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

aragoen_celtdra

Please, keep us posted on what your prefernce ends up being in terms of rack rental experience. This is something I would need to start looking into in the near future.

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

I used GigaVelocity's INE rack rental last night for a 3 hour block. I couldn't find a way to open a telnet session to each device like you can in INE, but that's not a huge deal. I got through several of the labs without an issue. I had to manually load all of my configs from INE, but it was actually quicker than loading a saved config with INE. I'm going to try to do a ton of labbing this weekend before moving forward in my studies.

jamesp1983

aragoen_celtdra wrote: »

Please, keep us posted on what your prefernce ends up being in terms of rack rental experience. This is something I would need to start looking into in the near future.

Last night I had some issues connecting to a Gigavelocity rack. I was receiving errors indicating an incorrect password. My session was 9pm-12am. I emailed emergency support several times and heard back around 10pm. Not only did they get me into the rack, but they even gave me an extra hour for the inconvenience. I scheduled the session 30 minutes in advance and apparently you have to email sales in that case. I got a good amount of labbing done and even solved some issues that I was running into before. I might need to start labbing from 6-9 instead of 9-12am from now on because I looked at my configs from the night before and I made a few silly typos that were causing my configs not to perform as expected.

jamesp1983

Studied all of the notes that I have taken up to this point on Saturday, and then had a nice 6 hour lab session Sunday night. Made some good progress. Would have done more if we didn't have to clean the entire house.

jamesp1983

i got about an hour of reading done at lunch and work, went to the gym for about 40 minutes, now to get in another couple of hours of reading.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

i got about an hour of reading done at lunch and work, went to the gym for about 40 minutes, now to get in another couple of hours of reading.

Good progress Jimmy. Try and get over that 100 reading mark in August if you can.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

Good progress Jimmy. Try and get over that 100 reading mark in August if you can.

I can do it. Thanks for the encouragement.

jamesp1983

Read for 4 hours last night and created some mnemosyne flash cards. Do you guys make flash cards for complete configs or just certain commands? I've been doing both. I just wrapped up chapter 6 in the Exam Guide last night. It takes awhile to read a chapter when you're taking a lot of notes, but I'm thinking the notes will come in handy when its time for final prep.

reaper81

I do both. Notes are very handy both for revision for written and for the lab so they will help you in the end.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

Read for 4 hours last night and created some mnemosyne flash cards. Do you guys make flash cards for complete configs or just certain commands? I've been doing both. I just wrapped up chapter 6 in the Exam Guide last night. It takes awhile to read a chapter when you're taking a lot of notes, but I'm thinking the notes will come in handy when its time for final prep.

I put a lot of INE Vol 2 content into mnemosyne myself. Essentially I have a card for each protocol and fill it up with Q + A config. I find this works really well when I use it and want a protocol refresher for command line options. Im off mnemosyne now as I have dumped the content into a comprehensive word document that Im reading now. Putting the mnemosyne config into notes and then seeing it all laid out is really helping. Will try do the BGP stuff today.

jamesp1983

reaper81 wrote: »

I do both. Notes are very handy both for revision for written and for the lab so they will help you in the end.

That's what I was thinking. The extra work while reading now will pay off later.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

I put a lot of INE Vol 2 content into mnemosyne myself. Essentially I have a card for each protocol and fill it up with Q + A config. I find this works really well when I use it and want a protocol refresher for command line options. Im off mnemosyne now as I have dumped the content into a comprehensive word document that Im reading now. Putting the mnemosyne config into notes and then seeing it all laid out is really helping. Will try do the BGP stuff today.

Okay. I've just been breaking it into sections (Routing info/cmd's, and switching info/cmd's). The Word Doc sounds like a good idea.

jamesp1983

Off to the beach today for a first anniversary celebration. I'm going to try to sneak in some reading on the beach after getting in of course. We had a family party on Thursday so I didn't do any studying that night, but got about 45 minutes done at lunch. I was up until 4:30am last night reading up on OSPF. I have a lab session with INE tomorrow from 12-5:30 to hopefully get through a good amount of the vol1 workbooks. I found 2x3550-EMIs on craigslist for $350 in VA. My buddy is going to meet the guy and pick them up today. I need to be able to have the switches at home. INE and Gigavelocity have been booked and I'm feeling like my labbing is falling behind because I can't get time. the 12-6 block is the only feasible one, but that block has been booked for a few weeks. I have a 3550 already. I will try to find some 3560s as well. Money is tight so I have to find really good deals. I am in the interview process for a network architect position now and I am one of 3 final candidates so hopefully I'll get it. They will relocate us to VA and the pay is about 45k more than I'm making now so that'll change our lives considerably.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

Off to the beach today for a first anniversary celebration. I'm going to try to sneak in some reading on the beach after getting in of course. We had a family party on Thursday so I didn't do any studying that night, but got about 45 minutes done at lunch. I was up until 4:30am last night reading up on OSPF. I have a lab session with INE tomorrow from 12-5:30 to hopefully get through a good amount of the vol1 workbooks. I found 2x3550-EMIs on craigslist for $350 in VA. My buddy is going to meet the guy and pick them up today. I need to be able to have the switches at home. INE and Gigavelocity have been booked and I'm feeling like my labbing is falling behind because I can't get time. the 12-6 block is the only feasible one, but that block has been booked for a few weeks. I have a 3550 already. I will try to find some 3560s as well. Money is tight so I have to find really good deals. I am in the interview process for a network architect position now and I am one of 3 final candidates so hopefully I'll get it. They will relocate us to VA and the pay is about 45k more than I'm making now so that'll change our lives considerably.

Good luck with the Network Architect job jimmy. That will be good for your career.

instant000

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

Off to the beach today for a first anniversary celebration. I'm going to try to sneak in some reading on the beach after getting in of course. We had a family party on Thursday so I didn't do any studying that night, but got about 45 minutes done at lunch. I was up until 4:30am last night reading up on OSPF. I have a lab session with INE tomorrow from 12-5:30 to hopefully get through a good amount of the vol1 workbooks. I found 2x3550-EMIs on craigslist for $350 in VA. My buddy is going to meet the guy and pick them up today. I need to be able to have the switches at home. INE and Gigavelocity have been booked and I'm feeling like my labbing is falling behind because I can't get time. the 12-6 block is the only feasible one, but that block has been booked for a few weeks. I have a 3550 already. I will try to find some 3560s as well. Money is tight so I have to find really good deals. I am in the interview process for a network architect position now and I am one of 3 final candidates so hopefully I'll get it. They will relocate us to VA and the pay is about 45k more than I'm making now so that'll change our lives considerably.

you should be able to get about 3 of those for that price from Ebay "buy it now", but you already sent your buddy, so it's too late to mention that now. Is your buddy able to verify their proper operation? $350 would be ok I guess, since they're getting hand-delivered and all

It's good that you're in that interview process for a better position. Stay positive. Your efforts will be rewarded, whether it is that position, or another in the future.

Keep up the studying!

jamesp1983

The best I saw a 3550 for on eBay was 145 plus 24 shipping.

Forsaken_GA

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

The best I saw a 3550 for on eBay was 145 plus 24 shipping.

Keep looking. I got a pair for $150 each with free shipping last month, so there are deals to be had if you're patient.

On the other hand, the current prices for 3550's is just insane. It cost me damn near $500 each back when I built my lab, so when I saw them down that low when I needed replacements, I was pleasantly surprised.

jamesp1983

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Keep looking. I got a pair for $150 each with free shipping last month, so there are deals to be had if you're patient.

On the other hand, the current prices for 3550's is just insane. It cost me damn near $500 each back when I built my lab, so when I saw them down that low when I needed replacements, I was pleasantly surprised.

Wow. Any idea where to find the cheapest 3560s?

jamesp1983

Today was spent studying OSPF for another hour this morning before labbing at 12. It was a good lab session today. The wife ran out and picked me up Subway for lunch. I finished around 15 exercises and as always, came up with a ton of research questions. I need to wrap up the OSPF chapter. I'm looking forward to picking up the 3550s because then I can really start tearing through these exercises because I won't be subject to open slots with INE. It'll be nice to have the freedom of utilizing my own equipment WHENEVER I want instead of waiting for open rack rental slots. I have 2x3640s, 2x2950s, 1x1900 series switch, 1x2522, 2x2501, 1x2509, and 1x3550EMI already (plus the 2x3550EMIs that my buddy is delivering this week) so I should be able to push through some of the Vol1 Workbook labs with these. I would like to pick up at least one 3560 as well, but it will be awhile before I can buy that. That'll leave me with 3x3550EMIs and 1x3560 so I think I will be okay with that for awhile.

jamesp1983

Studied for about 3 hours last night. I would have liked to get in more, but it was the end of the 1st anniversary celebrations. I wrapped up some OSPF study and entered my notes into mnemosyne then reviewed all of my notes. I'm looking forward to reading the BGP chapter, but I'm still a chapter away. My buddy picked up the 3550s and as a "bonus" the guy threw in some 2500 series routers. He and I are going to a concert (anniversary gift from the wife) this coming Saturday so he'll give them to me then.

jamesp1983

This week has been intense. Delaware had a tornado touch down in the town where my parents live. They were okay, but their neighborhood looks like a war zone. A few houses were condemned and electricity has been out for several days. My parents have moved in with us until the neighborhood has electricity and is safe to go back to. I labbed for about 3 hours in workbook I on Tuesday and wrapped up the OSPF chapter in the exam guide. I read for about 3 hours last night once everyone went to bed. It was hard to concentrate because the dog hasn't been able to sleep since my parents moved in with us for some reason. He just cries and barks until around 2am then passes out. My parents go to bed at 9:30pm so I don't understand why he can't sleep.

reaper81

Glad to hear that everyone is OK. Family comes first. You are disciplined to be able to study even though you're family is there, that is a good sign. You have made very good progress so far so just keep going at it.

TesseracT

Glad everyone is fine, events like this definately put things into perspective.

Nice going with you're studying though, you're absolutely flying through this thing.

jamesp1983

I'm so glad they were okay. Thanks guys. I tend to get tunnel vision when i have a goal of this magnitude. I have become a machine recently, but I just hope I can keep it up.

jamesp1983

Finally made it to BGP. I don't know why I'm so excited for this chapter, but i am. i still have a ton of notes to move over into mnemosyne. i can't say enough about how useful mnemosyne is. Busy weekend ahead... helping buddy move out of and prime his apt tonight, Blink 182/My Chemical Romance (anniversary present) tomorrow with a friend that I've known since we were in grade school, and then mummy exhibit at the museum with my niece and nephew on sunday. The concert is 2.5 hours away tomorrow and starts at 7 so I will wake up early and study in the morning.

jamesp1983

Studying all day until the concert. I am meeting up with my buddy who picked up the switches for me at the concert. My L2 lab components will be nearly complete.

Turgon

Good work Jimmy. Clatter over that 100 hour reading mark as soon as you can. Most CCIE candidates choke before hitting 100. Enjoy the concert and the switches!

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

Good work Jimmy. Clatter over that 100 hour reading mark as soon as you can. Most CCIE candidates choke before hitting 100. Enjoy the concert and the switches!

I'm hoping to hit that mark by the end of next week. Thanks very much. It looked like you were having some family time. Enjoy it, and don't miss the CCIE studies too much!

jamesp1983

I got about 3 hours of serious labbing in tonight. The 3550s that my buddy picked up for me in VA work like a charm. The guy also gave me 2x2524 routers. Good night all.

jamesp1983

I'm really enjoying the fact that my CCIE studies have already helped me in my day to day work. I am gaining a deeper level of understanding of the "whys" and my config speeds are improving. I've learned a lot of ways to become more efficient in my navigation of the IOS as well. This is shaping up to be an extremely beneficial experience already.

reaper81

This is very true. For all of those reading the CCIE blogs thinking about pulling the trigger. The learning experience is huge, even if you don't get a cert at the end it is so worth it.