From: Mike Ernest (mikeernest_2002@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Dec 05 2002 - 10:32:32 GMT-3
Karl,
Congratulations.....a trurly remarkable achievement.
Mike.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Church" <cchurch@optonline.net>
To: "Karl Brusen" <karl@brusen.com>; "ccielab" <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2002 10:18 AM
Subject: Re: Passed R&S in SJ on 11/25 (long)
> Karl,
>
> Congratulations. To get this far in 7 months is pretty remarkable.
> Quite a display of determination.
>
> Chuck Church
> CCIE #8776, MCNE, MCSE
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karl Brusen" <karl@brusen.com>
> To: "ccielab" <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:19 PM
> Subject: Passed R&S in SJ on 11/25 (long)
>
>
> > After seven long months of intensive study, I passed the R&S exam in San
> > Jose on Monday. It was my third attempt. For what it^Rs worth, here is
> some
> > advice and encouragement for others.
> >
> > First, some background on me. My situation is probably a bit unique. I
> am
> > 47, and prior to April of this year, I had zero hands-on experience with
> > routers or switches. Although I am an engineer by training,
> internetworking
> > technology was in its infancy when I received my BSEE in 1981. Over the
> > past 13 years I have held a variety of management positions. In late
2000
> I
> > decided that I wanted to move back to the technical path (my first love)
> and
> > started my Cisco studies. I achieved CCNP/DP without ever using the
> > equipment. This is not something I^Rm proud of -- it^Rs just that I
> didn^Rt
> > have any equipment available to me at the time.
> >
> > Earlier this year I built my own lab and started the lab exam prep in
> > earnest after passing the written exam in April. In addition to working
> > with my own equipment, the local Cisco people provided me with access to
> > some of their equipment and I rented some Telnet access.
> >
> > Again, my situation may be unique, so keep that in mind when considering
> my
> > advice below.
> >
> > I do not want to violate the Cisco NDA, so I will not discuss what was
on
> my
> > exam. However, I am free to talk about what I actually did to prepare
for
> > the exam. It obviously worked for me.
> >
> > Here are my suggestions:
> >
> > 1. Books: Caslow/Pavlichenko, Solie, Doyle 1 & 2, Halabi (for BGP),
> > "Enhanced IP Services For Cisco Networks" by Lee and the official Cisco
> > Press CCNP study guides. I literally wore out Caslow and Solie. It
was
> > necessary for me to glue both books back together again several times.
> > Although Halabi is a must-read for BGP, I found Doyle^Rs coverage of BGP
> to
> > be more practical and applicable to the exam prep. Reading these books
is
> > important; however, it is not enough.
> > 2. The Cisco Config Guides. If I had it to do over, I would have put
more
> > focus on them earlier. Perhaps I could have passed on attempt 1 or 2.
I
> > don^Rt think you have to read all of them, but you need to be very
> familiar
> > with all the config guides that are relevant to the exam. As you do
> > practice labs, try to resist looking things up in your books and use the
> > config guides instead. I printed relevant configuration task lists and
> put
> > them in a binder. When I was done, it was about 4-5 inches thick.
> > 3. The Cat 3550 manual is not only a great reference on the 3550, it is
> also
> > a good review of general IOS features. I read most of it and printed
> pages
> > with actual configs.
> > 4. Practice, practice, practice. I estimate that I have over 500 hours
of
> > lab practice behind me. Again, others with more experience may not need
> > this much.
> > 5. Practice getting your base network up fast. You need to be able to
do
> > this on auto pilot. I got to the point that I could bring up a base
> network
> > with two Cat 3550s and nine routers (including the two 3550 internal
> > routers) in about an hour. I would mix it up with different routing
> > protocols, redistribution and authentication. Also, I practiced doing
all
> > my OSPF configs, including authentication, priorities, virtual links,
> > neighbors, network types, etc, all at once. It saves a lot of time.
> > 6. I used the NLI (CCBootcamp) labs, which I found to be of great value.
> > However, I frequently added additional complexity. In particular, after
> the
> > change to the 3550s, I would substitute 3550 internal routers for two of
> the
> > standalone routers. Sometimes I had to swap Ethernet for a serial link
to
> > do this. I also added Etherchannel and trunking to every lab, and I
> > practiced many of the features I read about in the 3550 manual.
> > 7. Get a study partner. This is hugely important. It is amazing how
much
> > more efficiently you can study with two people. Not only can you tap
the
> > knowledge of your study partner, but it dramatically reduces the amount
of
> > time you waste spinning your wheels. It is much easier to stay
motivated
> > when you are working with someone else.
> > 8. Get organized. This is a weakness of mine, and I had to really work
at
> > it. I put my config task lists in a binder with labels. I also made a
> > comprehensive list of all the topics and sub-topics I thought might be
> > relevant to the exam. As I studied and practiced, I added to the list.
I
> > also made a ^Sthings to remember^T list.
> > 9. Practice typing. I am not the best typist so I bought the Mavis
Beacon
> > typing program on eBay for $5. It helped a lot. I know that the lab
exam
> > is not a typing exam, but the reality is that time is the critical
> resource.
> > If you can type fast and error-free you will have a big advantage.
> > 10. When you take the exam, don^Rt get flustered if you encounter
> something
> > that you are unfamiliar with. I skipped about 12 points worth of such
> stuff
> > and focused on getting the stuff I was familiar with done quickly. When
I
> > got to the end, I had about two hours to look things up. I managed to
> find
> > everything except one minor item. With enough time and good familiarity
> > with the config guides, you can find what you need.
> >
> > Well, those are my suggestions. For me, I plan to start on CCIE
security
> in
> > the next few months.
> >
> > Karl Brusen
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