It's my time: Mrock's CCIE thread

Turgon

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Yeah, I've been having that discussion as well. They're willing to send me, but they want to use Global Knowledge credits to do it. So while I could get the Cisco 360 training that way, I still think I'd rather go for Narbik's boot camp. What I'm thinking is to see if they'll let me go to Narbik's no excuses boot camp on my own dime, but let me do it on the company's dime timewise. I'd rather not burn all my vacation on a boot camp. I need to have a conversation soon about seeing if I can get access to ASET labs.

ASET labs are an ingredient in the secret sauce if you can get them..be careful of your employer paying for your CCIE. It will stay with them for a while if you move companies which makes you less valuable to partner that wants another number..

Mrock4

It's all coming together. Should be receiving my 3560 this week sometime, then I can finish racking everything up. Going to an ASA bootcamp (actually part of a CCNP Security bootcamp, but my work is sending me to the ASA portion) in a couple of weeks, so I'll begin my labbing after the bootcamp. I'm pretty decent with the ASA's already, but it can never hurt, as I'm sure there's a lot I don't know yet. Gotta get cracking soon, lab date is going to crawl up quickly.

Mrock4

Got most of the stuff ready to go. Just waiting on my 2611XM (R3)0 and some misc stuff (cables, power cords, etc). I'm guessing it'll be completely wired up by next weekend, then I can begin. I'm going to be watching INE's ATC in the meantime, to brush up on the theory side. I feel like I've lost a little of the theory since the written. I've had a lot of great experience as of late which would definitely help with the IE prep, but I still want to stay sharp on the theory portion to prevent any "gotchas" if I can.

Also gave in and bought another 3560, so now I have 2x 3560's, and 4x 3550's, although I'll probably be selling 2x 3550's. Originally I planned to rent rack time for the 3560's, but then decided I'd rather just roll the 3560 prep in with the rest of it, so it made sense to have it all handy in my office.

My work is flip flopping on the bootcamp idea- they're currently thinking they'll be able to fund the 2 week bootcamp with INE, but again- not holding my breath. My preparation method is pretty much to become a self-made expert through a lot of CCO, practice, more CCO, practice, red bull, and more practice. The bootcamp will be strictly to see where I'm at, and make any holes in my prep visible so I can patch them up.

We shall see!

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

Also gave in and bought another 3560, so now I have 2x 3560's, and 4x 3550's, although I'll probably be selling 2x 3550's. Originally I planned to rent rack time for the 3560's, but then decided I'd rather just roll the 3560 prep in with the rest of it, so it made sense to have it all handy in my office.

I just replaced my 3640's with 1841's. I was able to get a vast majority of work done on them, but there are just some features missing that just make the full scale labs problematic to complete.

I'm still toying with the idea of replacing a pair of 3550's for 3560's, still can't quite get prices that make me happy. I'm not really interested in forking out a grand for 2 switches for the lab, but if I can pick up a pair for closer to $750, I'll probably pull the trigger.

bermovick

I could have sworn I'd seen 3560's dropping under $400 lately on eBay. Almost enough to make me get one but dang; that's 1/2 a paycheck.

Forsaken_GA

They're lower than they have been, but still not in a price range I like. I've had several bids in for a total of $375 minus whatever the shipping cost is, because I refuse to get gouged there. And so far every single one has resulted in an outbid during the last 8 hours of the auction.

Mrock4

Since I already had a lot of gear, buying 2x 3560's wasn't too bad. I paid $389 for one, and $415 on the other. Not bad I guess. Last time I built my lab, they were like $800/ea, so that's a huge improvement.

I got the 1841's because I personally feel the 2611XM's (2x FE's) are overpriced- for a little bit more you can get an 1841.

That being said, here's the lab (almost) completed. NO cables are done, this is just the preliminary racking, for lack of better wording. My other 3560 should be here soon, and my 2611XM (almost bought an 1841 instead, but got a good deal) should be here as well.

From top to bottom:

-Cable management (spare..)
-Digi CM term server
-2610XM
-2610XM
-Blank (2611XM will go there)
-Power strip
-ASA 5505
-1841
-1841
-1841
-Space for 3560
-3560
-3550
-3550
-Cable mgmt
-2522
-2501
-2610
-Power strip
-Dell 1750 server
-Dell 2850 server

Mrock4

Today is the first day of sitting down and going through INE's ATC videos. Going to use them in tandem with their Vol I workbooks and hands on labbing. So for the most part, I'll be doing about 90% labbing on technologies, and a couple of hours a week watching the videos.

My 'official' plan to start lab prep has me beginning in 3 wks, so I'm trying to gradually get back into it, and get used to hitting the lab again.

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

I got the 1841's because I personally feel the 2611XM's (2x FE's) are overpriced- for a little bit more you can get an 1841.

I got my 2611's pretty cheap, somewhere around $150 each, with the right amount of DRAM and flash. The 1841's were still running around 500 bucks each, and in most cases, I'd still need to upgrade the RAM and flash. The 3640's cost me less than a hundred each, and they've been able to get me through the majority of my lab work to date. However, there are some missing features that have proven to be irritating while doing full scale lab practice. Like EIGRPv6. And Zone Based Firewall. And L2 MPLS VPN. Gigavelocity and INE's rack rental times don't really work with my schedule, so I decided to go ahead and just pop for some new gear.

Since you're just starting out with new gear, and aren't conforming exactly to their equipment spec, I suggest writing some scripts to alter the initial configs, since your interface names will differ from theirs. It gets to be very tedious making those changes by hand, and if you miss one, it can cause issues with the lab you're trying to do. I got caught and spent an hour banging my head against a config that just didn't match the provided solution because I missed changing a passive-interface command and was getting routes I shouldn't have been.

vinbuck

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

However, there are some missing features that have proven to be irritating while doing full scale lab practice. Like EIGRPv6.

Cisco really pissed me off on this when I had to dig through images for GNS3 in order to find one capable of supporting EIGRPv6 to prepare for the ROUTE exam. You would think they'd care a bit more about their ultra-proprietary flagship routing protocol. Also, with EIGRPv4 it is very tough to find images that support NSF cabability, most of them are NSF Aware, just not NSF capable. I've yet to come across one...

Mrock4

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Since you're just starting out with new gear, and aren't conforming exactly to their equipment spec

Actually I'm conforming exactly to the INE specs. The only exception is I'm using a 2610 as BB2 (which will be the same, since I just need an ethernet interface). Everything else is the same as INE, down to the interfaces. The only other thing I can think of, is that I'm using a Digi CM term server instead of a 2511. My main motivation with this lab versus my last one (which was 3640's and 3550's..granted this was before the v4 changes), was to mimic INE's topology so that I can spend more time labbing and less time dealing with different interfaces and such. That can get old really quickly, and my time is already limited enough, so I need to make the most of my lab time.


By the way, I wouldn't pay $500 for an 1841 either, so I don't blame you, but I paid $300/ea for all 3 of mine (with 256/64 mem). I had a bunch of extra WIC-1T's still, so no need to purchase a bunch of those this time around, minus maybe two.

Mrock4

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

However, there are some missing features that have proven to be irritating while doing full scale lab practice. Like EIGRPv6. And Zone Based Firewall. And L2 MPLS VPN. Gigavelocity and INE's rack rental times don't really work with my schedule, so I decided to go ahead and just pop for some new gear.

I hear you on this part. Last time I was relying on rentals a lot, and it got frustrating. A lot of my rack time came as I could get the time, and that didn't always work well with rentals.

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

Actually I'm conforming exactly to the INE specs. The only exception is I'm using a 2610 as BB2 (which will be the same, since I just need an ethernet interface).

Ah, I'm sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you were using 1841's in place of 2611XM's, which would mean an interface name change on the serial ports.

And yeah, I've gotten really, really tired of having to correct configs before I drop them, which is why I decided to go ahead and change out some gear. I just want to drop a config and go. This is the main reason I've stayed away from 3750's, which I *can* get in my price range, but I don't want to redo the pre-configs to account for the interface name change.

My 1841's came pretty easy this time around, I got all three of them loaded with 256/64 for around $280/ea, including shipping. I'm sure I'll get a pair of 3560's in my price range. Fortunately, the only things I'm losing with them are private vlans and catalyst QoS, which are subjects I'm cofortable leaving alone for later, as neither is particularly difficult. Otoh, I'm not always the most patient person, and I may just go on tilt and overpay hehe

Mrock4

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Ah, I'm sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you were using 1841's in place of 2611XM's, which would mean an interface name change on the serial ports.

And yeah, I've gotten really, really tired of having to correct configs before I drop them, which is why I decided to go ahead and change out some gear. I just want to drop a config and go. This is the main reason I've stayed away from 3750's, which I *can* get in my price range, but I don't want to redo the pre-configs to account for the interface name change.

My 1841's came pretty easy this time around, I got all three of them loaded with 256/64 for around $280/ea, including shipping. I'm sure I'll get a pair of 3560's in my price range. Fortunately, the only things I'm losing with them are private vlans and catalyst QoS, which are subjects I'm cofortable leaving alone for later, as neither is particularly difficult. Otoh, I'm not always the most patient person, and I may just go on tilt and overpay hehe

Yeah, it's partially my fault, I wrote that I chose 1841's over 2611XM's, which isn't right. They were two separate ideas rolled into one sentence..my bad.

Yeah the 3560's kind of came on an impulse on my side. I had already ordered my 3550's, but found a good deal on one 3560. Decided to buy it, then said "what the hell, I'm only one 3560 away from being the same as INE", so that was pretty much it. My original thought process was that since we use 3560's at work a lot, so I could lab up some stuff on spare switches, but honestly, I don't have enough time. Some days I don't have time for lunch (infact, most days I don't), so labbing on spare gear at work just won't happen no matter how much I'd like it to.

It'll be fun though. When are you trying to sit the lab Forsaken? Glad you're still hanging around.

Mrock4

Got all my cabling completed yesterday. Long day at work. Will have my Digi CM (term server) configured and ready to go this weekend, as well as IOS upgrades that I need to do. Next week is my CCNP security (INE) bootcamp, so I'll be busy with that. Once that's over, the following monday is my Day 1 of intensive lab prep. It's pretty crazy to think that I'm planning on a lab attempt late this year, but if I'm not ready I won't take it. With that being said, push come to shove I am going to take the lab no later than February next year..period. So..that being said, I need to get ready.

In other news I painted my office and hung my new big whiteboard. Doing what I can to make it a comfortable space since I'll be spending a lot of time in there over the next 8-12 months.

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

Got all my cabling completed yesterday. Long day at work. Will have my Digi CM (term server) configured and ready to go this weekend, as well as IOS upgrades that I need to do. Next week is my CCNP security (INE) bootcamp, so I'll be busy with that. Once that's over, the following monday is my Day 1 of intensive lab prep. It's pretty crazy to think that I'm planning on a lab attempt late this year, but if I'm not ready I won't take it. With that being said, push come to shove I am going to take the lab no later than February next year..period. So..that being said, I need to get ready.

In other news I painted my office and hung my new big whiteboard. Doing what I can to make it a comfortable space since I'll be spending a lot of time in there over the next 8-12 months.

You are a busy guy! How's your office laid out? Good luck with everything.

Mrock4

My office is like this...keep in mind, the walls are not totally done (need to hang my flatscreen...and assorted pictures), but this is generally how it looks. The goal is for it to be as comfortable as possible so I won't be afraid to spend time in it while studying. So far so good..

Also..only half of the room is green. Other half is tan'ish. One of my kids have already dubbed it the "turtle room"

jamesp1983

That looks good. I didn't have enough room in my office so I moved to the dining room. Holidays might be tough, but oh well.

Mrock4

jamesp1983 wrote: »

That looks good. I didn't have enough room in my office so I moved to the dining room. Holidays might be tough, but oh well.

Thanks. My last office was a cubby off of our living room. Made studying hard, but you do what you gotta do.

Mrock4

Began the long road to CCIE greatness yesterday. Going through INE's Vol I stuff...chose to do their older format labs. They don't have 100% of the topics on the 4.0 blueprint, but I REALLY prefer the format of those labs instead of their newer Vol I format. Figure once I do these I can go back and fill the gaps in with the newer stuff.

Logged a solid 4 hours yesterday, had some family time tonight- getting started now and should be good for 3 hours tonight. Taking a day off once a week so that I can get away from cisco for a little bit now and then and hopefully, stay sane.

jamesp1983

What order are you doing the workbooks in?

Mrock4

jamesp1983 wrote: »

What order are you doing the workbooks in?

Right now I'm doing switching labs in INE Vol I. Pretty much the order the workbook comes in.

jamesp1983

I don't know if you've seen these links, but I thought I'd share:

How to pass the CCIE R&S with INE's 4.0 Training Program
Getting the most out of CCIE R&S Workbooks VOL1 and VOL2

Forsaken_GA

I'd recommend following the plan in the first link. VOL1 is so massive that trying to do all of it before you touch VOL2 is going to take awhile. Get into VOL2 as soon as possible, it's where the meat of the learning is, and will show you where your weak points are, then go use VOL1 to brush up on those weakpoints.

Your method is, of course, up to you however.

Mrock4

The plan I've had has been to basically do the same as the second link.

I've seen a trend with a lot of candidates attempting the lab, failing, and having to go back to Vol I materials, so I'd like to avoid that by doing proper Vol I preparation. I feel that if I jump into Vol II too soon, I'll be screwed. That being said, I also don't want to stop doing vol I labs (or creating my own) in the months leading up to my attempt- but just not as much since most of the labs then will be full scale labs and/or speed labs.

To each his/her own, but I feel a lot of people get overconfident on Vol I labs, and jump too soon into Vol II labs. Alternately, it is possible to get bogged down on Vol I labs and never reach Vol II stuff. I'm trying to find a balance there.

Something that is surely to my benefit, is that this is not my first, or even second time going through Vol I labs.

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

To each his/her own, but I feel a lot of people get overconfident on Vol I labs, and jump too soon into Vol II labs. Alternately, it is possible to get bogged down on Vol I labs and never reach Vol II stuff. I'm trying to find a balance there.

Well, that's why you follow the first link, it gives you enough exposure to head into the vol2 labs. As well, if you look in the solutions guide for them, they have a section that references what vol1 labs are covered in that lab. I always look that over first, and if I see something I flat out don't know, or I'm not strong on, I'll usually go work it before I start the Vol2 lab. You do need to spend a little time in Vol1, which is why Petr gives the recommended labs at the beginning that he does, but hitting Vol2 labs is where the real training begins. Sticking to nothing but Vol1 labs means you're going to be slower at the skills of managing a bunch of different technologies in the same scenario, and you're going to take longer to get used to having things you do later breaking something you've done before.

You're supposed to use vol1 and vol2 in tandem, vol1 simply has far too much material to digest as a single entity to be expect to be able to move on to vol2 and expect to retain it.

Again, you're choice. When I stepped up to Vol.2 labs, yeah, the first couple gave me a sense of "WTF?" and a few moments of doubt as to whether or not I was ready for this. But as I immersed myself in the format, and got used to it, it doesn't intimidate me anymore, half the challenge is figuring out wtf they're actually asking you to do, especially when you're natural instinct is something that's explicitly outlawed in the task.

Mrock4

To each his own. Hopefully we pass. When are you sitting the lab?

Mrock4

Chugging along. Followed my study plan this week despite working 17 hours in a 24 hour period yesterday. So far the family agrees this study schedule has been pretty good. Just gotta keep it up.

INE Vol I as usual today. Enjoying some STP labs and creating my own. I'm feeling pretty good already on STP as I was pretty deep in it last time I was prepping. Not setting a deadline to finish switching labs, but obviously the sooner the better. Also complimenting them with INE's ATC videos on the side, as well as reading cisco docs/books when I have downtime at work...which is rare.

So far this week I've logged 14.5 hours as of today. Doing 4 tomorrow and 4 sunday to put my total for the week at 22.5 hrs. At that rate it'll take me 11 months (approx..just a ballpark) to be ready to sit the lab. The plan is to ramp up the hours in the last few months of my prep, so I should be able to cut that to about 8-9 months.

Enough talking, more labbing.

Mrock4

Made today all about MSTP. A few years ago when I was first introduced to MSTP it really took a while for me to get a grasp on it. Then it clicked. I haven't worked with it with the exception of labbing it, but today it really came back quick. Was going through the labs and the ATC video- nothing really new, so that's always good. Should be finished with switching labs in 2 weeks tops. Only things left are relatively straightforward labs (storm control, udld, ppp, etc)- stuff that I'm pretty comfortable with, but I'd like to dig a bit deeper before moving on.

If all goes well, I'd say 2 weeks tops till I start frame relay. I've given the idea Forsaken mentioned with the Vol II labs, and although I don't think I want to get into doing them repeatedly, I think it would be OK to do one Vol II after I do frame relay and my IGP's- that way I can at least see how well I fare on the core technologies. More as a diagnostic exam really. That won't be for at least a month though- I figure frame relay will take me a week or so, then IGP's will take a while.

Pulled off 18.5 hours so far. I feel it's important for me to keep track so that I can know when I'm going to be ready to schedule the lab. Hours alone won't tell me if I'm ready obviously, but that can at least show me in the grand scheme of things where I sit. I am aiming to average 20-25 hours a week of labbing, so after tomorrow I should meet my goal for this week.

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

If all goes well, I'd say 2 weeks tops till I start frame relay. I've given the idea Forsaken mentioned with the Vol II labs, and although I don't think I want to get into doing them repeatedly, I think it would be OK to do one Vol II after I do frame relay and my IGP's- that way I can at least see how well I fare on the core technologies. More as a diagnostic exam really. That won't be for at least a month though- I figure frame relay will take me a week or so, then IGP's will take a while.

If you just want to test yourself on the core technologies, hit the Vol3 labs, that's what they're all about. No network services or security or qos or any of that fun stuff