1st CCIE lab attempt blog and help for candidates.

Turgon

Afternoon off with the family to go shopping followed by a meal out. Carried on with the notes after my son put to bed.

INE Vol II Labs 1 - 10 Security - DONE

Calling it a night now. That just leaves Network Services to do which I should get hammered in sometime this week. With that I have all questions of consequence for the first 10 labs in Memosyne. Locating and typing in the solutions is another matter and a useful exercise in itself in November. Labs 11 - 20 I will cover once I have put some time in with the revision of labs 1 - 10.

I also have content to add to this thing from Vol I. Readers will recall that I filleted the Vol I labs and put the content into a spreadsheet divided into worksheets for each topic. I put in the Multicast content the other night quickly enough.

With the Vol I content + Vol II labs 1 -10 I reckon the database will come in at about 850 entries with the Vol II offering Q and A and the Vol I stuff just a statement of a mechanism followed by the syntax.

All good stuff and a lot more user friendly for my busy schedule than a slew of question and answer workbooks with all the topics sprinkled around.

Turgon

INE Vol II Labs 1 - 5 Network Services DONE

Over 600 q's in Memosyne now. Happy days.

Turgon

MPLS core design research today

Turgon

INE Vol II Labs 6 - 10 Network Services - DONE

Thats it. All the questions for the first 10 Vol II labs are now in the memosyne database. Big step forward.

Turgon

A good deal of Q+A from INE Vol I topics added to Mnemosyne this morning. The cut and paste from the spreadsheet I painstakingly put together when going over the INE Vol I content has paid off. The household chores kicked in so we went shopping.

I notice that many of the CCIE candidate blogs are starting to tail off now, not least as the personal time requirements are enormous. For the moment I have a diversion this evening while I research some MPLS design work for my projects at work.

Turgon

A good deal of high level MPLS research done yesterday afternoon and this morning. I will map out some configs a little later and then get back on with the IE notetaking activities. A break now to go shopping. I have to say that MPLS design work is very involved and a lot of the information out there leaves me with more questions than answers. There is weeks of reading and reflection time ahead in the Cisco Design Zone for DC architecture. Im happy with what I have found but Im not sure it ticks all the boxes I have to fill.

Forsaken_GA

Turgon wrote: »

I notice that many of the CCIE candidate blogs are starting to tail off now, not least as the personal time requirements are enormous. For the moment I have a diversion this evening while I research some MPLS design work for my projects at work.

Yeah, I'm getting to a point where I'm going to eat drink and breathe Cisco, as I begin the CCIE, I'm going to pretend I've forgotten anything I know and come at the CCIE like I need to relearn everything.

I can't do the blog thing. On the personal level, I don't like to talk about myself that much just ouf of the blue. I don't think I'm that important and interesting on one hand, and my personal life is not the business of the internet on the other (this is also why I have no Facebook page). For the technical stuff, blogging feels WAAAY too much like writing documentation.

I may change my mind though, as I've always found trying to explain something I'm struggling with in my own words helps me understand it better. It seems to me alot of folks go into CCIE prep bristling with energy and then burn themselves out. I don't think folks understand it's a marathon, not a sprint. I think some of the best advice that could be given to new CCIE candidates is to remind them that every time they read the book, the tortoise is going to win the race.

Turgon

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Yeah, I'm getting to a point where I'm going to eat drink and breathe Cisco, as I begin the CCIE, I'm going to pretend I've forgotten anything I know and come at the CCIE like I need to relearn everything.

I can't do the blog thing. On the personal level, I don't like to talk about myself that much just ouf of the blue. I don't think I'm that important and interesting on one hand, and my personal life is not the business of the internet on the other (this is also why I have no Facebook page). For the technical stuff, blogging feels WAAAY too much like writing documentation.

I may change my mind though, as I've always found trying to explain something I'm struggling with in my own words helps me understand it better. It seems to me alot of folks go into CCIE prep bristling with energy and then burn themselves out. I don't think folks understand it's a marathon, not a sprint. I think some of the best advice that could be given to new CCIE candidates is to remind them that every time they read the book, the tortoise is going to win the race.

I know what you mean. I don't feel the need to eat drink and breathe Cisco anymore these days. My time and energy piechart gets sliced pretty hard for my work with thinking time for design work creeping into my personal time. Anything left over necessarily goes on family as that time is squeezed anyway as I have so much on my mind on a work level. This really only leaves a sprinking of a few hours a week for my CCIE studies.

But Im comfortable with that. I have already done the hardmiles on the CCIE studyfront so Im just going to do enough to stay frosty for a few months. Should daylight emerge nextyear I can reinvest more time on this and prepare solidly leading up to a lab attempt. But it's all about priorities. My company and my family need my focus right now.

My written expires in April but honestly if its not realistic to pull everything together by then I will just let is slide and take the thing when Im fully revised on labprep.

People do attack the CCIE and get through it, but a lot of other people get burned out having dropped a lot of money on equipment, rackhire, books, vendor workbooks and bootcamps. Unless you have the bandwidth to study regularly at work and at home it's not practical inside one year. I think some people are not realistic enough with that self assessment. That can lead to frustration and burn out. A CCIE I work with thinks I should forget about it anyway as we have a baby due in a matter of weeks. There is more to life than being a number, passing Cisco exams and spending lots of personal time and money on things to get there.

So it's a study hiatus again, but not permanent. Either way I have learned a great deal along the journey, just not had that solid period when I can amass the hours on a daily basis to pull it all together. My time is just too valuable at work and at home where Im needed.

Turgon

Flat out at work. No time for studies this week. Checkpoint incident this weekend to resolve. MPLS design next week.

Turgon

too busy designing networks to study. Ccie studies suspended.

yuriz43

Some of the most valuable knowledge you can get for the CCIE is from real world experience.

Turgon

yuriz43 wrote: »

Some of the most valuable knowledge you can get for the CCIE is from real world experience.

The exam is not the holy grail. Being good in the field is. The boots Im filling were once owned by someone with years of experience and no Cisco qualifications. He has disemboweled CCIE's on change approval boards in the past. All good fun. With the work I have on and the family situation I think the CCIE is on hold until next summer. I just dont have the time.

GT-Rob

Like any exam, its an investment, however there needs to be a worthwhile rate of return. The time and money it would take me to get something like my MCSE (or whatever its called these days), is a pretty poor rate of return, so I won't bother.


The CCIE needs to be viewed the same, and it will be different for everyone, and it will change with time. The time + money required to get through it, needs to be worth it.

Turgon

GT-Rob wrote: »

Like any exam, its an investment, however there needs to be a worthwhile rate of return. The time and money it would take me to get something like my MCSE (or whatever its called these days), is a pretty poor rate of return, so I won't bother.


The CCIE needs to be viewed the same, and it will be different for everyone, and it will change with time. The time + money required to get through it, needs to be worth it.

Honestly for me, what I learn doing it is very useful indeed. At the sametime I dont have the bandwidth right now to ramp up to be lab ready. I get 2 or 3 hours tops a week to study for this thing at the moment. Its a trade off. Right now my time and energy is better spent on my work. The accolades internally are way higher for that than passing this exam if the improvements go south. On that note design meetings went well. Result.

Turgon

my wife has plans for the weekend. Frustrating. I wish to study. Shopping.

sthompson86

GT-Rob wrote: »

The CCIE needs to be viewed the same, and it will be different for everyone, and it will change with time. The time + money required to get through it, needs to be worth it.

I have been wondering about this. I am just now scratching the surface on CCENT, but looking forward I am kinda wondering if the CCIE is in my future.

My goal is to become a network engineer/admin, and I know I can get to that position without the CCIE badge. I guess what I do not understand is the job roles CCIE's fill.

Turgon

A good day shopping. No time for studies. Now doing OT network upgrades in the field..

Turgon

Yesterdays upgrade went well. A thousand things to do with the family so studies unlikely today but I will try.

Turgon

sthompson86 wrote: »

I have been wondering about this. I am just now scratching the surface on CCENT, but looking forward I am kinda wondering if the CCIE is in my future.

My goal is to become a network engineer/admin, and I know I can get to that position without the CCIE badge. I guess what I do not understand is the job roles CCIE's fill.

You can make it without one. I did. The important thing is to be involved in substantial and complex network arrangements and projects so you get that exposure to heavy hitting network migrations and designs. This gets you hired and keeps you employable. The certifications are useful if you study patiently and make the most of the learning process. The more you learn about how things actually function the more options you bring to the table when a solution needs to be worked out for a company. It's still early in your career so I would get the NA finished and start a professional track. Meanwhile be on the lookout to get involved in challenging work.

sthompson86

Turgon wrote: »

It's still early in your career so I would get the NA finished and start a professional track. Meanwhile be on the lookout to get involved in challenging work.

Yes, I currently work doing tech support, and I am for sure trying my best to get out of level 1 end user support, but it has been great giving that I work as intern while attending school. I graduate next month, and I will for sure be on the move then.

Thanks for the advice.

Turgon

sthompson86 wrote: »

Yes, I currently work doing tech support, and I am for sure trying my best to get out of level 1 end user support, but it has been great giving that I work as intern while attending school. I graduate next month, and I will for sure be on the move then.

Thanks for the advice.

Suggest you look for work with a Cisco Partner, Integrator or Service Provider. It's the best experience unless you are lucky enough to land a job solely responsible for a production Cisco network in a small/medium sized shop.

Turgon

No CCIE studies since 6th November but a good month on the work front. With the pressure off there I can reconnect a little. Back on with mnemosyne note taking from INE Vol I today. Looking at a lab attempt end of 2011 at this rate. On the homefront we will have a new arrival at Christmas time so all study plans must accomodate having a larger family!

Turgon

Pleased with progress today. The last few subjects in my INE Vol 1 spreadsheet are getting dumped in mnemosyne. I will report back later with the results of what will be an excellent revision tool.

Regular revision is the key to CCIE success. We all revise, but unless we are regular studying everyday, a CCIE is impossible. This was the situation 2010 presented me. I have simply been too busy with my career this year to revise regularly enough to get up for the exam. I think a lot of people find this. Nevertheless I have managed to keep the locomotive crawling along. I feel I have learned a lot this year doing what I could as and when. With a lab attempt planned for late 2011 I may just become a CCIE after 5 years of on and off study. During that time I became a father twice and had three job changes, one of the them internationally. All is well.

By my reckoning going by the blogs on TE I think we may have two or as many as three CCIEs minted next year. I intend to be one of them.

It's Sunday boys. Put WoW down and get reading and studying.

Turgon

For those short of time, the CCIE demands a different approach. A long slow burn followed by an intense run in. The lights have been burning long and slow on this quest that's for sure but they are far from out. Today I have taken what I think is a big step forward with the completion of the INE study notes across Vol I and Vol II. I have a mnemosyne database now with over 1000 Q + A config examples across all major blueprint topics. Producing this material has helped my focus. The workrate required has been enormous but it's done now. Essentially I have flash cards that will take me a long way towards where I need to be, and the portability means those 20 or 30 minute gaps I get somedays at work can be well spent with this stuff. There just isn't time to get into a rack session.

A resource unique in the world I think. Lets see how it goes. The whole of yesteday was spent on house cleaning and family time shopping followed by an evening network change for the company. No studies possible Saturday. Today I have squirreled the note taking in and around spending time with the family. A result even if 3 - 5 hour rack sessions have been impossible for months and remain impossible for months ahead.

Im comfortable with that. The endless tramp through the workbooks is over. Without regular studytime you can spend years of elapsed time getting through a few workbooks, and you do have to do that, but I decided to move away from that model a while back once I had done what all CCIE candidates have to do. Get through them. As slow as it was, I managed to do that with IPexpert and INE Vol II and Vol III and learned what I could. With my tight schedule I think the revision note approach is the only practical option now.

Turgon

IP services and Security still to document from Vol I. Hope to make some progress there today and may run a rack session later to get some MPLS practice in.

Turgon

No rack sessions available on INE this week. Back to the reading I guess.

Turgon

Worked through INE Vol II MPLS exercises in labs no 1 and no 2 on paper. No racktime slots available. Updated notes with verification commands. With lots of Brocade to engage with at work MPLS is a timely theme.

Turgon

A brief revisit of AToM today, then the day got busy.

Turgon

Busy enough at work yesterday so no studies. On the road for a meeting today so a chance to think topics over while I drive.

Turgon

Meeting with PCI auditor yesterday. No studies. Today MPLS sizing for QoS. QoS configuration and VPN design work.