Moving to the dark side - CCIE in 2012

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  • SirsamonSirsamon Member Posts: 221
    same all my kids have left home :)

    But there are never far away when they want something, nothing changes even when they leave, the cost of what they want just gets more ;)
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  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Quite correct Turgon - the work/life balance is as important as ever.. there are more important things in life than a job or certification. It happens to be your other half and kids along with happiness... and its a balancing act..

    CCIE is a long slog and for me its a personal challenge but will never become an obsession where it comes between me and family.. I would say I am fortunate as my kids are in their teens now so all they are interested in are "dads taxi" or "dad the banker" icon_smile.gif Heaven help attempting something like this with small kids - kudos to these guys..

    hehehe..that would be people like me then, a 4 year old and a 1 year old. It can be done, you just need to make sure your wife isn't stranded with the kids 24/7 and when they are asleep, shes not constantly on her own while you do another rack session. Juggling act. With enough regular studytime the CCIE can be cleared inside 12 months but I decided long ago that this track would not be at the expense of my marraige. Its important to be realistic about where your time will be needed as you go along.
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Kudos Turgon - its not easy with small kids, went through same thing a few years ago with MCSE et al... it takes its toll if your not careful.

    Managed to get a few hours study in tonight - going over default, static and floating routes along with ODR. A little bit of PBR and backup interfaces thrown in for some good measure...

    Hope to get RIP and EIGRP ticked off by Sunday.

    Hours studying: 49
    Hours labbing: 6
    Pages of notes taken: 97
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    RIP and EIGRP ticked off today - good few hours yesterday and today reading the TCP/IP vol 1 ( how boring is that book icon_wink.gif - I'd rather read the cisco docs and any other books.) and watching INE self paced video's along with a little labbing on GNS to fully understand some scenarios explained in the videos. Felt it was very similar in contect to Route course with a few additions such as BFD.

    Hours studying: 55
    Hours labbing: 7
    Pages of notes taken: 102
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Started reading and watching OSPF from TCP/IP Vol 1 and INE.... Found a few good articles on the cisco docs as well. Did a little lab work in GNS on debugging adjacencies and neighbors with incorrect timers and authentication mismatches.


    Hours studying: 59
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 108
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    OSPF covered off - must do a little bit of labbing to make the LSA types and what they do stick better. moving onto BGP next, hopefully nail that by the end of the weekend,

    I must admit doing the CCNP is making this so much easier... whats the consensus - do most people finish CCNP before attempting CCIE??? do you think a portion of fails are due to people going from CCNA -> CCIE without CCNP... certainly I wouldnt have tried... I think as CCNA provides a baseline for CCNP then CCNP provides that solid grounding to go for CCIE..

    been given net-worbooks.com "the foundation" gap from CCNP to CCIE lab book - looks a couple of years old and dog eared - any thoughts on it - is it worth using? looks pretty good with good explanations. cheers James

    Hours studying: 65
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 112
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  • Forsaken_GAForsaken_GA Member Posts: 4,024
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    OSPF covered off - must do a little bit of labbing to make the LSA types and what they do stick better. moving onto BGP next, hopefully nail that by the end of the weekend,

    I must admit doing the CCNP is making this so much easier... whats the consensus - do most people finish CCNP before attempting CCIE??? do you think a portion of fails are due to people going from CCNA -> CCIE without CCNP... certainly I wouldnt have tried... I think as CCNA provides a baseline for CCNP then CCNP provides that solid grounding to go for CCIE..

    been given net-worbooks.com "the foundation" gap from CCNP to CCIE lab book - looks a couple of years old and dog eared - any thoughts on it - is it worth using? looks pretty good with good explanations. cheers James

    Hours studying: 65
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 112

    Generally speaking, yes, you want to go the CCNP route to get your foundations more firmly narrowed down. For those that feel like it's a waste of time, they're not thinking straight - these are all topics you need to know for the CCIE R&S, so using it as a skill check/validation is a good idea, while also making your resume prettier. If you can't pass the CCNP tests, you're not going to pass the lab.

    For me, doing the CCIP as part of CCIE R&S prep is also a no brainer, since BGP, QoS, and MPLS are indeed topics covered on the Lab exam. I know some folks regard it as a distraction from their studies, for me, it's been a great aid - I don't consider my time on those exams to be wasted, I just looked at them as focused CCIE study. The only cert I *do* regret is the CCDA/P, waste of my time.
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Hey Forsaken_GA. I was wavering if CCIP would be beneficial - I dont have much experience with the subjects in it especially QoS ( it scares the pants off me). I do think it would help but the question is - should I do CCIP before doing the written or after but before starting for the lab? any thoughts

    cheers
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  • RoguetadhgRoguetadhg Member Posts: 2,489 ■■■■■■■■□□
    why does QoS scare you?
    In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
    TE Threads: How to study for the CCENT/CCNA, Introduction to Cisco Exams

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  • Forsaken_GAForsaken_GA Member Posts: 4,024
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Hey Forsaken_GA. I was wavering if CCIP would be beneficial - I dont have much experience with the subjects in it especially QoS ( it scares the pants off me). I do think it would help but the question is - should I do CCIP before doing the written or after but before starting for the lab? any thoughts

    Well, you've got 18 months after you pass the Written to make your first lab attempt, otherwise you'll need to retake the Written.

    What I suggest (and I ate my own dog food on this one) is to do the CCIP first, and then do the Written. That gives you maximum amount of study time focused solely on the Lab. Studying for the CCIP after passing the Written but before the lab is kind of pointless if you're intending for the CCIP to help you out for the lab, might as well go ahead and just study for the Lab.
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Roguetadhg wrote: »
    why does QoS scare you?

    Hi, I think because I dont have much (any) experience with it - something thats about to change big style - I've been looked at Kevin Wallaces 1examamonth site which is a fantastic place to get an overview...
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  • Forsaken_GAForsaken_GA Member Posts: 4,024
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Hi, I think because I dont have much (any) experience with it - something thats about to change big style - I've been looked at Kevin Wallaces 1examamonth site which is a fantastic place to get an overview...

    QoS is a difficult subject, but you need to get over your fear of it, it is something you need to know if you're a CCIE. Only way to learn it is to jump into it. I personally look at technology I don't know as a fun challenge, I love learning new things. I just walked into a new job role where I have to deal with CMTS systems, and I've never touched them before, but I'm having a blast learning all about it
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  • SirsamonSirsamon Member Posts: 221
    Forsaken_GA wrote: »
    QoS is a difficult subject, but you need to get over your fear of it, it is something you need to know if you're a CCIE. Only way to learn it is to jump into it. I personally look at technology I don't know as a fun challenge, I love learning new things. I just walked into a new job role where I have to deal with CMTS systems, and I've never touched them before, but I'm having a blast learning all about it

    Same here, something i don't know is a great journey. I do it in study, work, life, its only new to you once :)
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    working through BGP at the moment - I finish up my contract tomorrow so not been doing any productive work the last few days so managed to get some study in. New job on Monday Wintel based datacenter work so dont think it will impact me too much - also means I commute by train for 90mins a day instead of driving... not saying I will get 90mins study as previouly I used the morning commute as an extra 40 mins in bed snoozing...

    Note to self - dont snooze and read......icon_rolleyes.gif

    Reading the o'reilly BGP book, CCIE prep book along with some Cisco360 videos... Coming along nicely - perhaps finish it off by the end of the weekend.

    Hours studying: 71
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 122
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  • jamesp1983jamesp1983 Member Posts: 2,475 ■■■■□□□□□□
    You're racking up the study time. Good work!
    "Check both the destination and return path when a route fails." "Switches create a network. Routers connect networks."
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    jamesp1983 wrote: »
    You're racking up the study time. Good work!
    Yeah - I'm a man on a mission doing this. I've thought about it for a few years but just never had the right head on to take it on... Turning 40 this year and my wife wont allow me to buy a big motorbike.... so its a kind of sensible mid-life crisis icon_lol.gif although not necessarily any cheaper.

    Good luck with your written by the way - only a few days to go I believe..
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  • SirsamonSirsamon Member Posts: 221
    hmm you freaked me out, i am 43 this year and have a 1250 Bandit icon_sad.gif)
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  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Yeah - I'm a man on a mission doing this. I've thought about it for a few years but just never had the right head on to take it on... Turning 40 this year and my wife wont allow me to buy a big motorbike.... so its a kind of sensible mid-life crisis icon_lol.gif although not necessarily any cheaper.

    Good luck with your written by the way - only a few days to go I believe..

    I turned 43 last year. Just keep at it daily reading Odom, one chapter a day, and start using the practice tests that come with that book. I have passed the written twice using that method and the Boson tests you can buy.
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Sunday night and I've spent the weekend on BGP to the extent that my head is hurting and I'm reading but its not going in any longer.... got to BGP communities and I started to wander so time to call it a night. overall I have a much better understanding of BGP than I ever had.

    read odom's book along with the TCP/IP Routing along with Cisco360 video's which really cleared up some things for me. probably still got a few hours to do on Communities and aggregation but thats another day.

    Hours studying: 83
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 129
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  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Sunday night and I've spent the weekend on BGP to the extent that my head is hurting and I'm reading but its not going in any longer.... got to BGP communities and I started to wander so time to call it a night. overall I have a much better understanding of BGP than I ever had.

    read odom's book along with the TCP/IP Routing along with Cisco360 video's which really cleared up some things for me. probably still got a few hours to do on Communities and aggregation but thats another day.

    Hours studying: 83
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 129

    Another UK man working late on a Sunday evening. Props to you. Rest well.
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    BGP theory finished off but not 100% happy - bad day, started new job and kids bad behaviour taking priority tonight - but managed about 2 hours.... Need to do some labbing to get things right in the head, but not tonight.

    Hours studying: 85
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 129
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    A little quiet in my postings this week due to starting a new job with a well known Bank owned by the UK government - oops, thats any number of them. icon_lol.gif

    Started QoS and been busy reading the Odom book along with cisco docs and INE videos. been doing lots of practice on paper getting the syntax in my head

    How I'm remember it....

    Class-map to classify traffic
    Policy-map to select and manipulate class-map
    service-policy to apply the policy-map to an interface

    once I got the above everything started to click into place.

    Hours studying: 94
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 136
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Couple of more hours on QoS with the help of Jeremy Ciarro and cbt nuggets

    Hours studying: 98
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 140
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    More QoS today with Jeremy - I do believe that it is all starting to come together.

    Hours studying: 101
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 140
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  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    More QoS today with Jeremy - I do believe that it is all starting to come together.

    Hours studying: 101
    Hours labbing: 8.5
    Pages of notes taken: 140


    How are your studies going?
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Hi Turgon, study is going fairly well when I can fit it in with the new job and a weekend away with the other half which is important..... Finished off QoS last week but I will need to revisit it as its all new to me, as is MPLS which I going through at the moment with the help of MPLS fundamentals book and INE MPLS course. its fantastic technology but a black art to me at the moment but I'm still learning and more importantly understanding. fluent at it - NOT, an internetwork expert in it - NOT but I will be eventually icon_smile.gif

    Qos and MPLS are new to me so I will be taking my time with them - used gns to try out some real QoS configs which was fun.

    Hours studying: 112
    Hours labbing: 9.5
    Pages of notes taken: 149
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  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Hi Turgon, study is going fairly well when I can fit it in with the new job and a weekend away with the other half which is important..... Finished off QoS last week but I will need to revisit it as its all new to me, as is MPLS which I going through at the moment with the help of MPLS fundamentals book and INE MPLS course. its fantastic technology but a black art to me at the moment but I'm still learning and more importantly understanding. fluent at it - NOT, an internetwork expert in it - NOT but I will be eventually icon_smile.gif

    Qos and MPLS are new to me so I will be taking my time with them - used gns to try out some real QoS configs which was fun.

    Hours studying: 112
    Hours labbing: 9.5
    Pages of notes taken: 149

    Very good James. Yes for some candidates with lots of free time at work and at home, that's one thing. For the weak like us it takes a little longer. Pace yourself. Let's see if you are still blogging in July! Little and often, little and often. The first year studying is the most important! It makes sense later :)
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Couple of days running through MPLS -learnt quite a bit although I will need to revisit to consolidate the knowledge.

    Hours studying: 120
    Hours labbing: 13
    Pages of notes taken: 154
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  • jameshardy2012jameshardy2012 Member Posts: 45 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Still working on MPLS - taking time to run through and do some labbing. slow going with lack of time this week

    Hours studying: 127
    Hours labbing: 14
    Pages of notes taken: 155
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  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    jameshardy2012 wrote: »
    Still working on MPLS - taking time to run through and do some labbing. slow going with lack of time this week

    Hours studying: 127
    Hours labbing: 14
    Pages of notes taken: 155

    Good progress. For the written, cover MPLS and move along. Post written the vendor workbooks will give you lots gametime that really make it click for you.
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