From: kelvin@webmail.co.za
Date: Sat Jan 14 2006 - 23:06:12 GMT-3
Hi all
Due to time constraints I have been an almost silent person on the forum but I would like to share my experience and advice to give back for the information I received here.
Firstly thanks to the creators of this forum and the faithful members who assist aspiring CCIE canidates. There are no words that can capture the gratitude.
Next thanks to the MAN Scott Morris for all your help. More that just knowing your stuff, you gladly share it-thats what makes you great!
My 2 cents advice as a regular blok ( not one of the guys who can pass in three months!):
1. Know your basics
2 Know your basics
3. Know your basics
4....you get the point!
5. Never spend more that 15 minutes on a problem. Thats a mental battle you have to win before you go to the lab. Its easier said that done!
6. Think things through- how do they tasks relate to each other-hence the reason for reading the entire exam BEFORE you start. ( see below for eloboration). If you don't think the tasks relate and/or conflict you are going to fail, because they do!
7. Time management-Becuase of the above Aim to finish all tasks early ( 1 -2 hours) and troubleshoot, test and check as much. Remember to save your configs often. Unnecessarily force youself to go to the toilet to break a mind block. It works-trust me!
8. In extremely rare circumstances you might have a bug especially when you know the stuff and know when to call the proctor in to resolve- point 5 is why I failed the second time- I had a BUG :-(.
9. Lastly expect and accept that the CCIE exam is a long process. Most regular guys will have to take 18 months and a minimum of 1000 hours lab time excluding theory to stand a chance of passing. There's no way around that. You might have to write 2+ times and will have to spend time and money on this certification.There is no social life and you will have sacrifice friends and family. So decide upfront if the COST is something you can bear. That being said, the reward is SWEEEEET!
ELOBOARTION ON points 1-4 and 7
I have spent 2 years on three of the most popular ccie lab prep vendors out there and have broken myself focusing on the complex labs ( levels 8-10). At the end of my journey ( 3 attempts in total) I beleive that knowing your basics is what counts for 80 points. Sure the real deal will throw in a few level 8+ questions but the stuff that gets you is the basics especially when they purposefully cause the stuff to conflict later on (eg security acls etc..). So a lot people (like myself) feel they have passed and fail because the forget to check how task X affects task Y and Z.
The way to combat this is to know your basics extremely well, get the stuff configured really quickly and use the remaining time ( 1-2hours) to check and re-check. Thats what I did this time and was able to find errors and over-sights.
OH by BASICS I mean whats on the ccie blueprint ;-)
You must get 100% for routing, switching and BGP to stand a chance of passing. So let that not be questionable when you sit to write!
Materials ( just my opinion here!)
1. Get Brian McGhanghs Internework experts updated Ipv6 and 12.4 CCIE lab book-its the best for several reasons but the most important is the layout with actual backbone routers. When practicing don't touch the backbone routers. Even if you are stuck, battle through it with debugging-TRUST ME ON THIS!
That being said I beleive that several vendor labs (although costly) is the best way to go!
2. Attend Scott Morris IP Expert bootcamp. He is excellent in knowledge as you all know but he does not exaggerate the ccie lab. More than just knowledge He has a sober view of the lab and He will guide and tell whats important and where you should focus. I only wish that I had listened the first time!
Oh and that bootcamp guide (written by Scott) that comes with attending the boot camp is an EXCELLENT book- I studied it through and through.
3. Get the following books:
- Cisco Press CCIE Routing Vol 1 -Need i say anything here-know it by heart.
- Cisco Press CCIE Routing Vol 2 - Great for BGP, NAT, MSDP and some other advanced IP topics
- CCIE practical studies 2: Read through
- Cisco Press Implementing IPv6 -Its coming to a lab near you!
- Cisco Press Implemeting multicast networks ( beau Williamson)- If you truly want to understand multicast and get those points, this is a must read!
- Cisco Press OSPF and BGP command reference Guide- A MUST-know OSPF and BGP like the back of your hand!
- Cisco Dqos exam Guide (Wendall Odom)- There's no way you will pass Qos without the foundation this book will bring. I was a CQS voice specialist when I began to understand Qos for the first time after reading this book! Sure there are new cool QoS features in 12.2T and onwards that make the book outdated, but remember...BASICS!
- 3550 Configuration guide (all 1000 pages!)-free of Cisco.com. You never know which feature they will ask!
- Cisco Press Cisco Router Firewall Security ( Richard Deal)- A MUST!
- Both Cisco press BGP books
Finally I would like to wish each one who is still on the journey all the best. Know that the lab is passable don't make it an insurmountable mountain in your mind. You will get there (even through failure) if you persevere. And......KNOW YOUR BASICS!
cheers
Vernon
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Wed Feb 01 2006 - 07:45:49 GMT-3