1st CCIE lab attempt blog and help for candidates.

reaper81

Turgon wrote: »

Work over and now on vacation. No studies possible. No studies possible over Christmas or my wife will kill me. We have far too much to do. Gotta love it.

Tough times. So do you think spring will be better? Have a merry christmas Turgon.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Tough times. So do you think spring will be better? Have a merry christmas Turgon.

Thanks man. Spring will be better as I will no longer be working two extremely demanding fulltime jobs simultaneously. Thank Fu&k for that!

So there will be study time next year. As for this year..a house move, a new born nearly one year old, two stressful fulltime jobs..a stressed wife dealing with two kids pissed off I worked long hours then wanting my help when I was off the PC with the kids..is it any wonder my CCIE studies slipped? It was either that or my my job or my marraige.

I will study for and pass the CCIE lab exam in 2012.

Merry Christmas!

Turgon

Christmas shopping today!

Turgon

Vacation time with the family. Spent about an hour rushing through the solutions guide for INE Vol II lab no 15. Made some notepad config notes for things I want to transfer to my revision document. Have to stop now to give my wife a hand with the kids.

Turgon

INE Vol II lab 16 documented tonight when the kids were in bed. Pain in my ass.

Turgon

Spent half an hour this morning starting to document lab no 17 which I will hopefully complete during the course of tomorrow. Rest of the day spent giving my wife help with our kids and all important Christmas shopping. Kid are in bed now so time for a relaxing evening.

Turgon

Up early looking after the kids while my wife catches up on some sleep. Nappy changed, kids dressed, making breakfast for them. Then one eye on them playing while I finish my notes lab 17.

Turgon

Lab 17 documented. Will try and get lab 18 written up inbetween all the things my wife wants me to do today. I have a turkey to collect.

Turgon

Managed to make a dint in the lab 18 notes and picked up some shopping. About a couple of hours studies put in today inbetween family stuff. However I have learned that vacation time offers less opportunity for studying than when I am at work so Im calling it a day before my wife throws a frying pan at me.

veritas_libertas

Turgon wrote: »

Managed to make a dint in the lab 18 notes and picked up some shopping. About a couple of hours studies put in today inbetween family stuff. However I have learned that vacation time offers less opportunity for studying than when I am at work so Im calling it a day before my wife throws a frying pan at me.

Interesting how that works, isn't it?

Turgon

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Interesting how that works, isn't it?

Oh yeah! All presents wrapped last night. The children are excited.

Turgon

Managed to complete my notes on lab 18 in a notepad file this morning. Just 19 and 20 to do then I have finished INE Vol II. I will then be left with notepad files with config for labs 11 - 20 that need to be ported into my revision notes which cover all topics on the lab. Once that is done the entire document needs editing. This revision aid covers all configs of interest to me in INE Vol I and Vol II and will be the major device I will use for hands on practice. Many rack sessions across 2012 will be consumed as I tap these configs into routers and switches. Need to keep an eye on the kids now, my wife needs a hand at home.

reaper81

Good job man. Hope you had a merry christmas. Do you feel you have a good chance of passing in 2012?

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Good job man. Hope you had a merry christmas. Do you feel you have a good chance of passing in 2012?

Still having a Merry Christmas thanks. Twelve days and all. Hope the same for you are yours in Sweden. The answer to your questions is I think so. I have engineered some changes at work in terms of my responsibilities that should mean Im less overrun there. Also my wife is heading out with the kids for a couple of months to spend time with her family, I will join them later. So for the first time in two years some serious evening and full weekend study windows will open up as I will be home alone.

2011 was really about hanging on by my fingernails to keep the CCIE dream alive. Work pressure, a house move and a second child almost derailed it completely. My lab hours in 2011 have been dismal but I kept afloat with sporadic reading for short spells and note taking. Demands on my wife this year have been very high, so she has needed me a great deal this year when I have not been working.

Turgon

Lab 19 INE Vol II documented this evening when the kids in bed. Only one more lab to go then a full set of revision notes is complete from INE Vol I and Vol II. Cool.

reaper81

Sweet Making progress now.

rakem

Hey Turgon.

Quick question - I'll be starting my lab prep early next year. I know you have been using the INE books for your studies and i was going to get all four of them.

Wondering what your thoughts are and if they are worth it?

Turgon

All the vendor workbooks are decent products. Just buy one workbook from a vendor and go through it patiently.

Turgon

INE Vol II lab 20, documented.

That's it! My revision notes complete for all labs in INE Vol I and Vol II. Now I must stop and give my wife a hand with the kids all day before pots and pans are thrown my way.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

INE Vol II lab 20, documented.

That's it! My revision notes complete for all labs in INE Vol I and Vol II. Now I must stop and give my wife a hand with the kids all day before pots and pans are thrown my way.

Nice! now what? (after you spend time with the family of course...)

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Nice! now what? (after you spend time with the family of course...)

I have to port the config in the notepad files I created for each lab into my notes, then I have to edit the whole lot. Then I have my revision guide. Its then a case of racktime in the new year to configure the whole lot. It will not be easy as work is full on next year and Im not afforded much studytime at home after work is done. Too much to do indoors and Mrs T needs a hand after running around after the kids all week. Wife and kids are away with relatives in February for some weeks so I will have evening and weekend studytime opening up a plenty then.

shodown

Your doing a great job. I have a new wife with no kids and you still get in more time than me. I'm slacking. Great job you are setting a good standard and I like your pace. I wanted to get through it as fast as possible, but through reading your blog about your pace, priorities and structure it seems like you are a way better engineer even though you don't have your digits yet.

Turgon

shodown wrote: »

Your doing a great job. I have a new wife with no kids and you still get in more time than me. I'm slacking. Great job you are setting a good standard and I like your pace. I wanted to get through it as fast as possible, but through reading your blog about your pace, priorities and structure it seems like you are a way better engineer even though you don't have your digits yet.

Thanks a lot Shodown. Well I chalked up just over an hour today and Im finally done sorting out my lab 13 notes into the revision note sections of my document. A time consuming business. More tomorrow 14 - 20, then some thorough editing of the whole document in the new year. Im looking at 400 pages of config covering everything of interest to me in Vol I and Vol II. It's taken probably a couple of years of iteration to pull it together from early notes in 2010, Vol I spreadsheet, mnemosyne content from Vol I and Vol II and studying all the INE labs but it's looking good.

Turgon

Lab 14 notes added yesterday. Lab 15 this evening.

veritas_libertas

You probably already mentioned it, but when will you be trying for the lab? This year?

Turgon

veritas_libertas wrote: »

You probably already mentioned it, but when will you be trying for the lab? This year?

Yup later in the year. At it 5 years on and off, more off than on come April.

vinbuck

Really looking foward to seeing you go for the Lab Turgon. I also am married and have a little one and you have to get very creative to get your study time in and not upset the balance at home. I'm working on CCNP SWITCH studying right now because the little one is napping. When I was working on ROUTE I got up two hours earlier than usual to study and then put in a full day on projects and trouble resolution. I'll be joining you on the IE track after I finish the NP and knock out the IP this year.

I think it really speaks volumes to be able to pursue a certification like the CCIE with a wife and small children. Keep at it guys! What tips and tricks have you accumulated to keep the family happy while you put in study hours?

Turgon

vinbuck wrote: »

Really looking foward to seeing you go for the Lab Turgon. I also am married and have a little one and you have to get very creative to get your study time in and not upset the balance at home. I'm working on CCNP SWITCH studying right now because the little one is napping. When I was working on ROUTE I got up two hours earlier than usual to study and then put in a full day on projects and trouble resolution. I'll be joining you on the IE track after I finish the NP and knock out the IP this year.

I think it really speaks volumes to be able to pursue a certification like the CCIE with a wife and small children. Keep at it guys! What tips and tricks have you accumulated to keep the family happy while you put in study hours?

The tip and trick I use to keep the family happy is not to study, hence the 5 years at it

I can't complain really. One house move, three job changes, each one increasingly more senior and pressurised including one assignment abroad and two kids later..CCIE still on track. A few passed during that period but many more dropped out. Tough track to stay the course if the demands on your time are high. My advice is to be honest with yourself about just how much time you can dedicate to the CCIE going in. That will determine your expectations of how many years it will take to complete it. You are looking at 1000+ study hours and they need to be quality study hours at that. If it takes 1,2,3,4,5+ years to get through the track that's fine so long as you plan accordingly. I hoped for 2 years back in 2007 but events at home took over and I had to scale down a little.

Labs 16,17,18,19 and 20, all notes now taken across into my revision document which covers all the configs of interest to me from INE Vol I and Vol II. A hellish journey to amass it but done now. I need to get some printer paper so I can print the beast and do some editing. 400 pages strong this will be the warchest for this years lab attempt. Read and configure on the remote racks, brush up on troubleshooting using INE Vol II exercises, revise verification commands, undertake mock exams, revise for and pass the written test for the fourth time...schedule and nuke lab exam later this year. It's all to play for.

Turgon

Read my notes on switching and PPP. Looked up some DocCD links. Checked gradedlabs scheduler for rack sessions and they are fully booked again. Another denial of service attack from a company that takes my money for tokens, then prevents me from using them. Favoritism for their bootcamps no doubt.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

Read my notes on switching and PPP. Looked up some DocCD links. Checked gradedlabs scheduler for rack sessions and they are fully booked again. Another denial of service attack from a company that takes my money for tokens, then prevents me from using them. Favoritism for their bootcamps no doubt.

Have you tried http://www.gigavelocity.com/ yet? I've used them a few times and have been happy with their rentals. It sounds like you're making your final approach.