From: L. Jankok (ljankok@gmail.com)
Date: Sat Mar 14 2009 - 09:49:38 ARST
I agree mostly with you, just one side note though
We have professional experience and experience with the
technologies and the IOS.
With the superb workbooks out there you have a chance to learn
more about the IOS and the technologies than a network engineer
with years of professional experience... because knowledge does
not come automatically just with professional experience.. and if
you learn something on the job it is up to you to treat it as a gotcha
or to try to really understand it.
Congratulations!
2009/3/14 Pavel Stefanov <pavel.stefanov@yahoo.com>
> Thanks everyone.
>
> To Scott:
>
> Yes, the NMC's Catalyst VoD is great. It really
> helped me clear things up because apart from IE's blog and the
> configuration
> guides, there are very few resources on this topic.
>
> To Ravi:
>
> Yep, 18. I've
> got about a year and a half professional experience, but I've been in
> networking for 3 years.
>
> In my opnion, experience is not what the CCIE
> certification is about, it's about knowing the technologies, knowing how to
> implement and troubleshoot them and knowing how to work under pressure. You
> will encounter (I myself did) a lot of people that will tell you if you
> don't
> have enough experience, you will fail. But that's absolutely wrong.
> Exprience
> can actually play a bad part in the lab. Here's a few reasons - it's a lab
> so
> it's not a production network, they might ask you to do some obscure things
> you'd never do in a live network; some experienced engineers might do some
> overconfiguration or think too much about implications of a certain
> solution;
> not to mention that I personally know a bunch of people that
> underestimate/d
> the lab and that's one of the reasons they failed/could fail.
>
> For the
> written, I used mainly Cisco Press books. Configuration guides were mainly
> useful for IOS features. I did a lot of labs on core technologies as well
> as
> IPv6 and Multicast, but also explored some very corner-case scenarios,
> practically all that I could think of was labbed. I read the following
> books
> for the written:
>
> 7 Cisco Multicast Routing & Switching
> 7 CCNP Self-Study
> BCMSN Official Exam Certification Guide, 4th Edition
> 7 Cisco Press 2000 -
> CCIE Developing IP Multicast Networks (skipped some chapters)
> 7 Cisco Press
> 2000 - MPLS and VPN Architectures
> 7 Cisco Press 2001 - Routing TCP-IP Volume
> II (CCIE Professional Development)
> 7 Cisco Press 2002 - Traffic Engineering
> With MPLS (skipped some chapters) (that's not really necessary to read, I
> needed that in work)
> 7 Cisco Press 2003 - Cisco Self-Study Implementing IPv6
> Networks (skipped some chapters)
> 7 Cisco Press 2003 - MPLS and VPN
> Architectures Volume II
> 7 Cisco Press 2005 - CCIE Professional Development
> Routing TCP-IP, Volume I, Second Edition
> 7 Cisco Press 2005 - Cisco QOS Exam
> Certification Guide IP Telephony Self Study 2nd Edition
> 7 Cisco Press 2006 -
> CCIE Routing and Switching Official Exam Certification Guide 2nd Edition
> (the
> Switching and the NAT part only)
> 7 Cisco Press 2006 - Deploying IPv6 Networks
> (skipped some chapters)
> 7 Cisco Press 2006 - IPSec Virtual Private Network
> Fundamentals (1st, 2nd and 7th chapter)
>
> When I first started reading those
> books, bridging the gap between a the level of knowledge of a CCNA and a
> CCIE
> was really hard. You read about some technology, see another one mentioned,
> then you go and read about the latter. It was a mess :) Although, the
> written
> exam is required just to schedule the lab, I considered it a step that I
> had
> to make cause there are a few technologies not in the lab blueprint and
> didn't
> want to spend too much time on them.
> Regarding my lab preparation strategy, I
> copy/pasted both the official lab blueprint and IE's one in a doc file.
> Then I
> listed all the configuration guides I wanted to read.
>
> 7 Cisco IOS IP
> Addressing Services Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP
> Application Services Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Bridging
> and IBM Networking Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (Bridging Overview,
> Transparent bridging (includes IRB, CRB))
> 7 Cisco IOS Configuration
> Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Dial Technologies
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (PPP only)
> 7 Cisco IOS Interface and
> Hardware Component Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP Multicast
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP Routing Protocols
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP SLAs Configuration Guide,
> Release 12.4 (except for VoIP Gatekeeper Registration Delay, VoIP Call
> Setup
> Operation, DLSw+)
> 7 Cisco IOS IP Switching Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7
> Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (R&S related stuff only)
> 7
> Cisco IOS LAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS NetFlow
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Network Management Configuration
> Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Quality of Service Solutions Configuration
> Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Security Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> (R&S related-stuff only/blueprint, and without 802.1x authentication)
> 7 Cisco
> IOS Wide-Area Networking Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (Frame-Relay
> only)
> 7 Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide, Rel.
> 12.2(25)SEE (QoS section only)
> 7 Catalyst 3560 Switch Software Configuration
> Guide, Rel. 12.2(25)SEE
>
> I read those end-to-end (of course, I skipped some of
> the features/protocols not tested in the lab). It took me 5 or 6 months and
> I
> realized it was an enormous amount of work, but I also wanted to improve my
> IOS culture so it was not only about the lab. Then I watched the CoD and
> VoDs.
> Then went on and completed 10 labs from one vendor, moved to the other
> vendor
> and the back to the first one. I also had 8 9-hour ASET lab sessions booked
> where I did 11 labs (6 of them are built-in).
>
> As for the actual lab exam:
> I
> read a few checklists written by other members of GroupStudy, but I decided
> to
> write my own simpler one. I didn't draw any diagrams and rarely ever did in
> my
> preparation. I wanted to keep things simple and not spend too much time on
> additonal stuff. I read the lab twice, noted down some of the issues I
> could've encountered during the lab, drew a table with four columns as
> suggested by the Brians - Task, Points, Y/N, Notes. Then I opened 6 IE
> windows
> - IOS config guides and command references, 3560 and 3550 configuration and
> command references. I also copied the running-configs in flash just in case
> I
> had to check how something was configured at the beginning.
>
> Anyway, I
> started the lab very slowly, but I was done with about 65-70% of the lab by
> lunchtime. During lunch I was thinking of which tasks to complete next in
> order to get 80 points. I was done with the whole lab in exactly 5 hours so
> I
> had 3 full hours to verify and possibly troublehshoot. I asked the proctor
> a
> lot of questions during the exam and although the proctor was a bit grumpy
> after my 10th question :), I didn't really care about that and continued to
> check with the him all that seemed obscure to me. I also used TCL scriping
> and
> macros, which I highly recommend making use of in the real lab and in your
> preparation. I made two full verifications and had 20-30 minutes left, but
> as
> Brian Dennis had suggested, I didn't leave the lab early and drank as many
> free drinks and ate as many fruit as I could :) I honestly expected a more
> difficult lab and I was quite sure I'd passed after I left the lab.
>
> So that's
> pretty much all about the lab.
>
> Pavel
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Ravi Singh <way2ccie@googlemail.com>
> To: Pavel Stefanov
> <pavel.stefanov@yahoo.com>
> Cc: ccielab@groupstudy.com
> Sent: Friday, March 13,
> 2009 4:59:36 PM
> Subject: Re: Passed R&S in Brussel
>
>
> Congratulations Pavel !!!
> And if I am not wrong how old are you now ..18 I guess ??
>
> If you don't mind
> me asking, could you please let me know a bit about your professional
> experience. I obviously don't doubt your certification but the reason I ask
> this is that it could be a source of inspiration for me and some people
> here.
> I mean there are people who have been working in the industry for say 10-15
> years and have attempted the lab N times. But since you passed on the first
> attempt at such a young age, could you please guide us on the strategy you
> took.
>
> Forgive me being so inquisitive but I just couldn't help it.. Hope you
> don't mind !!
>
> Congrats Again
>
> Ravi
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 2:18 PM,
> Pavel Stefanov <pavel.stefanov@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I just wanted to say
> thank you all for the great questions, answers and advice I got from this
> forum. I remember the day when I first posted in groupstudy -
> http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=121109&t=121109 and would
> like
> to say a big thanks especially to Joseph Brunner and Jun Kim. Also big
> thanks
> to my brother, Brian McGahan, Brian Dennis, Scott Morris, Petr Lapukhov,
> Himawan Nugroho, Scott Vermillion and others.
>
> I passed the R&S lab in
> Brussels in the beginning of February, this year, on my first attempt. It
> took
> me 2-2.5 years to prepare (9-10 months for the written, and the rest for
> the
> lab). I used mainly Cisco Press books, blogs, IE's CoD, workbook volume 1
> and
> 2, IE's forums, IPExpert's v9 workbook and forums, Netmaster's Catalyst QoS
> VoD, ASET labs and last but not least - GroupStudy. I didn't have my own
> home
> rack, used dynamips, PEC and some 2960s I had access to in the academy I
> used
> to teach courses. Now I've got to pass the matriculation exams after high
> school and then I'm starting my preparation for the SP track.
>
> Once again,
> thanks everyone for the great posts.
>
> Pavel
>
>
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