CCIE Blog - Josh

Hey guys,

I noticed other guys were making their blogs, so figured I would start one. Well, I've been a CCNP for about 3 years now. I passed with the old BSCI, BCMSN, ISCW and ONT exams. I started doing IT back in 2001, studying to get my Associates Degree in Networking. I later didn't find many jobs, so went back to school and got a BS in Computer Science. I was finally able to find work and started to get into Layer 2 NOC work, SONET and ATM. I was given an opportunity to learn IP and ran with it. I signed up for the Cisco Academy at one of the local Community Colleges and after a year, was able to get my CCNA. After finally working in an IP NOC, I realized that I absolutely knew nothing so I signed up for CCNP classes.

After about about a year, I was able to finish all four exams and finally received my CCNP. I stopped because with certifications, you get scrutinized more. It's like having a CCNP meant that I couldn't make any mistakes. There were too many guys that only had their CCNA's, but had a lot more experience than me. In their minds, I should be a step above them because of my CERT even though we had the same job and probably the same pay. Well, I took a long break and now I'm finally going back to work on the CCIE. I'm a single parent, so this might not be the easiest task.

I've also worked a lot with Juniper, mostly M-Series stuff. In the span of 3 years, I've taken the OJRE, AJRE, IJOS, JIR, and JEX for Juniper. Seeing protocols work with multiple vendors has really helped me understand them, especially since they're unmolested by Cisco additions.

One of my coworkers has been studying to get his CCIE for the past 6 months or so. He recently failed his Lab, but I'm pretty sure he'll pass the next time around. I guess he's been sort of motivating me. If he can do it, so can I. To help motivate me, I signed up for graduate level classes to get my MS in Computer Science. It actually helped last semester because I decided to write a 20 page paper on BGP and it pretty much forced me to learn the material to pass the BGP exam for the CCIP.

I figured that since I had my BSCI, passed the BGP and the QOS material looks a lot like the ONT exam, I might as well get my CCIP while getting myself back into the mix. I studied for about a month and passed the QOS exam. It was a little more difficult than the ONT, but not by much. Later I realized that my BSCI is too old and now I gotta retake the ROUTE exam. I guess it's not an issue because I'll need to go over that material all over again anyway.

So now I'm just playing review. Here are my accomplishments and milestones I have set.

CCENT: Accomplished
CCNA: Accomplished
CCNP: Accomplished
CCIP: BGP and QOS completed, with ROUTE and MPLS left
CCDP: SWITCH and ARCH (I'm only doing this cert because I plan on going over the SWITCH material again) - optional
CCIE Written by the end of the year

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Comments

warriorfan808

I also wanted to add that I currently work in a NOC like environment and have a boss that I was able to sale the idea of a Lab to. I was able to price out a CCIE Lab, as well as 2 J-Series routers. Now, I still don't know if it will get approved though. I just gotta continue doing what I'm doing and hope for the best. As far as classes, I've been looking into taking the 3 week course from Heinz Ulm in Germany. I just need to save up enough vacation time first. It's one of those deals that if I pass the CCIE Lab, then I can get reimbursed for the class. If I don't, I'll take a big hit because that class is extremely expensive.

As far as CCIE Material after all the review is done, hopefully I can get a lot of input on here.

cxzar20

Good luck on your endeavor. Don't get too hung up on getting your CCIP, it is being retired.

networker050184

Good luck! Hope to see you stick around and finish the CCIE.

jamesp1983

Good luck and I look forward to reading about your progress.

warriorfan808

Thanks guys,
I'll try to give weekly updates. My buddy from work looked over the CCIP Material today and is going to go take all the exams tomorrow, MPLS, BGP, QOS and ROUTE. He barely failed his CCIE Lab and told me that after reading over the syllabus for all the exams, he said he's covered it all during his CCIE studies. To think that he's at that level after 6 months of CCIE training is insane. It's actually pretty intimidating because I can't even see myself doing that with all the CERTS I've already passed. Him and I are about the same age, but he's been doing Networking for a long time with CCIE like level experience. I can't help but think of Dragon Ball Z. It's like he's trained on a planet with 10xs the gravity or something. I have no doubt that he's going to pass the Lab the next time around.

Have you all had similar experiences? Just look at the curriculum and know you can pass the test, then just take it?

MrBishop

Yes, CCIP is being retired and if you already took someone of the CCIP exams, you're BSCI is renewed, so why wasted the money? If you take any professional level exam, all other professional levels are renewed for 3 years as of that day.

warriorfan808

when I go to the Cisco Certification Tracker, the BSCI is no longer marked off.

B Complete All.

B.1 Complete 1.
- (640-900) Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (640-901) Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (642-801) BSCI. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (642-891) COMPOSITE. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (642-892) COMPOSITE. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (642-901) Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (642-902) Implementing Cisco IP Routing (ROUTE). Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
B.2 Complete 1.
- (642-641) QOS. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- (642-642) QOS. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
B.3 Complete 1.
- B.3.1 Complete All.
  - B.3.1.1 Complete All.
    - (642-661) BGP. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
  - B.3.1.2 Complete 1.
    - (640-910) Multi-protocol Label Switching. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
    - (642-611) MPLS. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.
- B.3.2 Complete 1.
  - (642-691) BGP + MPLS. Valid beginning 04/01/2009.

warriorfan808

In this capture, it shows that my CCNP renewed though:

Professional

CCDP

Enrolled
8/19/08

CCIP (Cisco Certified Internetwork Professional)

Enrolled
8/19/08

CCNP

Certified
8/19/08
9/14/09
5/29/15

CCNP SP Operations

CCNP Security

CCNP Service Provider

CCNP Voice

Enrolled
5/29/12

CCNP Wireless

warriorfan808

This reply is pretty quick, since I haven't really finished much. So far, I've been covering MPLS, reading MPLS Fundamentals. I'm about to turn in my expense report request and wanted to throw on one more book. Of course getting reimbursed would mean passing the test, but I don't see this as a problem. I figured that while I'm at it, I might as well throw in a book that could help me with my CCIE studies. I'm thinking Routing TCP/IP Volume I by Doyle and Carrol. Have you all found this book to be helpful?

So far all the books I have are my old BSCI, ONT, ISCW and BCMSN books. I also have Internet Routing Arch Second Edition, CCIE Practical Studies Volume I, MPLS Fundamentals and the Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide. I've read them all, but the MPLS Fundamentals, currently reading, and the CCIE Practical Studies. I was pretty much just given this book.

So, would you guys recommend, "Routing TCP/IP Volume I"? Just slowly building my library. I'm actually trying to build it up on my Kindle because I'm tired of having all these Cisco books all over my house. I was cleaning out my room and found two, "Junos for Dummies" books. I guess I was the Dummy for buying two of them.

jamesp1983

Routing TCP/IP Vol I and II are both necessities.

Here's a good reading list:
http://www.ine.com/resources/cciebooks.htm

warriorfan808

Wow, those are a lot of books. I'll get the TCP/IP Volume 1 for now and after I'm done reading it, I'll move on to the next. If I use them for all of the other exams, I can get a reimbursement.

Too bad my MPLS Fundamentals book isn't on the list. It's actually a decent read. Now only if it was a good enough read to keep me from reading my Game of Thrones series.

jamesp1983

You're going to read a lot.

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

You're going to read a lot.

A whole lot.