From: BIKEMAN (krode@xxxxxxxxxxx)
Date: Thu May 03 2001 - 08:56:29 GMT-3
Hi all
On Tuesday I passed my lab in Sydney.
What a journey this has been. I have know the exhilaration of success and the
depths of despair. I lost my life for 18 months and want it back - NOW !
Attempt no 1
Kamikaze style, only goal was to see day two. Almost did it but not quite.
Great lab tho - straight forward and fiendishly hard
Attempt no 2
First serious attempt. Made troubleshooting but just. Missed CCIE by 2 points.
Long lab, lots to do. Not as hard as no 1.
Attempt no 3
Disaster. Did not get past day 1. Extremely hard. Thought I had just above or
below 40. Wrong. Very very despondent after this and considered giving up.
Attempt no 4
Very hard day one, handled in style. Easy day two but completely messed it up
after spending an hour and a half trying to get my voice working. Only
realised 10 minutes to go that I never patched the cables. Made
troubleshooting on the absolute edge. Proctor told me it would be very very
hard to make it. (those of you who know me would know that this would be
exactly the thing to spur me on) PASSED and became CCIE #7307.
Study study study study. Know everything that IOS 12.0 can do backwards.
Practise over and over again. Doyle Vol 1 and 2, Caslow Ed 1, Halabi Ed 1,
Perlman, Tom Thomas's OSPF design guide, Lan Switching book, CD CD CD CD CD,
Fatkid (thanks Derek) and many many more. Had a quick look at bootcamps a
friend had, but did not look hard enough. Be precise. Analyse every word. The
devil IS in the detail. Be very nice to the proctor. Dress nice.
I am the kind of guy who looks for shortcuts. THERE ARE NONE. You have to know
every switch of every command. This is the level they will test you at. I had
seen this, but always thought there would be a quicker way. There is none.
Know Halabi and Doyle by heart and then go beyond them.
MOST IMPORTANTLY - get a study partner. Me and Dave spent the weekend before
the lab in the same room. We found mistakes in the way each other had been
doing things for a long time. It might work, but its not CCIE standard. We sat
the lab together and if it wasn't for him keeping me calm I would not have
made it. THANKS DUDE. YOU ARE THE MAN. The feeling of us both getting our
numbers was absolutely priceless.
Now, it is time for wine, women and song. Anybody want to buy some routers in
Sydney, mail me. Those of you going for it, it can be done. It is hard hard
hard and then some, but it is possible. Do not expect to pass first go. The
average is 3 or 4. Labs change all the time so never expect to see in the next
one what you just had. The CCIE group is too smart for that.
Lastly, any proctors or CCIE lab groups reading this: guys, you made me a
CCIE. I am so confident in my ability and so good and tuning those nerd knobs
now. Thank you. My skills are as sharp as a knife and if it wasn't for you it
would never have gone that far. Thank you even for failing me 4 times. I
needed to be ready before I passed.
I would like to thank:
Cathy - without your understanding and support I would never have made it.
"Honey, I'm home !"
David Macbride - You always believed in me. Thank you. IT WILL ALL WORK OUT.
Dave Reynolds - YOU ARE SO THE MAN. Thank you. I could not have done it
without you.
Henry - you were hard, but fair. If it wan't for your parting words every time
of - "You are almost there, work at what you know and learn new things" I
would not have made it.
Alex - you were an excellent proctor, hard but fair. I passed. Thank you. Nice
guy.
Linda Murphy - Thank you for listening to me begging for a lab slot every
time. If you hadn't helped me I would have given up.
CCIE@groupstudy - thanks guys. Learnt a lot. Used you all to sharpen my skills
in the last two weeks by answering questions. Look back at my posts. You might
learn something.
Bede Hackney - Thanks dude. You gave me hope after the disaster of number 3.
Greg Ferro - what a guy ! Filled those depressed times with positive
thoughts.
Derek Small - FATKID RULES. The best place for doing your groundwork. The labs
are very complex. I didn't think so the first two times around, but after a
while you start noticing the very subtle little tricks in there. My favourite
has to be 502 - get OSPF /22 into IGRP /24 - easy - but, can you still ping
the /24 addresses from IGRP ;-)
I could go on all night. But, I have a life now...
Signing off
Rudi Meyer
CCIE # 7307
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