CCIE R&S Journal: I Want To Be The Best

bharvey92 · December 2015

Sorry to hear about the fail mate, as lrb has said. Take a few days and then pick yourself back up. I've not sat the written, but from failing previous exams I can speak from experience when I say just hit the topics hard you think you were weaker at and book the re-sit ASAP!

jamesp1983 · December 2015

Sorry to hear this, but at least you have an idea of the type of questions they are going to ask now. You will get it next time.

Danielh22185 · December 2015

Bummer to hear man. Like I said before and you know well, failing only makes us stronger. The endeavor is real and will be life changing for you (I'm sure already has been). Take some time to get your head out of it a bit, recoup, and hit it hard again.

Your thread is extremely motivating for many of us. Keep at it!

Bardlebee · December 2015

Thanks guys, I just scheduled for the 16th. Nobody is going to stop me. I'll fail till I pass. Thankfully I make enough money to where a 400 dollar test fee isn't going to dissuade me too much. Still sucks, still a lot of money.

In the grand scheme though, worth it.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 109-118

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- CCIE Written Stuff.. Mainly topics I missed on the first attempt, VPLS, HDLC etc.

Total Time: 1-4 hours every day

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

FOUR MONTHS OF STUDYING EVERY DAY:

I've said this before, but I think I've missed maybe one day out of almost 120 when I didn't study at least an hour. Most days I can get in 2-4 hours and beyond. The first three months were nothing short of career changing for me. I mean, before I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on things. I'm a Senior Network Engineer at my company and I've had the good fortune to have experience with large enterprises/hosing providers/ISP type worlds in my short 5 years. I thought I was pretty good 4 months ago. Its amazing how much I've grown in just 4 months, I think I've gotten better at what I do more so now then I have any time in my career.

That was the first three months... After I finished my first pass through INE one off labs, read nine books and watched Brian talk hours on end. Those were good times. I feel like this fourth month has been very frustrating. I am slightly regretting going for the written, I feel I should have listened to my gut and just waited to the last few months before I was read for the lab. Mainly its because I feel like my study habits and drive have taken quite a hit.

For example, its very easy and much more entertaining and much more productive to lab for 4-6 hours. In a lot of ways if you're not learning a new topic, you're practicing your skills. At the very least you are learning to type commands faster etc. With the written and book knowledge its very, very different. I don't mind the new topics (VPLS/PfR etc have been interesting) I just don't feel the eagerness to go through it or to even start the motions. Its tough to sit down and read something trying to find the "unknown unknowns" that you may have on the written test. Its hard to keep it up for 4 hours. Most nights in the past month I'd say I'd average 2 hours. I am just looking forward to taking my test on the 16th or whatever day in the future, no matter how many times I have to take it, so I can pass and just move on back to labbing.

I felt like I was growing more both in knowledge and skill when I was labbing and doing a lot of things that were CCIE lab focused. Granted I can and do that for the written, but I dunno its not the same.

The written has slowed me down, probably more then I expected, maybe a whole month... maybe more. I still want to take my lab in June and I certainly will try. But other things come into play of course, I am going to have a kid in June as well. Ironically I thought to myself it would be a great time to start getting my CCIE back in August as I had no kids yet. Haha. Well here I am.

So I am kind of at a crossroads, eventually, I will pass the written. So now I have a choice to make on my frequency and fever towards how hard I hit the labs. Do I spend 4 hours weekdays and 6 hours weekend days like I was originally? Do I up it like I was doing prior to written prep to 6 hours every day? That didn't seem to hurt. I'm certainly not going back to 8 hour days, that was too intense for me right now, though I will need to do that and more near the end. Or do I take a more sane approach... do 2-4 hours a day? Maybe 4 hours every day and weekend days and have a life? I have no idea how much time a baby will take up in my life and honestly the other side of my life (having one) like playing games with friends or whatever will be completely void.

I'm kind of jabbering because its 3am here and I'm up too late.

The other thing that kind of itches my brain is that... while I am studying for the CCIE I really don't have the time/mental capacity to study other things with as much focus. For example, I'd like to learn about scripting/NSX/SDN type stuff because it would make me super marketable, at least for those places that are into that. Certainly the CCIE will make me super marketable, but you know you get that little doubt in your mind that says maybe the CCIE will take you 5-10 years to get and that is just life. So maybe I should focus on other technology to solidify my current position?

One of my biggest fears in my career right now is that I've hit a higher up position that I'd like to keep when I move at least in equal pay/benefits, don't care for the title as long as the job is challenging. But I would like to be able to leave on a whim and have that knowledge/security that I can do that. I guess for me to be able to do that I would need A) More experience

An awesome cert/knowledge like the CCIE or C) a niche market stuff (for now) like SDN/NSX/Scripting knowledge.

In the end, whatever I do, I feel that at least I am bettering myself in some way so its likely I will get to that position and those fears will quickly go away.

I'm starting to see, that the reason that a lot of people quit the CCIE is not because of the difficulty so much as its the mental fortitude. The doubt that comes into play, the ability to keep going when you're tired of it. Its tough man. But if I want to be the very best, I guess I have to be tougher.

I feel I am 1/3 through my journey. This is the Prep/Revision Phase. Next is the Practice/Fine Tuning Phase and the final phase is Lab Phase. I can definitely see, how four months have slipped by so fast that someone could do this for years. Time flies...

I should go to bed. Haha! Good night people.

JoJoCal19 · January 2016

Bardlebee wrote: »

I am slightly regretting going for the written, I feel I should have listened to my gut and just waited to the last few months before I was read for the lab.

I can't remember where I saw/heard this, I want to say it was from Brian McGahan, but they recommended waiting to sit the written until you are actually ready to do the lab. In all of the prep work for the lab, if you're ready to tackle the lab then the written should be an afterthought. A benefit being that you're not passing the written and then the clock starting on your timeframe to do the lab.

lostindaylight · January 2016

Hi Bardlebee,

Not sure you need to second guess yourself on when to take the written. The conventional wisdom has always been to sit the written when you're nearly ready for the lab. I'm sure that's the best advice any more.

1. Written only topics are not trivial in terms of prep time.
2. The written focuses on a lot of trivial pursuit type stuff that's not relevant for the lab such as tables and timers and addresses and such that you can normally get from the cli (ex: you need to see the DSCP/IPP/COS table. Create an extended access list and type eq dscp ?)
3. The last thing you would want in your final lab push is to have distractions. If you thought this was a frustrating distraction from your labbing time now, imagine how you would have felt if you were much deeper into it.

In a nutshell, I think you're fine. You'll knock it out and move on, and be glad you don't have to worry about it later.

Bests,

-lid

gorebrush · January 2016

As my company pick up the tab for my written I'll go and do it anyway just so I can get a lab date. I'm so much more focussed that way.

Bardlebee · January 2016

lostindaylight wrote: »

1. Written only topics are not trivial in terms of prep time.
2. The written focuses on a lot of trivial pursuit type stuff that's not relevant for the lab such as tables and timers and addresses and such that you can normally get from the cli (ex: you need to see the DSCP/IPP/COS table. Create an extended access list and type eq dscp ?)
3. The last thing you would want in your final lab push is to have distractions. If you thought this was a frustrating distraction from your labbing time now, imagine how you would have felt if you were much deeper into it.

Yeah, main reason I did it now is because I didn't want to lose focus. It would suck to be ready for the lab and then have to spend a good month and new topics trying to get the written only stuff in.

You and gorebrush hit the nail on the head on why I changed my mind. I was listening to Brian initially to do it near the end, but A) I wanted to reset my current certs anyway and

I felt the topic separation would cause too much distraction.

I'm not super regretting it, the written is just frustrating me. Haha.

lrb · January 2016

The only con with delaying the written is if you had a very specific day in mind you might not get a seat if you don't book ahead of time. For me, I'm sitting the SP lab between my current contract and my new one, so I had to make sure I had done the written enough time in advance that I could get a date on a specific week.

Bardlebee · January 2016

lrb wrote: »

The only con with delaying the written is if you had a very specific day in mind you might not get a seat if you don't book ahead of time. For me, I'm sitting the SP lab between my current contract and my new one, so I had to make sure I had done the written enough time in advance that I could get a date on a specific week.

Yep. I've considered this as well. That and I have a year to reset my current certs and I'm not super enthused to do another Security NP cert or an CCNA: SP then CCNP: SP Cert line. Kinda want to get the written to reset. Worse case scenario I could probably go in blind on a TSHOOT test at this point haha.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 119-121

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- CCIE Written Stuff.. Smaller niche topics at this point... filling holes where I can.

Total Time: 3-4 hours every day

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

FINAL THOUGHTS:

So, this is basically me right now:

I am looking forward to testing myself on Saturday, but I'm not holding my breath. I am now reading such very corner case topics that I'm unsure if I've gone down wrong paths or if I am overly ready. Hopefully the latter. But the end goal is the same, I'll keep throwing money at Cisco until I either learn my lesson and get better or pass this written.

Can't wait to start labbing again. This is tiring.

I have found one big flaw in my knowledge though. I did not know how much I didn't know about OSPFv3. I feel the INE (for the video/lab portion that was short) didn't prepare me for its smaller granularities, nor did my reading. There is plenty that has helped me realized base knowledge wise I wasn't there yet. But now I feels it... I'm so close. I've also been spending a lot of time on HDLC, VPLS and OTV as I felt its been my weakest points.

Other stuff like BGP path attributes I can do in my sleep now as well as the BGP path selection process. I do need some reminders on the latter but I don't think it'll be a deal breaker come Saturday.

I felt that IPv6 has been a very key component of the CCIE so far in this written portion, so I've spent extra time on the ICMPv6 and other protocols. There were surprising differences I didn't realize, such as PMTU error code differences between IPv4/v6. Pretty weird how tiny stuff like this could bite you come test time.

Five more days and I will walk the 'dead man walking' walk again.

Iristheangel · January 2016

Bardlebee wrote: »

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

LoL. ODR. Smh.
On LSAs, I think the one thing that threw me off at first was the differences in LSA types between OSPFv2 and OSPFv3. Once I wrapped my head around what they do a bit more, it made sense. Another thing my RGs buddies told me is that you have to just keep labbing it out to get that comprehension. Have you use the Micronics Foundations book? One of our members went through all the INE lab workbooks in prep for his Narbik book and asked us a couple weeks ago what he should lab now in prep. He was a bit skeptical about going to Foundations but two weeks later, he's like "Wow. That was a great suggestion. I'm learning a lot."
For Multicast, I've been told by multiple people that this older book on Multicast is the best.
For QoS, another friend of mine swore by this book. I bought it but haven't read it yet. It's got a great rating on Amazon though.

Also, check out this list of resources that some of our Routergod's members offered:
https://hackpad.com/RouterGods-CCIE-Resource-List-BZwXWAhPG1B
The Denise Fishburne talk on Multicast is really good.

Hope that helps you out a little in prep

Bardlebee · January 2016

Oh man, that list is old and actually horribly out of date. But I keep it each update so I don't forget I need to review when this is all done for the written part. Once I'm done of this test those topics I will hit hard and focus in on.

Thanks for the book suggestions, I'll likely give them a read.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 122-130: PASSED WRITTEN! TIME FOR THE GAMEPLAN!

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Studied written stuff - passed written - profit

Total Time: 3-4 hours every day

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

So, this is basically me right after I passed my written:

In a lot of ways this attempt and pass was easier then the last. One of the major contributing factors was I got quite a few of the same questions as I previously had, and I went home that night and wrote down where I failed.

My lowest average was still Layer 2. Which will be my focus in the next few weeks.

There is little time to celebrate, well okay I partied over the weekend and didn't study. For funnies I am putting a section in my update sheet showing how many days out of the total I didn't study at all. Not sure it matters really, as long as I am mostly consistent. My current number is a ball park of what I feel to be as accurate as I can be. Which... is pretty crazy when you think about it. 130 days and only missed 5.

Anywho, lets talk about my gameplan. I now, in theory, have 18 months to study and attempt the lab. Well, there is no way in hell I am waiting for that. I want to attempt in June, I'm not sure of the logic of that or the feasibility, so I won't schedule my lab until April-ish. If June is taken then oh well. I don't need a date to keep me honest and pushing forward for this. At least I hope I don't :P I've come this far, if I turn back now I'll never forgive myself.

This week I am going to focus some shaky topics that I feel I am still weak in and then hit the labs again next week.

Below I guess is the modified/general plan since this Written adventure took me a month longer then anticipated. Not too bad of a detour and I am actually glad I can 100 percent focus on the lab topics:

Study Time: Weekdays 4-6 or more hours / Weekends: 6 or more hours

Phase 1) Build Up and Written September - December - COMPLETED

Do all INE workbook/videos/reading first pass - Done
1. Do all one-off technology workbook labs once
2. Watch each INE video in conjunction
3. Read literature on each technology
Study technologies out of scope of the lab for the written - Dec 1 - 20
IS-IS and other technologies from books/videos
Take all wrong questions and study deeply the Cisco documentation on the subject
Identify week areas
If I fail the test, I will reschedule a week later and assess the problem areas.
I will weep silently for the 400 dollars lost
Take practice tests and repeat studies on areas missed - Dec 1 - 20
Take the CCIE written - Dec 13 - 26 <--- Actual date: Jan 1/16
Profit - I can move on to Phase 2

Phase 2) Lab Apocalypse - PROJECTED: December - March / NOW: January - April - CURRENT

Do a "Second Pass" on the same one-off INE technologies and continue until mastered. - January
1. Whichever labs are missed, not understood or not gotten right the first time, they will be added to subsequent passes
  1. There will be a "Third" a "Forth" etc etc passes until all technologies are done right the first time and most importantly the logic is fully understood from the lab
Do Narbik's workbook and all the labs and see how well I do - Feb
Do the remainder of the INE Labs, Functional, Config, TSHOOT and Mock January - March - April
Fully understand what was wrong, and repeat these labs until you do them in extremely fast fashion.
Time yourself, increase efficiency
Do Cisco 360 labs February - March

Phase 3) Final Boss Fight - PROJECTED: April - June / NOW: April - June

Schedule Lab Attempt - April - May
1. Assess from 1-5 where I am. Work on speed and accuracy.
2. Learn lab tricks to help with speed.
Perhaps attend Bootcamp - TBD
Achieve my career long dream to join the ranks of the CCIE
Exceptional profit

siggnation · January 2016

Yeah!!! The will to keep moving, awesome Bardlebee.

I failed SWITCH by 10 points last Friday; and I've rescheduled for Jan. 30th. Hope to have some of your good mojo for my re-take.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 131

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Reviewed IGMP Snooping
- MAB and Dot1.x

Total Time: 2.5 hours every day

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

So, as mentioned before I am going to take this week and hopefully catch up on several topics (about 20-30) of them and re-review them from the written. And I don't mean like broad topics, I am talking about very specific line items from the written topics. Stuff like EVPL/VPLS etc are on that list. I know they aren't on the lab, but I do want to know more about them.

One thing to note, getting back into the grove of studying and getting back into that tempo is tough. I need to hit 4 hours today, but since I haven't been in the groove for so long its tough. When I was studying for the written and I stopped updating this post, I would study every day, but it was hard pressed to study for 4-6 hours on material like MAC addresses for HSRPv6 and such. That kind of granularity and written-specific stuff drives me mad.

Lets see if I can rev up tomorrow and follow through back on my old self!

Bardlebee · January 2016

siggnation wrote: »

Yeah!!! The will to keep moving, awesome Bardlebee.

I failed SWITCH by 10 points last Friday; and I've rescheduled for Jan. 30th. Hope to have some of your good mojo for my re-take.

Good luck man. You can do it... worst case scenario keep throwing money at Cisco.

Danielh22185 · January 2016

Awesome job so far man! Congrats on the written pass! Keep that study train rolling! I'm rooting for ya!

Bardlebee · January 2016

Thanks bud! Getting back into the groove today.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 132

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Reviewed missed written Topics: EIGRP Query/Summary and other various things.

Total Time: 3.5 hours every day

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

So close to four hours. I feel the groove a coming back.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 133-4

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Reviewed EVPL/IPv6 EIGRP

Total Time: 1 / 3 hours every day

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Not much the past two days. But oh well lets catch up this weekend!

bender000 · January 2016

My advice to you: get your troubleshooting skills down pat. This is kinda hard as its fundamentally easier to run through a build lab than find new 'fault' labs to troubleshoot. But focus on getting into a TS groove: know your layers and have a methodology, don't just blindly stare at a show run and guess. Know how the technology works and troubleshoot up the layers. Note knowing how the technology works is very different from memorising rubbish for the written, what a horrible experience that was and if its any consolation to you I failed it once too.

Also, the C360 labs are a rip, but they are really good, and I'm glad I spent the dineros on them myself.

bender000 · January 2016

no edit function goddammit...

don't sweat the corner cases too much. Sure you might get them, but the v5 exam (from all accounts, not just my own experience) is very solidly aligned with fundamentals (routing, routing, more routing).

and yes reading the qs properly is definitely a skill. the C360 labs are really good for this, as they're exactly the same style and interface as the real thing. Esp. in config, you will save yourself a bucket load of time and grief by stepping through the whole thing at the start and then combining tasks as appropriate / not driving down a blind alley unnecessarily. unfortunately there are scenarios where functionality is dependent upon a task that is described later on, so its important you can either keep it all in your head, or do the tasks in the 'correct' order but at the same time not gloss over anything.

Bardlebee · January 2016

Thanks for the tips man. Yeah I am looking forward to going back to labbing on Monday. I just have a few more things I want to review tomorrow and then I am set. Looking forward to the next 4 months, perhaps I can get an attempt in June/July time frame.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 135

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Reviewed Several Topics - RSTP/NBAR/DiffServ Model/ etc

Total Time 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Tomorrow is my final day of looking backwards, meaning studying written corner cases I missed and brushing up on my basics before I move forward.

As mentioned before the written was more of a stall then I thought it would end up being, but I am glad I did it and now I have the focus to just burn through the front lines of the lab. I feel like if I just buckle down and do the same dedication I had the first three months to labbing, I may be able to attempt this thing in June or July. My daughter is due in early June so this will truly be my greatest test in my life. Raising both a child and preparing for the CCIE will be hard, if not extremely stressful. My mindset is such that this goes in the order of my importance Daughter > CCIE > Work > Fun (non existent). With this order I hope to finish this out this year.

Maybe I won't pass in June, I mean the statistics are pretty bleak, but I'd like to attempt it till I pass. Money be damned. If I lab every day I'll be able to look back and ask where the time went. As of right now I am nearing the five month mark of days studied. I wanted to attempt the lab in 10 months. I am surprised and yet happy that I feel that this is very possible, that I may have the skill set by then to have a real shot at this beast. Honestly, on my first attempt, I just want to make it bleed. Meaning I would be happy with 1 out of 3 sections passing. Preferably TSHOOT or CONFIG.

bender000 · January 2016

Do it in april and give yourself room for attempt two. You will not have any time or energy after your first newborn!!!! No pressure

Bardlebee · January 2016

Lol that's what I hear but honestly I'm not too worried. I work from home so I have time to study. I'll be able to fit it in here and there.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 136

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Finished Review 2.5 hours
- Read TCP/IP Illustrated 1.5 hours

Total Time 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

bender000 made me really give a hard thought to scheduling a late May attempt. Damn you bender. I asked around other professionals what their date attempts were, most of them are the next two months. I always like asking people when they are going to attempt something and their experience etc to get a feel for when maybe I could be at that level. I researched that I can still schedule my exam within 90 days of an attempt I just have to pay upfront, that is no concern of mine. So I think I will re-assess at the end of March and schedule it end of May for my first fail in.

Tomorrow, I will focus on hitting the INE one-off labs one after the other. The ones I can't do perfectly both in concept and command line I will mark and move on so I can do it during my "third pass". As explained before I will do this to the Nth pass and basically hit only the ones I've missed each time until the list becomes short and finally non-existent. Only after that I will hit the list I highlighted above harder.

I'm hoping this whole process doesn't take me more then two weeks. Which makes going on a trip the week after next harder. I'll see what I can squeeze in during my week vacation.

I've felt like studying for the written was a vacation from studying, and I hate it. I feel I've lost some knowledge and definitely syntax memory. Looking forward to getting back into it.

Bardlebee · January 2016

DAY 137

REVIEW NEEDED AFTER TODAY AND PAST DAY:
-Lab ERSPAN
-Variance and Unequal Cost Load Balancing Documentation <-- Test out the traffic-shared balanced command.
- Practice aggregate routes/advertise-maps and communities - BGP
- Practice Regex AS-PATH access-lists
- Practice conditional static routing again.
- Auto-RP (Also known as "How do magnets work?")

THINGS I DID:

- Finished "second pass" labs below - 4 hours
Layer 2 Access Switchports
Layer 2 Dynamic Switchports
802.1q Dynamic Trunking
802.1q Native VLAN
DTP Negotiation
VTP Domain
VTP Transparent
VTP Pruning
VTP Prune-Eligible List
VTP Version 3
Layer 2 EtherChannel
Layer 2 EtherChannel with PAgP
Layer 2 EtherChannel with LACP
Layer 3 EtherChannel
STP Root Bridge Election
STP Path Selection with Port Cost
STP Path Selection with Port Priority
Total Time 4 hours

WEAK AREAS:
- ODR - WTF is this. Need review/videos.
- Route-maps / IP SLA - Need practice/labbing
- prefix-list/wild card masks - Need practice/labbing
- Reading Comprehension of Objectives - FOCUS!
- Need more lab time on LSA lookups (recursive LSA lookup logic)
- Multicast Routing
- MPLS/VRF In General
- QoS foundations/logic shaping/policing/priority etc

QUESTIONS/CONFUSION/CONCERNS:
- None

TOTAL DAYS OF ZERO TIME STUDYING: 5

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Feels good to make progress. One of the biggest detractors of the CCIE is just getting started. The sheer volume of material keeps you paralyzed from moving forward. I felt it again when starting my labbing ritual. But once I hit the first lab it quickly went away, perhaps I know now that with practice, I too can be an expert.

The following labs I'll redo after this pass out of the ones above:

VTP Prune-Eligible List
VTP Version 3
STP Path Selection with Port Priority

CCIE R&S Journal: I Want To Be The Best

Comments