David's CCIE: R+S Thread

bertieb

jamesp1983 wrote: »

good luck with that!

+1 to that!

Rather you than me fella

Turgon

gorebrush wrote: »

Slow, slow, and slow.

Here's why, house work going on today... haven't been able to nail much lately





That, was, our kitchen

Having moved myself recently I know what a time consumer things like that are. Get a solid month of reading under your belt, cross 100 hours of reading and you will be back on track.

gorebrush

Kitchen was finished over the weekend, now the new wooden floor is being laid in the living/dining room

Impossible to get any work done. On holiday soon.

Turgon

Sounds like you need one. Im sure you will be back on the study track when you return. We moved in just a few weeks back. It's a hellish time.

gorebrush

Mmmm on holidays tonight.

House is finished and admittedly the hard work has paid off - it looks amazing. Wife is really pleased with how it's turned out, and so am I.

Time for a break and some R&R

Turgon

Love your wife, like your lab. Take it easy.

gorebrush

On a related topic (Lab)... as part of the house work we were going to look at cabling up our house. I decided to abandon the idea as we couldn't agree on where cables were going to be routed, and it all got a little complicated.

In a new twist, a good friend of mine recommended powerline adapters... Wow they are amazing! I bought a pair of TP-LINK ones that cost about £38 delivered. Took all of two minutes to get them paired up, and I now have 170Mbit Ethernet through the power lines... This now means I have internet access over Ethernet upstairs in the Office/Small Bedroom, which has got me thinking about getting the lab back online.

I just need to get a bookcase moved, and find my rack... (the actual rack is in the shed, but the legs are in the attic, along with all my equipment)

I think it is time for a reprise of it. It'll get me moving again and provide some inspiration.

Turgon

gorebrush wrote: »

On a related topic (Lab)... as part of the house work we were going to look at cabling up our house. I decided to abandon the idea as we couldn't agree on where cables were going to be routed, and it all got a little complicated.

In a new twist, a good friend of mine recommended powerline adapters... Wow they are amazing! I bought a pair of TP-LINK ones that cost about £38 delivered. Took all of two minutes to get them paired up, and I now have 170Mbit Ethernet through the power lines... This now means I have internet access over Ethernet upstairs in the Office/Small Bedroom, which has got me thinking about getting the lab back online.

I just need to get a bookcase moved, and find my rack... (the actual rack is in the shed, but the legs are in the attic, along with all my equipment)

I think it is time for a reprise of it. It'll get me moving again and provide some inspiration.

I think you should knock your CCIE ambitions on the head for the moment and concentrate on life and career in general the next 12 months. Things will be clearer then! Look at CCIE in 2014 if it's really want you want to do!

gorebrush

Oh, do you think I should stop?

I spent the week away thinking about what I wanted and the CCIE is still definitely what I want!

Turgon

gorebrush wrote: »

Oh, do you think I should stop?

I spent the week away thinking about what I wanted and the CCIE is still definitely what I want!

I think you should take stock and get a few things settled at work and at home before embarking, yes. Life gets in the way. Job changes, house moves, health. Get all that stuff sorted then start over. It's happened to myself a few times. Once you can put the time in you are looking at 5 months hard work to clear the written, then 12 - 18 months hard work to get through the lab. Assuming you start pushing in November you are looking at the fat of 2013 for a lab attempt.

gorebrush

Yeah I think you may be right.

Been asked to go on another course next week, granted it'll all be in work time, but still, it's work that takes me away from Cisco...

Ho hum. Maybe your right, and I should take time out.

gorebrush

I'm not giving up that easily on this thread and the CCIE. But for now it will have to wait. I think in the meantime I might use it as a blog for my work/studying that is non CCIE related... would that be OK?

Anyway, currently I'm about to do some more training on more products used in Data Centre Automation. Should be fun.

Oh yeah, my only other thought lately is that if I don't touch the CCIE for a while, I'll need to keep my CCNP current, It's nearly 18 months since I got that one.

Would people keep on renewing by taking the relevant CCNP exam? Or expand and do different tracks to widen the "P" level of expertise?

EDIT2: My wondering is I could pop out the CCIP - relevant for the CCIE, keeps CCNP current, and allows me to focus on one or two areas as opposed to trying to tackle the CCIE head on... Also, I work for an MSP - CCIP will be useful.

Turgon

gorebrush wrote: »

I'm not giving up that easily on this thread and the CCIE. But for now it will have to wait. I think in the meantime I might use it as a blog for my work/studying that is non CCIE related... would that be OK?

Anyway, currently I'm about to do some more training on more products used in Data Centre Automation. Should be fun.

Oh yeah, my only other thought lately is that if I don't touch the CCIE for a while, I'll need to keep my CCNP current, It's nearly 18 months since I got that one.

Would people keep on renewing by taking the relevant CCNP exam? Or expand and do different tracks to widen the "P" level of expertise?

EDIT2: My wondering is I could pop out the CCIP - relevant for the CCIE, keeps CCNP current, and allows me to focus on one or two areas as opposed to trying to tackle the CCIE head on... Also, I work for an MSP - CCIP will be useful.

Hey it's your blog you post what you want to.

You should be able to renew your CCNP by taking a written exam. At least you used to be able to. I really wouldn't divest any study time into more CCXP certs. You will likely get tied up with it and IMO the CCIP isn't essential for CCIE prep. If you have any studytime available at all just keep putting it into more CCIE written reading. You will get 200 hours in by Christmas if you find 1 hour a day to read. 30 minutes at lunch time, 30 minutes in the evening.

gorebrush

Yes, the CCIE written still keeps the CCNP alive.

Turgon

gorebrush wrote: »

Yes, the CCIE written still keeps the CCNP alive.

Then my advice is to put whatever study hours you do have available into CCIE written reading and not embark on the CCIP. You wont be designing MPLS cores for your MSP and to be honest the CCIP wont help you do that either. Everything the CCIP might teach you that would help in the CCIE written can be covered by Odom's books, Cisco white papers, a book or two on MPLS or QoS and CCIE written Boson tests. Avoid the CCIP Boson tests for MPLS/BGP, I really didn't find them useful for CCIE written or lab studies.

nel

hey Dave,

hows your studies coming along? hope everything is ok for you man.

gorebrush

Hey

I've pretty much canned the CCIE for the time being. Not long after I stopped posting here the work volume got turned up to 11... Lots of good stuff to keep me entertained in the Data Centre Automation field. We are about to undergo restructuring in my team too but do not know what level I will end up - hopefully somewhere good otherwise I will probably leave. I haven't spent 7 years in IT and earning all those qualifications to be in charge of Change/Incident queues...

Bottom line is I am not positioned very well for the CCIE. I need to keep my CCNP level cert alive now, as that is about 18 months old now. Considering CCNA:S + CCNP: Security as it would be more relevant.

Who knows, I need to get through the next 3-6 months before worrying about certification

nel

gorebrush wrote: »

Hey

I've pretty much canned the CCIE for the time being. Not long after I stopped posting here the work volume got turned up to 11... Lots of good stuff to keep me entertained in the Data Centre Automation field. We are about to undergo restructuring in my team too but do not know what level I will end up - hopefully somewhere good otherwise I will probably leave. I haven't spent 7 years in IT and earning all those qualifications to be in charge of Change/Incident queues...

Bottom line is I am not positioned very well for the CCIE. I need to keep my CCNP level cert alive now, as that is about 18 months old now. Considering CCNA:S + CCNP: Security as it would be more relevant.

Who knows, I need to get through the next 3-6 months before worrying about certification

hey man,

good to hear from you. sounds like you've got some excellent stuff on at work!

Good luck in your other studies mate!

gorebrush

Well I think Cisco, or someone, is sending me a sign.

Yesterday I had a call telling me that I had won a competition to go to Cisco Live! 2012 in London in a few weeks time.

davidspirovalentine

Wow!!! I'm just waiting for the next Cisco Live event in Melbourne... Congrats and have fun!!!

Hows the CCNA:Sec stuff going?

David

Sirsamon

David,

where in Melbourne are you ?

DevilWAH

gorebrush wrote: »

Well I think Cisco, or someone, is sending me a sign.

Yesterday I had a call telling me that I had won a competition to go to Cisco Live! 2012 in London in a few weeks time.

I was trying to get work to get me a ticket but they said no , although they have said my names on the list for next time nicething about working for a Cisco partner is that they do send a bunch of people along each year

however I am very envious of you, bet its going to be a great event..

Like you I have had so much on at work that study just went out the window, but I dusted of the books last week and have been back in the labs. Going o put this dam CCNP to bed and get on with the CCNP Security as that's where I want to be.

Enjoy Cisco live and good luck in the studying.

nel

gorebrush wrote: »

Well I think Cisco, or someone, is sending me a sign.

Yesterday I had a call telling me that I had won a competition to go to Cisco Live! 2012 in London in a few weeks time.

ooo, i could be going to that too! just trying to persuade my company to let me go!

If i do, i'll give you a shout and we'll meet up for a pint!

gorebrush

nel wrote: »

ooo, i could be going to that too! just trying to persuade my company to let me go!

If i do, i'll give you a shout and we'll meet up for a pint!

Outstanding, drop me a PM. I'll be staying at a hotel about one mile away.

As for the CCNA:S or anything Cisco - Haven't done anything really for a while now. Have taken a good few months break and use my spare time with my wife or learning Linux or some such. Recently built a new PC, and my god is it tasty now.

Went from

i7-860
16GB DDR3
3x60Gb Vertex 2 SSD in RAID-0
ATI 6970

to

i7-2600
16GB DDR3
1 x 120GB Corsair Force 3 GT
ATI 6970
Antec P280 case

om, nom.

Am broadening my horizons really, but still waiting to see what is happening with this job. If things don't go the way I'd like then i'm going to study something, get some more credentials, then move on. Tempted to look outside of Wales, but that would mean a hefty amount of travel unless I can find somewhere that is keen on working from home etc...

jamesp1983

Hope all is well! Haven't heard anything in a long time.

gorebrush

Yeah, all is fine here.

Canned the CCIE ages ago, just not got the time, nor the inclination at the moment.

I'm sticking it out at my current role, but I have no idea where to go. CCNP runs out next July, MCSE gets retired next July too.

Don't know whether to bother upgrading MCSE to 08 or just go Windows Server '12.

Will renew my CCNP though

gorebrush

Coming back into this thread has got me contemplating what could be.

I reckon that given the time, patience, and effort - I could kill a CCIE easily. That is probably a cocky statement.

However, cocky or not, I am absolutely itching to study something, but don't know what.

Is CCIE still worth it... I suppose is the question?

Answers on a postcard.

gorebrush

Looks like I may be returning to this fold sooner than I thought...

gorebrush

Got a new job starting in October.

Working for the same company, but moving over to the Telecoms Team on Shift work (20%uplift on salary...) so will be working 2 days, 2 nights, 4 off.

Will be getting my hands dirty with Cisco and other devices. Finally!!

This makes the CCIE viable again.

PsychoFin

Awesome!

I did a similar shift for years and loved it. Lots of time to study. Let's see that study counter now!