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

Zartanasaurus

I took two CIERS1 labs as part of Narbik's bootcamp. The configuration in those isn't particularly hard. One of them came with a TS section that, topology wise, was like the real lab. About 30 devices with a couple of L2 devices that only matter in one area of the topology.

There's CIERS1, CIERS2 and CIERS labs that you can purchase listed in order of difficulty. Netmaster Class appears to sell all 3 types, although you have to click through to figure out which type it is. 3,4,10,11 are the CIERS labs. I can't find the CIERS1 or CIERS2 labs in the Cisco Learning Network Store, but the CIERS labs show up as 360RS-CIERSASSESS.

I wouldn't even waste my money on a CIERS1 for anyone close to taking the actual lab unless they just wanted to look at how the grader works. I plan on taking at least one CIERS lab. NMC has bundle deals @ 2 for $719 or all 4 for $1399. They also sell a package of CIERS Lab 1 with a troubleshooting mentoring/workshop for $439. That might interest you more for getting live feedback.

I'll probably breakdown and buy the 2 lab bundle. What's another $719 anyway, right? In fact, I might email their sales team and see if they'd throw in the mentoring as part of the 2 lab bundle.

Zartanasaurus

Was poking around the various service configs after Narbik's TS labs that relied on configuring a service and realized (perhaps not for the first time), that there's a service dhcp command. So you could no that out and have a perfectly working DHCP config that isn't handing out IPs. Only command I found that could see this without a show run was show udp. If you don't see port 67 on the list, your dhcp service is turned off. Sneaky sneaky.

How many hidden IOS commands have you come across? I'm up to 4 in my flashcards now. I figure I should just google "hidden Cisco IOS commands" and see what's out there.

jamesp1983

Thanks for the CIERS info.

I think some of the SPD commands tripped me up. I just did a quick google and found:
Cert-Nerds - Hidden IOS Commands

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

Thanks for the CIERS info.

I think some of the SPD commands tripped me up. I just did a quick google and found:
Cert-Nerds - Hidden IOS Commands

You can find the spd commands under ipv6 spd in the Master Command List. Just swap ip for ipv6 and the commands work. If you want more, you can find SPD under Cisco IOS XE S > Release 2 > Config Guides > IPv6 Config Guides > Implementing Selective Packet Discard.

jamesp1983

I have been still managing 2-3 hours a day, but work has been unusually busy the for the past 2 weeks so I haven't gotten as many as I would like. I am planning on a mock lab every Sunday until I take my real lab. I am just going over material that I am rusty on, as well as redoing WBII labs now. I am going to have Ruhann's notes printed and bound by Staples so that I can read over that as well.

Zartanasaurus

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

I'll probably breakdown and buy the 2 lab bundle. What's another $719 anyway, right? In fact, I might email their sales team and see if they'd throw in the mentoring as part of the 2 lab bundle.

Sent them an email and inquired about bundling these two into one deal. Had a custom quote a few hours later. Not too shabby.

down77

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Sent them an email and inquired about bundling these two into one deal. Had a custom quote a few hours later. Not too shabby.

All of the training companies are willing to negotiate on pricing/bundles. As you found out it never hurts to ask!

jamesp1983

I might have to look into that.

jamesp1983

I completed WB2 Labs 1-2 including TS again. I printed out Ruhann's pdf and I plan on going over that while sneaking in lab time where I can. Once I am done this book I will go back to hitting labs hard again.

down77

Great job! I was working Lab 7 and 12 earlier today to get ready for next week.

jamesp1983

down77 wrote: »

Great job! I was working Lab 7 and 12 earlier today to get ready for next week.

Thanks. Why did you pick those 2? I'm always looking for advice so please share.

Good luck! Time flies in the last 90 days.

down77

A recommendation from someone in the INE bootcamp who sat the exam last week and failed. He mentioned Lab 7 (difficulty of 9) and Lab 12 (difficulty of 7) were good ones to review. I can see lab 7 being mentally and physically stressing while lab 12 could be similar difficulty to the real thing. I'm working lab 13 this afternoon.

I'll find out what the real thing is like very soon!

jamesp1983

I'll try those towards the end as well. You'll have to let us know how it goes! Good luck again!

jamesp1983

We moved this weekend and that burned 3 days so I'm going to have to triple my efforts over the next couple of days. I was able to do some Boson practice tests to refresh some theory as well as listen to some INE VoD material throughout the move. I finally got my office set up yesterday so I'm going to hit it hard today. I'm feeling motivated by all of the guys that are taking theirs soon.

mhonsky

How is your preparation? I hope I can be like you in doing labs for longer hours.

jamesp1983

Its going. I have been really busy at work so I have been sneaking in time where I can. I might take some time off from work to wrap up my mock labs and to go over my rough spots.

jamesp1983

I just wrapped up INE TS Mock Lab 2. It was fun. I'm glad I did these mock TS labs because I have gotten over my fear of large topologies and I just settle right in and get to business.

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I just wrapped up INE TS Mock Lab 2. It was fun. I'm glad I did these mock TS labs because I have gotten over my fear of large topologies and I just settle right in and get to business.

I really wish they had released more of these. Additional labs have been "coming soon" since they new ones were released. $60 for an IOU TS mock lab is a pretty good deal.

jamesp1983

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

I really wish they had released more of these. Additional labs have been "coming soon" since they new ones were released. $60 for an IOU TS mock lab is a pretty good deal.

I'm going to invest in one shortly.

jamesp1983

Time for INE Mock Lab 5.

jamesp1983

Wow, that was certainly not my best performance. I need to be sure to go over Ruhann's notes as well as my own. I wasted a lot of time on silly mistakes.

mhonsky

that's fine, now you have time to improve your mistakes before taking the real lab

jamesp1983

mhonsky wrote: »

that's fine, now you have time to improve your mistakes before taking the real lab

That is true. I have a plan now.

down77

Keep up the hard work! Just over a month left before you hopefully have your number.

jamesp1983

down77 wrote: »

Keep up the hard work! Just over a month left before you hopefully have your number.

Thanks! Good luck to you!

jamesp1983

Wow, I actually did a lot better on ML5 than I thought I would. I got a perfect score on the TS section, and I did alright on the config.

jamesp1983

I just wrapped up INE ML6. That was rough. I didn't get a perfect score on the TS this time. It took me every bit of the allocated time. I have completed 1,2,3,5, and 6. I will do ML7 and 4 next.

Zartanasaurus

jamesp1983 wrote: »

I just wrapped up INE ML6. That was rough. I didn't get a perfect score on the TS this time. It took me every bit of the allocated time. I have completed 1,2,3,5, and 6. I will do ML7 and 4 next.

You're a madman.

ML6 was my worst ML for troubleshooting.

jamesp1983

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who had trouble with it.

jamesp1983

My ML6 grade was more than I expected, but not as good as the others.