Taking on the CCIE: My Journey

Turgon

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

Isnt that the truth. I have another interview, this time for Sr. Infrastructure Engineer at a company in Orange County. Sucks to have to possibly make the drive again (I've worked in Newport Beach previously, which is just about as far as this), but the position was superb and the pay is awesome too. I think I have a chance this time, the last one ended in me being 1 of the top 2, but them going for the other guy. I suspect I was probably not a very good deal, as I would have had to be at the top of their range. And I suspect the competition was pretty stiff. I have a job, a very good one, so I wouldnt leave a very good job for anything other than another very good job, or a better one. So what's next on the career horizon then? Are they going to renew the contract?

I had two renewals but the money at the well dried up. They hired someone more affordable! Its fine time to go home anyway and the project is pulled together nicely now.

Turgon

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Ok, so I feel slightly retarded asking this, but could someone provide me to a link to the Odom practice tests? I've not encountered them before, and plugging Odom's name into Google generates some information overload

Its the test engine CD that comes with the Cisco Press R&S written book

Turgon

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Oh, those actually don't suck?

To be honest, after my first few exams, I started ignoring the CD in the back of the Cisco Press books after finding out the questions they asked had little reality to what the actual tests would ask.

Alright, thanks for clearing that up!

The Odom tests in the R&S written book are quite good.

SysAdmin4066

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Oh, those actually don't suck?

To be honest, after my first few exams, I started ignoring the CD in the back of the Cisco Press books after finding out the questions they asked had little reality to what the actual tests would ask.

Alright, thanks for clearing that up!

Yeah, they're not as good as the Boson stuff. But they help to keep you in the mindset of the previous topics learned, and it's just another pool of questions to cycle through before becoming too familiar with them. There are so many questions in the Boson pool right? Any little bit helps.

So I am pretty familiar at this point with dot1q tunneling, I will be reading a little more in depth on it tonight in the Cisco Docs but I am pretty good with the concept, configuration and all. I will need to configure it a few more times though. I finished Chapter 4 yesterday, moving on to IP Services sometime this weekend. I'd like to focus on dot1q tunneling and STP as far as labs.

Taking the family to the wild animal park in escondido this morning and afternoon. Then gym tonight, comp team practice and i'm spending the evening with the wife, maybe get a blue ray or two. I'm almost done studying this morning.

Turgon

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

Yeah, they're not as good as the Boson stuff. But they help to keep you in the mindset of the previous topics learned, and it's just another pool of questions to cycle through before becoming too familiar with them. There are so many questions in the Boson pool right? Any little bit helps.

So I am pretty familiar at this point with dot1q tunneling, I will be reading a little more in depth on it tonight in the Cisco Docs but I am pretty good with the concept, configuration and all. I will need to configure it a few more times though. I finished Chapter 4 yesterday, moving on to IP Services sometime this weekend. I'd like to focus on dot1q tunneling and STP as far as labs.

Taking the family to the wild animal park in escondido this morning and afternoon. Then gym tonight, comp team practice and i'm spending the evening with the wife, maybe get a blue ray or two. I'm almost done studying this morning.

The multicast questions are truely awful. Anyone that can do well in those needs help. Still it forces you to think through the state machine! BTW if you dont keep doing them you will forget. Most CCIEs forget the flags before the lab!

sweetness0099

Good luck with your journey and much success !!

SysAdmin4066

sweetness0099 wrote: »

Good luck with your journey and much success !!

Thanks Sweetness, I appreciate the well wishes. Hopefully my journey chronicles will help someone, not just me. If you have any questions, PM me or leave them here and I'd be happy to assist if I can.

Going to do some quick labbing tonight. Didnt go to the gym, spent the day at the wild animal park till closing then went out for pizza with the fam. They are my inspiration and I have to keep them first always. It's obviously why I do this, to give my kids a better chance in this world than I had growing up. Anyway, still focusing on dot1q tunneling, for some reason I feel that is really important to fully get the config for that down. I guess it's the first and only thing I've encountered so far that I had no idea about, was not even vaguely familiar with so it's a bit frightening.

At any rate, I've pretty well over it now. I plan on running it one or two more times, then moving on to STP. I will probably get a little reading in tomorrow, lots of lab time. Going to the gym to do some open sparring, maybe a little MMA, definitely some BJJ. Looking forward to spending a few hours rolling around, getting sore and beat up. Then spending the bulk of the day running the rest of the layer 2 labs and reading chapter 5, maybe 6 of the exam guide.

SysAdmin4066

I'm running through the bridging and switching in the vol I workbook today, from start to finish and I was getting stuck at the portion for ROAS, which is pretty close to the start. I was unable to ping between the two subnets and couldnt figure out for the life of me what was wrong.

Turns out, for some reason, a broadcast storm had developed between my trunk ports, which was crippling my inter-switch communication. I dont know why, but that had to have been the reason. I shutdown the inter-switch links on SW1, and all of the activity lights stopped blinking furiously. After enabling the ports again, all communication resumed and I was able to ping between the devices. Very strange, I've never seen that before. Just goes to show how important STP is.

SysAdmin4066

Moving forward with IP Services, chapter 5 in the Odom book. I am still running practice exams and look to start labbing the IP Services topics soon after I finish the switching topics. I think I'm doing well, though the only thing I have to gauge that on is the practice exams I'm running. Nothing has really sent me reeling yet though. I look to finish up the IP Services chapter today and move on to IP Forwarding, and I'll be looking to lab a bit tonight of the switching stuff. There was/is a lot still left that I havent gone through, as I've been obsessing over the first few topics for whatever reason. I tend to trust my instincts though, they have served me well. June 5th is still looking very likely. I have just about 800 pages left of the Odom book, hundreds of practice exams left and many hours of labs to come, but the day count is 81 so I think I can pull it off.

SysAdmin4066

More of the same, reading the rest of IP Services and practice exams. Labbed a little bit the other day, but still the same stuff I've been labbing. I'm feeling pretty good, I've added the IP Services related questions to my practice exam regimen, I also need to get some solid subnetting practice in sometime during the day. I need to do so at least 30 mins a day I would imagine. Just so that it's always fresh. 79 days till written, looking good still.

SysAdmin4066

So i've been working with a consulting company over the last couple days and I just solidified a project for an eDirectory to Active Directory (Novell to Microsoft) migration with a local community college that should net at least a few months worth of side work. A few bucks extra and I get to further my experience on migrations, which is obviously very valuable. Anyway, this will monopolize my time a little bit, but I dont see a huge impact, as my day to day isnt going to change much. Grinding it out, I want to start consulting more and leave the 9 to 5 behind, especially with 2 kids in the works. So this is kind of a more aggressive stance towards that goal. The CCIE is also a step in that direction, as it will help to make me more marketable. Just thought I would share, I am pleased

Mrock4

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

So i've been working with a consulting company over the last couple days and I just solidified a project for an eDirectory to Active Directory (Novell to Microsoft) migration with a local community college that should net at least a few months worth of side work. A few bucks extra and I get to further my experience on migrations, which is obviously very valuable. Anyway, this will monopolize my time a little bit, but I dont see a huge impact, as my day to day isnt going to change much. Grinding it out, I want to start consulting more and leave the 9 to 5 behind, especially with 2 kids in the works. So this is kind of a more aggressive stance towards that goal. The CCIE is also a step in that direction, as it will help to make me more marketable. Just thought I would share, I am pleased

Congrats man. Hope the wife and soon to be new addition are doing well. Ours is going OK, just inching towards our date. It's flown by so far, can't believe we're already at 22 weeks..past halfway!

Keep crankin away at it!

SysAdmin4066

Mrock4 wrote: »

Congrats man. Hope the wife and soon to be new addition are doing well. Ours is going OK, just inching towards our date. It's flown by so far, can't believe we're already at 22 weeks..past halfway!

Keep crankin away at it!

Yeah all is going well, It is flying by but crawling at the same time, I know that makes sense to you pops! In the good times, things are just flying through, but in the bad times, the cramps, the headaches, the nausea, etc, things go matrix slow. It's a fact of bad times in general I guess.

I had an interview for a Sr. Infrastructure Engineer, with an emphasis on Active Directory. Mostly a lead engineer to take the reigns of the dept when needed, otherwise primary technical lead in all things IT. Anyway, I think it went well. Only problem is I'd be back in Orange County, which I enjoy the area, but the drive is killer. Money is tremendously more than I make now though, so it would def be worth it. And I would report directly to the head of IT, so I would be back in a senior position and away from reporting to working supervisors who question my input constantly at the county. I am not really looking for a change in jobs, but I am always open to new and better opportunities. We'll see how it goes, the City of Rancho thing didnt go my way, but I was 1 of the top 2 they narrowed down, and actually went into background and education verification stages with me, so that was a good experience. Maybe this will go further.

I start the project I mentioned next Friday, with an initial site visit to meet the staff and get myself set up with some credentials so that I can work remotely. They currently have AD and NDS running (directory services) and they want both to be synched so that changes in one are reflected in the other, in order to prepare for a full migration from NDS to AD. So I am tasked with getting that portion up. I have 19 hours to work with, if I need more, I'll get it. If I need less, I'll get paid the full 19 hours. So that's pretty cool, I imagine I'll probably need just one full 8 or 9 hour day and I should be good to go. I have some labbing this week to do to prepare for it though. So CCIE study will be a little affected, but not much. Migration at work is dying down and Exchange project is just in planning phases, so just meetings and my network management server to do at work during the day. Leaves plenty of time for practice exams and reading through the book.

I'm off to the gym in a min, did some labbing of VTP, and EtherChannel today in the little bit of time I had between two meetings, one for consulting project and the other was the interview. I noticed that PAgP works a bit faster than LACP. Nothing crazy, but LACP takes a few seconds longer to bring the channel up than PAgP. I remember that from NP though, so nothing new. No tourneys for me till probably around summer, but the team is getting a few guys to do the Pans, a pretty big International Brazialian Jiu Jitsu Federation tourney, so I will be helping them prepare by trying to choke them out I'll be hitting STP hard after the gym, then its a little R&R with the wife. Cheers!

DevilWAH

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

Yeah all is going well, It is flying by but crawling at the same time, I know that makes sense to you pops! In the good times, things are just flying through, but in the bad times, the cramps, the headaches, the nausea, etc, things go matrix slow. It's a fact of bad times in general I guess.

Glad to here its all going well with the little one. I know about the bad time! My poor wife has bad pains in her pelvis and legs, and can't sleep because of it. But only 8 more weeks to go!! and the last 4 of them she has off so hope she can get a bit of rest in there. Got all the baby stuff, and now time seems to drag by. While like you say at the same time flying past.. I'm sure it was only yesterday, we where on our second honeymoon and just finding out the news..

Can't wait though and i know the wife really can't wait to have her body back , I know its going to hit my study time a lot, but just have to accept that for a while.

SysAdmin4066

Thanks DevilWAH, I appreciate the concern and of course the shoulder. It's another baby boom, seems everyone is preg these days. At least our kids will have company right?

Didnt get anything done after gym on Friday and had my daughter all day saturday. Today is my STP day, so i'll be hitting it hard now. That and practice exams and maybe starting the next chapter, IP Routing. Finished IP Services, nothing too crazy there. Added a few new topics to my practice exams, and looking to really work those. Next week I'll be focusing on my project for Friday, so I'll be working on that. Anyway, time for work!

SysAdmin4066

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

Isnt that the truth. I have another interview, this time for Sr. Infrastructure Engineer at a company in Orange County. Sucks to have to possibly make the drive again (I've worked in Newport Beach previously, which is just about as far as this), but the position was superb and the pay is awesome too. I think I have a chance this time, the last one ended in me being 1 of the top 2, but them going for the other guy...

So I got the email today that I will be invited back for the second portion of the interview process. The first interview was pretty extensive. I met with the HR Director and discussed more general employment issues, such as why I would be leaving my current job, and my soft skills, etc. Then I met with the Director of IT and their Operations Supervisor in a more technical hard skills interview where they both took turns asking me questions about my technical background and my technical strengths. All in all, it lasted more than 2.5 hours! This next round will be a one on one with the VP of IT, and is the last step before a decision. I guess they are looking to move fast. I havent decided whether I want it yet, but I am leaning more towards yes than no. We'll have to see what they offer if they offer.

I also recieved a call today from my current employer (different dept) and they are recruiting for the level above my current classification. I have been invited to interview and will be contacted to set up the interview sometime this week. I love internal interviews as I get paid for them and I dont have to sneak around lol. So this is the only prospects as far as leaving my current position I am interested in. I would definitely accept a position internally, as not much would change but my pay

Got a lot of lab time yesterday and this morning. I am almost through all of the STP topics and no major problems so far. Almost finished with layer 2 labs. Moving on to Chapter 6 in the book, IP Forwarding and thus into routing. So i'll be moving into routing labs soon. I have to keep reminding myself that I am NOT studying for the lab just yet, and to continue to focus on the THEORETICAL side. Although the practical application helps tremendously, I need to focus on getting through the reading material and understanding the topics completely first. It's really just a matter of time management. I will crank it up in the next coming weeks. I need to finish the book within the next 2 weeks to stay on track and I'll have to really push. I've got lots more reading to do. Happy hunting folks

Mrock4

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

I have to keep reminding myself that I am NOT studying for the lab just yet, and to continue to focus on the THEORETICAL side. Although the practical application helps tremendously, I need to focus on getting through the reading material and understanding the topics completely first.

+1,000,000...

For a while there I spent so much time labbing that I was reading maybe a 1/10th of the time. Reading is boring compared to labbing, but it's definitely a necessity. That being said, in the last week I've made a conscious shift to reading more for now, and labbing less often (but with a more direct approach..ie: see how XX works...ok, got it, back to reading).

Sounds like you're doing well man, congrats on the upcoming interview(s)

SysAdmin4066

Thanks MRock, I've been under the weather the last week, so I've been just playing video games and chilling. No point in studying when it is really not going to be retained. As for reading, i've made that same conscious effort. I need to get through the material and only use the lab to solidify the theory. I'm still moving through Chapter 6, and expect to finish today. Getting killed in the practice exams for routing, man, I've forgotten so much lol. Good to know what I dont know now, so I can practice that. I am also making a more concerted effort to practice subnetting at least once a day for 30 mins.

Interview went well, but they are not serious about filling this position. I got the feeling from the second interview they were really just filling it out. Which sucks, cause that is literally money out of my pocket. My time is valuable these days. So I've pretty much decided to ignore these interviews for now, unless it's internal, which I have one tomorrow lol. Seems like when it rains it pours. My project is also going well, I was able to demonstrate directory synchronization on Friday and I just need to finish writing the approach for password synch and for the migration from NDS to AD. That will be a very good secondary source of income over the next few months. The customer is very cool as well, former military. So we understand each other.

Pregnancy is progressing, this week is our last 1st trimester week. Looking forward to some more good news at my wife's appointment this week. It's been rough, but we have each other to lean on. My daughter is going through a phase of assertion, and she is driving us crazy!! She doesnt want to nap, is back to waking up in the middle of the night and is screaming and throwing tantrums for everything. She is taller so she can grab everything, she is not afraid of the stairs any more, so we have to watch her even more closely (not that we werent watching her before), and we are afraid she isnt going to deal well with focus being shifted from her. But we'll have to get through this as a family. Patience, and sometimes just ignoring her goes a long way. Also, paying more attention to her is required, as she is more aware of her accomplishments and she craves our attention more if that was possible. We are young parents experiencing growing pains with our new toddler and fearing another infant, but I am sure we will get through in one piece. Just like with my daughter, we will have to enjoy the time spent, as it will never be like this again. And that's a good and a bad thing. I remember when my daughter was small enough to feed from a bottle, and didnt ever fuss about what she was eating. I enjoyed those times. Now I get to feed her new things and I enjoy introducing her to new tastes. But this wont last either. Soon she'll be able to feed herself and wont need me as much. And I'll wish we could go back to when I could make things better with a kiss, or with a hug...

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

+1,000,000...

For a while there I spent so much time labbing that I was reading maybe a 1/10th of the time. Reading is boring compared to labbing, but it's definitely a necessity. That being said, in the last week I've made a conscious shift to reading more for now, and labbing less often (but with a more direct approach..ie: see how XX works...ok, got it, back to reading).

Sounds like you're doing well man, congrats on the upcoming interview(s)

Its a theoretical test. The labbing is of value, but mainly its theory. So keep working patiently through the book and keep doing the practice tests, Boson et al. As you have experienced, doing Odom and the written blueprint properly is a *huge* undertaking in terms of personal time, and it cant be rushed. I would say anyone taking on more than one chapter a day in that book is really trying to barrel through it. There is much to reflect on in Odoms book and it takes elapsed time for the brain to really get to grips with all that.

This all equates to patience and effort on the part of the candidate. Two qualities sadly lacking in many of them. This is why so many people **** the written and shortcircuit this process. They are most likely doomed in labprep and in the lab itself, and certainly doomed in the field. The CCIE process offers the most intense *process* you will ever go through as a network engineer. Win lose or draw you have to decide if you will go through that process. If you do, you dont lose even if you dont get your number. All in all I would say you are going well! Keep it up!

SysAdmin4066

Thanks Turgon, I did a little reading in the Odom book today and 2 practice exams to see where I am. Still getting killed in the "new" stuff for IP routing. It really helps to solidify what you retained and what you're going to need to go over again or further in depth. I am currently doing subnetting. I dont want to lose that again, between now and lab, so I plan on doing 30 mins of subnetting till I take the lab, every day.

SysAdmin4066

Subnetting practice this morning, maybe a little reading before my interview. Found another good subnetting practice resource.

IP Subnet Practice

Between the two, I should stay sharp in the subnetting. I think 30 mins is good, I'll adjust if need be. Hopefully finishing Chapter 6 today and more practice exams. Getting a bit scary now, this seems about right lol. I guess I was just stronger with the layer 2 stuff than I thought.

SysAdmin4066

Just finished chapter 6, I'll probably need to work with PfR/OER to see it work so that I can better understand the concept. I will definitely have to work with policy routing in the lab, cause I was pretty much not following the entire chapter section on that. Everything else was pretty much review. GRE tunneling, MLS, Classless and Classful routing, etc. Now I move on to the EIGRP chapter, which I intend to also lab quite frequently.

SysAdmin4066

Started the EIGRP chapter (7) and I'm just barely a topic in. Notthing new there, just a review and I'd like to start incorporating the layer 3 stuff into my labbing. So I think I will move forward with labs for EIGRP. I've added layer 3 to my practice exams, and am getting creamed lol. This is good as it shows me where I need to refresh my knowlede. Finally finished my first run through of the layer 2 stuff in its entirety, from start to finish today. It felt good, I didnt have much of a problem. I really just looked to the answers to verify my configurations. I knew pretty much how to configure every topic. It's definitely going to be imperative that I continue to lab layer 2 topics often, but it's time to move on to layer 3. Late night of studying, I'll get a little in tomorrow most likely, maybe some reading and practice exams.

SysAdmin4066

A lot going on at work and personally, I havent had a lot of time to move to far forward in my studies. Today I will be finishing the EIGRP chapter, finishing a full run through of the layer 2 labs, and moving on to the layer 3 labbing, more so EIGRP. Mostly review again, from BSCI, as it was pretty in depth in it's prep work. Looking forward to putting in a few hours today and tomorrow. Sundays are family days, so no studying going on then. Another tournament (BJJ) in June, so I have to make weight as well. I'm trying to move from Middle to Light, so I have just a little over 15 lbs to lose in 2 months. I lost about 15 lbs, little more, to get to middle from almost 200 lbs so I'm sure I can do it. I've got a pretty high metabolism and I dont take protein or supplements, I stay away from lifting at all. Mostly lean muscle building, as I'm heavy enough as it is. My body fat percentage is higher than it's ever been, so I know I've got at least 15 lbs to lose. So that will add a new dynamic to my life, with dieting and watching my calorie intake, more so than I do already. Shouldnt be too hard though, and the rewards are I will be a big lightweight as opposed to a small middleweight if that makes any sense. I will do better I think as a lightweight, not that i've not done well as a middleweight. Big UFC fight tomorrow night, yeah buddy!!! Anyway, take care, happy hunting

Turgon

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

Just finished chapter 6, I'll probably need to work with PfR/OER to see it work so that I can better understand the concept. I will definitely have to work with policy routing in the lab, cause I was pretty much not following the entire chapter section on that. Everything else was pretty much review. GRE tunneling, MLS, Classless and Classful routing, etc. Now I move on to the EIGRP chapter, which I intend to also lab quite frequently.

You need policy routing down cold for both written and lab prep. It's one of the most important topics to master as it gives you potential options to tackle routing requirements in the lab. Check with the proctor first though.

Turgon

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

Started the EIGRP chapter (7) and I'm just barely a topic in. Notthing new there, just a review and I'd like to start incorporating the layer 3 stuff into my labbing. So I think I will move forward with labs for EIGRP. I've added layer 3 to my practice exams, and am getting creamed lol. This is good as it shows me where I need to refresh my knowlede. Finally finished my first run through of the layer 2 stuff in its entirety, from start to finish today. It felt good, I didnt have much of a problem. I really just looked to the answers to verify my configurations. I knew pretty much how to configure every topic. It's definitely going to be imperative that I continue to lab layer 2 topics often, but it's time to move on to layer 3. Late night of studying, I'll get a little in tomorrow most likely, maybe some reading and practice exams.

With EIGRP like all the topics, the lab will ask tough questions about your understanding of the mechanism. A classic is load sharing across different links by playing with the ratios and the delay command. You will need to understand the K values and the arithmetic involved to define the correct metric. In the lab you are essentially forced to demonstrate a solution to a requirement that illustrates that you do understand how to *work* the mechanisms through configuration choices.

Turgon

SysAdmin4066 wrote: »

A lot going on at work and personally, I havent had a lot of time to move to far forward in my studies. Today I will be finishing the EIGRP chapter, finishing a full run through of the layer 2 labs, and moving on to the layer 3 labbing, more so EIGRP. Mostly review again, from BSCI, as it was pretty in depth in it's prep work. Looking forward to putting in a few hours today and tomorrow. Sundays are family days, so no studying going on then. Another tournament (BJJ) in June, so I have to make weight as well. I'm trying to move from Middle to Light, so I have just a little over 15 lbs to lose in 2 months. I lost about 15 lbs, little more, to get to middle from almost 200 lbs so I'm sure I can do it. I've got a pretty high metabolism and I dont take protein or supplements, I stay away from lifting at all. Mostly lean muscle building, as I'm heavy enough as it is. My body fat percentage is higher than it's ever been, so I know I've got at least 15 lbs to lose. So that will add a new dynamic to my life, with dieting and watching my calorie intake, more so than I do already. Shouldnt be too hard though, and the rewards are I will be a big lightweight as opposed to a small middleweight if that makes any sense. I will do better I think as a lightweight, not that i've not done well as a middleweight. Big UFC fight tomorrow night, yeah buddy!!! Anyway, take care, happy hunting

Totally understandable. I think with so many of you now keeping logs and taking the journey on you start to fully appreciate just how difficult it can be at times to stay on track. With a busy job and family commitments it's hard. Main thing is to work your own plan and keep going. For my part while I never kept up with the 3-4 hours a night labbing 6 days a week, with all the previous hard miles put in over a couple of years Im feeling pretty good about this year. I can revise the topics I covered and spend summer and autumn hammering out mock exams.

Hammering out 2 hours sessions a day for the first three months isn't the challenge. Will you still be doing it in 6 months or a years time? That's the challenge. Or you could be lucky and have slacktime at work going for you for your studies, or employer support to get through the track. Being single helps too!

SysAdmin4066

Words from the Jedi Master is always appreciated, I agree on every point Turgon. Being single helps with everything lol. Alas, no refrain there. I've done 5 years on my marriage sentence and I fear I've got a lot of years left (death). My wife is super supportive though, so that definitely helps.

Finished EIGRP, moving on to labbing it tonight and possibly a little bit tomorrow, though it's family day so... Finished studying for today, put in about 3 hours, did some layer 2 labs, subnetting, practice exams (about 20 questions on both sources, layer 2 and layer 3) and reading to finish up EIGRP.

Got some roll time in this morning. Hurt my ankle a bit Wednesday night, so I've been a little gun shy, but I always push it when I shouldnt. Today was no exception, it's that Marine in my. Rolled with a high school wrestling coach who was really good, and my usual victims. UFC fights on tonight, starting now so i'm headed to the big screen

SysAdmin4066

Finished EIGRP, moving on to OSPF. Looking forward to labbing some routing topics, it's been a while

Had promotions last night at our dojo, I made 3 stripes which was surprising. I thought I was maybe up for one, but 3 was a welcome surprise. My instructor hinted at a blue belt in my future as well, after the mundial tournament in June. Whatever he decides my skill level is at this point, I'll roll with so to speak. I was very happy last night and had a pretty good night rolling as well.

SysAdmin4066

Trying to stay on track with the subnetting practice, I'd also like to include some route summarization practice in there. Maybe also some wildcard mask practice. I'll have to find some sites for it. I'm chugging right along with the OSPF chapter, man I had forgotten how involved this protocol was. Taking practice exams and not getting killed as badly with the newly added layer 3 stuff. Things are looking up, but I think my June 5th date may slip quite a bit. I'm not even halfway through the exam guide yet and I dont want to rush it.