Stopping LIFE to pursue CCIE Lab

accely

hi Ninja, nice progress so far.
Just wondering, have you done any graded mock labs to gauge yourself vs. just doing labs on your own time?

I'm taking my lab this month!

P.S. just saw you posted your headphones.. I agree a nice pair of headphones are a great asset for studying :P I bought some Bose QuietComfort 15's a few weeks ago, some of the best noise canceling headphones, really nice for getting lost in labbing with some ambient music

NOC-Ninja

accely wrote: »

hi Ninja, nice progress so far.
Just wondering, have you done any graded mock labs to gauge yourself vs. just doing labs on your own time?

I'm taking my lab this month!

P.S. just saw you posted your headphones.. I agree a nice pair of headphones are a great asset for studying :P I bought some Bose QuietComfort 15's a few weeks ago, some of the best noise canceling headphones, really nice for getting lost in labbing with some ambient music

Thanks. Goodluck on your lab this month. I have a narbik bootcamp this year. It includes a free mock lab so I will do it there.

How many hours have you spent on labbing?
Are you using rack rental or own home lab?
Keep me updated on your lab test!

accely

When I started studying for the lab exam in August 2010 I had my own rack and used it for practice labs for about 6 months until I had a much better job with more hands on equipment that I knew what to do with. So I sold my rack and started reading through INE Vol.2 labs alongside my hands on at work (lots of L2/L3 switching, ospf, vrf's, serial connections,snmp,dot1x, firewalls pix/asa , etc etc) Once I got hired at Cisco I enrolled in the 360 program in which I started renting racks online and doing the 360 workbooks. For the past 3-4 months I've been doing nothing but the 360 graded labs which are full 9 hour labs. Been doing 1-2 per week, then during the rest of the week I continue to read through INE labs.
Before my lab I'll be doing a 5 day INE bootcamp to finish off my studying with a long week of labs.

My timeline:
2008 - CCNA
2009 - CCNP
2010 - Spring - CCSP (now CCNP Security)
2010 - After CCSP started on CCIE RS written
2010 August, passed written, started lab study.

NOC-Ninja

accely wrote: »

When I started studying for the lab exam in August 2010 I had my own rack and used it for practice labs for about 6 months until I had a much better job with more hands on equipment that I knew what to do with. So I sold my rack and started reading through INE Vol.2 labs alongside my hands on at work (lots of L2/L3 switching, ospf, vrf's, serial connections,snmp,dot1x, firewalls pix/asa , etc etc) Once I got hired at Cisco I enrolled in the 360 program in which I started renting racks online and doing the 360 workbooks. For the past 3-4 months I've been doing nothing but the 360 graded labs which are full 9 hour labs. Been doing 1-2 per week, then during the rest of the week I continue to read through INE labs.
Before my lab I'll be doing a 5 day INE bootcamp to finish off my studying with a long week of labs.

My timeline:
2008 - CCNA
2009 - CCNP
2010 - Spring - CCSP (now CCNP Security)
2010 - After CCSP started on CCIE RS written
2010 August, passed written, started lab study.

That's great you work at Cisco! I have a few Cisco employees that I talked to.
How come you are renting racks if you have access to the official Cisco IOU since you are Cisco employee?

I see that you pushed the lab at the 15 - 16th month. How do you feel about that? Do you feel ready?

accely

Initially i was renting racks because I didn't really know about the IOU.
I've played with the IOU some now, but there are some kinks in it still and I don't like messing with it :P Besides, the graded labs that I do in the 360 program are all hosted on real equipment so there's no hassle, I just login and go.

I feel extremely ready! I'm very confident and feel like I've used all methods of study collectively and efficiently. I feel like I'm at the point where I've done everything I can so there's nothing left but to tackle it! It's going to be a great experience either way

NOC-Ninja

accely wrote: »

Initially i was renting racks because I didn't really know about the IOU.
I've played with the IOU some now, but there are some kinks in it still and I don't like messing with it :P Besides, the graded labs that I do in the 360 program are all hosted on real equipment so there's no hassle, I just login and go.

I feel extremely ready! I'm very confident and feel like I've used all methods of study collectively and efficiently. I feel like I'm at the point where I've done everything I can so there's nothing left but to tackle it! It's going to be a great experience either way

Goodluck. I hope you pass. Is it true that Cisco let their employees study CCIE? lol

accely

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

Goodluck. I hope you pass. Is it true that Cisco let their employees study CCIE? lol

You mean study during work hours? When I have downtime they definitely don't have a problem with me studying for the CCIE lab, it's highly praised.

Turgon

accely wrote: »

You mean study during work hours? When I have downtime they definitely don't have a problem with me studying for the CCIE lab, it's highly praised.

hehehe..Im jealous. Make the most of the studytime they afford you on workstime. Its great to do full labs and mocks 9 -5 on the dollar if you get the chance! Good luck in the lab attempt.

NOC-Ninja

accely wrote: »

You mean study during work hours? When I have downtime they definitely don't have a problem with me studying for the CCIE lab, it's highly praised.

Thats good to hear!

NOC-Ninja

3 hours of labbing tonight!
Eyes are hurting looking at the monitor. Wrist are hurting due to moving back and forth.

reaper81

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

3 hours of labbing tonight!
Eyes are hurting looking at the monitor. Wrist are hurting due to moving back and forth.

I know you want to make progress fast but don't sacrifice your health. If you get serious issues with your wrists you could be away for a while. Pace yourself.

Turgon

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

3 hours of labbing tonight!
Eyes are hurting looking at the monitor. Wrist are hurting due to moving back and forth.

At the rate you are getting in the hours I would be inclined to hit 400 hours of labtime and then try a mock exam.

NOC-Ninja

reaper81 wrote: »

I know you want to make progress fast but don't sacrifice your health. If you get serious issues with your wrists you could be away for a while. Pace yourself.

Thanks! I need to move my whole right arm while holding the mouse rather than only moving my wrist. I cant stop since I still have so much to learn. I put some sprain ointment on it. It reminds me of a post coming from another forum. A guy said to be able to be a CCIE, you'll need less sleep, hurting wrist and fingers due to typing. lol

NOC-Ninja

Turgon wrote: »

At the rate you are getting in the hours I would be inclined to hit 400 hours of labtime and then try a mock exam.

Ahhh. I think I will fail. I dont really want to spend more money for a mock lab. However, I have a free Mock lab with Narbik. Ill take that mock lab and ill see where Im at. Either i take another mock lab or just keep labbing and then take the real lab. Either I go to the bootcamp on feb or march. We'll see....

NOC-Ninja

Trying to hit 4hrs of labbing tonight! Tired but I took a cold shower to wake myself up.

Shanman

You can do it!!!

Turgon

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

Ahhh. I think I will fail. I dont really want to spend more money for a mock lab. However, I have a free Mock lab with Narbik. Ill take that mock lab and ill see where Im at. Either i take another mock lab or just keep labbing and then take the real lab. Either I go to the bootcamp on feb or march. We'll see....

You will fail the mock exam, but it's cheaper than tanking the real test. I find they are useful as they teach you good form to work on when you do practice labs. Hit a mock at the end of each month and you will see progress. Something to think about. Im aiming for my first mock of the year in February once I have got January lab hours in to knock off my ring rust. They will be every fortnight then or at least every month until lab day.

NOC-Ninja

Shanman wrote: »

You can do it!!!

thanks!

NOC-Ninja

Turgon wrote: »

You will fail the mock exam, but it's cheaper than tanking the real test. I find they are useful as they teach you good form to work on when you do practice labs. Hit a mock at the end of each month and you will see progress. Something to think about. Im aiming for my first mock of the year in February once I have got January lab hours in to knock off my ring rust. They will be every fortnight then or at least every month until lab day.

True. I'll see how bad ill fail at Narbik's mock lab. Im thinking of going march but i think theres also a bootcamp on sept. Im still debating which bootcamp I should go to. Its unlimited bootcamp but I dont have unlimited vacation time.lol

NOC-Ninja

I bought H2n Zoom for my CCIE labbing. I need to record every notes I have and listen to it while driving to work.






Fail Focus!








Also, no labbing tonight. My body is giving up. Im going to relax and go to bed early so I can go back to MMA training tomorrow morning!

WiseWun

I have been reading your thread NOC-Ninja and even your website, good luck on the lab exam. Great idea regarding the note recorder, how's that working for you thus far?

NOC-Ninja

WiseWun wrote: »

I have been reading your thread NOC-Ninja and even your website, good luck on the lab exam. Great idea regarding the note recorder, how's that working for you thus far?

thanks! duno yet. I still have to lab today. Ill probably use it tomorrow.

NOC-Ninja

Fired up the home lab. I'm aiming for 8hrs to 10hrs of labbing today. War CCIE!

NOC-Ninja

Finally hit 7hrs! NAT, IP Services, IP prefix-list, and IPV6
I have a headache, wrist still hurts (ice pack is my new mouse ergonomic pad) and I want to sleep.
I wanted to buy coffee at 1030pm but I knew I wouldnt be able to sleep when Im done labbing. So I walked around the house and I found a wine that my dad gave me when he got back to Italy.

Rule #97 = Drink wine when there's no Energy drink. lol

Cheers to all the CCIE candidates!

Back to labbing!!!

alxx

NOC-Ninja wrote: »

I bought H2n Zoom for my CCIE labbing. I need to record every notes I have and listen to it while driving to work.

Love the Zoom H2's . Been using one of the previous models for the last few years for recording my sax practise sessions and for chinese (mandarin) practise. Nice to see the improved controls (everything was in the menus on earlier model only volume control buttons)

Also great for meetings (with permission).

Thanks for posting those videos on your site!

NOC-Ninja

alxx wrote: »

Love the Zoom H2's . Been using one of the previous models for the last few years for recording my sax practise sessions and for chinese (mandarin) practise. Nice to see the improved controls (everything was in the menus on earlier model only volume control buttons)

Also great for meetings (with permission).

Thanks for posting those videos on your site!

I havent had a chance to use them since Ive been labbing on the weekends. Maybe on the weekdays. I need to plan something and record all my notes. Its tough to find time to do things like these when Im juggling work and lab.

you're welcome. I just found it while looking for something inspirational to help me go through ccie studying.

NOC-Ninja

Im hoping to hit more than 8hrs today. Studying NAT, IP Services, IP prefix-list, and IPV6 again!
Back to labbing!

vinbuck

Good luck...been following your prgoress and you are killing it man...I'm about 6 hours in on studies for CCNP SWITCH today. It's easy once you get a good rhythm going. What's hard is when your study time gets all chopped up. Meh :-/

NOC-Ninja

vinbuck wrote: »

Good luck...been following your prgoress and you are killing it man...I'm about 6 hours in on studies for CCNP SWITCH today. It's easy once you get a good rhythm going. What's hard is when your study time gets all chopped up. Meh :-/

Goodluck on your CCNP. I get my study time chopped up all the time. lol

NOC-Ninja

more than 9hrs of labbing today. Goodnight! work tomorrow