From: Brian McGahan (bmcgahan@internetworkexpert.com)
Date: Wed Jun 30 2004 - 12:50:34 GMT-3
Congratulations David, you definitely deserved this one :)
Brian McGahan, CCIE #8593
bmcgahan@internetworkexpert.com
Internetwork Expert, Inc.
http://www.InternetworkExpert.com
Toll Free: 877-224-8987 x 705
Outside US: 775-826-4344 x 705
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf
Of
> David Buechner
> Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 9:01 AM
> To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
> Subject: A new signature
>
> At long last I get to send "the note." I got #13539 in RTP yesterday!
>
> Like many who have passed I have the usual collection of books. I've
used
> the IPExpert WB (version 4 I think) and the Internetwork Expert work
> book. The Internetwork Expert book has an excellent solution guide
and
> very challenging scenarios and was a good final prep stages book.
>
> I also took a vclass from Internetwork Expert. Brian McGahan did a
> wonderful job of explaining various things. It wasn't so much that I
> learned a lot that was "new" but I sure did get a lot more detail on
some
> things. It helped me move from "knowing the options" to "knowing
which
> option was appropriate - quickly." Thanks guys!
>
> While I'm thanking people - my wife Kathy has been super supportive.
It's
> been a long (and expensive) haul for me and she was with me every step
of
> the way. Too bad you guys don't know her.
>
> And certainly my thanks to all on this list. There are so many
talented
> people on this list who are eager to share their knowledge - you can't
> believe how much I have learned from you all. I've tried to post some
of
> my own knowledge and I'm going to stick around and try to pay some of
that
> back as best I can. But thank you all - you're great!
>
> My path (briefly - so you know where I'm coming from in later
comments):
> I've been a network guy for around 8 years now, but with more LAN
> expertise
> than WAN. Before that I was (among other things) an IBM mainframe
systems
> guy. I was one of the founding partners of a company that does
Internet
> access for trade shows - and I was the CTO (only techie :-) ) for
several
> years. So I've built some killer LANs in short time frames. The
routing
> side of things I'm a bit of a lab-rat. Much of what I know and can do
> I've
> not done on too many production networks, at least not yet.
>
> I took 5 tries to pass the lab. The first two I really wasn't ready,
but
> they were good exposure to the process. Attempt #3 I was close.
Attempt
> #4 was July, 2003 and I left the lab thinking I had it. I was sure.
I
> was
> crushed when I got the fail. And I was mad. I went through the
thought
> process that many do that Cisco was really being a bit unfair, that
the
> questions were vague and designed to be tricky, etc.
>
> After some time I realized I was wrong. I started to think of things
I
> probably didn't do right, and the more I thought the more I realized
that
> the grading was right. I ended up taking several months off from this
> endeavor - fall is a busy time for me business wise so it was easy to
> do. The last six months I've been back at it with a vengeance, got
the IE
> workbook, did more scenarios. And two weeks ago I took the
> class. Yesterday when I left I was pretty sure! But it sure was nice
to
> see it in print.
>
> I stay out of the "debates" on this list most of the time, but I do
want
> to
> comment on three of them now. First, there is often the complaint
raised
> that Cisco doesn't give us enough feedback and it's hard to learn from
> your
> failures. The first part of this complaint is hard to prove one way
or
> the
> other, but I believe the second point is dead wrong. A good friend of
> mine
> (who has his number as well) gave me good advice after my last attempt
> when
> he asked "did you draw your diagram?" What he meant was documenting
what
> I
> remembered of the exam after I left the Cisco facility. I had not,
but I
> kept doing that after each successive attempt. I leave the test, go
back
> to the hotel, and write down as many notes/diagrams as I can. I've
gotten
> to the point where I can list the sectional point totals, many of the
> individual question ares (and sometimes their point totals). I can
> diagram
> things like the network topology, the IGPs, the BGP peering, etc. And
> then
> when I get my score report from Cisco I can figure out my raw score
and
> start making good guesses at what questions I missed. Doing all this
> really helped guide my study.
>
> The second debate is which workbook/class/etc is better. As I
mentioned
> earlier I had a really good experience with the Internetwork Expert
> materials/classes and I'd highly recommend them (and no - I'm not
> associated with Internetwork Expert). My experience with the IPExpert
> material appeared to be less helpful at first glance - but I think
much of
> the problem wasn't the material, it was me. I wasn't as ready when I
went
> through the IPExpert book. That *HAS* to have colored my
> experience. Heck, if you can afford it - get them all! I think you
just
> have to look at the quality of the postings of Brian Dennis, Brian
> McGahan,
> Scott Morris, etc. to know that the materials that they are involved
in
> from the various companies have good quality know-how and experience
> behind
> them.
>
> Last debate - what equipment to have. I've got a home lab with
> 2500s. They're old, out-dated, won't run all the features,
> etc. BUT! They do run the fundamentals. I have been able to
experiment
> with routing protocols, redistribution, multicasting - core features -
on
> these routers. So get what you can afford. And definitely rent the
> rest. Over the years I used Bradshaw labs and the Internetwork Expert
> racks. All were very well supported and very helpful.
>
> Yesterday I stood looking at the RTP "wall of pain" and recognized
some
> names from this list. Brian McGahan, Scott Morris, and Bob Sinclair
in
> particular popped off the wall. All of you have been mentors to me
> whether
> you know it or not through your postings. After I check out of the
hotel
> I'm headed back to the Lake building to sign the wall myself. :-)
>
> Sorry this got so long. But hopefully some of it is helpful to some
of
> you. Keep up the hard work - this number we chase is hard to reach
(and
> valuable as a result), but it is very attainable. And don't be
> embarrassed
> by taking so many attempts - you're not alone!
>
> Peace!!
>
> David Buechner
> CCIE #13539
>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Jul 03 2004 - 19:40:53 GMT-3