From: George Gittins (g.gittins@edinburg.esc1.net)
Date: Thu Dec 05 2002 - 16:22:48 GMT-3
Question without violating nda can you comment on what you thought it
was hard. generally speaking, what technologies you thought were harder,
qos? Etc.
George Gittins
Network and Computer Maintenance Supervisor
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Mike Ernest
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 7:33 AM
To: karl@brusen.com
Cc: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: Passed R&S in SJ on 11/25 (long)
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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