Nutsy's CCIE DC Lab Diary

joelsfood

Good luck man. Keep at it!

Nutsy

joelsfood,

Thanks, I need it. Motivation is starting to completely tank. Took the past two weeks off to study. Guess it was a good think. Turned out my NX-OS skills tanked lately. Spent the past three months on UCS/ACI/UCSD/UCSC. Funny how stuff leaks out like that.

Anyways, been brushing up on some ancillary topcis like general routing/switching on NXOS. Also, started to re-review LISP. Need to review a ton of small topics.

Tomorrow I travel to San Jose for the first attempt on Friday. A lot of my friends/coworkers who already have a CCIE in one topic or another, stated they take the day off before. I have a feeling that I can't completely do that. Will need to keep reviewing some items.

2 Days till first lap attempt.

EANx

I've had the same problem with motivation as I've hit various milestones with different certs. There's no doubt that sometimes you have to take a break in order to get your head back in the game. I think the one thing that's bothered me about your posts is that most of the time you post X days until FIRST lab attempt, like you're already planning for a second. And once you get to the point of there being a second, it's hard to fully-focus on the first.

I hope you make it this coming Friday but if you don't, take a week or two off then come back expecting that it would be your last attempt, not X out of some Y total.

Nutsy

EANx,

The reason for the countdown, and the wording as it is serves a couple reasons: 1) Personally, I need a deadline to work to push myself to keep going. Seeing how many days keeps things in perspective. 2) One issue I have seen some candidates fall into is that they build themselves up, and really do **** there soul into studying, don't pass, and never get back on the horse. Thus, I didn't want that to be me. 3) Each individual doesn't know how long their path is going to be until completion. Thus, this is about building a mentality of committing to the process.

To summarize: 1) Be committed to the process of learning 2) Don't loose sight of the test date 3) Any failure is a learning opportunity 4) Keep moving forward with studying 5) Ditch the ego.

These are my thoughts, they may work for no one else out there. Either way, earning my digits is the goal, everything else is second. This is how I keep it all in perspective.

HTH.

-Nutsy

adam9870

For me it also helps to plan the date of the exam and count down the days for the exam. Good luck!

EANx

I have no problem with the countdown, it was the "first attempt" that I felt was self-defeating, insinuating there would be a second. Regardless, good luck tomorrow.

MitM

Good luck tomorrow Nutsy!

Nutsy

All,

Thanks for the support. Really do appreciate it.

Got out here to San Jose. Sitting here in the hotel doing a final review for topics that i either forgot, or need a quick brush up on.

Tomorrow is it.

-Nutsy

urstuffplz1

Best of luck!

darkestclown

Good Luck, Nutsy!!

Nutsy

All,

Thanks again. Today's the day. Lab starts in about an hour and a half.

In the immortal words of the Terrible Terry Tate, "It's game day baby! Whow!"

-Nutsy

shodown

Good luck.

Nutsy

Didn't not pass this round. Passed the Diagnostic but not the config section. Back to the studying.

Lab Date: TBD

MitM

sorry to hear it didn't go your way. With your determination, you'll get it.

Nutsy

MitM,

Thanks. Just trying to keep focused and moving forward.

Watched a few INE videos today. Looked up a couple items I didn't know cold going into the exam. Going to lab up a few items here in a few minutes.

Booked my next attempt for 10APR18 in San Jose. 57 Days till next lab attempt.

kj0

It's all a learning experience and you'll know more. Just don't forget to review and lab up items you already know and passed with.

Good luck for next round!

rtid

Best of luck on your next attempt.

Question for everyone: What is the best way to gain access to a comparable lab environment for the CCIE DC track? I've heard of dCloud, don't know much about it, but I'm wondering if you need a support contract to gain access to all of the necessary bits?

Outside of the R&S, and perhaps the SP, I'm curious if there's a bonafide list of lab equipment avenues for each track (Security, Wireless, Collab, etc)? It's something that has been top of mind as of late.

Nutsy

This past week, I got through one item from the test that stumped me. Looked up another couple items. This weekend, I am not going to be studying due to family members being in town. I'm off on Monday, and they are leaving then. So, the grind will really start then.

Nutsy

Been back at it the past couple of days. Been hitting items that caught me on the exam.

Got all my travel lined up for going back to San Jose. So the next attempt is a go.

48 days till the exam.

Nutsy

Got a good seven hours in today reviewing some items. Also, have to rework some items in my lab. That ate up a bunch of time.

Wish I could be more specific. However, I am worried that if I say that I studied a certain technology that it will be breaking the NDA.