Need some opinions....

bmauro

Need some opinions....even though I'm no where near thinking of CCIE studies - but I'll still ask away.

Lets say you where planning on going for your CCVP, but also plain on compeleting the CCSP and CCNP.

After you finish the CCVP, does it make sense to sit for the CCIE Written Voice since it will still be fresh in your mind, or move onto the next professional level track?

I've heard that the CCIE written tests are harder then the Professional level tests, but not by a unbelievable amount. I remember someone saying something along the lines of 75% of the CCIE Written comes from the professional level material. Now I don't know what track they were referring to, and I don't know if it's even true.

I would LOVE to sit for my CCIE Voice (Written) right after completing my CCVP, but I would not start my studies for the CCIE Voice Lab till much later - good idea - bad idea? Am I making any sense?? :P

Turgon

The written exams are hard without using **** (which I'm sure you won't use).

If you are serious about CCIE..bone up on the CCO recommended links for the exam...the whitepapers and the books. Grab a ligitimate practice test after doing some extensive reading.

Then sit the test. If you pass, great. If you miss. Bone up on the areas you need to work on. Do a resit in a couple of months time after intense reading. That worked for me.

If you plan on doing the CCIE Voice in the not too near future then get the CCIE written out of the way.

Be aware that once you have the qualification exam, you will need to sit a lab within the timeframe or the written will expire.

This happened to me when I passed my CCIE R/S written in 2001, but I was way too busy at work to put enough time in to prepare for the lab adequately, and I wasn't going to visit Brussels for 'recon'. I decided to go when I felt I was as prepared as I could be. I worked very hard on lab prep to achieve that level, but there just wasn't enough time.

Just my two cents..good luck!

bmauro

Aredhel - awesome point. I didn't even think of the written expiring (like I said - I haven't really looked into the CCIE tracks yet)

Food for thought - thanks!

mikej412

bmauro wrote:

I would LOVE to sit for my CCIE Voice (Written) right after completing my CCVP, but I would not start my studies for the CCIE Voice Lab till much later - good idea - bad idea? Am I making any sense?? :P

From one of the Cisco CCIE Certification web pages

Candidates must make an [b]initial attempt of the CCIE lab exam within 18 months of passing the CCIE written exam[/b]. Valid passing scores on written exams expire after 18 months.

bmauro

Yeah - after reading Aredhel post I headed over to cisco.com and read that too.

Oh well - guess that means I need to finish all those pesky professional level certs off first :P

sexion8

I'm debating on the Security 4th quarter this year or early next year. Work interferes a lot with study time since I'm like the number one person my company calls when clients are having issues. For kicks I may line as many tests up beginning July to keep me on my toes. I've also been slightly confused at times when I do study since I use Netscreens and Foundry's on a daily basis :X not fun when doing labs and I'm wondering why: get int is not showing me my interfaces.

I reworked my homelab and need to conform IOS' This is the current lab I have @ home. I have to swap out a lot of crap soon... 2 4500M's, 3 3620, 3 3810's, 1 2610, 1 2521, 1 2524, 3 2501's, 2 Netscout Switchprobes (1 1000BaseSX 1 Eth) 1 Pix 506e, 2 1924's, 1 3524, 1 5000. I have a 3640 but its acting stupid so I don't even bother with it anymore. I went so far as xmodem xferring a lower IOS and it still acted kooky. I don't feel threatened by the written, only thing that I think "might" give me a headache would be 1) ASA stuff, IDS stuff it old Netranger stuff comes into play and ISDN. I will focus more on those when work slows down

I thought about buying the concentrator and ASA but I might wait it out, read then rent a lab for that. I have too much junk as it is. I started sorting it out like two weeks ago, but added and removed some things. I will redo the whole thing the right way... When I have time. Notice how some things I didn't even bother plugging in. And DON'T ASK what I have a Fore ATM switch for... I use it when super lazy and I don't feel like typing much for VLANs

http://infiltrated.net/Mar2520073.jpg
http://infiltrated.net/Mar2520072.jpg
http://infiltrated.net/Mar2520074.jpg

Turgon

It's been a while since I messed with xmodem for a download but I do work with foundry gear- fast irons, server irons.

Good luck with it all. I'm busy putting my home lab together myself, I have a lot of equipment at home to sort out!

Nice IPv6 location btw

sexion8

Aredhel wrote:

Nice IPv6 location btw

I had a t shirt made for me with the address on. Maybe .000001% of people who see it will get it. I would like to get a rack but I haven't the space for it right now. I've been browsing here and there for something along the lines of a 4ft rack maybe 24u non aluminum looking eyesore. I may get creative and get some form of entertainment rack from Onkyo or something with a glass enclosure so my fiance doesn't want to kick my stuff out on the balcony.

Turgon

sexion8 wrote:

Aredhel wrote:

Nice IPv6 location btw

I had a t shirt made for me with the address on. Maybe .000001% of people who see it will get it. I would like to get a rack but I haven't the space for it right now. I've been browsing here and there for something along the lines of a 4ft rack maybe 24u non aluminum looking eyesore. I may get creative and get some form of entertainment rack from Onkyo or something with a glass enclosure so my fiance doesn't want to kick my stuff out on the balcony.

Well I guess that makes two of us smarter than your average bear Speaking of home labs I'm putting an hour or two in now after work to start assembling mine again. It's been a while..first job is to get my Xyplex terminal server to play ball