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

Thanks very much! I am glad this is a difficult process because it makes it worth it like you said. I'm glad this thread has been informative. Good luck on your journey!

jamesp1983

Making another pass through IP Services and System Management now. This has been a really nice refresher and is helping with my confidence on these topics.

jamesp1983

Has anyone taken a train to RTP? There are no direct flights from where I live to RTP.

I have been looking at taking a train and it looks like a good option, but I need to find a hotel between DNC and RTP so that I can take a shuttle from/to the train station as well as RTP.

wintermute000

How would you rate the INE workbooks? Was thinking of dropping the full amount for the entire bundle. Work will pay for the lab tokens but I may have to fund the bundle. If there are better ones out there, I'm all ears.

gorebrush

Would be interested to know this too. I note that if one goes for the full 2 year bundle you get the lot for 2 years, and it's around £1250.

A lot of cash, but does include $500 worth of Lab tokens - which would save me buying most equipment. I like the sound of it.

jamesp1983

wintermute000 wrote: »

How would you rate the INE workbooks? Was thinking of dropping the full amount for the entire bundle. Work will pay for the lab tokens but I may have to fund the bundle. If there are better ones out there, I'm all ears.

I've been thoroughly pleased with the INE material as well as their support. I haven't really looked at any other company's material so I might not be the best person to ask. I'm starting Narbik's TS workbook soon, but I haven't really looked at it in depth yet.

jamesp1983

Excellent board:
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/groups/ccie-routing-and-switching-study-group?view=discussions

jamesp1983

Getting ready to start Narbik's TS workbook. I covered a lot of ground in INE's WBI and did a few WBII labs again.

jamesp1983

I'm still grinding. Work (both jobs) got a little crazy, but I'm back in it now.

wintermute000

Thanks for the feedback james. Just cleared the decks by knocking over my Voice (yay! no more call manager.... I wish lol). I'll be joining you shortly on the INE workbooks after I read a few books first. Not really sure where to start, I figured the OCG then routing tcp/ip 1+2 then start futzing around in labs and keep reading the other stuff (MPLS fundamentals, MPLS/VPN architectures etc.)

BTW for anyone thinking about buying INE, I signed up to their newsletter and they sent an ad for 50% off the CCIE videos. I queried them and said can I buy the workbooks instead (I HATE videos and already have all the books needed) and they agreed, so I ended up with the INE workbooks @ 50% off. Also I clarified with them that when they get updated for CCIE v5, you have access to the updated ones (for life actually!).

I've now spent a bundle but I think I have all expenses covered except for the actual exams and lab tokens, James since you're a year ahead of me let us know whether you think its necessary to buy Narbik as well if you go through all the INEs

jamesp1983

Remember, CBAC wants to know about the initial flow (typically inside to outside)... You accomplish this via the CBAC inspection rule.

jamesp1983

wintermute000 wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback james. Just cleared the decks by knocking over my Voice (yay! no more call manager.... I wish lol). I'll be joining you shortly on the INE workbooks after I read a few books first. Not really sure where to start, I figured the OCG then routing tcp/ip 1+2 then start futzing around in labs and keep reading the other stuff (MPLS fundamentals, MPLS/VPN architectures etc.)

BTW for anyone thinking about buying INE, I signed up to their newsletter and they sent an ad for 50% off the CCIE videos. I queried them and said can I buy the workbooks instead (I HATE videos and already have all the books needed) and they agreed, so I ended up with the INE workbooks @ 50% off. Also I clarified with them that when they get updated for CCIE v5, you have access to the updated ones (for life actually!).

I've now spent a bundle but I think I have all expenses covered except for the actual exams and lab tokens, James since you're a year ahead of me let us know whether you think its necessary to buy Narbik as well if you go through all the INEs

Sorry, for the delay, but I've been busy.

I haven't really gone through much of Narbik's material yet, but I do think INE's is comprehensive. I recommend hitting their 3 TS labs hard. They will help you to get over the shock of the large topology. Try to get to a bootcamp as well. Narbik's, INE, IPExpert, etc.

jamesp1983

Helpful thread on ZBFW troubleshooting:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/docs/DOC-15803

Helpful command to see if ZBFW is stopping traffic: ip inspect log drop-pkt

jamesp1983

Keep this in mind:

EIGRP unicast update TTL=2
EIGRP multicast update TTL=1

Interesting output:
debug ip mpacket fastswitch

jamesp1983

Lists a lot of important/relevant RFCs:
Top-Down Network Design RFCs

bryguy

How are your studies coming along? You're due for another attempt here pretty soon, aren't you?

jamesp1983

bryguy wrote: »

How are your studies coming along? You're due for another attempt here pretty soon, aren't you?

I'm still plugging away when I can. I have been insanely busy at both of my jobs (80-90 hours a week), but I feel like I am becoming a better overall network engineer, and my troubleshooting has definitely improved. We have an 11 month old as well so he's been really keeping me busy.

My job approved a second try in the first quarter of next year so I am preparing with that time frame as the goal.

My hours are a bit rough. I work 40 hours at one job during the weekedays, and then another 40 at my other job over the end of the week and weekend at nights. I don't get much sleep anymore, but my wife has hit some tough times in her field so I had to pick up her part as well to keep us on target. It bothers me that it dealt a blow to my studies, but I am determined to pass.

jamesp1983

Just knocked out 4 hours. Felt good.

jamesp1983

My employer is requesting that I take the CCNA Voice now so this will certainly change my plan. I'm thinking version 5 will certainly be out when I'm ready to take attempt #2.

I'm going to use INE's free CCNA Voice videos, the OCG, and piece together a lab at work. I'm hoping to knock this out in 2 months.

jamesp1983

TIME TO RESUME THE QUEST:

Well, I started working for a partner about 6 months ago as a senior network architect and have been doing nothing but DC training/testing/studying ever since until last week. (in addition to planning/designing/implementations). My boss has requested that I resume my quest for the CCIE RS. Hope everyone else's journey is going well.

Current status:

-I have taken 1 shot at the previous blueprint lab, and failed. Speed and some knowledge gaps killed me. (namely, PfR)
-My CCIE Written has lapsed so I have to take the v5 written.
-There's one other engineer on my team and he is an IE and he quizzes me daily in an effort to get me ready.
-I'm hoping to pass the written before October.

Has anyone taken and passed the v5 written?

ande0255

This is one epic journey to greatness, I am sure you will achieve your goal sir, and good luck on nailing it to the wall in October!

jamesp1983

ande0255 wrote: »

This is one epic journey to greatness, I am sure you will achieve your goal sir, and good luck on nailing it to the wall in October!

Thanks so much! It has been a long, eventful journey, but it has been rewarding.

jamesp1983

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-24171

Videos describing v5...

SteveO86

Thank you for the link.

My R/S Written is going to be expiring in the next few months here... My need to start looking at v5 material here soon.

Either that I am going to try and hit the DC Written before the R/S expires.

Just hate to shell out 400 bucks for a Written (granted my company reimburses me) that seems like a bit much every 18mo.

jamesp1983

The first v5 pass that I have heard of:

CCIE R&S passed - IEOC - INE's Online Community

lrb

Thanks for the link, it's refreshing to know that the v5 is actually passable with the new DIAG section

jamesp1983

My boss just paid for me to attend Narbik's 5 day boot camp that runs 10/20-10/24/14. I am extremely excited as I've wanted to take this course for some time now due to Narbik's reputation. It looks like an extremely intense schedule, but it's probably what I need.

Has anyone sat his v5 course yet?

jamesp1983

You might run into an issue when trying to use TFTP for file transfers > 16M.

Field Notice: Cisco IOS TFTP Client Cannot Transfer Files Larger than 16MB in Size - Cisco

NOC-Ninja

jamesp1983 wrote: »

My boss just paid for me to attend Narbik's 5 day boot camp that runs 10/20-10/24/14. I am extremely excited as I've wanted to take this course for some time now due to Narbik's reputation. It looks like an extremely intense schedule, but it's probably what I need.

Has anyone sat his v5 course yet?

Thursday will be hell for you but this is expected. Sleeping 2 to 3hrs everyday is what i did for more than 7 months. Get a lot of sleep. Narbik is definitely on a different level when it comes to Cisco. I would say Im a ninja but he is a Master of the masters. He knows that CLI very well. He also understands RFC. On top of that, he can prove to you that some cisco books got it all wrong.

jamesp1983

Thank you. I've heard that he is intense, but worth every penny. I am really looking forward to it. Congrats on your pass!