Which Exam First?

Which exam do you recommend taking first for the CCIP?

I jumped into BGP+MPLS but now I am looking over the QoS material. Not sure what to tackle first.

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Comments

down77

Do whichever interests you first! I started with QoS because I had a few projects that required me to concentrate on that particular topic. I have a background (like many others do) in BGP, so I decided to tackle the composite next.

I believe there are a few of us who have either recently finished, or about to finish our CCIP and many of them started with BGP or MPLS and saved QoS for last.

DPG

I am very interested in MPLS. I could probably pass BGP now with a little bit of studying but I would rather knock both out at the same time.
QoS is rather new to me and I think it could be a nice break from the R&S world. (I probably overstudied for the ROUTE exam.)

down77

I hate to admit it, but the reason I chose Composite over individual exams for BGP/MPLS is to have $200 extra for books/materials towards the CCIE Written.

QoS was a lot of fun and I'm kinda glad I did it first. Looking ahead in MPLS Fundamentals there is a nice section on applying QoS for MPLS solutions. And yes, it was a welcome break from ROUTE

DPG

$200 isn't too big of a deal for me. I am still debating if I will ever pursue the CCIE. If I do, I think doing separate BGP and MPLS exams might help.

SteveO86

I chose composite for the same reason (granted I'll be reimbursed by employer), but I just want to make less trips to testing center.

MPLS assumes knowledge of BGP, so I'd start with BGP or QoS. Of course if your already very familiar with BGP then ignore that. Just my thought.

DPG

Still conflicted.

I have been doing some MPLS labs (12+ routers, thanks GNS3

) and it really is a cool technology.I tried reading some QoS material but it was BORING.

unclerico

I hear ya. When you stack it up next to BGP and MPLS it doesn't even compare in terms of...well, anything really. That is until you need the deep understanding of applying QoS in an enterprise or maintaining SLAs in a service provider environment...then it rocks. Anyway, I chose to break up the exams mostly because I want to go after my CCIE and I want to be tested on each subject individually. Good luck! I sit BGP tomorrow at 10AM...wish me luck!

Electrox

I started off with MPLS because that was just what seemed most interesting to me. Just choose which subject you like the most.

Scales

DPG wrote: »

Which exam do you recommend taking first for the CCIP?

I jumped into BGP+MPLS but now I am looking over the QoS material. Not sure what to tackle first.

Alot of the Stuff in the MPLS Exam is easier if you have studied BGP.

DPG

I am going to hit MPLS hard for the next few weeks. The labs that I have been building have been getting more and more interesting. After this I will review and lab all of the BGP technologies covered in the exam. Hopefully I will be able to attempt 642-691 sometime next month.

My CCSA is getting outdated so I will need to step away from Cisco soon to take care of this.