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

Gambell wrote: »

I stumbled across this thread (and forum) in last hours of my final exam prep for the CCNP Tshoot exam.

Just wanted to say it's refreshing to see others that are passionate about this certification and bettering themselves.

So yeah, just wanted to say thanks for reminding me that i'm not the only one out there giving up years of my life to gain the illusive CCIE.

I'll probably stick around now that I signed up.

Oh and good luck!!

Good luck on the tshoot man! Welcome to techexams! This is a great site with a lot of useful information. Hope to see a "Hey, I'm going for CCIE" thread started by you in the future!

Mrock4

Keep up the good work man. Apologies if I missed it, but do you have a ballpark of when you plan to take the lab?

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

Keep up the good work man. Apologies if I missed it, but do you have a ballpark of when you plan to take the lab?

Thanks man, you too! I'm thinking about taking the written around February/March, 2012, and lab around the end of 2012.
I just wish I would have started my CCIE pursuit closer to wrapping up my CCNP so this material would still be fresh, but what can you do. I took my ONT to finish the CCNP in late 2010 and did my BSCI, BCMSN, and ISCW in 2008. Luckily, the hands on at work has helped keep some of the material fresh.

jamesp1983

Lab night tonight, but this day has been very fruitful. We had an earthquake earlier, but thankfully it was small. I've been with my current company for around 3 months and today they gave me an increase. They said that I have made a huge difference already and that they see the raise as a good investment. I came in to this company as they were on the verge of several large projects so I've had ample time to prove myself. This gives me even more incentive to keep pushing. Just thought I'd share this with you guys...there are companies out there that do appreciate their IT guys.

reaper81

Cool Jimmy. I'm happy for you. Doing your best and standing out from a crowd always pays off in the long run. Maybe not always in money but in competence, skills and often more fun work to do.

jamesp1983

Thanks man. It was a good feeling.

jamesp1983

Did some labbing last night. I'm going through all of the labs in WBI to make sure I am well prepared for WBII. I was reading a blog from Petr Lephukhov at INE about getting the most out of WBI and II. He indicates that the best way to understand and remember what you're doing in these workbooks is by essentially interleaving labs. I want to lay a solid foundation in WBI before even attempting WBII activities. I am more focused on reading right now anyway due to the massive amount of reading that needs to be done. Also, most forums that I've read indicate that you should just read a ton for the written with a minimal focus on labs.

reaper81

Your counter is increasing rapidly, good work

I do recommend focusing on reading for the written, doing some labs doesn't hurt.

If you just do all labs sequentially in the WB1 you will have problems retaining what you labbed earlier when you move to next section. Do the core labs in WB1 and then WB2 and do the stuff you have forgotten/don't know in WB1 again. Also mix it up with some WB3 labs when you are more comfortable.

I plan to do a lot of Vol1 when I'm done with Vol2. I think you need a lot of technology labs also and not just fullsize labs.

jamesp1983

reaper81 wrote: »

Your counter is increasing rapidly, good work I do recommend focusing on reading for the written, doing some labs doesn't hurt.

If you just do all labs sequentially in the WB1 you will have problems retaining what you labbed earlier when you move to next section. Do the core labs in WB1 and then WB2 and do the stuff you have forgotten/don't know in WB1 again. Also mix it up with some WB3 labs when you are more comfortable.

I plan to do a lot of Vol1 when I'm done with Vol2. I think you need a lot of technology labs also and not just fullsize labs.

Thanks! I see the merit in doing wb I and II simultaneously, but I'm also trying to brush up on a lot of the WBI stuff, too. I will give that strategy a shot. I can see it being beneficial. I almost hope for small issues during these configurations so that I can get some troubleshooting in to refine my process and to better understand/remember the configs.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

Did some labbing last night. I'm going through all of the labs in WBI to make sure I am well prepared for WBII. I was reading a blog from Petr Lephukhov at INE about getting the most out of WBI and II. He indicates that the best way to understand and remember what you're doing in these workbooks is by essentially interleaving labs. I want to lay a solid foundation in WBI before even attempting WBII activities. I am more focused on reading right now anyway due to the massive amount of reading that needs to be done. Also, most forums that I've read indicate that you should just read a ton for the written with a minimal focus on labs.

One approach I used a couple of years ago when I found time to do some serious labbing over the course of a month was to rent a rack session and pound out the same protocol section across three different labs. This really helped to reinforce things on a per topic basis. Im actually taking that approach into my reading now as I have the questions and configurations all listed in my document. Its good to go over all of them for one topic as you can see how things knit together.

Vol II labs are good for learning how to get through a whole lab, doing one technology after another. They are also essential for speed because it takes ages to be able to get enough knowledge down pat to be able to cope with an 8 hour lab within a couple of rack sessions. So the multiprotocol labs you must do, but yes, protocol specific learning is very important, through rack sessions dedicated to single protocol exercises and reading.

On reading, avoid the bad advice to skip the written reading until you think you are ready for the lab. Quality lab prep requires you to have a deep understanding of the theory. Far too many candidates get lost in lab prep because they short circuited the written process, either by dumping, or simply putting it off.

Halfway through your lab prep is a bad time to learn you really dont understand how fundamental things actually work.

jamesp1983

Turgon, as always, you are extremely helpful. Thanks for the advice! I'm definitely reading every chance I get. I've been supplementing my reading at home with reading specific Cisco docs at work.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

Turgon, as always, you are extremely helpful. Thanks for the advice! I'm definitely reading every chance I get. I've been supplementing my reading at home with reading specific Cisco docs at work.

You will be ok. I dont see you clattering the lab inside 1 year so just stay regular. If you are still blogging on this thread in one years time you have a shot..just like reaper81. Many more threads fizzle out inside 12 months. 9 CCIE passes in 4 years on this board. Tough track.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

You will be ok. I dont see you clattering the lab inside 1 year so just stay regular. If you are still blogging on this thread in one years time you have a shot..just like reaper81. Many more threads fizzle out inside 12 months. 9 CCIE passes in 4 years on this board. Tough track.

Can't give up! I just try to be honest with myself and really take my time with this material. There's no sense in rushing the prep and then failing the lab. The byproduct of learning so much during the prep for this program is well worth taking your time. My only fear is that Cisco will change the program dramatically and I'll have to start over because I took too long.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

Can't give up! I just try to be honest with myself and really take my time with this material. There's no sense in rushing the prep and then failing the lab. The byproduct of learning so much during the prep for this program is well worth taking your time. My only fear is that Cisco will change the program dramatically and I'll have to start over because I took too long.

Thats happened to me about 5 times. Still no lab pass, career escalated..go figure. Learn what you can in your own good time. If that means you can be ready before they change it again to jettison the **** brigade then cool. But either way..just learn..

jamesp1983

I read for awhile last night. I finally wrapped up Chp 11 in the Exam Guide. I finished up the in-depth paragraphs on the BGP decision process, and then the tiebreakers. The chapter wrapped up with discussion about BGP COMMUNITY. The section on MED was particularly interesting because my current employer utilizes redundant ISPs via BGP. I am curious as to whether or not they would work together with us to tweak some of the settings. Also, the Community settings with LOCAL_PREF adjustments look even better.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

I read for awhile last night. I finally wrapped up Chp 11 in the Exam Guide. I finished up the in-depth paragraphs on the BGP decision process, and then the tiebreakers. The chapter wrapped up with discussion about BGP COMMUNITY. The section on MED was particularly interesting because my current employer utilizes redundant ISPs via BGP. I am curious as to whether or not they would work together with us to tweak some of the settings. Also, the Community settings with LOCAL_PREF adjustments look even better.

They might. Close to 100/50 huh? Cross it and have some beer

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

They might. Close to 100/50 huh? Cross it and have some beer

I'm going to have to look into it. The engineer that was here before me set a route-map on one of the ISP connections to set the weight on inbound advertisements to 65535. I guess it wouldn't be worth it considering that weight is evaluated much earlier in the decision process than MED. Yep, almost there. I'm pushing...

jamesp1983

I have about 15 pages left of Chp 12 in the Exam Guide. This is the QoS chapter. I passed my ONT about a year ago and I read the QoS and ONT exam guides for that test so I do remember a lot of what this chapter is discussing. I have always found this topic to be extremely interesting. For some reason the idea of having some control over what's on the wire and how it is prioritized has always appealed to me.

Turgon

jimmypizzle83 wrote: »

I have about 15 pages left of Chp 12 in the Exam Guide. This is the QoS chapter. I passed my ONT about a year ago and I read the QoS and ONT exam guides for that test so I do remember a lot of what this chapter is discussing. I have always found this topic to be extremely interesting. For some reason the idea of having some control over what's on the wire and how it is prioritized has always appealed to me.

hehehe..you wont find its so appealing when you have to do hierarchical QoS over many different switch platforms but that's another story altogether

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

hehehe..you wont find its so appealing when you have to do hierarchical QoS over many different switch platforms but that's another story altogether

That sounds difficult.

jamesp1983

I watched the initial video for EIGRP in the ATVOD series. As of right now, my videos are far out of sync with my reading, but I am thinking I will read Internet Routing Architectures, MPLS Fundamentals, Routing TCP/IP vol II by Doyle, and the LAN Switching book so it will be a warped version of spaced repitition. (or at least that's what I will tell myself). I won't get any studying in tonight due to it being my mom's bday, but I will break the 100 hour reading mark before August is over.

jamesp1983

I should be able to get a good amount studying today due to the fact that we are in a hurricane/tornado warning due to hurricane Irene. I'm hoping we don't lose power, but who knows. Stay safe everyone.

jamesp1983

I got through chapter 12 and I'm now about 70% through chp 13 in the exam guide after this weekend. I'm past the router QoS details and starting the switch (3560) QoS explanation. I have a lot of additional research to do, but I don't feel scared of the material...yet anyway, because I've already seen a lot of it in ONT. I'm evaluating one of the switches at work that we use for VoIP. It has a pretty heavy QoS config so I'm going to fully decipher it to further my understanding. Its nice dusting off the cobwebs from some of these concepts that I've previously covered. Almost at 100 hours!

jamesp1983

Finished chp 13 and will do the vocab at the end of the chapter tomorrow and then move onto chp 14. This chapter was on Congestion Management and Avoidance. The next chp is the final chp on QoS in this book. (Shaping, Policing, and Link Fragmentation). I definitely see why people recommend using extra QoS resources because this book was a little light.

jamesp1983

Cisco IP Telephony Flash Cards: Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED) > Traffic Classification and Marking
Implementing Quality of Service Policies with DSCP [QoS Packet Marking] - Cisco Systems
SGT CCIE - A man on a mission to master OSPF, EIGRP, MPLS, and anything in between! | QoS: Essentials, Part II I believe this is Mrock's page.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst3550/software/release/12.1_13_ea1/configuration/guide/swqos.html

All of those URLs are good for some extra info on QoS. sgtccie's blog is very clearly written and easy to follow.

jamesp1983

I am on Frame Relay Traffic Shaping via MQC in Chp 14. I have a ton of notes to review. I think I will try to convert them into Mnemosyne card's this weekend. My notebook is almost full just from these 14 chapters. I'm planning on ordering Halabi's piece as well as the MPLS Fundamentals book. I don't know if I need to read the entire QoS exam guide again, but it wouldn't hurt. This certification is certainly different than any of the others that I have done. The finish line feels like its sooo far away, but I know in the end it will be well worth the effort and sacrifices. The exam guide is giving me a good idea of where I'm weak and will decide my path for what to read next.

I was reading a posting on ieoc.com from Deepak Arora about his CCIE prep and really liked it. He would exhaust the topic and then move on. He passed his CCIE following this plan and I really think it would be the right solution for me based on my learning style. I would have to make some adjustments, but I would follow the majority of the plan.

Here is his outline:

Pick one technology at a time and go through following process:

1. INE AOD Week 1 & Take Notes
2. INE ATC & Take Notes
3. Ruhann's CCIE R&S Handbook
4. Lab up all topics under that technology(Based on INE VOl 1 outline) & Take Notes
5. Make sure you know now DOC CD URL for help for all technology labs you did
6. Go though command ref guide
7. Go through INE Troubleshooting COD for CCIE
9. All INE Blog posts related to this particular technology
10. Revise your technology labs

For QOS INE has a COD under CCIP Series to fill the gaps.
http://ieoc.com/forums/p/16431/136327.aspx#136327

Any thoughts?

jamesp1983

Good page for understanding Tc, Bc, Be, CIR, etc...

Configuring Frame Relay Traffic Shaping on 7200 Routers and Lower Platforms [Frame Relay] - Cisco Systems

Also,
http://routing-bits.com/2010/02/09/working-out-bc-values-quickly/

I just wrapped up the final chapter in the Exam Guide on QoS, Chp14. I still need to do the vocab part, but I've covered all of the material in the chapter. I also took some time to look at some Cisco docs on the topics. It's great when you have an epiphany and all of the components start to click again. I had one of this tonight and it allowed me to really soak up the material. I started having flashbacks to when I was studying for ONT. Time for bed.

Good luck everyone!

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I am on Frame Relay Traffic Shaping via MQC in Chp 14. I have a ton of notes to review. I think I will try to convert them into Mnemosyne card's this weekend. My notebook is almost full just from these 14 chapters. I'm planning on ordering Halabi's piece as well as the MPLS Fundamentals book. I don't know if I need to read the entire QoS exam guide again, but it wouldn't hurt. This certification is certainly different than any of the others that I have done. The finish line feels like its sooo far away, but I know in the end it will be well worth the effort and sacrifices. The exam guide is giving me a good idea of where I'm weak and will decide my path for what to read next.

I was reading a posting on ieoc.com from Deepak Arora about his CCIE prep and really liked it. He would exhaust the topic and then move on. He passed his CCIE following this plan and I really think it would be the right solution for me based on my learning style. I would have to make some adjustments, but I would follow the majority of the plan.

Here is his outline:

Pick one technology at a time and go through following process:

1. INE AOD Week 1 & Take Notes
2. INE ATC & Take Notes
3. Ruhann's CCIE R&S Handbook
4. Lab up all topics under that technology(Based on INE VOl 1 outline) & Take Notes
5. Make sure you know now DOC CD URL for help for all technology labs you did
6. Go though command ref guide
7. Go through INE Troubleshooting COD for CCIE
9. All INE Blog posts related to this particular technology
10. Revise your technology labs

For QOS INE has a COD under CCIP Series to fill the gaps.
Preparation Approach - IEOC - Internetwork Expert's Online Community

Any thoughts?

Good approach, but you want to be studying daily to keep that up. Learning the technologies is hard but essential. It takes a long time to get through them all. Once done, repeat the exercise to see what you recall and make a note on where you got owned, then repeat a third time. Then start to do the full practice labs. Return to the technology revision, take a mock exam, get owned..return to technology revision, do a few practice labs, take a mock exam, get owned..rinse and repeat until 'lab ready'. Then do some troubleshooting practice and more mock exams, then go to San Jose

jamesp1983

Turgon, I have enough tokens for 4 mock labs with INE so I plan on putting them to use. I have a long way to go first, but I'm loving the journey so far.

jamesp1983

I just wrapped up defining all of the vocab for chapter 14 in my notes. The QoS chapters had so much terminology that I wanted to make sure I had it all in one easy to find spot. On to chapter 15, WANs. I wanted to get more studying done tonight, but we didnt' have electric when I got home from the gym so that forced me to change my night around a bit. 3 day weekend!