From: Shaun Nicholson (Shaun.Nicholson@xxxxxx)
Date: Tue Jan 16 2001 - 16:40:56 GMT-3
Ok as requested by many of you my findings on my way to passing the lab.
First reading list Caslow, Doyle, Halabi also add John Moy OSPF Antonamy of a r
outing process, top OSPF book. Oh and the new Cisco Multicast book by Beau Will
iamson.
I also recommend the RFC's related to DLSW, BGP, OSPF, and PPP. Cisco also has
some excellent design guides on OSPF, BGP and DLSW read them and learn them.
I bought the Bootcamp labs they are good. I did not do them all, they are howev
er expensive IMHO but well worth it if you get your employer to pay for them. Y
ou do however need to expand on them, and hey guys to be an expert you need to
be able to pull things out of your bum on the fly so work on your own labs as w
ell.
DO NOT USE THE All-in-one Cisco CCIE Study Guide it is a pile of shite. (Excuse
my French)
I used it for my first attempt and I think it should be pulled off the shelves,
as it is a blatant lie on what
It claims it will achieve for you.
This group used to be the business but now I'm afraid to say its gone from bein
g 80% knowledge and 20% chit chat to the other way round. I was not asked once
on the lab how many females are CCIEs. I have tried many times in vain to point
out that this is not an egroup it,s a technical discussion about completing th
e CCIE lab. Please bear this in mind, as 80% of the current emails are a waste
of time and even effort. This will drive away knowledgeable people who cannot s
pare the time to read through the crap, Try www.egroup.com if you want to set
up an idle chit chat group as this group is not the correct place for that sort
of discussion. If you don,t believe me read the email sent to you when you joi
ned its all stated on their.
I have heard many people say, "oh the questions are really difficult to underst
and". They are not, honestly the reason they appear difficult for you to unders
tand is because you don,t understand the technology correctly, at this current
stage of your study, I found this out on my first attempt. You have to be hones
t with yourself and realize that your not good enough this time and work on get
ting better or you will never pass. This is not an MCSE a CNE or a CCNP its ver
y difficult and based on hands on knowledge.
I spent 35 - 40 (5 hours reading the rest practice) hours a week on my lab stud
y preparation you need to do this. Well I did anyway. You need a lab to work on
, 5 or more routers if you can as well as a CAT 5000 or similar IOS router.
I really missed not having someone to work with I would recommend getting a stu
dy partner or a mentor to work with as its good to bounce Ideas of others.
I would recommend taking the ARS CCIE class (as mentioned in Caslows book) but
make sure your ready to do the lab, as you need to be at a high level to get th
e most from this class.
If you fail get back up and dust yourself down and start over again. I failed t
wice on my way and came so close on my second go but I was not good enough that
time.
Remember troubleshooting starts on day one, that was my biggest mistake on my f
irst attempt not realizing how to troubleshoot what ever you have to build in t
he lab. I got stuck in a hole and dug down instead of climbing out.
The CD is a great tool and use it in the lab. Learn your way round this guy it
will help you on the day. I took the time to understand and build things like s
ay BGP confederations but did not commit all the commands to memory but knew w
here they were on the CD the same for DHCP and Voice. Now you still have to und
erstand how they work completely and also configure them lots of times in your
own lab but save that memory space for the core subjects.
Find something else to do for fun and have time off every weekend to do it.
I took up paintballing (as my golf was more depressing than studying) and I nev
er thought about the CCIE once when out in the woods fighting for survival. It
was only 5 hours a week but I needed it.
Finally get as much support as you can from your family, friends and work colle
agues, as you will need it.
I would also spell out to you wife what this involves, time etc so that she can
't moan once you start.
I have had a daughter since I started on this lab and I was really not there 10
0% through the pregnancy
I made Julie aware of that and she was fine with it but if I had not boy that w
ould have been grounds for divorce. She has however backed me 100% and even mo
ved to the USA from England with me when we decided to take a job in the USA.
Thanks go to this group for the hints and tips. My boss Jim Fox for all his sup
port some of my work colleagues who helped me. An up yours to the ones who took
a bad attitude because I passed Its only jealously I know, but its not needed
if they got off their fat arses and tried it they would realize how much you ha
ve to put in to it. My wife even though she will never read this thanks Jules w
ithout you I would not have made it. My daughter Amy who's picture I took into
the Lab so I knew why I was taking the punishment. Now that was a better incent
ive than the money I could earn.
Now please don,t ask me for anything more specific as it took me 9 months to ge
t here and I wont throw it away on an
NDA issue.
Thanks
Shaun Nicholson CCIE 6705
Lead Network Engineer
Kaiser Permanente
Silver Spring Data Center
301 680 1462
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