CCIE RS Written Aug. 18! signed up

accely

EDIT. I guess this is starting to become my thread as I pursue the CCIE lab exam!. Too bad I can't change the title!


UPDATE** PASSED!! **

Hey all, I just signed up for my written on august 18th and I'm very excited!

I finished my CCNP last fall and then went on to get my CCSP by around May. I did the ASA elective.

During my CCSP studies and up until now I've been doing lots of CCIE video boot camps and such. I also read the new Cisco Press CCIE cert 4th edition book. Other stuff: TCP/IP Vol.1 and 2, CBT Nuggets CCIE series, lots of cisco white papers as needed at my job.

I decided to sign up because about 2 months ago I started a new job as Network Engineer and I've started getting excellent hands on with some technologies. Some things I have been doing: guest vlan, dot1x, STP optimizing, OSPF, NTP auth, QoS/traffic shaping on some routers, implemented CoPP on all L3, PIX's in failover, ASA VPN setups, tons of L3/L2 switching, working with all models of equipment such as 6509's, 4500's, 3560/3750's etc. Also getting lots of knowledge and hands on with fiber which I didn't have before.

It's been a dream come true for what I wanted in a job! So anyway time to take the first major step toward getting those 5 numbers! CCIE RS Written!!

I'll keep you posted! Gonna be reviewing videos and practice questions for the next 2 weeks.

Dan

burbankmarc

Good luck! Sounds like you've been exposed to a bevy of technologies needed for the CCIE, which is always a good thing.

mikej412

Good Luck!!

Turgon

accely wrote: »

Hey all, I just signed up for my written on august 18th and I'm very excited!

I finished my CCNP last fall and then went on to get my CCSP by around May. I did the ASA elective.

During my CCSP studies and up until now I've been doing lots of CCIE video boot camps and such. I also read the new Cisco Press CCIE cert 4th edition book. Other stuff: TCP/IP Vol.1 and 2, CBT Nuggets CCIE series, lots of cisco white papers as needed at my job.

I decided to sign up because about 2 months ago I started a new job as Network Engineer and I've started getting excellent hands on with some technologies. Some things I have been doing: guest vlan, dot1x, STP optimizing, OSPF, NTP auth, QoS/traffic shaping on some routers, implemented CoPP on all L3, PIX's in failover, ASA VPN setups, tons of L3/L2 switching, working with all models of equipment such as 6509's, 4500's, 3560/3750's etc. Also getting lots of knowledge and hands on with fiber which I didn't have before.

It's been a dream come true for what I wanted in a job! So anyway time to take the first major step toward getting those 5 numbers! CCIE RS Written!!

I'll keep you posted! Gonna be reviewing videos and practice questions for the next 2 weeks.

Dan

Good luck!

CCIEWANNABE

good luck man, you'll pass! sounds like you've been studying very well. best of luck to you. keep us posted.

networker050184

Good luck dude!

rakem

Good luck mate.

What are you going to use for practise questions? I'm in need of some decent ones as well.

reaper81

Good luck, I'm studying for written as well but I'm a couple months away probably.

accely

I passed! 982/1000 it was pretty fun and I was well prepared.

I'm already getting my lab fired up to start configuring it for INE R&S Workbook labs v5.0 Vol2, Vol4, Vol5.... the start of the final climb is here Also got a bunch of the Cisco 360 Learning labs to do, 35 labs O_O

I was going to wait and see how I felt after passing the written... and I can definitely say I'm ready to keep the snowball rolling and go for the big 5 #####'s now !

-Dan

Bl8ckr0uter

Awesome! Have you thought about when you are going to take the lab?

peanutnoggin

accely wrote: »

I passed! 982/1000 it was pretty fun and I was well prepared.

I'm already getting my lab fired up to start configuring it for INE R&S Workbook labs v5.0 Vol2, Vol4, Vol5.... the start of the final climb is here Also got a bunch of the Cisco 360 Learning labs to do, 35 labs O_O

I was going to wait and see how I felt after passing the written... and I can definitely say I'm ready to keep the snowball rolling and go for the big 5 #####'s now !

-Dan

CONGRATS on the pass!!!! Good luck on the lab...

-Peanut

Turgon

accely wrote: »

I passed! 982/1000 it was pretty fun and I was well prepared.

I'm already getting my lab fired up to start configuring it for INE R&S Workbook labs v5.0 Vol2, Vol4, Vol5.... the start of the final climb is here Also got a bunch of the Cisco 360 Learning labs to do, 35 labs O_O

I was going to wait and see how I felt after passing the written... and I can definitely say I'm ready to keep the snowball rolling and go for the big 5 #####'s now !

-Dan

Cool. Why not open up a new thread like mine with your lab trek recorded. Also log your lab hours as I find that keeps me on track. Good to see some new blood on the study journey a a good few seem to have dropped out. Good luck!

wirerat

Congrats on the pass!

jason_lunde

accely wrote: »

I passed!
-Dan

Wow dude, congrats. Look forward to following your progress.

Ahriakin

Excellent work

DevilWAH

That cool well do sir!!! and good luck on the lab studies

gorebrush

Turgon wrote: »

Cool. Why not open up a new thread like mine with your lab trek recorded. Also log your lab hours as I find that keeps me on track. Good to see some new blood on the study journey a a good few seem to have dropped out. Good luck!

My absence is only temporary, I assure you

chmorin

Congrats on the pass!

nicklauscombs

congrats!!!!!!!

mikej412

accely wrote: »

I passed!

Congratulations!!

accely

thanks everyone I will be sure to update progress on studies. Right now I'm thinking I would like to take it in the spring. The cold winter would be nice to stay inside and keep warm by the rack for lots of labs That would give a good solid 6-8 months of lab practice.

Also, side note on lab equipment. I only have 1 L3 switch right now, probably need to get 3 more right?

jovan88

You have one 3550? I think CCIE requires 3560 and up for PVLANs and ipv6 etc. But those switches are damn expensive

CCIE2B

accely wrote: »

thanks everyone I will be sure to update progress on studies. Right now I'm thinking I would like to take it in the spring. The cold winter would be nice to stay inside and keep warm by the rack for lots of labs That would give a good solid 6-8 months of lab practice.

Also, side note on lab equipment. I only have 1 L3 switch right now, probably need to get 3 more right?

Correct. You will need at least 4x3550's or 2x3550 and 2x3560's. If you go with the first route you will need to get some lab rental time when you are closer to your lab exam to get some hands on the 3560's.

Turgon

accely wrote: »

thanks everyone I will be sure to update progress on studies. Right now I'm thinking I would like to take it in the spring. The cold winter would be nice to stay inside and keep warm by the rack for lots of labs That would give a good solid 6-8 months of lab practice.

Also, side note on lab equipment. I only have 1 L3 switch right now, probably need to get 3 more right?

If you can amass lab hours like an elephant I think spring is doable. Do what you can on works time and supplement with evenings and full weekends.

accely

I get lots of hands on with 3560s/3750s/4500s/6500s at work everyday so hopefully between that and my 3550s in my lab that should be good exposure.

accely

I get lots of hands on with 3560s/3750s/4500s/6500s at work everyday so hopefully between that and my 3550s in my lab that should be good exposure.

CCIE2B

accely wrote: »

I get lots of hands on with 3560s/3750s/4500s/6500s at work everyday so hopefully between that and my 3550s in my lab that should be good exposure.

Yeah that should suffice....

Turgon

accely wrote: »

I get lots of hands on with 3560s/3750s/4500s/6500s at work everyday so hopefully between that and my 3550s in my lab that should be good exposure.

The real work begins now..

Hands on at work helps but you really need to be putting regular time in on gear using the vendor workbook exercises and Cisco Press examples. You are hot off the written now so I would advise you get some vendor material and start labbing everyday and crank out 100 lab hours asap. The way I record my time is to only log the hours I work as opposed to totaling rackslot time I hire as sometimes I only get a couple of hours work done in a 5 hour hired slot. You may find it beneficial to just rent some racktime for a while when you are working a vendor workbook to get you going. I prefer renting racktime over building an environment at home. I often find it difficult to amass the study hours because of my commitments so do the best you can there!

accely

Turgon wrote: »

The real work begins now..

Hands on at work helps but you really need to be putting regular time in on gear using the vendor workbook exercises and Cisco Press examples. You are hot off the written now so I would advise you get some vendor material and start labbing everyday and crank out 100 lab hours asap. The way I record my time is to only log the hours I work as opposed to totaling rackslot time I hire as sometimes I only get a couple of hours work done in a 5 hour hired slot. You may find it beneficial to just rent some racktime for a while when you are working a vendor workbook to get you going. I prefer renting racktime over building an environment at home. I often find it difficult to amass the study hours because of my commitments so do the best you can there!

I looked into renting rack time and it looks like a pretty good deal. Pretty cheap and everything is tailored to the CCIE perfectly especially for the lab workbooks from INE etc. I think I will start renting rackspace. Don't really have the need for my equipment at home anymore now that I have the hands on at work. Time to start selling my equipment and getting some money back!

Turgon

accely wrote: »

I looked into renting rack time and it looks like a pretty good deal. Pretty cheap and everything is tailored to the CCIE perfectly especially for the lab workbooks from INE etc. I think I will start renting rackspace. Don't really have the need for my equipment at home anymore now that I have the hands on at work. Time to start selling my equipment and getting some money back!

How is the lab practice going? Any study plans for the weekend?

accely

Turgon wrote: »

How is the lab practice going? Any study plans for the weekend?

I've rented a few racks over the past weekends. Probably up to around 30+ hours now but I stopped keeping track because I'm studying everything on a daily basis. I guess that's a good thing! I feel like studying for this monster has become a hobby and a habit! haha

Basically right now I am printing off the labs and then working through them as I compare my work with the solutions guides. This is helping me learn and retain commands and lots of different solutions. I'm even still seeing some odd ball tasks that I've never seen! So it's nice to see those, learn them (example. a 1 line command) and have it memorized forever. These INE vol. 2 labs are really great practice. I make alot of notes and go back and review them too, a couple days after I finished it.

I'm also listening to the INE audio bootcamp whenever I do cardio which is a couple hours a week. It's a nice time to pick a topic I want some review in, usually MPLS or multicast

Alllllso, I watch and rewatch the advanced technologies videos from INE.

After I finish vol2. lab 5 probably tonight. I'm going to start going through their volume 1 material, which basically just hits each topic in depth.

I think I'm doing a pretty good job of spreading out how I'm preparing so far. Still getting lots of hands on at work so that always helps.
As I progress through the vol2 and vol1 material I'll start renting rack time again to work on vol2 labs without using solutions, and then start testing out the waters with Volume4 labs.

Gotta keep moving!!