From: Craig Johnson (cjohnson65000@xxxxxxxxx)
Date: Sun Mar 04 2001 - 11:24:48 GMT-3
On March 1st, 2001, I became CCIE number 6965 in San Jose. It was a long and g
rueling battle, but I finally made it.
The books I used are the ones you would expect; namely Caslow, Halabi, and Doyl
e. I passed my written test in March of 2000, and failed the lab once in Decem
ber. I think the best thing that helped me was actually studying with someone
else for this lab. When I prepared the first time, I studied alone, and it's m
uch easier to slack off without being accountable to someone. I had a rack of
about 9 or 10 routers and 1 cat5500. Of course, I used the bootcamp labs prima
rily to study, but I had some ASET labs which helped greatly. The hardest part
about the lab was the little tricks. There was one 2-point section I needed t
o get working to get 2 other 3-point sections to work, and I could not figure o
ut how to get the 2-pointer to work. So, in the end I cheated and used a stati
c route to get it to work. Did I miss the 2 point section? Sure, but I got th
e other 3 point sections to work.
Day One wasn't too bad initially, until I saw all the tricks inside of it. I f
inished just barely, but one of my routers had no routes in it at the end! I w
ent to my hotel that night feeling terrible, knowing I wasn't going to make it.
I couldn't sleep a wink that whole night. I came in on day 2 just wanting to
get out of there when to my surprise there was a day 2 book on my desk! Turns
out that the router just hadn't reconverged yet! Day 2 am was a snap compared
to day 1, and I was able to finish all of the issues by 10:30. I checked ever
ything and wrote down information on all of my routers in the hope I would make
it to troubleshooting. I went to lunch for about an hour and a half. The wal
k from the lobby to the test room was the longest walk I've ever made. Fortuna
tely, my proctor told me I had made it! I immediately got to work. This was t
he best part, troubleshooting was a breeze comparitively. I was supposed to fi
nd about a dozen problem, but I found about 20. I turned in my paper and waite
d. The proctor asked me a few questions about my network and then left the roo
m. When he came back, he had a sheet of paper with my number on it.
Well, that's my story, hope it helps anyone working on the CCIE. I think I'm g
oing to travel around the world now, just to broaden my horizons while I'm youn
g. I'd like to thank this group for all the helpful knowledge I found here.
Craig Johnson, CCIE #6965
P.S. I'd like to also thank AKD (you know who you are) for all his help, too.
:)
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