Passed the written!

TesseracT wrote: »

Hey guys, passed the written exam! It's been a cultimation of various levels of study since I cracked TCP/IP vol1 a year and a half ago. There were some questions that I don't ever recall being in the blueprint but it was balanced out with some CCNA/CCNP level questions so I guess it evens out. One bit of advice I'd give to those studying is to know how the core protocols work and impact the network - not just the details.

e.g. instead of asking about some minutiae you'll get a topology and be asked to determine what happens to the network when 'X' is changed (trying to give tips without breaking the NDA!).

It's a big sense of relief for me but sort of scary in a way because there's a huge wall of work that has to be done before I even have a chance at the lab. The real work starts now really.

For labbing I'm going with a hybrid dynamips setup which I've been slowly accumulating.

So far I've got

$800: Dedicated lab PC loaded with Ubuntu
$30: 4 port serial PCI-xpress card for the switches
$1600: 4 x 3560 switches ($400 each from ebay)

Still waiting on:

$390: 3 x D-Link 580tx quad port nics (man the price on these is insane nowadays. This was the cheapest I could find - got them from Germany via ebay $130 each)

I've done most of INE's vol 1 workbook as part of my written studies so I'm thinking of heading straight to vol 3 to build up my core - don't want to worry too much about services/security etc right now with vol 2. This seems pretty different to most peoples routine... any pointers?

Anyway no rush for me. It's taken me this long to do the written, I'm in no rush for the lab. 2013/2014 is fine with me - I just hope there's no more big changes

Well done. Now stick up a CCIE lab study thread with the others and enjoy the journey. Yes, straight to Vol 3 for you. Get all 10 labs done as soon as you can. They are doable labs and will help you with core form. Then move to Vol II when done with Vol III. Vol II labs are very taxing so it would be good to get your core working better before you do them. You will pick up the non core topics using VolII, and some core stuff that Vol III skips.

nerdydad

Awesome, congrats!

ConstantlyLearning

Good job man.

Thanks guys, appreciate it. I'm still in two minds about creating a study thread as I'm not sure how dilligent I'd be in updating it... I'll see how I go once I get my lab set up.

It's celebration time for me this weekend though... 34cm of snow last night so I'm heading out today for some snowboarding!

TesseracT wrote: »

Thanks guys, appreciate it. I'm still in two minds about creating a study thread as I'm not sure how dilligent I'd be in updating it... I'll see how I go once I get my lab set up.

It's celebration time for me this weekend though... 34cm of snow last night so I'm heading out today for some snowboarding!

Enjoy the celebrations, well earned. Dont by shy about the study thread. Very few end up in a lab pass so dont worry, and if it goes dormant for a while thats fine, just pick up on it when you have the bandwidth to study again or the inclination to post. Your not obligated to do so. Mine has been going nearly 5 years now and Im not hung up about it as so many people have quit outright for understandable reasons.

Sirsamon

congratulations

Sa'ad

Congrats T!

How long did you study for the written and what books did you use to study?

Thanks

reaper81

Good job, now hit the racks!

jamesp1983

Congrats man. I was waiting to hear this from you. Good luck w the lab prep.

nel

Congrats mate! good achivement, enjoy your lab prep!

SharkDiver

Congratulations! Great job. Very fast.
What reading material did you use? The OCG?

Congrats! I hope I get the same result during Cisco Live. Though, it is highly unlikely that I'll pass without reading other books. So far I've read only LAN Switching (earlier last year), QoS (latter part of 2011), and now CCIE R&S v4 - though I've read several chapters already last year. My pace is really really slow so I doubt that I'll be ready by June. Sometimes I want to give up on this CCIE dream.

Time for labbing dude. When are you starting?

networkjutsu wrote: »

Congrats! I hope I get the same result during Cisco Live. Though, it is highly unlikely that I'll pass without reading other books. So far I've read only LAN Switching (earlier last year), QoS (latter part of 2011), and now CCIE R&S v4 - though I've read several chapters already last year. My pace is really really slow so I doubt that I'll be ready by June. Sometimes I want to give up on this CCIE dream.

The written is just the beginning. To make lab you are looking at 1000 lab hours. That's not done in a few weekends without sleep

But have a go at the written anyway. 95% of written passers never pass the lab and what you learn to pass it without **** can be good for you.

Turgon wrote: »

The written is just the beginning. To make lab you are looking at 1000 lab hours. That's not done in a few weekends without sleep But have a go at the written anyway. 95% of written passers never pass the lab and what you learn to pass it without **** can be good for you.

Oh I know it is just the beginning. I bought INE material last year thinking that I will have the momentum to read, watch videos, and lab at the same time. I did one part of the INE Vol1! Pathetic attempt! Hah! Did watch a lot of the videos though. Then again, that material is now obsolete since INE updated their VOD. Now, I need to concentrate on finishing up the written exam. Though, I am not really in a hurry to pass the written. Just want to continue the journey and hopefully someday to get my five digit number. Though, with the way things are going I think it won't be five digits anymore by the time I get to take my first lab attempt!

jovan88

congrats

joshmadakor

Congrats!! I like your icon, haha

Cheers again guys...

I used the cert guide as my main study tool and branched off from there. Read it a handful of times along the way. Other books

TCP/IP vol 1 & 2
BCMSN guide
QoS book (CCIP Exam Guide)
MPLS fundamentals (only the relevent chapters)
INE vol 1 (left out half of multicast + services & management)
Network warrior (great book, not really a CCIE book but lots of interesting real world snippets + great info on gear that I don't have much experience with such as the 6509's/nexus and all the various modules)

Main benefit for me was taking notes along the way. Have a decent set from TCP vol1/2 and the cert guide. Just checked out the word doc I started taking notes with for ine vol 1 and the editing time is 15695 minutes (261 hours!).

Also I probably have 100+ hours listening to video on my commute.

I'm biding my time at the moment waiting for my quad nics to be delivered. Consolidated my INE vol 1 notes from a stupidly big word doc to a more manageable onenote folder. Once theh nics get delivered (hopefully in a few days - they're travelling from Germany > Vancouver) I'll get stuck in and probably spend a few days pulling my hair out trying to get dynamips working with my switches hehe. Once that's done it's off to INE vol III...

Networkjitsu - There's no rush at all. Realistically speaking I'll probably have to sit my written again before I sit the lab but it's no big deal. The journey is the point - not the digits. By the time anyone has a good chance of passing the lab they'll already be an expert, just without the digits. I'm 30 now and I'll be ecstatic if I can knock this out by the time I'm 35 so don't worry too much about it

TesseracT wrote: »

Cheers again guys...I used the cert guide as my main study tool and branched off from there. Read it a handful of times along the way. Other booksTCP/IP vol 1 & 2BCMSN guideQoS book (CCIP Exam Guide)MPLS fundamentals (only the relevent chapters)INE vol 1 (left out half of multicast + services & management)Network warrior (great book, not really a CCIE book but lots of interesting real world snippets + great info on gear that I don't have much experience with such as the 6509's/nexus and all the various modules)Main benefit for me was taking notes along the way. Have a decent set from TCP vol1/2 and the cert guide. Just checked out the word doc I started taking notes with for ine vol 1 and the editing time is 15695 minutes (261 hours!). Also I probably have 100+ hours listening to video on my commute.I'm biding my time at the moment waiting for my quad nics to be delivered. Consolidated my INE vol 1 notes from a stupidly big word doc to a more manageable onenote folder. Once theh nics get delivered (hopefully in a few days - they're travelling from Germany > Vancouver) I'll get stuck in and probably spend a few days pulling my hair out trying to get dynamips working with my switches hehe. Once that's done it's off to INE vol III...Networkjitsu - There's no rush at all. Realistically speaking I'll probably have to sit my written again before I sit the lab but it's no big deal. The journey is the point - not the digits. By the time anyone has a good chance of passing the lab they'll already be an expert, just without the digits. I'm 30 now and I'll be ecstatic if I can knock this out by the time I'm 35 so don't worry too much about it

Do you mind sharing the chapters for MPLS Fundamentals?Yea, even if I pass the written this June, I will have to sit in a written exam again. I don't think I'll be able to do it in 18 months of lab and reading the recommended books.

networkjutsu wrote: »

Do you mind sharing the chapters for MPLS Fundamentals?Yea, even if I pass the written this June, I will have to sit in a written exam again. I don't think I'll be able to do it in 18 months of lab and reading the recommended books.

Think it was up to chapter 7? Pretty much read the MPLS VPNs but skip the traffic engineering/VPLS/ATM stuff

NOC-Ninja

congrats and have fun studying!

TesseracT wrote: »

Think it was up to chapter 7? Pretty much read the MPLS VPNs but skip the traffic engineering/VPLS/ATM stuff

Cool, thank you!

down77

I'm about a week late but congrats on the pass! Now the fun part comes with all the labs and deep dive configuration review.

davidspirovalentine

I'm glad the prep is going well!

Congrats on passing the written

Just a quick question, I am thinking of building the same setup. What mother board are you using?

Kind Regards,
David