My CCIE Journey Has Officially Begun.

jamesp1983

I have decided that it is time to pursue the first goal I had when I entered IT, the CCIE. I know its going to be an EXTREME challenge, but I'm just pushing forward and trying to stay confident. I'm going to use this thread for tracking my progress throughout my CCIE journey. I purchased the INE Ultimate bundle last week and have been studying and labbing ever since. I'm still trying to figure out what the right balance of lab vs study is at this point, but I'm just reviewing all of the ATVOD material now (over 80 hours), to refresh myself. I'm open for any suggestions on how I should balance lab vs study time. I've been running Dynamips and working with my home switches while watching the videos as a way to get more hands on. I passed BCMSN, BSCI, and ISCW back in 2008, and wrapped up ONT in August of 2010. I have been working with the equipment at my job so that has kept me fresh on a lot of the info, but I'm still studying like I'm just starting out. I research topics in the videos that I don't really remember and that seems to be really helping. I will keep this updated as a motivator and also as a way to keep track of all that I have studied when it comes time for my final review. It feels great to finally get started on this path. My wife and I worked out a schedule and I'm going to try to hit 30-36 hours a week.

My resources:
-INE Virtual Lab
-The INE workbooks
-INE Written VOD
-Routing TCP/IP, vol I.
-Home lab (a few routers and some 3550s.)
-Cisco LAN Switching by Ken Clark
-Routing and Switching, Time of Convergence?
-My CCNP Library.
-Dynamips
-Cisco.com
-INE ATVOD 4.5

Should I buy Odom's exam guide? I think the Boson Exsim for CCIE will be the next addition.

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Comments

jamesp1983

I'm nowhere near ready yet, but can anyone suggest any bootcamp programs that will help me tie down any loose ends a month before I take my lab? I'm thinking Narbik, but I don't know which exact program to take. I don't think I'll need the end to end. I'm looking for a place that will just help me finalize my prep and focus on my weak spots.

Roguetadhg

INE.com was recommended a while ago for IE. It seems to be what most people go.

jamesp1983

Roguetadhg wrote: »

INE.com was recommended a while ago for IE. It seems to be what most people go.

I've been using their Ultimate Bundle for about 8 months now and have been extremely happy with it. I will probably contact their sales dept to see what type of deal I can get.

jamesp1983

I got through about half of the IPv6 labs last night. I have been reading the BGP Case Studies document by Cisco for the past 2 days. A lot of good information there.
BGP Case Studies - Cisco Systems

jamesp1983

I wrapped up IPv6 last night, and I did the first Multicast lab (PIM-DM). Hope everyone gets some studying in today.

jamesp1983

I got to 8.4 last night. These multicast labs have certainly been eye openers for me. I played around with it a little bit in gns3 and read everything I could find on the topic for the Written, but nothing drives it home like labbing it up with the explanations from the INE workbooks.

jamesp1983

I just completed:

Bridging & Switching: 1.1-1.15
Frame-Relay: 2.1-2.8
IP Routing: 3.1-3.11
RIP: 4.1-4.11
EIGRP: 5.1-5.10
OSPF: 6.1-6.14
BGP: 7.1-7.12
IPv6: 9.1-9.9
Multicast: 8.1-8.10
MPLS VPN: 14.1-14.7

I watched some ATCoD videos as well. I definitely need some more practice with multicast, OSPF, and MPLS.

jamesp1983

These are pretty good sites describing MPLS VPN configuration:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-2961
Cisco.com Login Page
MPLS VPN support for EIGRP between Provider Edge (PE) and Customer Edge (CE) - Cisco Systems
Configuring MPLS Basic VPN with RIP on Customer Side [MPLS] - Cisco Systems
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-10782

jamesp1983

I spent about 6 hours on MPLS videos and labbing last night. I think I fully understand how it works together now. Back to WBII Lab 1.

Mrock4

Keep up the good work man! MPLS can be tricky at first. I'm pretty rusty on it, but hoping it will come back as I worked with MPLS VPN's at my old job a lot. Been a while though.

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

Keep up the good work man! MPLS can be tricky at first. I'm pretty rusty on it, but hoping it will come back as I worked with MPLS VPN's at my old job a lot. Been a while though.

Thanks. Every now and then I have a mini freak out before I start labbing in regards to the amount of material, but it dissipates once I get typing. I just keep reminding myself that if I just keep moving forward I'll eventually get there and that calms me down a bit. I'm sure you'll pick MPLS right back up.

jamesp1983

I covered OSPF and BGP last night in WBII. The explanations are really helpful and I've been happy because I haven't been too far off with my solutions, but then again I just started on WBII. I've been spending a lot of time in each section, but I like to really dig deep into the why's. This method (cover core in WBI, then hop right into WBII, and review WBI exercises as needed) reminds me of english in grade school. We would have vocab words that you would first match to a definition, then there would be exercises immediately following the definitions where you would utilize the words in sentences, synonyms, analogies, etc and it would force you to recall what you just learned. I aced every one of the chapter tests due to this teaching method and I feel like the WBII lessons equate to utilizing the words in sentences so I find some comfort in that.

jamesp1983

Last night I went though WBII Lab 1's IPv6 section. I need to spend more time with IPv6 multicast. I was lost on that part, but did fine on the addressing and EIGRP section.

rakem

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I'm wondering when I should start trying some of WBII. When did those of you doing the INE workbooks attempt WBII labs?

Wondering the same thing.... Purchased WB2 but haven't done anything with it yet.
I'm thinking once i finish the core topics from WB1 i'll try some labs.

Although it can't hurt to give the labs a shot whenever... would give an indication on the areas you would need to study up on more.

reaper81

Do the core topics in Vol1 according to Petr Lapukhov first. They won't do you much good unless you know the basics like routing. You will still be destroyed the first couple of times so don't feel bad about it.

jamesp1983

I'm following petr's instructions and I'm definitely being destroyed by Wb 2. I'm enjoying it thoroughly though. How long does it take to feel comfortable?

N2IT

Staying strong! Nice work James!

jamesp1983

N2IT wrote: »

Staying strong! Nice work James!

Thanks man. I'm doing my best.

reaper81

It takes a while. Don't sweat it, it probably took me a couple of months and the INE labs are very difficult so don't worry.

jamesp1983

reaper81 wrote: »

It takes a while. Don't sweat it, it probably took me a couple of months and the INE labs are very difficult so don't worry.

Thanks reaper. Hope all is going well for you.

Forsaken_GA

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I'm following petr's instructions and I'm definitely being destroyed by Wb 2. I'm enjoying it thoroughly though. How long does it take to feel comfortable?

I started feeling comfortable around Lab 5, though each lab still gives me a few fits here and there with certain tasks. I've gotten very good at going out and finding features in the documentation that I may either not be familiar with, or just winging my way through it.

By the time I got to Lab 7, despite the fact that it's rated a 9, I didn't find it all that imposing.

The solution for task 6.1 in Lab 4 is going to make your head hurt, unless it's the kind of thing you do on a regular basis.

But that's the entire idea, you shouldn't be acing any of these labs on the first run through. They're designed to screw with you so that you learn the technology. Just make damn sure you take note of what you just didn't flat out understand (and I mean take notes, don't just count on your mind to remember it) and pay attention to where you're making dumb mistakes and not reading or understanding the task correctly. And sometimes your solution may be equally valid by the solution guide will be different - for example, I almost always enable ospf directly on the interface instead of using a network command. The Solution Guide almost always uses a network command. The task didn't say I couldn't, so it doesn't mean that I'm wrong.

The problem areas for me are turning out to be network services. Some of the stuff they ask for are things I would never use in real life, or things I never knew existed (menus on the IOS cli? Yeah, that was a new one)

jamesp1983

I just wrapped up 3 more hours of labbing for the day which brings me to about 6 hours for the day. It's 3 am, time for bed. Happy Easter if that's your thing.

ipSpace

Wow James, you really put in the hours. Do you have a home lab? If yes, some pics would be great

jamesp1983

ipSpace wrote: »

Wow James, you really put in the hours. Do you have a home lab? If yes, some pics would be great

I've been pretty lucky between work and my wife letting me lab. Pics are coming soon.

jamesp1983

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

I started feeling comfortable around Lab 5, though each lab still gives me a few fits here and there with certain tasks. I've gotten very good at going out and finding features in the documentation that I may either not be familiar with, or just winging my way through it.

Thanks for the response. I've been taking really in-depth notes on each section of the labs. Have you taken any mocks?

jamesp1983

I wrapped up WBII, Lab 1 last night. It was interesting. I am going to go over all of the labs that they suggest to help clarify some of the material. Network services are really tripping me up. My Catalyst QoS needs to be cleaned up a bit as well.

jamesp1983

Work has been picking up a bit due to a core network redesign along with implementing top of rack switching in the data center. I've been trying to learn as much as I can about the Nexus line so that I can plan our network to take advantage of the Nexus line's new features. We also have a multi-site VoIP implementation going on that has been causing me to modify/add a lot of older or non-existent QoS configs as well as alter some routing configs/filtering. We are merging with a larger company so the day to day work is pretty intense. It consists of a lot of Visio creation (drawings of this network haven't been updated in over 5 years), network analysis (site to site mainframe replication, DB reps, backups, inter-company connectivity, etc), and readdressing/NATing. It has been a lot of fun. I have been able to get about 2-3 hours of studies per night. My current plan is to complete WBII, 1,2, and then WBIII 1+2, then go back and do all of the WBI labs that are referenced by WBII. This should drive home the material. I have been able to sneak some time in at work during the day to cover material that I went over in the lab the night before so that has been helpful.

jamesp1983

Finished up WBII, Lab 2. This Nexus deployment will eat some time, but I'll still be able to hit some labs.

jamesp1983

Just started WBII, Lab 3. IRB/CRB, STP port-priorities, uplinkfast, etc... Giving a presentation on 6509e vs Nexus 7k as a core replacement, then FEX in a ToR deployment. Still wrapping my head around the Nexus line. Wish me luck...

jamesp1983

Meeting went well. Looks like we're going to move to Nexus.