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

Are the WBII Level 7 Troubleshooting labs same difficulty as the ones in the lab? I know INE says their Mock Labs at level 7 are same difficulty as the real lab, but I'm not sure about WBII TS labs.

jamesp1983

I only finished 4 hours of labbing yesterday/last night because my family had a bbq. I stayed up until 2am to try to get as much time in as possible. I'm going to attempt 12 hours today. Im on WBII Troubleshooting lab 5 now. I'll finish this and lab 6, then keep moving on to the following:

Week 17: VOL2 Lab 7
Week 18: VOL2 Lab 8
Week 19: VOL2 Lab 9
Week 20: VOL3 Labs 5+6

I had to catch my troubleshooting labs up to my regular config labs in order to move forward.

NetworkVeteran

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I'm going to attempt 12 hours today.

Wow! At that rate you'll have two CCIEs by 9/2013.

jamesp1983

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

Wow! At that rate you'll have two CCIEs by 9/2013.

I wish. I'm hoping to pass my first by no later than February.

jamesp1983

I got a good amount of labbing done last week and I'm planning on trying to do the same this week. My IPv6, MPLS, and QoS need some work. I'll watch some ATVoD and do some more reading when I have some down time to refresh myself on those topics. My MPLS configs are decent, but need some fine tuning.

jamesp1983

I just finished WBII TS Lab 6. Now my TS and config labs are where they should be. I really enjoyed the TS labs since they really drove some of the points home and gave me an idea of what to look for given a various topic. Now on to WBII lab 7...

jamesp1983

I wish I would have done those troubleshooting labs before. They have given me a much better understanding of everything.

jamesp1983

I'm working on config lab 2.3 in WBII Lab 7. Its a difficulty of 9 and its quite interesting. A 2 hour commute (should be 30 minutes) in bumper to bumper traffic ate some of my lab time, but I was still able to get in 3 hours between designs and that traffic delay.

Forsaken_GA

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Are the WBII Level 7 Troubleshooting labs same difficulty as the ones in the lab? I know INE says their Mock Labs at level 7 are same difficulty as the real lab, but I'm not sure about WBII TS labs.

I don't think the WB2 TS labs are very good, which is why they developed Vol. 4 labs. I hope I don't have cause to regret saying this later, but I'm actually not terribly worried about troubleshooting. I've always been pretty damn good at it, pretty much made a career out of it, and all the material I've used so far hasn't really presented me with a challenge, much more concerned about missing stupid crap that will cost me all points for a task.

But anyway, the fact that WB2 TS labs aren't on Petr's plan for using INE's material to pass the current version of the lab says something to me, so I'm not spending alot of time with them.

Forsaken_GA

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I'm working on config lab 2.3 in WBII Lab 7. Its a difficulty of 9 and its quite interesting. A 2 hour commute (should be 30 minutes) in bumper to bumper traffic ate some of my lab time, but I was still able to get in 3 hours between designs and that traffic delay.

Strangely enough, I didn't think Lab 7 was all that difficult. Other than some stupid crap in the network services section, none of it was particularly difficult, though the redistribution task does take some time.

jamesp1983

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

But anyway, the fact that WB2 TS labs aren't on Petr's plan for using INE's material to pass the current version of the lab says something to me, so I'm not spending alot of time with them.

That's the part that I missed at first, but then I saw this at the bottom:.
How to pass the CCIE R&S with INE's 4.0 Training Program

"Appendix B: Step-by-Step approach to completing a VOL2 Lab

A typical VOL2 labs has two sections: Troubleshooting and Configuration. The sections are independent, so you may complete them separately. If you are working on a 6-month or 12-month schedule, you may skip working on troubleshooting sections the first 3 months of the program to get better used to technology configurations first."

I understood that to mean you're supposed to do both even though he didnt mention troubleshooting earlier in the schedule, but I could be wrong.

Forsaken_GA

jamesp1983 wrote: »

That's the part that I missed at first, but then I saw this at the bottom:.
How to pass the CCIE R&S with INE's 4.0 Training Program

"Appendix B: Step-by-Step approach to completing a VOL2 Lab

A typical VOL2 labs has two sections: Troubleshooting and Configuration. The sections are independent, so you may complete them separately. If you are working on a 6-month or 12-month schedule, you may skip working on troubleshooting sections the first 3 months of the program to get better used to technology configurations first."

I understood that to mean you're supposed to do both even though he didnt mention troubleshooting earlier in the schedule, but I could be wrong.

No, no. You're actually right, I either totally missed that section, or it just didn't register. And now I'll need to revise my study plans....

jamesp1983

Watched a ATVoD on route redistribution last night. I still have about 46 videos to watch, but I've been trying to sync them with whatever section of a lab I'm on at the time. Keep up the hard work everyone!

jamesp1983

I got 7 hours in today. I'm nearly done lab 7 config then I'll do lab 7 TS.

jamesp1983

I just reached 400 hours... Its been flying by. I am on 5.2 of WBII Lab 8. Work has started to pick up, but I'm really enjoying it.

jamesp1983

I'm on 8.1 of WBII Lab 8. Here are the next steps:

Week 18: VOL2 Lab 8
Week 19: VOL2 Lab 9
Week 20: VOL3 Labs 5+6

Helpful page:

The Four Flavors of Frame-Relay Traffic Shaping

jamesp1983

Just FYI, if you use c3560-advipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE there is a bug that doesnt allow you to use EIGRP authentication... I've labbed for 5 hours so far today and I'm hoping to hit 8 hours. Hope everyone's labbing is going well.

jamesp1983

I was able to get in a little over 8 hours today. Good night!

jamesp1983

I'm about 3/4 of the way through lab 9 and moving right along. I am planning on going through WBI sections 9-14 in their entirety after week 24's Mock Lab 1.

jamesp1983

I finished lab 9 config/ts so on to Week 20: VOL3 Labs 5+6.

jamesp1983

Anyone else hit this WBIII, lab 5 headache?:

IOS error(?) with OSPF point-to-multipoint network in PPPoFR Hub-and-Spoke Topology « CCIE Pursuit Blog

How long do you guys spend on an issue if you're having trouble getting it to work?

jamesp1983

I read post after post about this PPPoFR OSPF issue, so I finally just removed the ppp config and did a normal hub and spoke frame relay config.

jamesp1983

A helpful CCIE link (lab day strategies, tech, study tips, etc):
CCIE Technical Library | IPexpert Inc.

jamesp1983

I've labbed for about a little over 5 hours today. I'm halfway through WBII, lab 10.

Here's the schedule now:

Week 21: VOL2 Lab 10
Week 22: VOL3 Lab 7+8
Week 23: VOL4 Labs 1+2
Week 24: Mock Lab 1

I have the mock lab scheduled on 9/8.

CaptainL

Hi, may I ask do you review what you read? or do you read all the chapters before reviewing?

jamesp1983

CaptainL wrote: »

Hi, may I ask do you review what you read? or do you read all the chapters before reviewing?

I am labbing now but during any downtime I'm constantly reviewing my notes or flash cards. I reread lab explanations in the INE WBs as well. My notes are over 260 pages now. I do a horrible job of tracking how much time I read in my signature.

CaptainL

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I am labbing now but during any downtime I'm constantly reviewing my notes or flash cards. I reread lab explanations in the INE WBs as well. My notes are over 260 pages now. I do a horrible job of tracking how much time I read in my signature.

thank you for your reply. Im inspired on how dedicated you are on in studying. I hope to get that habit of yours

btw, Im currently studying for ccna. hehe. hmmm. do you usually bring your notes wherever you go?

jamesp1983

CaptainL wrote: »

thank you for your reply. Im inspired on how dedicated you are on in studying. I hope to get that habit of yours

btw, Im currently studying for ccna. hehe. hmmm. do you usually bring your notes wherever you go?

Thanks. I do bring my notes everywhere. I have flash cards on my phone as well as some kindle books. Good luck on your ccna!
I hope to see you on this forum!

CaptainL

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Thanks. I do bring my notes everywhere. I have flash cards on my phone as well as some kindle books. Good luck on your ccna!
I hope to see you on this forum!

great I also have flash cards in my phone

Good luck on your CCIE!

jamesp1983

CaptainL wrote: »

great I also have flash cards in my phone Good luck on your CCIE!

Thank you! Its extremely convenient having notes/flash cards on your phone. I try to look at them whenever I have a free moment.