From: Bruce Lee (ccie.sp.vn@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Jan 15 2006 - 01:28:35 GMT-3
Congratulation !!!
Thanks for your advice very much.
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
kelvin@webmail.co.za
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 9:06 AM
To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Passed in San Jose
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