The Journey Resumes

carterw65

I took quite a sabatical from CCIE studies. I took the written in 2010 and let it expire. I took it again this year, but only because CCNP was expiring. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have taken it.

I reingaged on completing CISSP the last few months. I took that test in 2011 and failed. I passed it last month though. I am waiting on ISC(2) to review my packet. I should be hearing from them within the next two weeks or so. I also took ITIL Foundation 2011 and passed that a little over a week ago.

So, that left me sitting here wondering what I was going to do next. I thought about PMP, but I would be hard pressed to prove qualifications allowed to take the exam. I do qualify for CAPM though and I submitted my application to be allowed that test. I have up to a year to sit the exam. I also thought about CCDA and CCDP. About that time I had a light kick on. I have almost everything I need to do the CCIE R&S- the lab, most of the books, the time, support from my wife- why not get 'er done?

SOOOOO, that is the plan. I have started back in the studies. I have all of INE's stuff from before for the 4.0. Luckily, I bought INE's stuff before they changed their program so my subscription doesn't expire. I am going to follow INE's guidance on studying. I consider myself quite rusty at this point. I tinker with Cisco routers and switches at work, but not everyday and It has been 6 months since the written. I haven't turned on my stack for over a year.

I started in on Internetworking with TCP/IP by Comer. I think there is some validity when INE suggests you learn the technology, then see how Cisco applies it.
After that, I will read Interconnections by Perlman and see what she has to say.
Then back into Routing TCP/IP I&II.
While going through the readings I will create questions for Repititions, similar to Supermemo. The software is free and syncs between my PC and iPad super easy.
Somewhere along the way, I will fire up the lab again and get into WB I.

Here I go again!

Bill

carterw65

Here's the lab. 2500s, 2600s, 3600s, 3560s.

NetworkVeteran

Nice rack, mate!

Perlman is one of my favorite authors. She has a way of making her deep thoughts seem so simple! Routing TCP/IP Volume I & II are highly-respected as well. Any thoughts on how you're going to bring your MPLS and QoS up-to-speed?

carterw65 wrote:

While going through the readings I will create questions for Repititions, similar to Supermemo. The software is free and syncs between my PC and iPad super easy.

I'm using Anki for the same purpose. 1900 CCIE cards / 2400 total cards. I think an organized way to remember all this content--so we don't forget too much as we learn--has the potential to help us become really strong CCIEs. And almost more importantly, once we become CCIEs, to maintain a fair potion of our strength for them interviews! Weak CCIEs lose out in the job market.

Kelkin

That's one thing im struggling with myself is not learning the material but retaining it.. I've seen tons of suggestions.. just haven't figured out the right one for me yet..

carterw65

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

Nice rack, mate!

Perlman is one of my favorite authors. She has a way of making her deep thoughts seem so simple! Routing TCP/IP Volume I & II are highly-respected as well. Any thoughts on how you're going to bring your MPLS and QoS up-to-speed?

Thanks! I really don't have a plan on QoS or MPLS right now other than to read the Cisco Press books. I have the QoS OCG, but not the MPLS one yet. I will most definately be using the white papers on the Cisco website as well.

carterw65

Kelkin wrote: »

That's one thing im struggling with myself is not learning the material but retaining it.. I've seen tons of suggestions.. just haven't figured out the right one for me yet..

That is exactly my worry as well. All I know is others did it before us so we can do it too. I also ran across this: Study kits | My Networking

I took a quick look at it and it looks promising to at least formulate questions out of and study it. The dude spent some time on it for sure.

NetworkVeteran

carterw65 wrote: »

I also ran across this: Study kits | My Networking

I took a quick look at it and it looks promising to at least formulate questions out of and study it. The dude spent some time on it for sure.

Wow! What an excellent resource. Thanks for sharing. I love how it's concise and organized into mind maps! After finishing the CCIE R&S study guide, this will be great for double-checking my flashcard coverage.

Mind maps are an interesting choice if flash cards don't work for you. I think ether one, well-structured and fleshed out, can quickly job your memory about the must-know details of a technology. I like that flash cards additionally used spaced-repetition to focus your reviews, but I suppose mind-maps in exchange do more to stimulate your visual senses!

gorebrush

Welcome back to the journey. This is my 2nd proper attempt as well, but this time I am more committed as I'm about 10 times more prepared than the last time I attempted it.

carterw65

Thanks Gore and good luck to you.

I set a lab date of Mar 18, 2014, but that was because there was nothing available in April 2014. Once April opens up I will most likely change it.

gorebrush

I'm hoping to sit the lab before May 13 2014. I'm 31 then...

carterw65

Just found a huge bonus. My employer provides a Safari subscription and Safari has app for the iPad. I can even download up to 3 books for offline viewing to the iPad. Almost all of the recommended reading list from Brian Dennis at INE is on Safari, the exception being the QoS book he recommends.

In a word....SWEET!

carterw65

Just found the QoS book on Safari too. They have a ton of Cisco Press books as well. I must admit I hated trying to read a book on Safari Online, but the app I can deal with. Much better! If I had to read them all on the PC I would probably just buy the book on my Kindle or a hard copy.

NetworkVeteran

Yup! Safari has a deal with Cisco and is where 60% of my books are.

You can actually opt to use a Kindle-optimized version of their site, which works fairly well on my Kindle Fire HD.

carterw65

3.5 hours reading Internetworking with TCP/IP yesterday. Into chapter 13 now. Honestly can't wait to finish this book. The way he lays out the topics drives me batty.

carterw65

2.5 hours of reading yesterday. Chap 13 in the book is quite involved explaining TCP. I think I have finalized my study plan now. I am going to use Petr's 12 month method, but I will try to shorten it by a month or two. I don't want to cut it down to 6 months, but I don't want to take the full 12 either.

Watched part of the ATC Using Cisco Documentation last night too, until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer, LOL.

Getting back at it today! I know I will reach a burnout phase eventually, how does everyone get through this phase?

carterw65

OK, well today has been a bit disheartening. I fired up the 'ol lab and couldn't get my 2511 to work right. I had 12.2(26) IPSEC IOS loaded on it previously and used SSH to remote into it and could access it anywhere I had internet (DynDNS).

The only way I could get into it today was through the console. I reloaded the IOS, reloaded the configs. It kept hangin on boot either right past the memory display or on SNMP cold start message. I could not figure it out. I also keep getting an error saying 12.2 may not be figured out properly, but I got this message before too.

So, methinks, I will get rid of all the fancy stuff in there like the SSH config and go barebones config to make it work. Nope, not happening. I could do o/r 0x2142 also and get into it though. I would reload the config save it, but it wouldn't reload. Never could telnet or ssh at all.

I jerked the thing out of the rack and reseated all the memory and the bootrom. This is where things got worse. Now the thing won't boot past the bootstrap which, of course, is the first two lines displayed. It won't break either. Break shows some weird little character thing.

So, I bust open the cover again, and decide I will replace one peice at a time with the old modules til I figure out the culprit. I pull the 16MB DRAM and put the old 8MB module in and Voilá! It tries to boot, but still hangs at the memory display.

At this point, ebay becomes my friend and I order a new Dram module. I hope this works. Spent all day on this thing.

NetworkVeteran

Sounds mighty frustrating! I my GNS3. Creating an 11-router topology yesterday took minutes. I think the TSHOOT exam (9-routers) was really the exam to push me over the edge, that I would use emulators for routers from then onwards. Hopefully you have a backup way to lab in the meantime, and the DRAM is the culprit as suspected!

carterw65

I had a GNS3 lab at one time, I messed with configuring the silly thing more than I actually labbed. I found saving the configs troublesome as well.

How do you have yours set up? I "had" a computer with 3 quad nics and 4 real switches. Not sure my dual-core laptop will run all that.

NetworkVeteran

carterw65 wrote: »

I had a GNS3 lab at one time, I messed with configuring the silly thing more than I actually labbed. I found saving the configs troublesome as well.

I hit trouble with it three times: (a) when first using it--setting the IDLETime; (b) when doing TSHOOT--I had to better cool my CPU to run so many protocols for extended periods; (c) when doing QoS as autoqos required more memory. Now I feel my setup is quite stable. Running 11 emulated routers with OSPF brought my CPU to 5% utilization and RM to 4.5GB utilization. My system isn't insanely spec'd, so I suppose I can only scale upto 13 routers at a time, but I suspect that should be good enough.

How do you have yours set up? I "had" a computer with 3 quad nics and 4 real switches. Not sure my dual-core laptop will run all that.

No real switches. If I went for the physical, I'd go with a 3750 as a break-out switch, but I may just schedule a few rack rentals for switching practice. I do touch switches at work, and 3 guys on my team earns their numbers without building a rack.

carterw65

Nice, I be interested in the details of your lab if you have them or have the time to tell. The best computer I have right now is a dual-core laptop with 4gig of memory.

I must admit, I do like the actual equipment, but I do like the idea of the GNS3 lab too. I think they both have there place.

carterw65

Spent most of today with my wife. Gotta keep the peace! Did a little bit of reading and watched a bit of ATC VOD. Not a total wash study wise, but good enough.

carterw65

Well Sunday is a day of rest. Back at it Monday!

NetworkVeteran

Spent most of today with my wife. Gotta keep the peace!

Heh. I spent my weekend with my kids! Got to remember the big picture of what we're fighting for.

carterw65

2.0 hours of reading yesterday, a VOD or two also. I watched the Open Lecture vids. Spent some time upgrading the IOS in a couple of my routers. Still waiting on the DRAM to arrive for my access server.

Didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked, but there is always today! I skipped the ATM chapter in Internetworking by Comer.

carterw65

Only did about an hour of reading yesterday. I spent a lot of time trying to get GNS3 working on my laptop. I am not so sure it was anything but a waste of time. I did get it working though. I think I will be better off once I get my access server running again.

After putting all that money into a lab, I am not so sure I want to spend anymore and get a fancy computer that can run flight sim and GNS3 without breaking a sweat.

Well we shall see what today brings. Hopefully some DRAM in the mail!

carterw65

Only did about half an hour of reading yesterday. I think I got out of Internetworking by Comer all I wanted. Shelved the book and now starting in on Routing TCP/IP (again). Watched a ATC vid as well on VTP.

carterw65

2 hours of reading yesterday and a ATC VOD on VTP pruning. DRAM still not here yet for the access server Maybe it will come today.

Going to spend the day with the better half and 2 of the grandkids at the animal park. Lions, tigers, and bears oh my. I don't think they have bears though. I wonder if I will get in trouble if I through a line in their shark tank and try to hook into one.

carterw65

So yesterday was a complete wash. After the zoo the grandkids wanted to go swimming so by the time we got home I was beat. Tried to watch a video, but it just wasn't going to happen. We don't get to see the kids much so what little time we have is devoted to them.

So, maybe today I will get something done. Didn't catch any sharks either. Today is a new day!

carterw65

A good solid two hours of reading yesterday and the final video on Vlans and VTP.

carterw65

Nothing accomplished yestereday. We'll see what today brings.

Thinking of upgrading my lab from 3640s to 1841s or building a new computer to run GNS3 or dynamips with real switches. What do you think?

carterw65

So I spent most of my time yesterday on ebay trying to get new equipment. Bought 3 2811 routers and a Digi CM32. I got all of the 2811s for about the same price as 1841s so I went with the better router and I won't have potential rack mounting troubles. I did read for a few minutes until I was just too tired.

I think I will be good with my new set up once all the equipment arrives. Can't wait to start in on actual labbing and break up the reading.