R/S written passed! *edit*

GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
phew, that was an interesting exam.

Lots of short, sweet, 10 second easy questions. Also lots of long winded questions with diagrams, outputs, configs, and long answers.



Anyway, I passed! Enjoying my self a nice dark Belgium beer, and waiting for the wife to get home so we can go out to dinner.

what I used:

-Recently did CCNP. Having this fresh in your mind is a big plus, as almost all of it is covered.
-Internetwork Expert Audio Classes, Vol 1 technology labs, and advanced Class on Demand. I had purchased these for the lab studies, but they helped a lot for the written (especially the tech labs).
-R&S exam guide, BGP design, and routing TCP/IP vol 1. Great coverage of the exam topics, although I probably could have used some more multicast studies.



Nice to be done it so I can focus on the lab more now. Hope to dive into IEWB Vol 2 asap.
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Comments

  • nelnel Member Posts: 2,859 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Good luck mate, i hope the hard work pays off!
    Xbox Live: Bring It On

    Bsc (hons) Network Computing - 1st Class
    WIP: Msc advanced networking
  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    GT-Rob wrote:
    Well I have had this booked for a while now (before the raised the prices actually), but now it is only 1 day away.

    Kind of looking forward to this one, as I can't wait to see that wonderful back button I have heard about lol


    I will post up my study materials tomorrow if I pass :D
    .

    Good luck with that. Having endured the written a few times over the years, the only advice I will give you is that unless you have prepared very thoroughly and you get enough questions you are comfortable with you will have severe time pressure in this test.

    You get a lot of questions with diagrams, configurations to pour over, wordy questions and possibilities to ponder over. All time consuming stuff and your energy can sap halfway through when you need to be getting a head of steam up.

    My advice is to press on through the whole test and take NO MORE than a couple of minutes on any given question. Always answer a question and then advance to the next one quickly. You can mark a question if you are not sure about your answer but put the best answer you can think of down anyway.

    But get through the whole test before you go back and look at those marked questions again (if you have time).

    Watch your time. You don't want to be left with 40 questions to do and 40 minutes on the clock, so press on!

    Try not to get hung up on tough questions as you go along. Each one is only worth one point. Answer it, move on and forget it. Stay sharp for the next question!

    Good luck again!
  • dynamikdynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□
    Turgon wrote:
    You get a lot of questions with diagrams, configurations to pour over, wordy questions and possibilities to ponder over. All time consuming stuff and your energy can sap halfway through when you need to be getting a head of steam up.

    Oh, so it's basically just an MS test? icon_lol.gif

    Good luck Rob. My lucky book is now in your possession, so you should be fine icon_cool.gif
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    haha thanks guys.

    That was kind of my plan, to just pick the first answer that seems right, and if I am not 100% sure on it to just hit the mark for review option and come back to it at the end.
  • btowntechbtowntech Member Posts: 198 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Good luck!
    BS - Information Technology; AAS - Electro-Mechanical Engineering
  • SlowhandSlowhand Mod Posts: 5,161 Mod
    May the Schwartz be with you.

    Free Microsoft Training: Microsoft Learn
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    Let it never be said that I didn't do the very least I could do.
  • astorrsastorrs Member Posts: 3,139 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Good luck Rob, do let us know how it goes. :D
  • gojericho0gojericho0 Member Posts: 1,059 ■■■□□□□□□□
  • mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Good Luck! icon_thumright.gif

    I couldn't even bring myself to try the Previous button on my first written exam -- I thought it was screen burn in from Microsoft exams icon_lol.gif

    On my second written exam I did finally try it -- but I was still afraid to try the mark button.

    The exhibit questions can be a bit involved -- but remember to jump down to the end of the question first to see what they are looking for (and maybe even read the answers) -- then go back to read the question and pick out the relevant information.

    It is strange looking at that screen at the end. I did page through to make sure all the questions were completely answered and see if I had accidentally marked anything -- but I never got up the nerve to try and go back to any question and just looked for the submit button.

    The hardest part about the written exams is when you submit -- and the hard drive starts to grind away and you think your test workstation is about to die and take your exam with it icon_lol.gif And then it keep grinding. Just about the time you think you should go get a proctor and report that your work station is sick, your congratulations screen should pop up.
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
  • ITdudeITdude Member Posts: 1,181 ■■■□□□□□□□
    GT-Rob wrote:
    Kind of looking forward to this one, as I can't wait to see that wonderful back button I have heard about lol


    I will post up my study materials tomorrow if I pass :D

    Sometimes the back button can be a double edged sword. I used to like that safety net during MS exams but I got used to the Cisco (non IE) exam way of doing things and got used to not obsessing over an answer and just moving on. I am not sure how I will feel when I take the R&S written in the not too distant future.

    Good luck tomorrow! Knock em dead... :)icon_wink.gif
    I usually hang out on 224.0.0.10 (FF02::A) and 224.0.0.5 (FF02::5) when I'm in a non-proprietary mood.

    __________________________________________
    Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
    (Leonardo da Vinci)
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
  • nicklauscombsnicklauscombs Member Posts: 885
    congrats! :D
    WIP: IPS exam
  • dynamikdynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□
    Seriously, my biggest pet peeve on this forum is when someone edits their first post in their thread with a pass update. It completely destroys the flow of the thread. No congrats for you icon_evil.gif

    Aww... Who am I kidding? I can't stay mad at you!

    Congratulations icon_cheers.gif

    So when can we expect a lab pass post? 2-3 months? ;)
  • mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Congratulations! icon_thumright.gif

    We knew you could do it! icon_cool.gif
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    haha I know I hate editing a post too, but I just didn't want to spam a new thread :P


    looking at probably closer to January for the lab attempt, depending on how much lab time I can bank in the mean time.
  • astorrsastorrs Member Posts: 3,139 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Nicely done Rob, and now the real fun begins. ;)
  • snadamsnadam Member Posts: 2,234 ■■■■□□□□□□
    congrats!!! good luck on the Lab!!!
    **** ARE FOR CHUMPS! Don't be a chump! Validate your material with certguard.com search engine

    :study: Current 2015 Goals: JNCIP-SEC JNCIS-ENT CCNA-Security
  • scheistermeisterscheistermeister Member Posts: 748 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Congrats!
    Give a man fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
  • shednikshednik Member Posts: 2,005
    Congrats on the pass and keep us updated on your lab studies!!
  • nullrouternullrouter Member Posts: 52 ■■□□□□□□□□
    GT-Rob wrote:
    -Recently did CCNP. Having this fresh in your mind is a big plus, as almost all of it is covered.
    -Internetwork Expert Audio Classes, Vol 1 technology labs, and advanced Class on Demand. I had purchased these for the lab studies, but they helped a lot for the written (especially the tech labs).
    -R&S exam guide, BGP design, and routing TCP/IP vol 1. Great coverage of the exam topics, although I probably could have used some more multicast studies.

    TCP/IP Vol 2 for multicast :p
    CCIE R&S All Done :D


    Web Blog of sorts:
    http://blog.nullrouter.com
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    ^ I know but for some reason amazon.ca doesn't carry vol 2. Even vol 1 took forever to get in stock.

    I may end up getting another book for multicast, I'll see how I feel about it after some more labs/cod on it.
  • nullrouternullrouter Member Posts: 52 ■■□□□□□□□□
    ciscopress.com? for myself after shipping fees and member discounts i find them much cheaper than amazon, however that maybe different for yourself.
    CCIE R&S All Done :D


    Web Blog of sorts:
    http://blog.nullrouter.com
  • liquid6liquid6 Member Posts: 77 ■■□□□□□□□□
    congrats on the pass and good luck on your lab prep!! let us know how you are getting along...


    I second that nullrouter, ciscopress is cheap compared to amazon and I get my books delivered in about 3 days...and I live in Ireland.

    Thanks,
    mark
    blog.insomniacnetwork.com
  • gojericho0gojericho0 Member Posts: 1,059 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congratulations Rob! We will be looking forward to seeing your new CCIE lab thread soon :)
  • gojericho0gojericho0 Member Posts: 1,059 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Also, what is your networking background? Do you work with that stuff a good bit or was most of it self-study?

    How many hours of prep do you think you put in before sitting the exam?
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    I have looked at cisco press, but in canada amazon.ca has free shipping and I get free gift certificates through my credit card (points). I may have to check out cisco press though for a couple books I want.


    I work full time with Cisco, so that helps. Its more break/fix troubleshooting than actual design/configuration, but I am on the IOS all day still.


    There was about 3 months of prep just after CCNP for this exam, however doing CCNP is a big prep.

    If I had to guess, I would say around 50hrs of lab time, maybe 100hrs reading, and another 100hrs between CBT nuggets and CoD. I do a lot of studying at work though
  • gojericho0gojericho0 Member Posts: 1,059 ■■■□□□□□□□
    GT-Rob wrote:


    I work full time with Cisco, so that helps. Its more break/fix troubleshooting than actual design/configuration, but I am on the IOS all day still.

    I think that's the best kind of experience because you can always learn if break was caused by a mistake and find alternative solutions. Are you working as a TAC engineer?
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    Well I am not directly with Cisco, I just work exclusively with Cisco products.

    Between all of the accounts though we probably open up like 5 TAC cases a day though lol
  • ITdudeITdude Member Posts: 1,181 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats man! Great going....It sounds like you were right in the groove. icon_wink.gif
    I usually hang out on 224.0.0.10 (FF02::A) and 224.0.0.5 (FF02::5) when I'm in a non-proprietary mood.

    __________________________________________
    Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
    (Leonardo da Vinci)
  • GT-RobGT-Rob Member Posts: 1,090
    Well I went ahead and booked the exam for late January. Hopefully by christmas I will know if it is a realistic date.
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