From: Marko Milivojevic (markom@vodafone.is)
Date: Mon Aug 13 2007 - 06:42:01 ART
I don't really know where to begin this e-mail. I had it all worked
out in my head long time ago, but I am almost out of words right now.
I will drop the bombshell now and see what I can write afterwards.
On Wednesday July 11th, I passed CCIE SP in Brussels on my first
attempt!
I wrote this email few days after that day, but I was on Internetless
vacation for the past month. Deserved one ;-). Here it goes...
My story is a little bit different than most that you read here and I
will
gladly share some bits and pieces with you. These "success stories"
helped
me a lot during my preparation and I wish to return the favour.
Background:
I have been working with service providers my entire career, which now
spans some 10 years. Approximately 75% of that period I have been on
middle
or senior networking positions with tasks involving planning, design,
implementation, staff training, operational support (we call it 4th
level
support), troubleshooting, etc. Please, have that in mind when you read
the
next paragraph - this experience should not be taken lightly when it
comes
to the exam itself. I started my Cisco certification path in 2002, when
I
passed CCNA and CCDA. Later on in 2004 and 2005, I finished CCNP, CCIP
and
CCDP. I failed SP written once in 2005 (I have an excuse that I was
hangover
after Cisco Norway party on Networkers and that it was Metro Ethernet
beta
exam ;-) ) and passed it on my second attempt in April this year
(350-029).
Preparation:
I have been actively preparing for the lab in the past 1.5 months. Yes,
you
read that correctly. I passed written in April and only in May I secured
funding for the lab which I scheduled for July. It consisted of thorough
understanding of technologies covered in the blueprint and what I
suspected
would be on the exam. I have completed 7 full-scale labs, only for the
reasons of understanding the stress levels and time management. As I
believe you are all waiting to hear what magic workbook I used, I will
share that in the order in which I purchased. I will also comment on the
content and my impressions. Your mileage may vary and all of you reading
this
who are authors - please, take this is a constructive criticism, not a
negative one.
I used IPexpert SP workbook with Proctor Guide and later on I
purchased Internetwork SP Workbook, Vol. 1. Week before exam I spent
reading
through entire 12.4 configuration guide and command reference. However,
ever since I started thinking about CCIE, I used UniverCD as my primary
source of information for IOS - without using search. This was
invaluable,
as it will become clearer when I talk about my lab strategy and
experience
below.
IPexpert:
Thank you very much for a very nicely laid out material. It nicely
followed
my philosophy of understanding the technologies and focusing on one at
the
time. This was tremendous resource that nicely follows ~95% of the
blueprint.
That being said, Proctor's Guide needs some rechecking. It's a book that
costs several hundred dollars. It is unacceptable to have some mistakes
contained in there. I'm not talking about "wrong configurations", I am
talking about Workbook using one addressing scheme and Proctor's Guide
using different one. It is as if there was no QA. Another issue that I
had
with IPexpert's material, was not actually IPexpert, rather their
daughter
company ProctorLabs. IPexpert's labs are supposed to be used on
ProctorLabs
racks. Even though the price was a bit higher than some of the
competition,
I liked the interface, there were available slots almost any time I
needed
them and it was very smooth using their system. I highly recommend their
racks... except 7200 racks, which are, let me be fully honest, total
rubbish.
Almost every time I had problems with startup configurations not
being cleared. This has been remedied _very effectively_ by their tech
support. I was also generously reimbursed for wasted time. However, that
doesn't change the thing that IPexpert labs that were designed for those
racks (as explicitly stated at the beginning of every lab) are
unconfigurable as presented. First of all, IOS software versions do not
allow for all solutions to be implemented (this is mentioned in PG's
solution) and interface mappings on some routers are totally off.
Furthermore, workbook presentation of pre-configuration requirements are
not
as clear as they should be - IMHO, it is not very acceptable to learn
that I
need to preconfigure another BB router 3 hours into the exam when I'm
fully
concentrating on other things. Also, BB configurations downloadable from
the
IPexpert website contain some errors that will cause solutions not to
work
unless BB itself is troubleshooted. Again, for the material that costs
several hundred dollars - unacceptable.
Overall: Very good material for learning and practising, but it requires
some QA and polishing. I would recommend this as a preparation. Errors
in the
configs would actually aid you in understanding why certain things don't
work.
Internetwork Expert:
When I finished all the technology and full scale labs from IPexpert,
three
weeks into my preparation, I realized that I still have things to work
on,
but I was unsure what further steps to take - should I focus on
increasing
my theoretical knowledge or should I work more labs. I was unsure, but
I
succumbed to marketing ;-) and I decided to buy one more workbook. I
must
admit that I was "mislead" into believing that Vol. 1 contains
full-scale
labs. It doesn't - it's a technology labs workbook (with solutions
included). To be honest, I was shocked to see that, almost furious,
but...
I was mistaken. That buying accident was actually blessing. It just
supported my way of learning by focusing on isolated problems, without
forcing me to learn tricks. Excellent material, very well presented,
however, I must state that tech. support was somewhat disorganized :-).
There were some errors in the electronic workbook (diagrams didn't
display
correctly). Luckily, they were in labs that I didn't much care about,
but I decided to see how fast they will be fixed. Basically, within a
week,
I had a new version that had graphs corrected. Two days after receiving
the new material, I was contacted by tech support to apologise for new
version not being available :-). Back to material.
Brilliant is the word. Very well laid out, very clear diagrams, easy to
understand tasks and solutions provided in a form of configurations. I
highly recommend this workbook in a learning process. Furthermore,
topology
is readily available for Dynagen/Dynamips - major plus!
Overall: Very good material for learning. Lack of full scale labs is
offset
by existence of Vol. 2, which contains them - I cannot comment on that
book,
as I don't have it.
Week Before the Lab:
I decided to take the last week as a special part of the preparation
strategy here, and I think it was crucial. I focused on UniverCD and on
doing two and only two full-scale labs on the weekend. On Sunday, I
stopped
all studies. I relaxed, went to the swimming pool, met some friends, had
nice dinner. On Monday, I packed my stuff, went to bed early. On
Tuesday, I
went to Brussels, checked in hotel (NH Hotel -- very close to Cisco,
excellent rooms and they have crocodile (!) on dinner menu). I went to
see
where Cisco is, how do I get in there. Had one small beer to relax, ate
nice dinner (not a croc, I left that for the day after) and went early
to
bed. __I HAD A VERY LONG AND A GOOD NIGHT SLEEP__ <-- make that bold,
too.
The Lab Day:
I woke up early, had a quick shower, had a nice, but not very big
breakfast and I went to Cisco. I was 2nd to arrive and soon after few
other
joined us. Some first timers like I was, some experienced lab takers and
some... quadruple CCIE's taking their 5th! :-) Erik soon joined us and
took
us to the lab. This is where I become vague ;-)
The Lab:
You have three assets available to you in the lab. Yourself, UniverCD
and
Proctor. Let me just digress here for a second.
Erik, thank you so much for putting up with all 25 of my questions.
Thank
you for being patient and thank you for telling me to read my workbook
:-).
For the rest of you, I believe that pretty much sums up how important
Proctor can be. Seriously, I asked about _everything_ that wasn't 100%
clear to me. Even for some things that were crystal clear, I asked, just
to
make sure. Every time I went to see Erik, I made sure that he fully
understood that I knew what I was talking about, that I knew the
solutions
and that I was inquiring about which alternative may or may not be
preferred. I believe I left an impression of a man who knows his stuff.
Still, if I was him, I would have told me to get the hell out,
especially
when I thought that exam had totally messed up information. It turned
out
it was my brain that was messed up :-). Which neatly brings me to the
strategy. This will be another surprise.
I had none. Except a very good advice from a friend (Sasa Milic) who
gave
me Yoda advice: "Do or do not do, but do not try". My main strength was
my
knowledge and I had it as a mantra: "I know this stuff. Anything that
they
throw at me, I can handle. Bring it on!" Boy, oh boy, was I not prepared
for what I had coming :-). Let me just say that I spent at least 30
minutes
in UniverCD reading about stuff that I should've taken blindfolded,
while
asleep under the influence. You must, absolutely must, beyond all doubt
know where to find stuff on the CD. You _will_ get things that you do
not
know about and you better know where to find them. Quickly. Note, I
spent my
time reading, not searching. Big difference! As the time went on, there
came the lunch. Very nice food they have there. I had a juicy steak :-).
After lunch, the pressure started piling up. Things started not working
and
I ended up in a long troubleshooting sequence that was taking my time at
an
unaffordable rate, with approximately 7-8 unfinished tasks. 45 minutes
before the end, I was still fixing one major section when I decided to
stop
and "finish off" the simple things. I did and I am so happy I did,
because
if I didn't, you wouldn't be reading this right now. This is why I think
it
was important for me to do only few labs in the preparation process. I
knew
my stress levels. I knew to pick up the signals when I started losing it
and refocus on the stuff I knew. 15 minutes before the end, I had an
eureka
moment how to fix one thing that I thought didn't work. I decided not to
do
it, because it could break so many other things. I willingly let the
points
go.
After the Exam:
I thought I had failed. I was more under stress then than before the
exam.
I informed all my friends about my failure and I actually tried to book
another lab right there from the hotel. Luckily, the system does not
allow
for that. I counted "lost points" in my brain and I was pretty
depressed. I
had few beers, tried the croc (interesting stuff) and went to bed for a
not
very long and not very good night of sleep. At 6:15 AM, I woke up,
logged
into Cisco to see the exam report and there it stood #18427. I blinked
my
eyes, had a shower, came back, had a Coke from mini bar, looked at the
screen again and the number was still there staring back at me. I
actually
screamed as loud as I could. There it was, the holy grail right in front
me.
It was mine. I was one of only 600 or so people with Service Provider
CCIE
and further more, I was only of handful who have ever passed CCIE on
their
first attempt. Then, I started having a headache as a result of all
suppressed stress. I was happy to have it.
Few Days After the Exam:
I am now on my month-long vacation in the place of my birth, with family
and friends. I don't have too much of an Internet access and I don't
care.
I would like to thank all of you on GroupStudy for the great support
you provide to the people like I am. Had it not been for GS, I would
have
not passed this exam. All the questions we have, all the doubts, all
the answers, both correct and the wrong ones, all the success stories,
all
the failure stories. It all helps! It helped me and I am now obliged to
help others. Thank you all! Good luck all of you who are going to The
Lab.
May the force be with you ;-)
Kind regards,
Marko Milivojevic, CCIE #18427
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Sep 01 2007 - 11:32:11 ART