From: James Russell (osuphd2b@yahoo.com)
Date: Sun Jul 08 2007 - 14:55:15 ART
Thank you very much for the kind words. It is true that I did a ton of reading. Having done the CCNA and CCNP definitely help keep the info fresh in my mind.
Gary is spot on about the methodology, IMO. The workbooks today are of high quality, but a hammer is no good when you are trying to use it as a screwdriver! I think the most important thing, as the ancient Greeks said, is to know thyself. That is, you need to know what works for you in studying and in doing the lab. I know how I learn best (repetition), and so I did that when studying. I also know what works when I take tests. For example, some people recommend redrawing the diagrams. For them, that works and that's great. I am not a visual person at all, so I did not bother to draw anything. It doesn't matter what workbooks you use, what lab equipment you have, or anything like that. In my opinion, it's more psychological than anything. Sure you have to know the technologies. But knowing yourself, your strengths, and your demons is the "big secret", if there is such a thing. You can't know everything that a router or switch can do, right? So learn everything
you can about those things, and then learn EVERYTHING about yourself. Sorry to get all philosophical on you, but it's just my .02.
James
Gary Duncanson <gary.duncanson@googlemail.com> wrote: I haven't seen many first time passes in a while :)
People have been using workbooks and homelabs for years, that's not a new
thing. Hands on experience with cisco will certainly help you get through
the CCIE but there are many folks who get through it with little of that
before they start the journey.
The CCIE isn't easier these days. No matter how many ligitimate resources
become available to help you prepare for it the biggest factor in getting
through so far as I can tell (by experience and the stories of those doing
the IE over the years)..is your approach to using those resources. Many
people invest huge amounts of time an money on workbooks and struggle.
Regularity, concentrated study, consistent reference to books and attention
to detail and importantly identification of areas you don't understand
followed by labbing bits and pieces up at home..things you do on top of the
workbooks...all these things make the IE doable in 1 year. James has nailed
it in 7 months, no doubt his CCNA and CCNP efforts and his new job prior to
his written studies in January served him well as a precursor to embarking
on the CCIE. He will no doubt have done a lot of reading to knock out his
CCNA and CCNP is short order last year, reading that will have helped him
this year.
Well done James!
Regards
Gary
----- Original Message -----
From: "Muhammad Nasim"
To: "James Russell"
Cc:
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 5:39 PM
Subject: Re: CCIE #18397; Cliffs notes included
> Congrats on passing first attempt : )
>
> It seems to me that CCIE is now becoming easier and easier as the
> Workbooks
> are getting mature day by day .
>
> I always in doubt that a person should have at least 3 to 5 years Hands on
> experience on Cisco Stuff but it seems to be not true now as we can have
> our
> home lab and workbook : )
>
>
> Let me know if I am going wrong.
>
> Thanks
>
>
> On 7/8/07, James. Russell wrote:
>>
>> Ultra-short version: Passed R&S on 1st try at RTP. Woot!
>>
>> Short version: Passed R&S on 1st try at RTP. Thanks to (in no
>> particular
>> order) my pregnant wife for being so understanding, The Brians, Scott
>> Morris, Narbik, those of you who took time to answer my unicast
>> questions,
>> and everyone who posts on GS.
>>
>> Long version: Wow, I'm still shaking! I started my journey in June of
>> last year. I had no Cisco experience at all, but I started the CCNA.
>> Got
>> that on July 19th. Got hired as a network engineer and got my CCNP in
>> October. Started on the written in Jan of this year and passed on Feb
>> 3rd. Then I started on the lab. I used a well-known vendor's workbook,
>> and
>> the following books:
>>
>> Routing TCP/IP Vols I and II
>> Internet Routing Architectures
>> Wendell Odom's QoS Exam Cert Guide
>> BCMSN Exam Cert Guide
>> The DocCD (duh!)
>>
>> My study routine usually consisted of renting 11 hours of rack time every
>> Saturday, and doing one of the labs 2 times. I would then spend the next
>> week reviewing the lab and configuring any confusing parts on my mini-lab
>> at
>> work. As the weeks progressed, I would take some labs and do them all in
>> Windows notepad. No tabs or question marks to help. I also read the
>> complete command references several times for all routing protocols,
>> QoS,
>> frame relay, IP applications, IP addressing, switching, etc etc.
>> Anything I
>> couldn't understand, I labbed it up until I did understand it.
>>
>> Ok, now for the lab itself. While doing the lab, and after completing
>> it,
>> I was kind of confused about the whole thing. Either the test was pretty
>> straightforward and I had passed, or I was completely missing stuff and I
>> failed miserably. My initial feeling was that it was pretty
>> straightforward. By lunch, I had read and at least attempted to
>> configure
>> every single question on the lab. There were 3 or 4 that I had to skip
>> and
>> come back to, though. After lunch, I went back and did those, which took
>> about an hour. I checked the whole thing and found a few errors.
>> Checked
>> it all again, and found 1 or 2 errors. Checked it all AGAIN and found
>> nothing that looked wrong. By this time there was about 45 minutes left
>> in
>> the lab.
>>
>> People say time management is key, and they are right. In my case, it
>> was
>> make sure you slow down and triple-check everything. In other cases, it
>> might be to not spend too much time on 1 problem. The proctors were very
>> nice and helpful. They even asked me about one of my tattoos!
>>
>> Well, that's it. I'm going to eat some lunch!
>>
>> James Russell Jr.
>> CCIE #18397
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------
>> Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!
>> Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo!
>> Games.
>>
>> _______________________________________________________________________
>> Subscription information may be found at:
>> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Muhammad Nasim
> Network Engineer
> SISCOM
> Saudi Arabia
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
---------------------------------
Bored stiff? Loosen up...
Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Aug 18 2007 - 08:17:40 ART