From: Brian Dennis (bdennis@internetworkexpert.com)
Date: Thu Jun 28 2007 - 02:41:33 ART
Congratulations!
--Brian Dennis, CCIE4 #2210 (R&S/ISP-Dial/Security/SP) bdennis@internetworkexpert.com Internetwork Expert, Inc. http://www.InternetworkExpert.com Toll Free: 877-224-8987 Direct: 775-745-6404 (Outside the US and Canada)
On 6/27/07 9:58 PM, "Arin and Rachel Richmond" <therichmonds@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all, > > I apologise in advance for the length of this email. It has been a lot of > blood sweat and tears gone into the passing of this exam, and it's difficult > to describe the experience with brevity. > > I have been a silent reader of GroupStudy for around six months now, and > have found many of the posts both informative and thought provoking. Some of > the most inspirational posts have been reading the stories of others who > have tackled this mighty exam. In kind I thought I would share my experience > and return the favour to other aspiring CCIEs on the list. > > My story is similar to Blaine's (congratulations by the way!) in that I used > one vendor's products to prepare, namely InternetworkExpert. > > My preparation for the lab began in mid 2005 when I decided my goal was to > attain the top Cisco certification. I've been working in networks for many > years however I decided to start out slowly and follow the stepping stone > path by taking the CCNA, CCDA, CCNP and CCDP exams. I finished these mid > 2006 and studied for the CCIE written exam using predominantly the Wendell > Odom cert guide. > > After passing the written in November 2006 I began a wider reading program. > In hindsight I could and probably should have done this before taking the > written. It would have made it a lot easier. I read the usual recommended > texts; TCP/IP Illustrated, Inside Cisco IOS Architectures, Routing TCP/IP > Vol 1 and 2 (brilliant books!), Internet Routing Architectures, Cisco LAN > Switching, BCMSN Cert Guide, QoS Cert Guide and Developing IP Multicast > Networks. > > After reading the theory I followed InternetworkExpert's recommended study > plan. I watched the first week of the Advanced Technology Class on Demand, > which is an excellent product, followed by their Advanced Technology Labs > then the second week of the Advanced Technology Class on Demand. The Brian's > do an excellent job of explaining the technologies and then showing you in > these videos. I would definitely recommend them to an aspiring candidate. > > After this I worked through the first three labs of the Core Lab Workbook, > followed by the "easy" labs (difficulty 6 or less) from the Main Lab > Workbook, then back to the Core Book to finish it off and then through the > rest of the 20 full scale labs. At any stage if I wasn't sure about a > technology I would read up on it, primarily in the DocCD, but also by > referring back to the books I had already read. As I progressed through the > labs I found myself relying less and less on the DocCD, but at the same time > became quicker at locating material should it be required. Again, while not > without their faults, the Core and Main Lab workbooks (now called Volume II > and III I believe) were excellent products, and the Brian's cover off the > vast majority of the blueprint in these 30 labs. > > I took two weeks off work prior to my lab date and finished all the labs > with four days to go until the big day. My preparation ramped up from steady > at six months out to intense (getting up early, labbing before work, labbing > on getting home from work, labbing on weekends) for the last four months and > about 10 hours every day for the last two weeks. I think this gradual ramp > up helped me greatly in that I built the theory foundation and then polished > it with hundreds of hours of practical labbing which ramped up in intensity > and consequently my speed followed suit. Practice is very different to > theory. You need to know the theory to know what and how implement it on the > command line, but you will also learn a lot from doing it. > > To practice I built a lab at home rather than use remote rack rentals. I > decided that it was going to suit me best to have instant access to a lab so > that I could fit in as much lab time around work when it suited me. My home > lab consisted of 1 x 3550 and 3 x 3560 switches and two PCs with quad port > ethernet NICs running Dynamips and Dynagen emulated 7206 routers. > > The day before the lab I tried not to study, though I will admit I read my > notes from the Class on Demand on the plane and train journey to Sydney. > Other than this I spent my time watching a movie, TV and trying to relax. I > got a good nights sleep the night before. I think sleep and good nutrition > are essential to your mental state on the day. > > I got the dreaded email very late the same evening of the lab and was more > nervous waiting to log in to the CCIE website than I had been during the > exam itself. Fortunately the nerves became joy and relief. > > I'd like to thank a few people without whom I could not have passed this > exam. > > Firstly, my wife for her endless encouragement, support and patience. > > Next, the guys at work for their support, encouragement and willingness to > discuss the inner workings of OSPF, STP etc. > > Brian Dennis and Brian McGahan from InternetworkExpert as well as all the > others behind the scenes for their excellent products and well thought out > study program. You guys are legends! > > My proctor Stefaan for putting up with my inordinate number of questions, > thank you for your courteous and professional approach. > > The people on the InternetworkExpert forums for providing clarification, > alternative approaches and discussion on the IE labs. > > Christophe Fillot and Greg Anuzelli for producing the worlds greatest Cisco > router emulator and front end respectively, and doing it for the greater > good under the general public license. > > Lastly, thank you to everyone at GroupStudy for your insight and > inspiration. > > Best of luck to you all. > > Regards, > > Arin Richmond > CCIE #18318 (R&S) > > _______________________________________________________________________ > Subscription information may be found at: > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sun Jul 01 2007 - 17:24:52 ART