CCIE Sec Lab Diary - or how to make Ahriakin's brain implode

msteinhilber

Best of luck to you! I haven't posted here prior, but I have read every page and I sincerely enjoy reading about peoples progress towards achieving a CCIE certification. I am still well off from tackling such a feat myself, but reading threads such as yours and the others here are an inspiration to keep my goals alive.

Looking forward to the results!

lildeezul

Good luck to you.. You can do it bro... I too enjoy reading you and turgons post... its very exciting...

Hope to see the post of your 5 digit number

Ahriakin

Thanks guys

Just back and getting my head together. Today went better than last time in that I finished at 3 and had 2 full hours to review and work on the 2 questions I knew were incomplete (I'm not saying they might be the only ones with issues but I had to leave them on the first run), I definitely got one up and running and the other...er...not so much...it had 'negative feature growth' . About 2/3 of the tasks were easily verifiable through testing various types of connectivity and all of those verified at the end of the day. The others that could only be checked visually were most fine imho, but then who knows. The only real issue I had by the end of the day and the one that is really playing on my mind is one of the neighbor relationships at a key point on the network was flapping at random. It'd be fine for 20 mins, then drop, come back eventually and then drop maybe 5 mins later, clearing that routing process on one specific device would fix it straight away. I redid the configs for it a few times, did reboots etc. but it would still happen, I'm sure it's a layer2 issue but my worry is in how the Lab will be graded for tasks that involved connecing to hosts on either side of the flapping routing link - if they just do a perfunctory check and that link has dropped termporarily they could fail the task, even though it is correctly configured and might work fine 30 seconds later. I'm hoping that the grading is a bit more indepth and they'll try to understand why if something does happen. If not I'll get a re-read I think as it should be loaded onto fresh equipment.

Anyway, that issue aside I'm very cautiously saying this one went better than last, but to be honest I just don't trust myself to judge.

dynamik

So, "cautiously optimistic?"

Hopefully you nailed it. I'll be looking forward to your follow-up

mikej412

You've been creating a thread in the CCIE forum for the last 10 minutes... but you haven't updated your profile.... post already!! The suspense is killing us!!

Ahriakin

Using your mighty mod'ish abilities!....Done...:D

And for anyone else reading later, I passed. #23276 reporting for duty..er...cisco stuff.

Turgon

Ahriakin wrote: »

Using your mighty mod'ish abilities!....Done...:D

And for anyone else reading later, I passed. #23276 reporting for duty..er...cisco stuff.

Awesome news. Congratulations!

mikej412

Ahriakin wrote: »

#23276

Victory Thread is over in http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccie/39581-im-man-not-number.html

After your Celebration and suitable Recovery time are you going to close out this thread with Great Words of Wisdom?
Or do you think #23276 says it all?

Ahriakin

I just finished emailing Family and Friends, ya know ...those folks I've been making excuses to for months. Well, no more . I fly out tomorrow and want to get some downtime but I'll definitely be adding words to this thread, whether wise or not remains to be see .
Now I REALLY need to get some sleep, I can barely type.

mamono

Congratulations!!!

ITdude

Ahriakin wrote: »

I just finished emailing Family and Friends, ya know ...those folks I've been making excuses to for months. Well, no more . I fly out tomorrow and want to get some downtime but I'll definitely be adding words to this thread, whether wise or not remains to be see .
Now I REALLY need to get some sleep, I can barely type.

Too bad the weather is so crappy, you could enjoy it! Congrats again!

ITdude

mikej412 wrote: »

Victory Thread is over in http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccie/39581-im-man-not-number.html

After your Celebration and suitable Recovery time are you going to close out this thread with Great Words of Wisdom?
Or do you think #23276 says it all?

I don't think the font is large enough!

Ahriakin

Just a quick heads up, I will be adding to this, mainly some notes on prep. and things to watch for (procedurally) in the real thing, just getting some rest for a few days.

jbaello

Wow your just soo impressive Ahriakin congrats man, hard work pays off for one of the best certifications out there time to celebrate...

Ahriakin

Thanks J, I think the wife's patience was much more impressive though .

So finally time to add something I think, as much as I can without breaking NDA.

First up a warning: While I have recommended using the 12.4T Security Guide for your IOS needs, and I was able to on my first attempt, I was not able to access it this time. I'm guessing that since it will be a part of Blueprint 3.0 that they have further refined the document filters. So make sure you know your End of Life IOS documentation locations.

I'll be honest with you and say that when I walked into the lab for my 2nd attempt I expected to fail. The level of knowledge I had gained/cemented in the period between the 2 attempts was much less than that from between the bootcamp and the first attempt. What I mean is that I knew I hadn't improved as much in the time allotted as I did in the same period first time around, but then this makes sense since I'd still retain the core info. after the 1st attempt anyway and the remainder was obviously the tougher stuff to learn, still it worried me. I was resigned to not passing though I was going to try like hell anyway, but I was also calm about it, I knew I had done all I could. Essentially I'm saying this for the benefit of anyone else on a 2nd attempt who might feel the same, diminishing returns as your studies go into the deeper stuff is normal, don't let it make you think you are sliding backwards just because you are not going forward as fast as you were, it's just the hill got a lot steeper.
While I had used the extra time to work on some weak areas and improve speed by working more previous doc-reliant configs into memory I think the single most important deciding factor this time was mindset. I didn't make the same stupid mistakes I did last time and I had more confidence in my own configs so it was easier for me to stop re-working and overthinking some problems and just hit the reload command to rule out a hardware glitch (and there were 3 times it was as simple as that, trust your instincts).

The tasks are not layed out evenly in terms of time-cost. I found the more mundane tasks that anyone sitting the lab should know where presented in relatively time consuming configs, the more complex esoteric stuff was quite quick and easy points if you knew what you were doing. So don't necessarily worry if you are 4 hours in and only halfway through, have a quick scan of what is left and you might see that the last few will be much faster to do than the ones you have been through. In my own experience this time I finished the last 1/4 of the exam in less than an hour, much faster than the preceding sections. It makes your time management harder as it's harder to guage progress but that's part of the test.
Definitely aim to finish 2 hours early, this gives you enough time to work on problem tasks and to fully review your existing solutions (and typoes are oh so easy to make, especially on things like policy names or timer values).

If your task lists any show commands read them VERY carefully. There are probably hints about optional config components in the output, don't quick scan and presume you have the jist of it. The wording of the output or if they provice a clarification of what they want to see can make a big difference on some tasks. I made a point of going through these details with a fine toothcomb this time and I know it made a difference in 2 tasks.

Read the task title and question very carefully for keywords. Often if you don't know where to start there is a keyword in here that can get you on the right track. There was one task where I had never even touched the topic before, after a moment's panic I simply started with the most obvious command-related keyword and where I thought it would be used for this type of task, a few hits of ? later and the task was complete.

******************

There's not really more I can add. I've said my thank you's on another thread so I just hope that this diary has/is of some use to anyone who has read it. It's been a long journey, hell it's not really over since i'll move on to the R&S eventually, but a very worthwhile one.

If you want it hard enough you can get it, just make sure you don't lose the things you live for in doing so and you'll do fine.

Best of Luck

Derek.

mamono

Very nice! One thing to strive for and yet another to look up to!

kahn

Congratulations mate,
things would be much better now..aren't they
celebrate with your family and friends is the most beautiful part I think after your victory.
have fun
Cheers

pr3d4t0r

Hey man, that's great news I'm very happy for your pass. Congratulations

My lab is for Monday and i m really starting to feel as you described above. Guess i ll try to do my best and see what happens...

dynamik

I wish I was a Derek; you guys seem to be inherently skilled when it comes to Cisco

mamono

Mind me asking why CCIE Security before CCIE R&S?

Ahriakin

I know it would have been easier with an R&S background as CCNA level R&S isn't enough, as it is for the CCSP, but I think what I lost in foundation information I gained in focus on Security itself. That said there were many times I wished I had done at least the CCNP first, and in hindsight if I had to do it again I probably would just to have that out of the way. I have a few things to finish up at work and then I will be doing it anyway since I studied a number of CCIE R&S books and the BSCI CBTNugget along the way. Also I've said enough times on here that you don't need R&S to do Security so it was nice to actually put my money where my mouth is, but like I said I will admit R&S first would have made it easier (If longer).

mamono

Fair enough, well said. The reason why I ask is because the place that I recently interviewed at has a CCIE Security on-staff for their NOC team and he went the same route you did. CCNA -> CCSP -> CCIE Security. I just wanted to put things in perspective.

Ahriakin

It is getting more common, the old blueprint had you configuring a lot of the layer 2 and 3 topology so you really needed top level R&S but the current one really just needs you to understand enough to secure it without breaking it.

Ahriakin

So I'm going to add something else and I've been debating with myself whether to or not for the last 2 days.
One thing you will ask yourself before and then constantly during the trek is 'Is it worth it?'. Leaving the personal achievement aside I can now definitely say yes. You all know what the economy is currently like, news of massive layoffs across the world etc. Well since I updated my Linkedin Profile and resume on just Dice and Careerbuilder last week I've had 6 cold calls from recruiters (I wasn't in a hurry to get a new job and hadn't applied for any or updated the other major job sites). I had a phone interview on Friday and did the final tech-test (a mini lab) yesterday morning for a position in Dallas and knew by yesterday afternoon I had been hired. The fastest employment process I've ever been through and for a substantial boost over my previous salary.
The reason I was debating putting this up is I don't want this to sound like blowing my own horn, I just want to show that there are very tangeable and immediate benefits to achieving the CCIE even in the worst of markets.

dynamik

Ahriakin wrote: »

The reason I was debating putting this up is I don't want this to sound like blowing my own horn

You're Irish, so I just treat everything you say that way.* There's no need to be bashful about it

Congrats on the new gig! So are you officially taking it, or do you still have to think about the move, etc.?

*I don't think that's even a real stereotype, but I don't see why that would prevent me from believing it...

mamono

Congrats on the new position!!! It's like a Lunar New Year gift!!!

Turgon

Ahriakin wrote: »

So I'm going to add something else and I've been debating with myself whether to or not for the last 2 days.
One thing you will ask yourself before and then constantly during the trek is 'Is it worth it?'. Leaving the personal achievement aside I can now definitely say yes. You all know what the economy is currently like, news of massive layoffs across the world etc. Well since I updated my Linkedin Profile and resume on just Dice and Careerbuilder last week I've had 6 cold calls from recruiters (I wasn't in a hurry to get a new job and hadn't applied for any or updated the other major job sites). I had a phone interview on Friday and did the final tech-test (a mini lab) yesterday morning for a position in Dallas and knew by yesterday afternoon I had been hired. The fastest employment process I've ever been through and for a substantial boost over my previous salary.
The reason I was debating putting this up is I don't want this to sound like blowing my own horn, I just want to show that there are very tangeable and immediate benefits to achieving the CCIE even in the worst of markets.

Excellent news although Im not surprised. Im starting a new job myself a week Monday so it will be interesting to see how my final preparations fit in with that. A couple of hours of commuting. Mini labs in the evenings after 8pm and mocks at the weekend I should imagine.

nel

Ahriakin wrote: »

So I'm going to add something else and I've been debating with myself whether to or not for the last 2 days.
One thing you will ask yourself before and then constantly during the trek is 'Is it worth it?'. Leaving the personal achievement aside I can now definitely say yes. You all know what the economy is currently like, news of massive layoffs across the world etc. Well since I updated my Linkedin Profile and resume on just Dice and Careerbuilder last week I've had 6 cold calls from recruiters (I wasn't in a hurry to get a new job and hadn't applied for any or updated the other major job sites). I had a phone interview on Friday and did the final tech-test (a mini lab) yesterday morning for a position in Dallas and knew by yesterday afternoon I had been hired. The fastest employment process I've ever been through and for a substantial boost over my previous salary.
The reason I was debating putting this up is I don't want this to sound like blowing my own horn, I just want to show that there are very tangeable and immediate benefits to achieving the CCIE even in the worst of markets.

Great news! Congrats!

dtlokee

Congrats on the new job!

Ahriakin

Thanks guys. Spent today packing and trying to organize the truck, moving help, apartments etc. We won't find out about our apt.s until tomorrow and then it's arranging utilities and moving help on that side. We look after my mother in law so we are essentially moving twice, drive up with our stuff, unload, drive the same truck back, load up her apt. and repeat. We'll be done unloading the day before I start work.
Did I mention I hate moving .