'm also chipping away on the SP front. I passed SPNGN1 today with a 903/1000 so I'm very happy about that. Baby steps indeed, but it is a start.

Wow! Studying 9 hours a day is really inspiring! I'm just starting my journey to CCIE. Looks like its hell lot of work.

I like your approach of labbing and learning simultaneously. Many advise to take written just before the lab exam, when you are completely ready.

Do you have any advise on what labs to start with - Narbik, IPExpert or INE?

dxp3253 wrote: »

Wow! Studying 9 hours a day is really inspiring! I'm just starting my journey to CCIE. Looks like its hell lot of work.

I like your approach of labbing and learning simultaneously. Many advise to take written just before the lab exam, when you are completely ready.

Do you have any advise on what labs to start with - Narbik, IPExpert or INE?

It's not all dedicated to CCIE though. I'm doing a few other tracks on the side -- Security and SP

I would start with Narbik.

Oh by the way, Narbik's new 900 page "bridge" book is supposed to be out this September 2016. I would definitely start with that if you can.

http://www.amazon.com/CCIE-Routing-Switching-V5-1-Foundations/dp/1587144727/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1461013982&sr=8-4&keywords=narbik

It's been a while since I posted in this thread. The good news is I have not given up! Just been very busy with moving and work. I will update the reading list a bit later but I am in the process of going through Narbik's workbooks again. I really want to know his labs cold because I plan to take his boot camp sometime in the future. I am skipping the Physical to Logical section and just going right into DMVPN.

koz24 wrote: »

It's been a while since I posted in this thread. The good news is I have not given up! Just been very busy with moving and work. I will update the reading list a bit later but I am in the process of going through Narbik's workbooks again. I really want to know his labs cold because I plan to take his boot camp sometime in the future. I am skipping the Physical to Logical section and just going right into DMVPN.

Good to hear that you're still moving forward. Good luck!

I found that keeping the thread updated helped me remember to actually do stuff. It's a worthwhile thing to keep doing.

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