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've labbed for 6 hours today as well as completed a good amount of reading. I'm on WBI Sec 10, 10.10 Selective Packet Discard (SPD). These labs have been extremely informative since QoS is one of my weaker areas. I am hoping to get in another hour of labbing when I get home.

Some helpful, light weight links:
http://www.thebryantadvantage.com/CiscoCertificationExamReviewQueueing.htm
Cat QoS: http://lostintransit.se/2012/03/07/catalyst-qos/

jamesp1983

Its nice to get back into QoS. The explanations in WBI have really been helpful and have helped clarify a few misconceptions I had from earlier studies. Its also a nice refresher. This section is long, but interesting. I started using Mnemosyne on my PC again to keep all of the different QoS topics/algorithms straight. I stopped using it in lieu of Anymemo on my phone, but I enjoy making my own cards on my PC.

jamesp1983

I'm currently on 10.22 Legacy FRTS with Per-VC WFQ... These exercises are really opening up my eyes and driving home these topics. I only wish I would have done the QoS Section of WBI prior to Mock lab 1, but oh well.

Trivia:

-What are the benefits of FRTS when compared to GTS?

jamesp1983

Our son hasn't really been sleeping through the nights because of his stomach, so I've been watching a lot of INE videos. I try to get the majority of my labbing done at work so I can help my wife with him when I get home. I only have about 8 more INE videos left from my first iteration through them, but I am planning to rewatch them as needed.

PsychoFin

Congratulations on the birth of your son! My wife went through a c-section as well, tough stuff. Good luck with your studies. You've been doing great progress so far!

unclerico

Oh my goodness, I feel so selfish!! Congrats on your new son, I'm sure you are a proud papa! It never gets old bringing new ones into this world that's for sure.

Good progress on the IE studies, keep it up!

down77

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Our son hasn't really been sleeping through the nights because of his stomach, so I've been watching a lot of INE videos. I try to get the majority of my labbing done at work so I can help my wife with him when I get home. I only have about 8 more INE videos left from my first iteration through them, but I am planning to rewatch them as needed.

James if your son is anything like my daughter (8wks old today), their first words will be network related! She has been listening to INE videos with me since she was in the womb. I also stay up late taking care of her and labbing/reviewing! Keep up the great work and enjoy spending as much time as you can with your wife and son!

jamesp1983

PsychoFin wrote: »

Congratulations on the birth of your son! My wife went through a c-section as well, tough stuff. Good luck with your studies. You've been doing great progress so far!

Thank you! How old is your child now? I'm still pushing along.

jamesp1983

unclerico wrote: »

Oh my goodness, I feel so selfish!! Congrats on your new son, I'm sure you are a proud papa! It never gets old bringing new ones into this world that's for sure.

Good progress on the IE studies, keep it up!

I'm definitely a proud papa. It has been intense, but well worth it.

jamesp1983

We finally found a method for causing the baby to sleep for 4-5 hours at a time so we've been able to catch up with ourselves a little bit. I just wrapped up all of the legacy QoS features in WBI, Sect 10 and started on MQC. I've created a ton of flashcards with config snippets to help me remember what I've covered so far and that seems to be helping retention.

PsychoFin

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Thank you! How old is your child now? I'm still pushing along.

He is soon to be 10 months old. Time goes very fast. Good that you can manage to find time for the CCIE.

jamesp1983

PsychoFin wrote: »

He is soon to be 10 months old. Time goes very fast. Good that you can manage to find time for the CCIE.

Has it gotten easier? How's your sleep?

PsychoFin

His sleep is definitely much much easier to manage now. After about 3, 4 months he started to already sleep full nights (8PM - 6AM). Nowadays he wakes up more though, and doesn't have as many naps during the day. I have colleagues who weren't as lucky, took their kids much longer to sleep through the night.

I was lucky because my wife wasn't working at the time, so she tried to let me sleep during the night. Some nights I slept on the couch.

You'll learn to enjoy it once he starts to pay attention to stuff. At this stage he is just crying, eating and sleeping. Not too exciting I suppose hehe

jamesp1983

That is excellent to hear. Good luck!

jamesp1983

I'm on page 221, 10.37, of Sect 10-QoS. These exercises take awhile, but have been really helpful with increasing my understanding of the subject matter. I've never had much trouble with CBWFQ/LLQ, but some of the legacy features have tripped me up in the past.

I highly recommend going through this section if you are having a rough time with understanding QoS. The explanations and application will really help with your understanding. QoS has always been my weakest topic so I'm changing that.

PsychoFin

That sounds like a great resource. I can't wait to dig into QoS enabled applications. That's supposed to be a good one too. My QoS is pretty weak too heh.

jamesp1983

I'm glad I'm not alone ha. Let me know if you have any questions. It'll be good practice for me.

jamesp1983

I just learned from my boss that he needs me to pass 70-659, TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization. This is unfortunate considering that I'm so far along in my CCIE studies.

My company will lose its Gold partnership with MS if myself and 3 other techs dont pass this one. We are all MCITP:SA or EA's.

MrBrian

Wow, that oughta be pretty frustrating I imagine. On the bright side, since you have Microsoft experience already, hopefully it shouldn't take too much grind to get that cert. I can't imagine the exam is anywhere near the level of your current IE studies.. small hurdle I guess

down77

James I feel your pain! I had put the R&S track to the side for a little while to work on DCSNS, ICSNS, IASNS, Riverbed, and some other partner competencies to retain status for the company. Knock it out as fast as you can but try to do at least a little labbing towards the R&S track if possible!

Good luck!!!

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I just learned from my boss that he needs me to pass 70-659, TS: Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization. This is unfortunate considering that I'm so far along in my CCIE studies.

My company will lose its Gold partnership with MS if myself and 3 other techs dont pass this one. We are all MCITP:SA or EA's.

Did he not see this coming? He suddenly needs 4 people to get certified at once?

x5150

Congrats on the baby! My baby girl is due in a couple weeks :P I would like to hear about how you're getting any studying done.

jamesp1983

x5150 wrote: »

Congrats on the baby! My baby girl is due in a couple weeks :P I would like to hear about how you're getting any studying done.

Thanks! Congrats to you as well!

As far as how I'm getting any studying done: I have a very supportive wife who wants me to pass, and I do find time at work to lab/study (its very minimal). She usually lets me lab for 2-3 hours a night.

jamesp1983

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Did he not see this coming? He suddenly needs 4 people to get certified at once?

Apparently they changed the requirements for Gold Partnerships and he didn't know. Since I was an MS guy in a previous life and had my MCITP:SA/EA, he wants me to be one of the 4. I am not happy, but I have to keep my job.

jamesp1983

down77 wrote: »

James I feel your pain! I had put the R&S track to the side for a little while to work on DCSNS, ICSNS, IASNS, Riverbed, and some other partner competencies to retain status for the company. Knock it out as fast as you can but try to do at least a little labbing towards the R&S track if possible!

Good luck!!!

Thanks! My plan is to only study Hyper-V at work and try to find some lab time at home. Time is at a premium since my son has arrived.

jamesp1983

MrBrian wrote: »

Wow, that oughta be pretty frustrating I imagine. On the bright side, since you have Microsoft experience already, hopefully it shouldn't take too much grind to get that cert. I can't imagine the exam is anywhere near the level of your current IE studies.. small hurdle I guess

I'm extremely frustrated, but I have to do it. I'm thinking it will take a month of my time.

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Wow, life is full of surprises... My ex employer just called and offered me my old position at higher pay (+19k from where it was when I was there) and said I could work from home. hmm... He was very supportive of my CCIE and was going to pay for it. I left on great terms and he and I stayed in touch because I did after-hours work for them as a contractor.

Great timing! I imagine you wouldn't mind going back since you kept in touch.

jamesp1983

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Great timing! I imagine you wouldn't mind going back since you kept in touch.

I am leaning heavily in that direction...

down77

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I am leaning heavily in that direction...

Ask yourself why you left in the first place. If you enjoyed the organization/mgmt but $$$ could have been better than by all means return with a better salary! If there were other issues.... weigh the pro/con argument.

and36y

Congratulations on the little un. Been there have the scars to prove... good luck