From: Arin and Rachel Richmond (therichmonds@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 28 2007 - 03:14:44 ART
Narbik is correct.
The lab has been relocated from Chatswood to St Leonards.
On 28/06/07, Moses Polalysa <mpurple7@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Congrats Arin for the great achievement.
>
> Where did you go for the lab? Chatswood or St. Leonard?
>
> How was the new lab there in St. Leonard?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Regards,
> Moses
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Arin and Rachel Richmond <therichmonds@gmail.com>
> To: ccielab@groupstudy.com
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 11:37:31 AM
> Subject: Passed R&S Lab in Sydney
>
> 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)
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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>
>
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