Well I didn't get it

dtlokeedtlokee Member Posts: 2,378 ■■■■□□□□□□
CCIE # 20000 that is, but I'll take the one I got #19991!

Finally.

I thought this one was the most difficult of the exams yet. There were many issues that needed to be resolved throughout the lab. I was basically done by 1:30 and had the remaining 2.5 hours for verification. In that time I found 2 mistakes I made for a total of 5 points, not sure if that pushed me over the top or not but I was glad to find them. Lunch was pizza (papa john's). The proctor ran the grading scripts before we left the lab which was cool, made the traffic jam on I-85 more bareable comming home.
The only easy day was yesterday!
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Comments

  • MishraMishra Member Posts: 2,468 ■■■■□□□□□□
    You are one of the ones who seriously deserved the title of CCIE. Good job, I commend you on your efforts and determination. Even the best needs to have a good pat on the back instead of envy and praise ever now and then.
    My blog http://www.calegp.com

    You may learn something!
  • sprkymrksprkymrk Member Posts: 4,884 ■■■□□□□□□□
    WooHoo!

    Congrats!

    :D:D:D

    icon_thumright.gif

    So the pizza is the key, right? icon_lol.gif
    Chicken=Fail
    Pizza=Pass
    All things are possible, only believe.
  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    CONGRATS ON THE NUMBER!!!!!

    I new you could do it! I'm sure it feels good to have all the hard work pay off.

    Whats next? A break or going for another number??
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
  • APAAPA Member Posts: 959
    Congratz buddy!!!! :)

    You thoroughly deserve it!!!

    CCNA | CCNA:Security | CCNP | CCIP
    JNCIA:JUNOS | JNCIA:EX | JNCIS:ENT | JNCIS:SEC
    JNCIS:SP | JNCIP:SP
  • nelnel Member Posts: 2,859 ■□□□□□□□□□
    congrats man.

    i am so pleased for you !

    give yourself a nice deserved break or go out and buy yourself something to celebrate your ccie.
    Xbox Live: Bring It On

    Bsc (hons) Network Computing - 1st Class
    WIP: Msc advanced networking
  • bighornsheepbighornsheep Member Posts: 1,506
    WOW

    nice!

    Congrats, congrats......
    Jack of all trades, master of none
  • doom969doom969 Member Posts: 304
    CONGRATS !!!!
    :D :P :D :P
    I bet it feels really good !
    Doom969
    __________________________________________________________
    MCP (282 - 270 - 284 - 290 - 291 - 293 - 294 - 298 - 299 - 350)
    MCTS (351 - 620 - 622 - 647 - 649 - 671)
    MCSA / S / M - MCSE / S
    MCITP (EST - EA ) - MCT
    A+ - IBM - SBSS2K3 - CISCO_SMB
    CompTIA : A+
  • dtlokeedtlokee Member Posts: 2,378 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Yes it does feel good, and thanks!

    What's next? Most likely CCIE Service Provider, although I have passed the Security written, so I'm not sure. The SP has the most overlap between RS so that seems to be the next logical one.

    Things I did that made the difference:
    1. Study the DOC CD - this can not be underestimated in it's importance, it's the only resource you will have in the lab
    2. The Doyle books (Vol 1 and 2) - Again of the utmost importance.
    3. Used the books for CCNP and the CCIP (without MPLS) - These were not the Cisco Press ones but the official curriculum (I would guess the Cisco Press books would be good as well, I love the QoS book)
    4. Lots of rack time with the above resources.

    Things I didn't do:
    1. Use vendor labs to study. In the week before I went I ran through 3 of these labs that were scored an "8" but I don't think it made a difference. I was just trying to get into the mode of sitting for 8 hours.
    2. Boot camps or Class on demand / CBTs of any sort - I tried an "audio" boot camp because they were highly recommended by people. I made it through about 2 hours and got bored with the lack of substance and all the "think about this" and "think about that"


    All in all it's been a great experience and I have learned the lab is not as difficult as I once thought it is if you know the underlying technologies. If you're just trying to memorize a bunch of scenarios and how to solve them you won’t get far. You don't need $10,000 worth of equipment to do it. Dynamips is a great resource (although I didn't use it much only when there were no open racks at school). You need to know switching inside and out, you will need access to some 3550's and 3560's. The switching component will make up about 1/3 of the lab and the config guides are like 1,000 pages so know them. Compare that to the QoS part which will be about 1/12 of the lab and it's config guide is around 1100 pages.
    The only easy day was yesterday!
  • TurgonTurgon Banned Posts: 6,308 ■■■■■■■■■□
    dtlokee wrote:
    CCIE # 20000 that is, but I'll take the one I got #19991!

    Finally.

    I thought this one was the most difficult of the exams yet. There were many issues that needed to be resolved throughout the lab. I was basically done by 1:30 and had the remaining 2.5 hours for verification. In that time I found 2 mistakes I made for a total of 5 points, not sure if that pushed me over the top or not but I was glad to find them. Lunch was pizza (papa john's). The proctor ran the grading scripts before we left the lab which was cool, made the traffic jam on I-85 more bareable comming home.

    Congratulations man. Nice to get it done finally!
  • cisco_troopercisco_trooper Member Posts: 1,441 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congratulations. That's awesome!
  • AhriakinAhriakin Member Posts: 1,799 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Brilliant, well done DT :D well deserved.
    We responded to the Year 2000 issue with "Y2K" solutions...isn't this the kind of thinking that got us into trouble in the first place?
  • dynamikdynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□
    dtlokee wrote:
    CCIE # 20000 that is, but I'll take the one I got #19991!

    That's what you get for rushing into things ;)

    I'm really happy for you; that's an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations.

    So... when are you going to be taking that security lab?
  • CessationCessation Member Posts: 326
    Congrats Dtlokee! Wow, top of the mountain.
    :D:D:D
    A+, MCP(270,290), CCNA 2008.
    Working back on my CCNA and then possibly CCNP.
  • PashPash Member Posts: 1,600 ■■■■■□□□□□
    Congratz man!

    A great deal of respect to you mate, one of the true helpers on these boards.

    Good luck for the future.
    DevOps Engineer and Security Champion. https://blog.pash.by - I am trying to find my writing style, so please bear with me.
  • Ferret999Ferret999 Member Posts: 86 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Well done dtlokee it must be an amazing feeling :D Really well done
  • NetworkheadNetworkhead Member Posts: 16 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Shoot. This guy has a variety of skills. MCAD, MCSD, CCIE, MCDBA, MCSE? Are you kidding me? Hats off to you.
    Another step closer to my goal.
  • dtlokeedtlokee Member Posts: 2,378 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Shoot. This guy has a variety of skills. MCAD, MCSD, CCIE, MCDBA, MCSE? Are you kidding me? Hats off to you.

    Add to that list a very understanding and patient wife :)
    The only easy day was yesterday!
  • BeaverC32BeaverC32 Member Posts: 670 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats on the amazing achievement! Was this your first attempt?
    MCSE 2003, MCSA 2003, LPIC-1, MCP, MCTS: Vista Config, MCTS: SQL Server 2005, CCNA, A+, Network+, Server+, Security+, Linux+, BSCS (Information Systems)
  • dpsdps Member Posts: 116
    Wow!!
    Congratulations, dt!!!
    You really deserve this. icon_thumright.gif
    Focused and Steady.
  • WebmasterWebmaster Admin Posts: 10,292 Admin
  • dtlokeedtlokee Member Posts: 2,378 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Thanks all.

    No it wasn't my first attempt but who's counting icon_wink.gif
    The only easy day was yesterday!
  • darkfibredarkfibre Member Posts: 22 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Absolutely awesome mate, well deserved achievement icon_cool.gif
  • shednikshednik Member Posts: 2,005
    Congrats DT!!! :Dicon_thumright.gif like everyone has said you were one of ther people who deserved it..best of luck on your studies for SP or Security
  • mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    Congratulations! icon_thumright.gif

    So the Sunday Lab dates are real? icon_eek.gif
    dtlokee wrote:
    I'll take the one I got #19991!
    Cool number -- easy to remember. Hey, it's the same reading forwards as it is backwards! icon_lol.gif
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
  • dtlokeedtlokee Member Posts: 2,378 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Yeah there really are Sunday lab dates but I don't know if I would do them again (well I can't unless I plan on retaking the R+S lab). There were issues with the initial configs and they needed to be redone due to changes in the rack numbering (people were having troubles following directions on the lab I gues so they went to 2 digit numbers now). Once they were reapplied all was good for me but I think one of the others was having issues still. Pizza for lunch was a bit heavy in the gut but it worked, it was better than the standard mystery meat. One benefit of the Sunday date was knowing I passed before leaving the lab because they ran the script at the end of the day.

    I have decided on SP next, hopefully in the next 3-6 months I'll take the written and attempt the lab. That all depends on what happes here at work.
    The only easy day was yesterday!
  • Darthn3ssDarthn3ss Member Posts: 1,096
    congrats! i'd like to be CCIE before 50,000.. :) (giving my self some time...)
    Fantastic. The project manager is inspired.

    In Progress: 70-640, 70-685
  • Mrock4Mrock4 Banned Posts: 2,359 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Congrats man. I can't imagine the relief you feel now. Question for ya- how much experience do you have leading up to your CCIE? Was this your first attempt?
  • MishraMishra Member Posts: 2,468 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Mrock4 wrote:
    Congrats man. I can't imagine the relief you feel now. Question for ya- how much experience do you have leading up to your CCIE? Was this your first attempt?

    Read the thread peoples!

    You think CCIE's have time to respond to the same questions asked everytime. :)
    My blog http://www.calegp.com

    You may learn something!
  • dtlokeedtlokee Member Posts: 2,378 ■■■■□□□□□□
    No it wasn't my first attempt. I rushed into the first one because I was given a false sense of securty by passing the written so easily. The lab hit me like a ton of bricks and it hurt. I totally underestimated it based on the written, somehow thinking the two were related.

    As far as experience, I worked in the field with Cisco gear back in 1998-1999 but never persued certs beyond a CCNA. I moved away from Cisco and more towards Microsoft development starting in 2000 and became a trainer in 2001 doing MCSE/MCSD/MCDBA type courses. I got back into Cisco starting in 2005 with the CCSP and VP certs and delivering training in CCNP, VP and SP. I started studying for the CCIE in Feburary 2007 (roughly) after I failed my first lab attempt. Yeah I started studying after I failed, it was a bad approach. I took it again in July 2007 and came close (75-76) so I decided to do it again in Aug. 2007 and came close again but no pass. I took a couple of months off and started studying again in early December 2007.

    I would guess I have 600 or so hours of study time wrapped up in the CCIE lab alone, I will keep better track on time spent for the CCIE SP.
    The only easy day was yesterday!
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