From: Ronnie Angello (ronnie.angello@gmail.com)
Date: Mon Aug 13 2007 - 09:44:17 ART
Congratulations on a job well done!
On 8/13/07, Marko Milivojevic <markom@vodafone.is> wrote:
>
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>
-- Ronald Angello CCIE #17846
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