From: subodh.rawat@wipro.com
Date: Tue Aug 14 2007 - 02:30:23 ART
Himawan,
You are undoubtedly going to inspire many......and I am happy to say
that I am one of them.
Congratulation for your great feat. I had read your other articles too
at http://brokenpipes.blogspot.com and those were really inspiring.
Great work and yes two brains (Brians) are fantastic. They really dig
you into technology and make your head spin and think which other's
(Cisco books and materials) wont.
Regards
Subodh
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
Himawan Nugroho
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2007 10:15 AM
To: groupstudy; comserv@groupstudy.com
Subject: Triple CCIE!
I passed! I passed! I passed!
With only a couple of months preparation, with only 240 lab hours
practice, with all the tight schedule, with all the projects, with all
the flying-the-friendly-skies kind of life style, with study time that
is only In Between, with only few hours sleep everyday,
against-the-all-odds yesterday I passed CCIE Service Provider Lab in
first attempt!
Thanks, God.
I was quite speechless when the first time I saw the result. I really
passed. Exactly 6 years after my first moment stepped in to CCIE lab in
Brussels to take my Routing & Switching track, I finally passed and
completed all the three tracks that I wanted to have.
I still don't know what to say.
There is no word that can describe my feeling right now.
I guess I will start making a list of all the things that help me
achieve my final target. I'm planning to re-write my 'How to become a
CCIE' to update with latest information. But in short, following is how
I did it with only 2 months preparation:
- There was no time to study or attend any training so I really depend
on Internetwork Expert SP Advance Technology class-on-demand to get the
strong base. I can't say nothing regarding this material except:
it's gold. If you can't afford to go for a training, just make sure you
get this material.
- Then I tried to learn and practice specific topic using IE Tech Labs.
It's far than enough for sure but at least can give you some ideas about
each technology. Expect to drill down by yourself by modifying the
original scenario and by adding more complexity
- The Internetwork Expert SP Lab II is a must. If you can buy only a
single workbook just make sure you get this one. I have no affiliation
with them and actually I have some workbooks from different vendor as
well. But there was no time. So I placed a bet by relying on this
workbook 100% and I spent 240 lab hours to complete it two times.
Obviously, just like in Tech Labs we need to be creative and expand the
workbook. Always ask the question: why did Brian answer it this way? How
if I do it that way? And really tested all of the possible options.
- If you are in tight schedule like me, then you have to bet on few
things. I mean, I know we are supposed to learn all the technology
listed in CCIE lab blueprint. But that's what CCIE is all about.
Strategy. You may not need to learn all of them since only based on
looking at the hardware being used in the lab, for example, you can
figure it out easily that some topics won't be tested. So it's really a
thin line between strategic thinking and betting. For me, I just took my
chance and choose material that I really need to focus on.
- Unlike CCIE R&S, documentation CD is not our best friend anymore. In
CCIE SP, MPLS VPN with all the MP-BGP and underlying IGP technology is
the main focus. If we screw up in this section, obviously we will fail.
Especially since all the things are connected to each other. The
decision you make earlier might affect the technology on top of it.
And even if we can make it works from beginning, it doesn't mean we pass
straight away. But probably we will get all the points to pass from
Multicast, and the remaining sections of the lab are just like a safe
net. Some of them are quite easy to add more points and guarantee our
passing score.
- We need to get real world pressure, perhaps from work, to build our
character and make us ready to face any surprises in the lab . We need
to have a good troubleshooting mindset to pass the lab. I can't
emphasize enough about how important those two are.
- Reading a CCIE SP related discussion, just like in this SP groupstudy
and Internetwork Expert forum, is a very good way to avoid fighting this
battle alone. There was no time for me to get involved into any
discussion, but everytime I had time I always spent time to read the
forum. You may even find a study partner there
- In the end, I believe CCIE SP is very fair compare to the other tracks
that I have. I mean, in SP they don't test any fancy features that I
have never heard before and everything is straight to the point. If you
understand the technology than you should be able to bring the network
up. And most of those technologies can be tested. SP lab doesn't put
specific requirement how to do stuff, so I guess as long as we can
achieve the result without violating the rules, it should be fine. There
is no hard rule to do stuff that I should follow just like in other
tracks.
I really need to thanks everyone that has been helping me to achieve my
goal. To my family. To all my team mates in Cisco Advanced Services. To
Internetwork Expert, thank you for all the best materials. Brian Dennis
and Brian McGahan, you guys are the Twin Towers. The two Brains. The
real Kungfu Masters. I spent more than 100 hours just to listen to both
of you. Always laugh everytime you made those small jokes. There is no
doubt about the materials and I recommend to anyone who's planning to
take CCIE SP to get them.
Regards,
Himawan Nugroho, CCIE#8171 (R&S,SP,Sec)
-- Watch the history in the making: http://brokenpipes.blogspot.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Sep 01 2007 - 11:32:11 ART