From: Michael Zuo (mzuo@ixiacom.com)
Date: Mon Jun 04 2007 - 16:09:08 ART
Sorry to chime in. if you have about 3 months till lab date, I would
say start doing mock labs as soon as possible. This is because most
likely each mock lab would take you a whole day (8 hours + couple of
hours of going thru solution and digest). If you do 1 or 2 mock labs
per week (Sat or Sun or both), 3 months means around 20 or some labs.
In my opinion, this probably is not enough (I did at least 50 labs and
some labs twice)
Michael Zuo
CCIE #17800
CCIE notes for sale :)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&sspagename=STRK%3AM
ESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=130121212718&rd=1&rd=1
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
dude
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 1:31 PM
To: Gregory Gombas
Cc: CharlesB; ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: PART II: May 31st, I passed # 18076 at San Jose
Hi Charles,
I would be giving my lab most probably in September or October, (No
Dates
are available near my place). But i wud definately give my 1st attempt
by
then. Lot of things I wish to discuss with you, as how I should go
about.
After clearing my QUAL, i have already bcome nervous looking at the
mamoth
task I am supposed to do. This is the approach that I wish to follow :
1.) Start with Advance technology labs and do per topic basis
Eg. If I ve started with switching, then read all the important content
related to switching eg. kennedy Clarke, Wendell Odom, BSCMSN, 3560 &
3550
configuration guides et.c
So long and so forth while I am practicing for advance tech labs.
2.) I would start with Workbook, most probably Ineternetwork expert or
Ip
Expert, not decided yet.
3.) Once I am done with that, i m plannin to take mock labs and cisco
accessor labs.
Plz do lemme know, if there is anything else that I should do or I might
have missed something.
Thnx
Navin N.
On 6/3/07, Gregory Gombas <ggombas@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for sharing - I like hearing people's journey I'm sure others
do
> too.
>
> On 6/2/07, CharlesB <cbalik@adelphia.net> wrote:
> > This is the second part of my original email I posted a couple days
ago.
> >
> >
> >
> > The following was my recipe to get my CCIE #.
> >
> >
> >
> > Reading materials I used:
> >
> >
> >
> > Routing TCP/IP vol I, and vol II, Jeff Doyle
> >
> > Cisco LAN Switching, Kennedy Clark
> >
> > BGP Design and Implementation, Randy Zhang
> >
> > Cisco QoS Exam Certification Guide, Wendell Odom
> >
> > Developing IP Multicast Networks, Beau Williamson
> >
> > Cisco Univercd. I spent a lot of hours on this one, in addition to
the
> > above.
> >
> > And lot of online reading.
> >
> >
> >
> > Workbook:
> >
> >
> >
> > Internetwork Expert Ver 3, Vol I and Vol II. I used IE mostly. I
have
> done
> > all the labs, 2 or 3 times. Some labs even more.
> >
> > Internetwork Expert technology specific labs, very, very valuable
last
> mile
> > push I got there.
> >
> > Netmaster Class. A couple of labs, multiple times.
> >
> >
> >
> > Training:
> >
> >
> >
> > No bootcamp, I did take Advance QoS class. (CCIE specific, I am
> excluding
> > other courses I took, MPLS, Cisco GWGK etc.).
> >
> >
> >
> > Racktime:
> >
> >
> >
> > Racktimerentals.com: more than 30-35 sessions I made, until I built
my
> own
> > and made additional 40-50 extra sessions on my rack.
> >
> >
> >
> > Time table:
> >
> >
> >
> > I committed myself to passing the lab since June 1st, 2006. I passed
the
> lab
> > May 31st, 2007. I made 3 attempts between Dec. 2006 and May 2007.
> >
> > Last year I thought I would finish it in 6 months, but between jobs
and
> > projects and studying it took a full year.
> >
> >
> >
> > Hours:
> >
> >
> >
> > I cannot tell you how many hours exactly, but with a quick
calculation,
> all
> > the lab hours/sessions and reading I have done, I would say I spent
2000
> > hours minimum.
> >
> >
> >
> > GroupStudy Emails:
> >
> >
> >
> > I have read probably more than 5000 emails.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Experience:
> >
> >
> >
> > I worked on many different projects from nationwide DSLs, ATM PNNIs,
> Frame
> > relay, Wireless, Sonet backbones to dial up network deployments with
> > extensive Radius and PPP technologies, and many more projects
including
> > firewall and vpn technologies. I worked mostly for ISPs and work on
> large
> > enterprise contracts.
> >
> >
> >
> > CCIE lab experiences:
> >
> >
> >
> > 1st attempt: Dec 2006:
> >
> >
> >
> > I got in huge trouble with the 4-switch setup. I was about to go
through
> a
> > nervous breakdown. At lunchtime, I was still in the first sections,
> doing
> > the switching part. I just could not believe it. I went to lunch,
could
> not
> > eat anything, I am sure I looked like a dead man walking.
> >
> > I started to think of not coming back in the lab, but I knew I had
lot
> of
> > knowledge for the other sections. So, I just swallowed a couple
bites of
> a
> > pizza slice and went back to the lab.
> >
> > I keep saying to myself, this is the time to test myself, no matter
what
> > happens I wanted to use the time and test my knowledge.
> >
> > When the proctor said time up, I had only one section to do. I knew
I
> failed
> > terribly.
> >
> > But from this horrible experience, I took it to be the worst it
could be
> and
> > still did not lose my head.
> >
> > During the lab, I went to the proctor at least 10 times and checked
the
> > doccd more than 10 times.
> >
> >
> >
> > 2nd attempt: Jan 2007:
> >
> >
> >
> > This time I finished the lab 3:30PM, checked mostly everything (no
> debugs,
> > no extensive testing). When I left the lab, I was thinking I really
did
> it
> > this time.
> >
> > But when I was driving to the airport, I started to have doubts, I
> started
> > to ask myself: Did they mean this? Did I put that there? May be I
> should
> > have done it the other way, Did I check that? So, when I came home I
had
> > huge doubts.
> >
> > Of course, the next morning the result was a fail again.
> >
> > Actually, after second time, I felt much worse than the first knock
out
> > session I got with Cisco. Before the second attempt, I was thinking
that
> I
> > felt like I was on top of my game. This was more discouraging than
the
> first
> > try.
> >
> > I could not take the lab the following 4 months; I had a big set
back,
> > emotional ups and downs.
> >
> > During the lab, I went back to proctor 3 times, and checked the
doccd 5
> > times.
> >
> >
> >
> > 3rd attempt: May 31st:
> >
> >
> >
> > In April, the company (ISP - telco PSTN ) I was working got in
financial
> > trouble. We knew there was going to be a huge lay off, and it was
> coming. I
> > took it as positive sign, and I said, if I get laid off, I will stay
> home
> > and do another round with Cisco.
> >
> > I had unfinished business. As I was suspecting, the company went
> bankrupt
> > and I got laid off May 1st without any benefits. But, I kept
studying
> for
> > the lab.
> >
> > I was finishing the IE labs in 5 hours, doing lots of testing and
> debugs
> > and corrections in 8 hours tops. So, I started to feel that I was
even
> > better prepared than the second attempt.
> >
> > So, I finished the actual lab at 4PM, kind of little later than I
was
> > expecting, but I was going slowly and double checking everything.
The
> last
> > one hour I went through all my notes and 50% of the lab and I found
2
> > mistakes probably worth around 5 points, and time was up. I could
have
> felt
> > better if I could have checked on the remaining.
> >
> > During the lab, I used localized small diagrams for each task rather
> than
> > trying to make a whole new diagram.
> >
> > Basically, I used big circles on the paper I had. I put 2 to 3
> > routers/switches in there, showing all the tasks that needed to be
> > accomplished to meet the requirements. I took notes around the
circle,
> doing
> > the calculations, and planning, arrows showing directions, tricks
needs
> to
> > be watched etc.
> >
> > I also used a lot of notepad to put the detailed configs after the
> planning,
> > then all that was left was to copy and paste and check everything.
> >
> > During the lab I used a fair amount of debugs, and other tools as
was
> showed
> > in the IE lab solutions.
> >
> > This time, I went to see the proctor only once to ask for additional
> paper,
> > and checked the doccd 3-4 times for the commands and features I
could
> not
> > remember how to apply.
> >
> > Actually I had questions about 3 to 4 areas in the lab, but I kept
> saying
> > the answers have to be here in the folders, in the cofigs somewhere.
> Instead
> > of asking, I concentrated on understanding the task, and kept
reading
> the
> > question over and over again.
> >
> >
> >
> > Well long story short, the third time was the charm.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Please feel free to take out of the write up what works for you, and
> leave
> > the rest as my faults, mistakes, short coming, my nature and my own
> unique
> > life experiences.
> >
> >
> >
> > What am I planning to do next?
> >
> >
> >
> > I am already trying to figure out what it takes to get ready for the
> Service
> > Provider lab very soon:::::::)))))))))
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: CharlesB [mailto:cbalik@adelphia.net]
> > Sent: Friday, June 01, 2007 2:21 AM
> > To: 'ccielab@groupstudy.com'
> > Subject: May 31st, I passed # 18076 at San Jose
> >
> >
> > Guys, I just cannot tell you how happy I am right now. In short all
I
> can
> > say, no pain no gain, at least that is how I felt during the last
eleven
> > months of prep work.
> > This was my third attempt in last 6 months.
> > I will tell you more once I pulled myself together later.
> >
> >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sun Jul 01 2007 - 17:24:46 ART