Stopping LIFE to pursue CCIE Lab

NOC-Ninja

My home CCIE RS lab is almost done. BL50R arrived! I just need a couple of crossover cables and I need to buy 50ft extension cord for one of the PDU so my breaker doesnt pop.

reaper81

Nice rack! Finding any time for studies? Don't get burned out. I'm pretty much at my limit now, if I push harder I will probably hit a wall. Not long to go now though.

NOC-Ninja

reaper81 wrote: »

Nice rack! Finding any time for studies? Don't get burned out. I'm pretty much at my limit now, if I push harder I will probably hit a wall. Not long to go now though.

Thanks. It took me 2-3 months to complete the lab. I do lab a lot on the weekends but like you know, we can schedule labbing all we want and dream that everything will be perfect but life will hit us.

I have time on the weekends and some on the weeknights to lab. I try to lab the whole week but Saturday since someone is complaining. lol I also sometimes rest on Wednesdays to watch TV and relax. Taking a break is VERY important. Turgon was telling me this before but I was stubborn. Now, I understand what he was trying to tell me.

I do get burned out. I know how to deal with it now. I back out when I feel like Im not understanding what I am reading and getting irritated about everything.

NOC-Ninja

I finally fixed my 2522 router! time to do some frame relay!!! wohooooooooooo

NOC-Ninja

I finally fixed all my bad routers that wasn't working before: extra BB router, 1 extra 2610xm's & 2522 Frame Relay. A whole day of full labbing today.

1. 2x 3560
2. 2x 3550
3. 2x 3725
4. 3x 1841
5. 2x 2610xm
6. 2522
7. AS2511-RJ
8. 4x 2501
9. Tons of Wic-1T
10. NM-4A/S
11. Few BL50R
12. Few Serials cables
13. Few Crossover cables
14. Few Straight through cables
15. Few Rollover cables
16. Few Power cables
17. 2x PDU-9 Racked Power Outlet
18. Skeletek 10U and 16U

I'm selling my extra routers that I'm not going to use:

2610xm [c2600-adventerprisek9-mz.124-10a.bin installed] + 128DRAM + 32MB flash.
I bought the router for $85 without the IOS, DRAM memory for $45 and spent crazy amount of time to troubleshoot the problem. Total is $130 + $15 shipping. Im selling it for $120 + shipping (give me your zipcode and ill call UPS to find out the cost of shipping)

2501 (BB) [c2500-is-l.122-15.T17.bin installed] + 16MB DRAM + 16MB flash
I bought the router for $40 + $25 for the DRAM upgrade. Im selling it for $50 + shipping.


hit me up.

tigerplug

Bump - no updates in a couple of days.
Keep pushing!

NOC-Ninja

tigerplug wrote: »

Bump - no updates in a couple of days.
Keep pushing!

Ive been busy with work. I took 2 days of rest last week because I was burn out. Im going to be labbing tonight again. I wont stop pushing but work + studying is tough. Im usually tired like right now coming from work. How about you? Im guessing you have certs and your pursuing something new?

EDIT: imagine this... I got home, lay my work laptop at my room, turned on my lab, turned on my computer and start labbing. Im thirsty and hungry... Im still wearing my work clothes.

NOC-Ninja

5hours of labbing tonight! Time to Sleep and CLI again at work tomorrow!

reaper81

Good job! You've put up an insane amount of study in a short time. What's your plan for the lab?

jamesp1983

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

5hours of labbing tonight! Time to Sleep and CLI again at work tomorrow!

Great work man. Keep it up.

Turgon

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

5hours of labbing tonight! Time to Sleep and CLI again at work tomorrow!

My advice is to kill yourself and get to 300 lab hours asap. Then have a rest and reevaluate over the Christmas holidays. Most CCIE aspirants choke before 200/300 study hours written and lab so if you cross that rubicon you have already left many dead bodies behind on the CCIE journey.

NOC-Ninja

reaper81 wrote: »

Good job! You've put up an insane amount of study in a short time. What's your plan for the lab?

I checked the CCIE lab dates yesterday and then I remembered I dont have $1500 yet.

The plan is not to fail. However, the 3 CCIE's that Ive talked to face to face told me they failed the first time. The other guy failed twice. So Im expecting to fail the first time, then go back studying and take it again until i pass.

I know Im not ready... Im still very slow on the Narbik wb. Although, I want to take the test sometime in June if I feel I'm ready. I still have to go to Narbiks boot camp early next year. Its Mock lab should help me lower down the stress/pressure when it comes to real lab.

What about you?

NOC-Ninja

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Great work man. Keep it up.

Thank you!!! Likewise!

NOC-Ninja

Turgon wrote: »

My advice is to kill yourself and get to 300 lab hours asap. Then have a rest and reevaluate over the Christmas holidays. Most CCIE aspirants choke before 200/300 study hours written and lab so if you cross that rubicon you have already left many dead bodies behind on the CCIE journey.

Yeah, maybe I will get that before the 23rd. I hope my schedule permits me. Too bad there will be projects on those holidays.

I dont think counting hrs matters to me. I believe its what I have learned. I might hit 2000 hrs but if I cant/didnt pass the lab then I failed my goal.

reaper81

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

I checked the CCIE lab dates yesterday and then I remembered I dont have $1500 yet.

The plan is not to fail. However, the 3 CCIE's that Ive talked to face to face told me they failed the first time. The other guy failed twice. So Im expecting to fail the first time, then go back studying and take it again until i pass.

I know Im not ready... Im still very slow on the Narbik wb. Although, I want to take the test sometime in June if I feel I'm ready. I still have to go to Narbiks boot camp early next year. Its Mock lab should help me lower down the stress/pressure when it comes to real lab.

What about you?

1st attempt coming up in feb. Not sure I will have amassed enough study to pass on the first try but It's time to give it a go and play with the big boys. If I don't pass I will know what I need for a 2nd round pass. I think the TS section will be difficult. I will also try to take some mock labs soon.

NOC-Ninja

reaper81 wrote: »

1st attempt coming up in feb. Not sure I will have amassed enough study to pass on the first try but It's time to give it a go and play with the big boys. If I don't pass I will know what I need for a 2nd round pass. I think the TS section will be difficult. I will also try to take some mock labs soon.

Goodluck! I hope you pass.

NOC-Ninja

I'm hoping to hit 4hrs tonight!

Shanman

I am working towards my ccnp but I am reading this thread like a mad man!! We are all pulling for you. I am just amazed at the amount of studying you have done in a such a short time! Keep up the good work!

NOC-Ninja

Shanman wrote: »

I am working towards my ccnp but I am reading this thread like a mad man!! We are all pulling for you. I am just amazed at the amount of studying you have done in a such a short time! Keep up the good work!

Thanks.
Anything is possible if you want it. The question is, how BAD do you want it?

The negative side:
i dont go out like before
i dont watch tv
i study whenever i get a chance
i took a loan to buy my full home lab , bootcamp and workbook.

Goodluck on your CCNP.

Shanman

Thank you. Same to you with your CCIE. Where are you taking the lab at?

By the way the picture of your rack is sexy.

jamesp1983

Shanman wrote: »

By the way the picture of your rack is sexy.

I couldn't agree more.

NOC-Ninja

Shanman wrote: »

Thank you. Same to you with your CCIE. Where are you taking the lab at?

By the way the picture of your rack is sexy.

San Jose. That's the closest since I'm located at southern cali.

Thanks!!! It cost me a lot of money, sweat, precious time, and countless headaches!!!
At the end, when it was all said and done, it's beautiful. I don't need to deal with GNS3 bugs and figuring out Ubuntu. Also, I don't need to adjust my time to adapt unto rack rental schedule.

I need to use my DSLR and take a better picture.

NOC-Ninja

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I couldn't agree more.

thanks

BroadcastStorm

You're crazy Kabayan lol :P you definitely need to take a break and refresh or your brain will reject things, I learned the hardway, but you're very impressive!
.
I got a full on lab for CCIE some 2851, and we live closeby maybe we can play around and lab together once I wrap up some of my projects.

NOC-Ninja

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

You're crazy Kabayan lol :P you definitely need to take a break and refresh or your brain will reject things, I learned the hardway, but you're very impressive!
.
I got a full on lab for CCIE some 2851, and we live closeby maybe we can play around and lab together once I wrap up some of my projects.

Sup bro! Wow, I haven't seen you posting for a long time! Hows the projects? Is it too much to handle? Did you change jobs again?

haha Not even. Im trying to get to your level! Gotta take advantage of what I can learn. haha I have to agree that my brain does reject a LOT of things. That's when I bang my head to the wall till i figure it out. I usually google it to find more explanation which points me to different cisco forums, watch videos and open different cisco books. If that doesn't help then I go to my co workers or post it in TE. Its a tough journey since we have to learn on our own. We don't have any teachers that will walk us through or spoon feed us.

I think youre 2hrs away from me. lol Sure we can lab. Ill show you my home lab. How many 2851's do you have?

Truth is, I feel stupid and pathetic if I do not study or push myself when I have this opportunity. We both know how hard life is back in our homeland.

Makes me wonder how other people without a lab and money passed the CCIE RS lab.

ccieuk

Hi,

Read your last thread "Chasing CCIE written" from start to finish... then stumbled across this thread (You should link that thread to this one).
You made some pretty basic mistakes with your lab setup, if you need any help PM me, but you've seem to have got it sorted.
Pretty amazed at your work/study ethic.
Gives me motivation to get serious...

I passed CCNA back in 2009... skipping CCNP and currently reading CCIE Cert Guide for the written.
CCIE home lab already up and running.

But just wanted to say, well done to you... keeping pushing.

NOC-Ninja

No lab this weekend. I got sick! Headache ,cold, stuffy nose. Sleeping all day so i can function on monday at work . I lose 16hrs of labbing

MrBrian

Nice to follow your progress.. it's amazing how you can lab that much while working full time! I'm going for my CCNP pretty hard right now and have been labbing like a mad man as of late. I find it hard to take a few days to break, or even a week long break from studying because then it's harder for me to get back in the groove.. I like when I'm labbing a few hours a day consistently and 6 hours plus on the weekends because I get used to the feeling of new information coming in and it's easier to handle. But once I stop hardcore studying for a week or so, then it's hard to get back in the saddle lol.. but I guess you always reach a point where you need a break so it's inevitable.

The exam I've been studying for is the ROUTE exam and I dread going for the CCIE in the future because it basically covers every topic lol. I guess I should feel happy that the exam I'm going for has a concise area of studying namely ospf, eigrp, redistribution, bgp, i'v6, etc. Anyways.. keep pushing! I'm trying to match your studying hustle, it's inspiring me more!

NOC-Ninja

ccieuk wrote: »

Hi,

Read your last thread "Chasing CCIE written" from start to finish... then stumbled across this thread (You should link that thread to this one).
You made some pretty basic mistakes with your lab setup, if you need any help PM me, but you've seem to have got it sorted.
Pretty amazed at your work/study ethic.
Gives me motivation to get serious...

I passed CCNA back in 2009... skipping CCNP and currently reading CCIE Cert Guide for the written.
CCIE home lab already up and running.

But just wanted to say, well done to you... keeping pushing.

Thanks. The home lab is complete.

Goodluck skipping CCNP. You'll find out how big the gap is between CCNA & CCIE. You will end up not understanding most things in CCIE Cert Guide. CCIE Cert Guide is kinda like a cliff notes of CCNP. Its VERY tough to learn and understand what it's talking about if you havent done CCNP. However, anything is possible.

Goodluck!

NOC-Ninja

MrBrian wrote: »

Nice to follow your progress.. it's amazing how you can lab that much while working full time! I'm going for my CCNP pretty hard right now and have been labbing like a mad man as of late. I find it hard to take a few days to break, or even a week long break from studying because then it's harder for me to get back in the groove.. I like when I'm labbing a few hours a day consistently and 6 hours plus on the weekends because I get used to the feeling of new information coming in and it's easier to handle. But once I stop hardcore studying for a week or so, then it's hard to get back in the saddle lol.. but I guess you always reach a point where you need a break so it's inevitable.

The exam I've been studying for is the ROUTE exam and I dread going for the CCIE in the future because it basically covers every topic lol. I guess I should feel happy that the exam I'm going for has a concise area of studying namely ospf, eigrp, redistribution, bgp, i'v6, etc. Anyways.. keep pushing! I'm trying to match your studying hustle, it's inspiring me more!

Thanks.

It's easy to lab as much as I do. Stop going out, stop watching TV, stop browsing and pretty much rather than having a hobby, only study and lab...

Yes, you will always need a break. We are only human. We need a break. Goodluck on your NP