New guy going for CCIE

reaper81

Good feedback Turgon. Notes really do help as do flash cards.

Did a 3 hour session yesterday. Some interesting stuff like Q-in-Q and sending a conditional default route in OSPF.

reaper81

Did a session yesterday, need some more practice on PE-CE protocols and MPLS VPN.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Studying QoS in the cert guide right now. I have read the QoS exam certification guide earlier when I did ONT for the CCNP track so I feel I have a pretty good grasp of QoS. When QoS is done I will go through the certification guide and then start cramming questions.

Your going well since you started last November. Im looking at MPLS myself at the moment. It looks like some of the other CCIE blogs are tailing off but keep at it. I think you are good for a lab shot next summer. This year is the killer for you, my first year was. You just have to grind it out.

reaper81

Turgon wrote: »

Your going well since you started last November. Im looking at MPLS myself at the moment. It looks like some of the other CCIE blogs are tailing off but keep at it. I think you are good for a lab shot next summer. This year is the killer for you, my first year was. You just have to grind it out.

Thanks. Yeah, its kind of frustrating when you know the fundamentals of most of the stuff but it takes a while to piece everything together. I'll just keep at it though. Found out that I will only have 9 months to complete the CCIE for my company to retain its partnership. It's a bit tight so I will try to negotiate at work to have one full day every week for labs or else I will have no shot of making it. Work is very busy though so we will see what happens. Might have an job offer coming up also so have to see if that is attractive or not, it's for a large company which is a Cisco gold partner.

reaper81

Did a short session tonight. Some multicast and BPDU filtering via VLAN access-map and then a lock and key ACL which I've never used before. I'm trying to increase the number of sessions per week to have a good gruond to stand on at the end of the year if I go for a lab attempt.

powerfool

reaper81 wrote: »

Almost. You can set the interface to Null0 directly in the route-map. I'm going to write a blogpost on it.

I think that is how the Internet filtering was done in Egypt a few months ago...

reaper81

powerfool wrote: »

I think that is how the Internet filtering was done in Egypt a few months ago...

Lol, what's scary though is that a lot of providers don't use prefix-lists which means I could announce Youtube prefixes and get a shitload of traffic if I wanted to :P

reaper81

Three hour session tonight. First some labs and then some troubleshooting, third night in a row labbing which is good. I have now passed the number of hours that I studied for the written.

ConstantlyLearning

reaper81 wrote: »

I have now passed the number of hours that I studied for the written.

Good stuff, keep up the good work.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Three hour session tonight. First some labs and then some troubleshooting, third night in a row labbing which is good. I have now passed the number of hours that I studied for the written.

Very good, another milestone. Now take the pain and cross 500 hours before the end of the year. Now would be a good time to discuss with your girlfriend or wife because the hours you need to start putting in on a regular basis are going to take a toll there and they have been known to pack their bags and leave.. I suggest you beast yourself with lab hours over the next 4 weeks and get over 300 as soon as you can.

millworx

reaper81 wrote: »

Almost. You can set the interface to Null0 directly in the route-map. I'm going to write a blogpost on it.

Whats nifty with that command is you can specify multiple interfaces. I've got our traffic being forced through a gre tunnel, if the tunnel is down i drop to null0 (security reasons). Whats nice is you can do it all in one line.

"set interface tunn0 null0"

Turgon

millworx wrote: »

Whats nifty with that command is you can specify multiple interfaces. I've got our traffic being forced through a gre tunnel, if the tunnel is down i drop to null0 (security reasons). Whats nice is you can do it all in one line.

"set interface tunn0 null0"

Nice command, like it.

reaper81

Pretty rough week, had to prepare for a job interview which went very well so haven't had much time for practice. Have booked lab sessions for today, tomorrow and sunday so that should save the week somewhat.

reaper81

Almost did a complete vol3 lab tonight. Went pretty well, I feel I'm getting a good grasp of the core protocols. One tricky thing with OSPF involved, there was no backbone area from the beginning and it required some virtual links. Tricky stuff

reaper81

Another vol3 tonight. Got to say I'm a bit dissapointed in the quality. Some poor wording here and there and the SG only shows config, no explanation at all. It does help you improve your core tasks though. Tonight I hit 250 hours preparing for lab. Closing in on 500 total with the written preparation.

reaper81

Doing a rack rental tonight. Have been really busy lately with some traveling on the job and attended a course abroad. Have got a very nice job offer from a Cisco gold partner. 30% increase in salary and my CCIE sponsored. Seems to be a great place also. I'll probably accept it but gave my current employer a last chance to respond to the offer.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Doing a rack rental tonight. Have been really busy lately with some traveling on the job and attended a course abroad. Have got a very nice job offer from a Cisco gold partner. 30% increase in salary and my CCIE sponsored. Seems to be a great place also. I'll probably accept it but gave my current employer a last chance to respond to the offer.

Seriously consider taking that job providing they will give you some paid time to prepare for the CCIE lab exam. Many offer that but refuse to give it once you are in, it's always 'we are a bit busy for that, maybe in a few months time or next year..' I sense you need a break to do more studies 9 -5 but work just isn't giving you that gap. I can relate.

reaper81

Yeah, doing studies on your own is very very tough and takes much longer. I have done well on my own but now is the time that will be crucial for me to keep pushing if I'm going to have any chance of completing my goal.

Starting a new job would at least give me a fresh start and the increase in salary could give me an opportunity to take som time off and do studies but that time should also be spent with my son.

As long as I get some hours in every week I will at least make some progress.

Thinking of getting the INE ATC 4.5, seems to be very good videos.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Yeah, doing studies on your own is very very tough and takes much longer. I have done well on my own but now is the time that will be crucial for me to keep pushing if I'm going to have any chance of completing my goal.

Starting a new job would at least give me a fresh start and the increase in salary could give me an opportunity to take som time off and do studies but that time should also be spent with my son.

As long as I get some hours in every week I will at least make some progress.

Thinking of getting the INE ATC 4.5, seems to be very good videos.

I know, it's grueling. Im spending more time with my kids now. You have a way to go to get through the 1000 lab hours I think you need. It might be time to invest in a new job that is really serious about giving you worktime hours to prepare for the lab. The bump in pay affording you to take time off to study is one thing, but being new you will need to put some time in before you start taking holidays. The crucial thing is workstime 9 -5 to prepare for this thing. Get some because every hour adds up over a year and is worth at least two on your own time. One is less fatigued doing studies during the working day and there are also many demands on your time at home. At work Im constantly at it leading projects. No lab time of any consequence, although I did get a couple of hours in on Monday. Keep at it, I think there are only three of us left who are still going.

jason_lunde

Hey man, was just wondering how you were doing today and saw that you posted here. Hows it been? Havent seen you around ieoc.com lately. Those new videos are great honestly. It is really nice to see Brian M. back in the drivers seat of those. Good luck with the possibility of a new gig. I have found myself through vol 2 and 3 about 2 x now, and I am going back through some of the more minute things in vol 1 now. Have one of the new cisco 360 mocks coming up saturday; so that should be cool. Well keep on man!

reaper81

Hey Jason,

Everything is well. I haven't made as much progress as I wanted and I'm way behind you but still I'm getting some hours in every week. I have been pretty quiet on IEOC, I only post once in a while if I feel I have something to contribute. I do blog quite often though. Glad to hear that you have made such progress. You will be a CCIE before the end of the year for sure

reaper81

Decided to accept offer from new employer. Seems to be a great company and a good deal for me. Should let me work with more network design and more complicated routing&switching than I do today. They are on board for my IE and hopefully I'll get a few hours on the dollar studying but we'll se what happens. Do feel really bad for my previous employer though. That is life I guess.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Decided to accept offer from new employer. Seems to be a great company and a good deal for me. Should let me work with more network design and more complicated routing&switching than I do today. They are on board for my IE and hopefully I'll get a few hours on the dollar studying but we'll se what happens. Do feel really bad for my previous employer though. That is life I guess.

Its the correct decision I think. Access to more senior type work and potential investment in your study plans so you can revise on workstime in the office. Most CCIE's get through that way.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

Another vol3 tonight. Got to say I'm a bit dissapointed in the quality. Some poor wording here and there and the SG only shows config, no explanation at all. It does help you improve your core tasks though. Tonight I hit 250 hours preparing for lab. Closing in on 500 total with the written preparation.

I have been through vol 3 twice. I think they are ok for tramping through a core section in a single session. They are a little less heavy going than the core sections of Vol 2. Definitely good for speed practice though. You have to be able to nail a vol 3 lab inside two hours.

reaper81

Yes, I think it's the right decision.

Vol3 labs are good but I think I'll wait with them until I have done more vol2 and then use vol3 for gaining speed. Petr at INE seemed to agree with this as well.

reaper81

So I have been very quiet lately.

I have had some vacation and also I have landed a new job which has taken time from my studies.

I'm going to work for a Cisco gold partner and it involves network design, some firewalling and a bit of wireless. The offer was just too good to turn down.

I'm resuming my studies tomorrow with a lab and I will try to increase my study down the road. If I push hard for roughly 6 months I have a good shot at the lab so that is what I'm aiming for.

Turgon

reaper81 wrote: »

So I have been very quiet lately.

I have had some vacation and also I have landed a new job which has taken time from my studies.

I'm going to work for a Cisco gold partner and it involves network design, some firewalling and a bit of wireless. The offer was just too good to turn down.

I'm resuming my studies tomorrow with a lab and I will try to increase my study down the road. If I push hard for roughly 6 months I have a good shot at the lab so that is what I'm aiming for.

All good stuff. For a while you will need to focus on bedding in on the new job. See if you can get some buy in from the new employer to do some study hours when you are in the office as relying on evenings and weekends for lab prep is a killer, particularly after an intense week in a new position. Network design is where it is at, you have earned your dues in support and the careers are just not in that space anymore. Good experience for you I think.

reaper81

Did a remote session yesterday, almost 3 hours and planning one for tonight as well. Time to get serious guys! We have one recent CCIE showing us the way, hopefully one of us others is next in line...

klabbe

Hey,

like reading your blog and progress you post here on the forums. I'm not near the CCIE but like reading others progress for it. Currently going for the CCNA Sec next friday.

Om man får fråga, vilket bolag började du nyss på?

aldous

bit off topic but does INE vol2 and Vol3 have less config reloading. i tryed some bits from volume one and it was a case of do 5 mins config then load up a whole new set of config.

this is a real pain on the home rack (whereas 360 is load it once and off you go)do the latter volumes still do this?