My CCIE Journey Has Officially Begun.

jamesp1983

I have decided that it is time to pursue the first goal I had when I entered IT, the CCIE. I know its going to be an EXTREME challenge, but I'm just pushing forward and trying to stay confident. I'm going to use this thread for tracking my progress throughout my CCIE journey. I purchased the INE Ultimate bundle last week and have been studying and labbing ever since. I'm still trying to figure out what the right balance of lab vs study is at this point, but I'm just reviewing all of the ATVOD material now (over 80 hours), to refresh myself. I'm open for any suggestions on how I should balance lab vs study time. I've been running Dynamips and working with my home switches while watching the videos as a way to get more hands on. I passed BCMSN, BSCI, and ISCW back in 2008, and wrapped up ONT in August of 2010. I have been working with the equipment at my job so that has kept me fresh on a lot of the info, but I'm still studying like I'm just starting out. I research topics in the videos that I don't really remember and that seems to be really helping. I will keep this updated as a motivator and also as a way to keep track of all that I have studied when it comes time for my final review. It feels great to finally get started on this path. My wife and I worked out a schedule and I'm going to try to hit 30-36 hours a week.

My resources:
-INE Virtual Lab
-The INE workbooks
-INE Written VOD
-Routing TCP/IP, vol I.
-Home lab (a few routers and some 3550s.)
-Cisco LAN Switching by Ken Clark
-Routing and Switching, Time of Convergence?
-My CCNP Library.
-Dynamips
-Cisco.com
-INE ATVOD 4.5

Should I buy Odom's exam guide? I think the Boson Exsim for CCIE will be the next addition.

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Comments

jamesp1983

I just did all of our taxes and I will be getting back enough to buy the rest of my lab equipment. I'm pleased because I don't have to incur any debt, nor sign any type of commitment to an employer for the equipment. My last employer wanted me to sign a 3 year contract in order for them to pay for INE and my own lab.

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I just did all of our taxes and I will be getting back enough to buy the rest of my lab equipment. I'm pleased because I don't have to incur any debt, nor sign any type of commitment to an employer for the equipment. My last employer wanted me to sign a 3 year contract in order for them to pay for INE and my own lab.

Its all good. But there's nothing to stop you doing all INE Vol II exercises on switching right now with what you already have. The weekend is over, get some labtime in at the weekends.

jamesp1983

I've been getting my lab together and my wife hit me with some news that has really inspired me to double my efforts. We have our first Dr's appt tomorrow to hopefully hear our baby's heart beat! I will be a dad in early October if all goes well. I don't want to get too excited yet, but I figured I'd share this with you guys. I did some reading of IRA vol2 this past week and started pulling my lab together. I have been taking care of my wife as much as possible due to the morning sickness and her exhaustion, but I am going to start hammering away on L2 Vol II labs starting tomorrow. I've also had to pay attention to my own health (blood work, weight loss, etc) so I'm hoping for a clean bill of health tomorrow. Hopefully at the end of the 2 Dr appt's tomorrow we'll have a lot of good news.

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I've been getting my lab together and my wife hit me with some news that has really inspired me to double my efforts. We have our first Dr's appt tomorrow to hopefully hear our baby's heart beat! I will be a dad in early October if all goes well. I don't want to get too excited yet, but I figured I'd share this with you guys. I did some reading of IRA vol2 this past week and started pulling my lab together. I have been taking care of my wife as much as possible due to the morning sickness and her exhaustion, but I am going to start hammering away on L2 Vol II labs starting tomorrow. I've also had to pay attention to my own health (blood work, weight loss, etc) so I'm hoping for a clean bill of health tomorrow. Hopefully at the end of the 2 Dr appt's tomorrow we'll have a lot of good news.

Congratulations. When the baby is born, your life will change. Your CCIE plans will be in ruins. Im speaking from experience. You can forget CCIE plans for 6 months.

So. You need to bust your balls studying for the CCIE right now, so that when that 6 month break opens up, you do it, as you must do, but can then pick up with the studies in due course! But that is only possible, if you study real hard now, before she gets close to full term. A break is only ok, if you studied really hard before the break! If you dont study hard now, and then you have a 6 month break, your screwed. Its one of the reason why people pay for **** real labs.

I should add, a second baby came along in my case, and three job changes! No wonder it's taken me so long! hehehe

reaper81

Congrats on the great news! Study hard now while you have the time but don't forget to take care of your wife, family comes first.

jamesp1983

I've just got done buying 3x1841s with the correct memory and 6xback to back cables (had 6 already). I only need the 9xWIC-1t's, 1x2610xm, and 1x2611xm. I want to sell my 2x2524, 1x1912c, 2x2950's, 1x3550, 2x3640's. Any takers? I can provide more information upon request.

jamesp1983

The full ine lab has been ordered in between Dr appts today. I can't wait to get it all put together.

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

The full ine lab has been ordered in between Dr appts today. I can't wait to get it all put together.

Fantastic news. You will be busy assembling all that but Im sure it will help you.

jamesp1983

reaper81 wrote: »

Congrats on the great news! Study hard now while you have the time but don't forget to take care of your wife, family comes first.

Thanks a lot! We had 3 dr's appointments today and all of them had good news for us. We are both really excited now. We were given print outs of the ultrasound and they are amazing. I also ordered my INE lab today so its been great day. I'm thinking the equipment will arrive some time next week. I found my octal cable for my 2509 so I set up all of my switches so that I can lab on that. I'm debating whether or not I should purchase a 2511 and another octal cable so that I can connect all of my devices through it. (not just 8.)

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

Fantastic news. You will be busy assembling all that but Im sure it will help you.

It will be good experience.

jamesp1983

I started on INE's VolII Config Lab 1 last night. The start wasn't that bad, but I do feel a sense of uncertainty around whether or not I am using their DESIRED method of achieving the goal. The rest of my lab equipment should be arriving over the next 2 weeks.

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I started on INE's VolII Config Lab 1 last night. The start wasn't that bad, but I do feel a sense of uncertainty around whether or not I am using their DESIRED method of achieving the goal. The rest of my lab equipment should be arriving over the next 2 weeks.

If I was you I would forget lab II for the moment. Those labs are gruelling. It's just too much stuff and it will take you ages to get through them well at this stage because there is too much you dont know well enough to execute as a lab candidate that can:

A. Understand the requirement
B. Spot the constraint
C. Filter the options to choose the correct one
D. Configure right first time and verify properly
E. Make a mental note on impact on prior on subsequent topics

My advice is to do the Vol III labs first. Those are doable and will get your core foundation working well. Do that, then do Vol II for the 'good stuff', the none core topics. The Vol II labs are good, but they keep INE candidates busy on rack tokens. $$$$. Be ready for them before you do them!

jamesp1983

It looks like a lot of my equipment should be here by this weekend. My boss has expressed an interest in reimbursing my expenses for all of the CCIE textbooks, the Written exam, and the INE course. He can't pay me for the equipment, but is trying to reimburse me for everything else. He already told me he'll pay for the lab. He has been assigning me more work off of his plate so I think he trusts me. This has been a good week.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

If I was you I would forget lab II for the moment. Those labs are gruelling. It's just too much stuff and it will take you ages to get through them well at this stage because there is too much you dont know well enough to execute as a lab candidate that can:

A. Understand the requirement
B. Spot the constraint
C. Filter the options to choose the correct one
D. Configure right first time and verify properly
E. Make a mental note on impact on prior on subsequent topics

My advice is to do the Vol III labs first. Those are doable and will get your core foundation working well. Do that, then do Vol II for the 'good stuff', the none core topics. The Vol II labs are good, but they keep INE candidates busy on rack tokens. $$$$. Be ready for them before you do them!

I wasn't going too deep into Vol II. I was only attempting the L2 exercises since I have the switches already. Petr from INE has a structure that interleaves Vol I and II that supposedly helps you gain a really in-depth understanding of the material and I'm thinking about following that.

http://blog.ine.com/2010/10/09/how-to-pass-the-ccie-rs-with-ines-4-0-training-program/

jamesp1983

The 3x1841s, 1x2610xm (which the seller made a mistake and really sent a 2620xm that I'm going to keep), 1xwic-1t (waiting on 8 more), and the flash upgrades arrived last night. I installed the flash in the 1841s, installed the 1xwic-1t, and upgraded the IOS on 2x2600s (I ordered one of these a couple of months ago) and 3x1841s. They all tested fine. I need to find a better rack and want to get a 2511 to replace my 2509 so I don't have to keep swapping around console cables. I have a wireless connection to the lab so that's pretty convenient. I'm still waiting on 3xtransceivers, 6xback to back cables (had 6 already), 1x2611xm, 3x256MB for the 1841s, 8xwic-1t's, and another octal cable.

jamesp1983

I racked up all of the switches, the 2509, bb1 and 2, and r3 after a trip to the hardware store. I ordered mounts for the 1841s, 2610s, and bb3. I got the switches all cabled up and power ran for all of the devices. I'm going to try to rig something up so that I can really get labbing this coming week. I have to upgrade the IOS on a few of the devices before I get started. My wife and I decided we need a new car since we have a baby on the way and both of our cars are older so that has burnt some time this weekend. I've been reviewing my notes in an attempt to keep the theory fresh in my mind.

Turgon

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I racked up all of the switches, the 2509, bb1 and 2, and r3 after a trip to the hardware store. I ordered mounts for the 1841s, 2610s, and bb3. I got the switches all cabled up and power ran for all of the devices. I'm going to try to rig something up so that I can really get labbing this coming week. I have to upgrade the IOS on a few of the devices before I get started. My wife and I decided we need a new car since we have a baby on the way and both of our cars are older so that has burnt some time this weekend. I've been reviewing my notes in an attempt to keep the theory fresh in my mind.

You will be fine. Once you get that lot up and running and cross the 100 hour lab mark you will be motoring along, finding a groove for daily lab practice.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

You will be fine. Once you get that lot up and running and cross the 100 hour lab mark you will be motoring along, finding a groove for daily lab practice.

You're almost over 1000 hours!

Turgon

Yeah it's a nice feeling. Took a few years, but you cant get 1000 lab hours done in a few months either. People try and fail miserably

You can do it in a year if you are labbing everyday for 3 hours straight. I could never find that kind of regularity with the demands on my time, and staying up all night to do it would have affected my performance at work and at home.

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

Yeah it's a nice feeling. Took a few years, but you cant get 1000 lab hours done in a few months either. People try and fail miserably You can do it in a year if you are labbing everyday for 3 hours straight. I could never find that kind of regularity with the demands on my time, and staying up all night to do it would have affected my performance at work and at home.

You're an inspiration to us all. I can't wait to get started on my labbing.

Turgon

Hard times ahead my friend. Long hours. Character building

MrBrian

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I've just got done buying 3x1841s with the correct memory and 6xback to back cables (had 6 already). I only need the 9xWIC-1t's, 1x2610xm, and 1x2611xm. I want to sell my 2x2524, 1x1912c, 2x2950's, 1x3550, 2x3640's. Any takers? I can provide more information upon request.

Hi, I'd be interested in the 3550 as I'm looking to add one for my SWITCH studies (emi I'm assuming?). I was going to pick one up off ebay pretty soon here. You can pm me if you're still looking to sell and maybe we can work something out. But if not, no worries! -Brian

jamesp1983

Turgon wrote: »

Hard times ahead my friend. Long hours. Character building

Exactly! I'm excited and anxious at the same time.

Turgon

You wont pass the lab this year. Look at 2012 as your foundation year. Mine was 2007/2008. I put a lot of time in on lab work during that period. It stands me in good stead to this day. You will spend a lot of time configuring a lot of stuff you dont understand deeply. That's ok. Elapsed time, experience, repetition and reflection makes sense of things.

jamesp1983

I updated the IOS on all of my 2500s. I discovered that my 2522 has an issue that can be bypassed if you tap lightly on the device. I reseated the memory inside the device 3 times, and tightened up all of the screws that mount the board to the case. It isn't perfect, but everything seems to work once you get it booted.

jamesp1983

I received the memory upgrades today for the 1841s so I installed them and they tested fine. I'm waiting on mounts for the 1841s, 2500s, and 2610s. I think I am going to purchase a 2511 as well since that will make labbing easier. I sold one of the 3550s today so I'm half way there.

jamesp1983

Good morning everyone. I racked up everything last night with the exception of one of my 2500s. I'm still waiting on the mounting brackets. I went on ebay today and found a 2511 for a pretty good price so I purchased it. I'm hoping to receive it by Monday. My lab will be pretty much complete at that point. I've been using GNS3 to lab up some scenarios from gns3vault to just keep the knowledge fresh.

jamesp1983

Wow, just started waking up. Last night was a long one. All I can say is BE CAREFUL WITH REDISTRIBUTION! Our security team placed a static route to our core on an ASA that sits between a vendor router and our core. He also had redistribute static under the EIGRP process on the ASA. He placed a default static route on the ASA pointing to an SVI of our core switch (so it would have a return path for device mgmt in case EIGRP went down (enter the routing loop, core sees route through asa, asa has a static back to core). Around 5 pm we lost Internet connectivity. The network team doesn't have creds for security devices and vise versa so we can't see their configs. Some packets would make it out, but some wouldn't. We were seeing a lot of drops. I went to the core (we don't have a distro layer, but working on this) and noticed that we had two default routes that were both redistributed in from 2 different ASAs. Only 1 should exist. The metrics were EXACTLY the same. I quickly powered down the ASA, so that removed the ext eigrp path from the core devices' routing tables through the vendor's router and service returned to normal. The company does a lot of failover in situations like this so it took an additional 2-3 hours to get everything cleaned up. I had a discussion with the security team this morning and the problem will be handled on their end, but what a night! I am going to be implementing a lot of procedures/changes in order to prevent this type of situation from occuring.

reaper81

Fun stuff. Redistribution is serious business.

jamesp1983

reaper81 wrote: »

Fun stuff. Redistribution is serious business.

Indeed.