New guy going for CCIE

reaper81

Thanks! Reading in a train is easier than a car though. Only problem with the train for me is the risk of falling alseep There's something about trains, the rythm and the sound of it moving that just puts you to sleep, lol Hopefully all the snow won't stop me from going. Hoping to at least get a few hours in today.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Thanks! Reading in a train is easier than a car though. Only problem with the train for me is the risk of falling alseep There's something about trains, the rythm and the sound of it moving that just puts you to sleep, lol Hopefully all the snow won't stop me from going. Hoping to at least get a few hours in today.

I used to study workbook labs from ccbootcamp back in late 2002 - 2003 when I had a long daily commute on the train. Took a rucksack full of labs and books. You can study a good deal on the train. Be sure to cross 200 hours soon and catch up with killuah72. I will try and get an hour in today if I can.

reaper81

Got some good hours done at the train and I'm closing in on 200. Will try to get 200 before christmas eve but it will be close. Then I will probably chill for a couple of days and then I'm right back at it again.

reaper81

200 hours reached today Time to chill with the family for a couple of days and celebrate christmas and then go back in study mode. Merry christmas to everyone on TE!

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

200 hours reached today Time to chill with the family for a couple of days and celebrate christmas and then go back in study mode. Merry christmas to everyone on TE!

Well done, 200 hours really takes some doing and most hopefuls tail off long before reaching that total. That's really a lot of work. Get some rest this Christmas then push to 300 by the end of January.

reaper81

Christmas break is over. Got 3.5 hours done today which I am pleased with. Bought a screen today a 21.5" widescreen LED and ordered a keyboard with UK layout from Amazon. I want to be as prepared as possible when the lab comes. One more day at work and then time to celebrate the new year. I wish everyone at TE a happy new year!

reaper81

Bought 500 tokens from graded labs to prepare for labbing when I've completed the written. INE had a deal with 35% off so seemed like the right time to purchase some tokens.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Bought 500 tokens from graded labs to prepare for labbing when I've completed the written. INE had a deal with 35% off so seemed like the right time to purchase some tokens.

Dont forget to update the counter with those 3.5 hours. When are you doing the written? Happy New Year when it comes around!

reaper81

Doing the written late January or early February if everything goes well. Then I'm going to try to follow the INE scedule with labs at least 12h per week. I will check with my employer if I can do some labbing during work time but everything is quite busy right now so we will see what happens. Thinking of doing a schedule for my fiancee so she will know when I will be busy labbing. Happy new year to you too Turgon!

reaper81

Have finished my second read of the certification guide. Now only going to look at notes and do the questions from the book and the Boson software. Every answer I get wrong I will write down and research why my understanding was wrong instead of just memorizing the correct answer. Going to do this for a couple of weeks and then book the test.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Have finished my second read of the certification guide. Now only going to look at notes and do the questions from the book and the Boson software. Every answer I get wrong I will write down and research why my understanding was wrong instead of just memorizing the correct answer. Going to do this for a couple of weeks and then book the test.

Good plan. I actually found the explanations given in the test engine for both the Odom book and the Boson were quite sufficient to clear up any misunderstandings. I suggest that when you use the Odom or Boson tests you print out the solutions to any questions you get wrong and file them by topic in a ringbinder. It's quite helpful to go through these.

killuah72

Happy new years bro. Hope you had a relaxing holiday break.

I had a little too much relaxing, finding it difficult to go back in study mode.

reaper81

Same to you man! You seem to be doing good with the hours put in. Will be kind of nice when the holidays are over so regular study can begin again, you'll get into it again. What is your focus right now?

killuah72

Focusing on security right now but I still got the holi-laziness. Spent all day at home screwing around eating/watching tv. Was so bored but could NOT study at all. I want to go back to work where I can study hehe.

reaper81

Doing a lot of practicing with Boson right now. Really like the product, good questions and haven't found any major flaws in it. The explanations are also really good. I'm at around 80 to 90% correct right now. Hopefully in a couple of days I can be at 90%+. My feeling is that Boson is a little more difficult than the real exam. Soon I will do some questions from the cert guide also. Written is maybe 2-3 weeks away if I have the same feeling as now.

Turgon

Your going well. Yes I liked the Boson. Be sure to do the Odom engine as well though. PM me if you wish to keep in touch.

reaper81

Went through some questions from the cert guide, they are really tricky. Have a good grasp of most of it but need some repitition in certain areas. Feeling good about my progress and hours put in.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Went through some questions from the cert guide, they are really tricky. Have a good grasp of most of it but need some repitition in certain areas. Feeling good about my progress and hours put in.

From what I remember the worst ones are the multicast and MPLS questions. Many drawings where you have to follow PIM messages and labels.

reaper81

Been messing around with Dynamips to have a working lab setup when the written is passed. If this week feels good I will probably do the written the week after that. Had a good talk both at work and at home so everyone is in for the ride which feels great. All I have to do now is study hard for roughly a year and hopefully I will be ready for the lab.

reaper81

Got some studying done while my son is asleep and fiancee is working. Did a round of Boson and scored very well. Also did two chapters with questions in Cert guide. Cert guide questions are really tough and they like to negate and double negate things but will be a good way to prepare for the test. Quite a productive weekend and hoping to soon take the written.

reaper81

350-001 booked. Tuesday 18th is the magic date. Wish me luck.

wirerat

Best of luck to you on test day.

Sirsamon

Best of Luck

jason_lunde

Good luck man, though Im sure you will not need it. You'll kill this test...

reaper81

Thanks guys for all the positive feedback. Trying out some SRS with Anki. Any of you tried it? I know Turgon uses Mnemosyne a lot.

reaper81

Mostly studying with Anki right now. I like the results so far. Will do some reviewing of notes and then some more Anki and Boson and then I should be ready for the test. Approaching 230 hours now and will be close to 240 when the test day comes.

Sirsamon

I cant wait until it is my turn

I have went down a longggggggggg path

Not to sure when i will get there.

I decided to buy CCIE R&S Cisco Press books v3 and V4
I use the books like lord of the rings

the book list on cisco for suggested reading and some of my own choice, i bought.(around 30 or more)

no i start reading and labbing the first chapter of the v3 book, after that
i move onto any dedicated books that cover that subject.
then back to ccie v3 book for the next chapter.

i expect to go through all the books at least twice.

then onto the 3rd party videos and boot camps.

at this moment i am just finishing ccie network security technologies and solutions book.

then the big one second last chapter of v3 ccie book then 4 books on MPLS.



P.S

i live in my study room, wife just drops me food of

reaper81

Great

Got any dates for when you are aiming to do written and lab? I was thinking of maybe some kind of groupstudy thing when starting the labs. Maybe a few people from TE and maybe some more studying for the CCIE that could communicate via MSN, Skype or whatever to discuss ideas and if getting stuck on labs etc. Also later on we could create troubleshooting scenarios for each other which would be fun. Anyone up for that kind of thing?

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Great

Got any dates for when you are aiming to do written and lab? I was thinking of maybe some kind of groupstudy thing when starting the labs. Maybe a few people from TE and maybe some more studying for the CCIE that could communicate via MSN, Skype or whatever to discuss ideas and if getting stuck on labs etc. Also later on we could create troubleshooting scenarios for each other which would be fun. Anyone up for that kind of thing?

Im up for this but just to set your expectations these things nearly always fail. The CCIE is an unsocial thing as its a high workrate personal study program. Throw in the timezone difference and the variance in peoples study habits and the groups nearly always fizzle out.

reaper81

Turgon wrote: »

Im up for this but just to set your expectations these things nearly always fail. The CCIE is an unsocial thing as its a high workrate personal study program. Throw in the timezone difference and the variance in peoples study habits and the groups nearly always fizzle out.

Yes, that is very true. It might not be a live thing but maybe we can post messages or send mail or something to a few recipents. I know there is groupstudy and IEOC etc but would be cool to bond with some of the TE members.