Written scheduled (finally)

Well, I scheduled my written. In the transition between my old job and my new one, I have about a week and a half off. I was originally shooting to have my written done mid-Sep, but fell behind a bit because of work.. Well, the next week and a half are going to be dedicated to passing the CCIE written (with a tiny bit of time to the Sec+ review, since I need it for my work).

Test date is Sep 13th..the day before I start my new job. If I pass, then effective immediately I start my labbing (and a strict schedule to go along with it). God willing, I'll be sitting my first lab attempt in anywhere from 8 - 11 months after that. Hopefully..it will be the only attempt.

The only variable at this point is on INE's bootcamp schedule. I am waiting for them to announce their early to mid 2012 bootcamp schedule. Trying to plan to take their bootcamp about a month before my lab attempt if I can.

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alan2308

Good luck!

jamesp1983

good luck! I look forward to following along on your blog.

NOC-Ninja

Goodluck man! Passing stressed me out!

Mrock4

Thanks all.

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

Goodluck man! Passing stressed me out!

I know what you mean. It's already hit me. I looked at my wife this evening and said something like: "you realize, that pretty much starting this week, I will be gone 5-6 days a week either working or studying..for the next 10 months?"

Best of luck to you too. I look forward to following your progress!

kryolla

let me know when you schedule your boot camp I might attend at the same time, have you thought about Narbiks and getting enrolled in the 360 program?

Mrock4

kryolla wrote: »

let me know when you schedule your boot camp I might attend at the same time, have you thought about Narbiks and getting enrolled in the 360 program?

To be honest I haven't considered the 360 program much. I'll have to look into it more, but we'll see. I thought it was pretty expensive.

And yeah actually, I've seriously considered going to Narbik's bootcamp over INE's. The only reason I mention INE, is a couple of years ago they did a bootcamp 20 minutes from here. If they do that in 2012, that'd really be great for me.

When are you shooting for as far as a bootcamp goes? I'm thinking more than likely around may/june next year, then a lab right after that.

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

To be honest I haven't considered the 360 program much. I'll have to look into it more, but we'll see. I thought it was pretty expensive.

And yeah actually, I've seriously considered going to Narbik's bootcamp over INE's. The only reason I mention INE, is a couple of years ago they did a bootcamp 20 minutes from here. If they do that in 2012, that'd really be great for me.

When are you shooting for as far as a bootcamp goes? I'm thinking more than likely around may/june next year, then a lab right after that.

Forget 360. Its expensive. Bottom line is do you have time to study and will you use the time to study? Thats all that matters. If the answer is no, save your money. If the answer is yes, save your money and just buy the INE workbooks and some racktime. Forget Narbik and fancy instructors..they cant sit the exam for you.

Mrock4

Turgon wrote: »

Forget 360. Its expensive. Bottom line is do you have time to study and will you use the time to study? Thats all that matters. If the answer is no, save your money. If the answer is yes, save your money and just buy the INE workbooks and some racktime. Forget Narbik and fancy instructors..they cant sit the exam for you.

Well, here's my general outlook on the CCIE, and I realize others might be different.

Many..MANY CCIE's have become CCIE's without bootcamps, videos, audio classes, etc. Although INE/IPexpert/Micronics(Narbik) are all probably great people..they are making a lot of money off of CCIE candidates. Nothing against them, but it's not like they're doing it out of the kindness of their heart.

That being said, my methodology is simple: build my lab (which is almost done), study the HELL out of the technologies. Verify I know them solid with INE/IPexpert Vol II labs. Go sit the exam. Repeat if necessary.

The reason the bootcamp idea has crept into the picture for me, is I've seen a lot of people who failed, took a bootcamp, passed.

But make no mistake, it will be a grueling, long 9 to 10 months for me. This will be a tough schedule, but I am determined, and our family is prepared to come out on the other end much better off, hopefully.

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

Well, here's my general outlook on the CCIE, and I realize others might be different.

Many..MANY CCIE's have become CCIE's without bootcamps, videos, audio classes, etc. Although INE/IPexpert/Micronics(Narbik) are all probably great people..they are making a lot of money off of CCIE candidates. Nothing against them, but it's not like they're doing it out of the kindness of their heart.

That being said, my methodology is simple: build my lab (which is almost done), study the HELL out of the technologies. Verify I know them solid with INE/IPexpert Vol II labs. Go sit the exam. Repeat if necessary.

The reason the bootcamp idea has crept into the picture for me, is I've seen a lot of people who failed, took a bootcamp, passed.

But make no mistake, it will be a grueling, long 9 to 10 months for me. This will be a tough schedule, but I am determined, and our family is prepared to come out on the other end much better off, hopefully.

Exactly. A home lab. A remote rack session. A workbook. CCO is all you need. Far too many people blow hard earned cash on COD and VOD..you cant learn this stuff on a stair climber...or attend a bootcamp hoping a star will be teaching them hoping the 'star dust' will rub off them. It doesn't. I know a few people who have attended bootcamps led by lumanaries only for them to sit back and collect the paycheck and tell the students..its all in the workbooks...buyer beware. You want CCIE? 1000 hours of racktime in the dark, on your own, with an unhappy woman. Get cracking and make her happy!

Mrock4

Turgon wrote: »

You want CCIE? 1000 hours of racktime in the dark, on your own, with an unhappy woman. Get cracking and make her happy!

So far, for my CCIE prep, I have put money into my rack...and one workbook (INE Vol I). I do plan on purchasing Vol II, but not until I am VERY well off with Vol I, and really know the material cold.

The bootcamp will just depend on how I feel I guess. If I have the money to blow, I will definitely attend. If not, I'll purchase IPexpert Vol II labs and spend 5 days running through some of them on my own.

CCO is my homepage, and when I have downtime, I run myself through an exercise. I'll randomly think of a technology, say EEM. Then give myself 2 minutes to find it in the documentation. This practice may seem stupid, but I promise you in 9 months I will be able to find ANYTHING in there, and hopefully I'll be a lot wiser along the way.

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

So far, for my CCIE prep, I have put money into my rack...and one workbook (INE Vol I). I do plan on purchasing Vol II, but not until I am VERY well off with Vol I, and really know the material cold.

The bootcamp will just depend on how I feel I guess. If I have the money to blow, I will definitely attend. If not, I'll purchase IPexpert Vol II labs and spend 5 days running through some of them on my own.

CCO is my homepage, and when I have downtime, I run myself through an exercise. I'll randomly think of a technology, say EEM. Then give myself 2 minutes to find it in the documentation. This practice may seem stupid, but I promise you in 9 months I will be able to find ANYTHING in there, and hopefully I'll be a lot wiser along the way.

Finding stuff on CCO is good, but really you need to be labbing every day, even for 1 hour. Do so, so you know your traffic-shape from your rate-limit, your group-list from your multicast rate-limit.

Mrock4

Turgon wrote: »

Finding stuff on CCO is good, but really you need to be labbing every day, even for 1 hour. Do so, so you know your traffic-shape from your rate-limit, your group-list from your multicast rate-limit.

I'm not trying to depend on CCO, but if I can pick up a few extra points because I know how to navigate CCO, I'll take it.

The rough idea of my study schedule is about 4 hours per day for 4 days Mon - Thurs. Fri off. Sat/Sun are full lab days in the mornings, leaving the evenings free. The only difference, will be that until I get to the full labs, I'll use the Sat/Sun's to do deep dives into various topics.

Turgon

Lets see how you go the next 6 months on your study thread. You have kids which I can relate to so will have to juggle all that! If you are still blogging in a years time you have a shot. Join the CCIE seals thread. Nice to have you back. I think sysadmin injured himself with his martial arts..aint seen him since. I hope he's alive,

Mrock4

Turgon wrote: »

Lets see how you go the next 6 months on your study thread. You have kids which I can relate to so will have to juggle all that! If you are still blogging in a years time you have a shot. Join the CCIE seals thread. Nice to have you back. I think sysadmin injured himself with his martial arts..aint seen him since. I hope he's alive,

Yep! Well, the wife and I have made a pretty serious deal, which is, I finish this thing in under a year (which means a LOT of long hours), then the deal flips, because she'll be starting nursing school. So, she's agreed to take the kids completely. I think me having friday/sat/sun nights open will help a lot. That schedule alone will put me at 30+ hours/week of labbing. In 9 months that equals 1,080 hours. The last month of my labbing, I plan on stepping it up to 6x a week with likely longer hours. This should put me at around 1,200 hours for my first attempt. It's going to suck, but if I don't make it in the next 12 months, I probably ever won't..so it's do or die!

I am sure sysadmin will make his way back sooner or later. He is a cool guy. I'll take a guess that family/work obligations got the best of him. I know..that's the reason for my disappearance in the last year!

kryolla

when you sign up for Narbik bootcamp you get enrolled in the 360 program. I want to attend a boot camp probably early next year to answer a bunch of questions I have then probably re-take 1-2 weeks before I take the lab which I am shooting for May-June timeframe. I might purchase INE VOD boot camp and then take Narbik. I agree that if you have an IE mentor then you probably dont need a boot camp but I dont so I have a lot of questions.

Mrock4

kryolla wrote: »

when you sign up for Narbik bootcamp you get enrolled in the 360 program. I want to attend a boot camp probably early next year to answer a bunch of questions I have then probably re-take 1-2 weeks before I take the lab which I am shooting for May-June timeframe. I might purchase INE VOD boot camp and then take Narbik. I agree that if you have an IE mentor then you probably dont need a boot camp but I dont so I have a lot of questions.

Understandable. We'll see. I've got a lot of work to do before I get to that point, but a bootcamp would be a welcome vacation from work!

It looks like you'll probably be taking your lab 1-2 months before me. I'll probably not be far behind you as far as prep goes...stay in touch so I can ask you questions!

NOC-Ninja

Mrock4 wrote: »

Thanks all.

I know what you mean. It's already hit me. I looked at my wife this evening and said something like: "you realize, that pretty much starting this week, I will be gone 5-6 days a week either working or studying..for the next 10 months?"

Best of luck to you too. I look forward to following your progress!

I feel your pain. My girlfriend is hanging in there. lol She already knows that I have to lab everydayyyyy. However, she was there from the start (CCNA) so she has the idea what to expect. lol

nel

Good luck man, i love reading posts from you guys in the IE forums!

Mrock4

Well, I had to take the Sec+ today for work so I knocked that out. It shook me up a bit. I passed by a fair margin, but I really hadn't studied for it, and relied on experience and general test taking skills. Next time..I'm studying, I could have easily failed today. I changed several answers at the end....

Anyway, that being said, I've got 5 days till the CCIE written. I'm stressin', that's for sure. I was all done studying for it before the Sec+, except for the IPv6 chapter (my worst subject). Gotta hit that chapter and review. Hopefully I can pull it out on Tues!

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

Well, I had to take the Sec+ today for work so I knocked that out. It shook me up a bit. I passed by a fair margin, but I really hadn't studied for it, and relied on experience and general test taking skills. Next time..I'm studying, I could have easily failed today. I changed several answers at the end....

Anyway, that being said, I've got 5 days till the CCIE written. I'm stressin', that's for sure. I was all done studying for it before the Sec+, except for the IPv6 chapter (my worst subject). Gotta hit that chapter and review. Hopefully I can pull it out on Tues!

congrats on the pass man! you'll do fine!

cisco_trooper

You guys make me look bad. Hitting QoS now for a quick exam pass. Then I'm hitting BGP and MPLS....I'll join you in formal CCIE study in a few months. Having a family provides quite the challenge. Having the 3rd child changed things exponentially. With 3 they queue up on you because you're outnumbered. LOL

reaper81

cisco_trooper wrote: »

You guys make me look bad. Hitting QoS now for a quick exam pass. Then I'm hitting BGP and MPLS....I'll join you in formal CCIE study in a few months. Having a family provides quite the challenge. Having the 3rd child changed things exponentially. With 3 they queue up on you because you're outnumbered. LOL

Maybe you need to configure some shaping on your kids, buffer them until you can handle them, lol

Just kidding, family is most important. I only have one kid but it's a different ballgame going CCIE with kids. It will be worth it in the end though, don't rush it.

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

Well, I had to take the Sec+ today for work so I knocked that out. It shook me up a bit. I passed by a fair margin, but I really hadn't studied for it, and relied on experience and general test taking skills. Next time..I'm studying, I could have easily failed today. I changed several answers at the end....

Anyway, that being said, I've got 5 days till the CCIE written. I'm stressin', that's for sure. I was all done studying for it before the Sec+, except for the IPv6 chapter (my worst subject). Gotta hit that chapter and review. Hopefully I can pull it out on Tues!

Here is my advice for the written:

You the Odom book.
You need the Odom tests.
You need the Boson tests.

I dont think you have a lot of reading time at your disposal now. Use a whiteboard at home and make a list of all the chapter topics in Odom's book. Do each end of chapter test on his CD closed book and record the score. Then do it a second time open book. Record the score. Print out any questions and the solutions for those you got wrong. Stick them in a ringbinder with dividers for the chapters. Once done through the book, revise all the questions in your ringbinder.

Then do the final exam on the Odom test three times. Once closed book. Second time open book. Final time closed. You are then done with Odom. Put it on a shelf and forget it.

Then clatter through the Boson test. Read the solution for any question you got wrong. Print and put in the ringbinder. These are your revision notes the day before the test not the Odom ringbinder.

Then sit your test. If you get owned in the written exam repeat the whole process above and try again in 4 weeks. Good luck.

Mrock4

Thanks Turgon. I have been using the Odom book to supplement my studies, and I have the boson tests. I took a practice test yesterday and was scoring in the low 90%'s. I'm brushing up on security, though, because that coupled with IPv6 is enough to sink me. Fortunately, I think my fundamentals are pretty good.

We'll see! I got my lab coming together a bit, so I'm labbing some topics I have a rough time with. Not so much for the config, but to see the concepts in action. I really need this pass..

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

Thanks Turgon. I have been using the Odom book to supplement my studies, and I have the boson tests. I took a practice test yesterday and was scoring in the low 90%'s. I'm brushing up on security, though, because that coupled with IPv6 is enough to sink me. Fortunately, I think my fundamentals are pretty good.

We'll see! I got my lab coming together a bit, so I'm labbing some topics I have a rough time with. Not so much for the config, but to see the concepts in action. I really need this pass..

90% already? Great work.

Turgon

Mrock4 wrote: »

Thanks Turgon. I have been using the Odom book to supplement my studies, and I have the boson tests. I took a practice test yesterday and was scoring in the low 90%'s. I'm brushing up on security, though, because that coupled with IPv6 is enough to sink me. Fortunately, I think my fundamentals are pretty good.

We'll see! I got my lab coming together a bit, so I'm labbing some topics I have a rough time with. Not so much for the config, but to see the concepts in action. I really need this pass..

Security smurf/fraggle. IPv6, basic addressing.

Concentrate on spanning-tree and routing metrics.

Turgon

Its the weekend. Study hard.

Mrock4

Turgon wrote: »

Its the weekend. Study hard.

I am! Actually going over security again, I need it the most there. I think I'm pretty sound for the most part on the other topics. I just hope I can keep all this in until Tuesday!

Turgon

Keep at it. The written is a funny test. You either pass it or get owned. I have passed it three times and on each occasion it was because I was fully prepared, it's not a test you can wing as it covers so many topics, many of which you might not use at work. Mroute tables for example and multicast flags. Do your best and regroup if you need to sit it again. Just extend the process you have going for a few more weeks.

Mrock4

Turgon wrote: »

Keep at it. The written is a funny test. You either pass it or get owned. I have passed it three times and on each occasion it was because I was fully prepared, it's not a test you can wing as it covers so many topics, many of which you might not use at work. Mroute tables for example and multicast flags. Do your best and regroup if you need to sit it again. Just extend the process you have going for a few more weeks.

Thanks

I feel pretty solid, but of course, there's always room for improvement. My IPv6 could be better, but has definitely improved the past few days. Either way..I test in 10 hours, so we'll find out if I'm truly ready or not. Off to bed. I need a pass, so I can hit the lab!