From: Colin McNamara (colin@2cups.com)
Date: Sun Jun 24 2007 - 13:12:26 ART
I think the quote was.. "not again"
On Sat, 2007-06-23 at 12:59 -0500, John Jones wrote:
> It's good to see that I'm not alone. It drives my wife crazy though. She
> says "Will you ever quit studying?" I guess I picked the wrong industry in
> that regards.
>
> John
>
>
> On 6/23/07, Jonny English <redkidneybeans@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > yeah. same here. I am doing R&S at the moment but i'm thinking of voice
> > after I get done with R&S because I work with voice.
> >
> > On 6/23/07, Marc La Porte <marc.a.laporte@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > it's not you... I have the same. Working on my first (R&S), but already
> > > thinking about the next (SP)... and even beyond that.
> > >
> > > On 6/23/07, John Jones <acer0001@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Interesting background Colin. The company I work for has interests in
> > > the
> > > > storage world and recently the Cisco variety. I was considering at one
> > >
> > > > time
> > > > doing the Storage IE after R&S, but first things first (the R&S). Is
> > > it
> > > > just
> > > > me or do others think about the next challenge even before finishing
> > > the
> > > > one
> > > > they're on?
> > > >
> > > > John
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On 6/20/07, Colin McNamara <colin@2cups.com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > My background is all over the place. It goes from running a small
> > > ISP
> > > > > when I was 18 to managing international CallManager clusters, to
> > > > > enterprise data center design and migrations. I swear that I have
> > > tech
> > > > > ADD. I see something new and I am like.. oooooh shiny, lets do a
> > > sniff
> > > > > and see how it works.
> > > > >
> > > > > I actually attempted the Route Switch lab twice in 2002 (still had
> > > token
> > > > > ring and dlsw still) but got activated for the war before I could
> > > get my
> > > > > number. I can tell you.. that sucked horribly.
> > > > >
> > > > > So, why did I choose to get my Storage CCIE first instead of
> > > finishing
> > > > > up my Route Switch first? Well, over the past couple years I have
> > > done a
> > > > > significant amount of IP storage (NFS, ISCSI, ATA over Ethernet,
> > > etc)
> > > > > including building my own IP storage heads based on linux. I had
> > > also
> > > > > done a little bit of fiber channel work. I felt that I had a
> > > significant
> > > > > advantage compared to most network engineers in the storage
> > > networking
> > > > > space. And, I think more importantly, the topics that I had to study
> > > > > were new and fresh. Whereas when I cracked open my Route Switch
> > > books..
> > > > > I honestly wasn't to excited about it at the time ( I think I was
> > > > > holding a grudge from my first attempts in 2002).
> > > > >
> > > > > The partner e-learning central portion of Cisco has an Excellent lab
> > >
> > > > > access to labgear.net. It gives you 2 hour segments of time with 2
> > > mds's
> > > > > (both with IPS blades), 1 2 port jbod, and 2 2 port servers. They
> > > also
> > > > > have introductory tutorials for most major technology segments.
> > > > >
> > > > > I did all of those, along with the every E-learning class that was
> > > on
> > > > > PEC. I think the major ones were the Design, Support, and CASSI
> > > classes.
> > > > > I took that, sat for the design and support specialist exams, and
> > > took
> > > > > my written last December.
> > > > >
> > > > > After doing all that work, I was honestly 70% there. I took a little
> > > > > break for january and febuary (There was no open lab dates) and then
> > > > > started hitting the labs I think at the end of febuary.
> > > > >
> > > > > For the majority of my practice I used the labs available through
> > > PEC. I
> > > > > also was able to weasel my way into 8 hour sessions every sunday
> > > from
> > > > > our channel SE. (I owe him plenty of drinks at networkers this year)
> > > For
> > > > > those 8 hour sessions I had labs created to summarize the major
> > > > > technology areas and to be as evil as possible to myself.
> > > > >
> > > > > I had one attempt which didn't work out as well as I would have
> > > liked.
> > > > > In RTP the lab starts at 7:15. This means if you are from the west
> > > coast
> > > > > like I am you will be getting up at 3:00 am in the morning for your
> > > lab.
> > > > > That royally kicked my but. I diverted from my attack plan and ended
> > > up
> > > > > running out of time. It was a classic example of letting the lab run
> > > > > you, instead of you running the lab.
> > > > >
> > > > > Luckily a data opened up just over a month later. I spent that time
> > > just
> > > > > working on my speed (speed is the secret sauce). I migrated to using
> > > > > Fabric Manager (gui interface) instead of command line. After 2
> > > practice
> > > > > runs my time had dropped 25%. I also flew out to RTP 3 days before,
> > > and
> > > > > made sure to relax and get on east coast time.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > For my final prep I got access to iementor's lab. Their lab is
> > > > > excellent. I cannot reinforce enough how much it contributed to my
> > > > > confidence in that final week. Roman was really cool about working
> > > with
> > > > > an existing candidate to get me squeezed in. They are really cool
> > > guys,
> > > > > and they have the only workbook on the market right now.
> > > > >
> > > > > So, I used their lab 2 days before mine, and then just chilled the
> > > day
> > > > > before. The day of the lab I had 70 points by lunch, and had
> > > completed
> > > > > configuration of the lab by 12:30. I spent the rest of the day
> > > reviewing
> > > > > my configurations (found 2 errors), fixing one bug, and generally
> > > > > harassing the proctor to make sure I didn't misinterpret anything.
> > > > >
> > > > > So.. if I had it all to do over again what would I do.
> > > > > I would still do the PEC stuff, and continue to primarily live in
> > > the
> > > > > Doc CD. Though I would probably pony up the cash and buy the
> > > iementor
> > > > > book and more lab time with them.
> > > > >
> > > > > --Colin
> > > > >
> > > > > On Wed, 2007-06-20 at 12:34 -0500, Scott Thornton wrote:
> > > > > > Welcome to the group!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > If you don't mind me asking, what material did you use for the
> > > Storage
> > > > > > IE? I've been looking at pursuing that. What was your background
> > > > > > prior to taking it? Can you recommend any material to purchase?
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Thanks!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On 6/20/07, Colin McNamara <colin@2cups.com> wrote:
> > > > > > Good morning,
> > > > > >
> > > > > > My name is Colin, I currently hold my CCIE in Storage
> > > > > > Networking, and
> > > > > > live in San Diego. I am planning on making my Route Switch
> > > > > > attempts in
> > > > > > the late fall (haven't really decided on a date yet).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I look forward to studying with the people on this list
> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > Regards,
> > > > > > Colin McNamara
> > > > > > CCIE #18233
> > > > > > "The difficult we do immediatly, the impossible just takes
> > > a
> > > > > > little longer"
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
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> > > > > >
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > Scott C Thornton
> > > > > >
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