Re: CCIE 24740

Congrats Sachin!

Charles

                                                                                                                                 
  From: sachin sharma <sanjusharma1304_at_gmail.com>
                                                                                                                                 
  To: Cisco certification <ccielab_at_groupstudy.com>
                                                                                                                                 
  Date: 07/22/2009 14:56
                                                                                                                                 
  Subject: CCIE 24740
                                                                                                                                 

Hello Experts and Aspirants,

Its time for me know to share my story of the making of an CCIE 24740.

Sorry for posting it late as I was not able to send mails to
groupstudy.......

Just A brief History

I started my preparation a more than 2 yrs ago and finally taken the theory
in Feb 2008 and decided to take the lab in a year.

After discussing about LAB from few friends and reading testimonials of
CCIEs , I tried to gather the right information and made a good plan and
put
the efforts.

Everyone suggested me the same basic things to start with reading books and
then practice each technology and then jump to labs and also take care of
the DOC CD. ahhh DOC CD is a ocean , I tried to read it to a good extend
and
eventually help Cisco to correct a few errors :) .. LOL ...

you might find yourself confused after DOC CD about the contradictions in
explaining the concepts.

There are 2 different contradictory explanations on the same page for a
single technology. :)... its fun ....

But no doubt if we leave the mistakes by just using common sense it a
wonderful resource and you will end up nearly 30 - 50 percent of non core
sections as it is..

And if we talk about Open Ended Questions , its 100% from it...

The Material I used :

TCP/IP Vol 1
TCP/IP Vol 2
Cisco QOS - IP telephony
Cisco Official Guide - Odom
IE COD -- priceless
ASET LABS

I started with Narbik Technology workbook , its an example of one the best
books written ever for CCIE.

Then Internetwork expert 4.1 Tech labs and than 4.2 labs (1,2,3,4,5,7,9 and
than i fainted)

After doing so I was pretty confident of clearing the lab and was looking
for something different.

Now the turning point, I heard from a Noble person from here about the ASET
labs and decided to go for it and managed to get them booked. (Thanks to my
manager and the gentleman from cisco)

I think if I have not taken it than I might have increased my chances of
getting fail by 50%.

It really gives you an idea how CCIE lab is graded and what exactly
proctor/script looks while verifying the answer.

If you really do not have access to ASET than find a vendor who offers
similar stuff (i think Internetwork and IPexpert both offer now)

I have done it multiple times to the extend to understand it fully... cool
stuff...

Now the second turning point , the credit goes to Scott Morris .. The audio
bootcamp... Its really wonderful.... get your mobile/ IPOD loaded with it
and just go for it.

I repeated the IE labs to make sure to I can do it comfortably.

The LAB Experience

I reached Bangalore in a day advance and started revising the things but
unfortunately I have a few things pending to read for open-ended (all the
unusual stuff) so decided to not sleep the night before (although i would
strictly not suggest to do that) but I really do not know how I fall asleep
at 3 AM for 2 hours and was cursing myself in the morning.

Its because of the hype of OEQ which eventually was nothing more than
simple
questions.

Part 1 : OEQ

The wonderful proctor takes us to a room and explain the things about OEQ
and LAB.

I was trembling a bit and no doubt it was the biggest day for my life.

I read all the questions and a smile comes on my face that I know them. I
tried my best and to the full extend answered the questions in more than 50
words. I took 27 minutes to answer the questions and make sure they are
recorded properly.

But some evil forces are waiting for me in the lab in part two of the story
and I met them very soon.

LAB - PART -II

I have got the lab and I read it completely and makes new figures and start
doing it very soon.

I am not sure by sharing the stuff i might or might not break the NDA but
just want to summaries if some basic stuff is not working as expected in
the
lab, just please do not hesitate to reboot the devices (but check conf
register and IOS) :J

I wasted nearly an hour to troubleshoot it and give up as I was nothing
else
to try. it was core topic.

By lunch time i was pretty much sure to fail as things are not working as
expected but the only good thing I have done is to leave it and start doing
other parts and come back to it later. I have a good practice of making
configuration on notepad as a part of my daily job before applying to
router
and adopted the same at practice sessions and LAB.

In lunch, I have taken medicine for headache and acidity and was looking
at
1400$ lunch.

Things settled down after lunch and after that I was copying configuration
from notepad. cool .. I finished the lab in 7 hours and left with 1 hour to
verify and refer to DOC CD.

It was a priceless one hour as I corrected small mistakes which could have
cost me a definite failure , always verify with show commands , remember
Scott Morris farewell audio,

I had some doubt on few questions and visited proctor 7-8 times to clarify
that but he was too trained not to suggest some tips.. :) lol ... but
certainly he guided me to read the question from a new angle.. that really
helps to develop two possible solution for a single question and I can
prove
both of them...

Guys remember if you have two solutions , configure both them if they do
not
contradict each other. Better on safe side.. and read the question multiple
times to make sure to understand them.

After 8 hours I had doubt on 6 marks as I was not really convinced with my
answer and need to wait for result to come.

It was a tough time to wait for the result as it take more than 8 hours to
appear and I was not having the energy to be awake , finally I asked my
friend to let me know and then the bell rings and i hear
24740............................................................

I was speechless for a second and thanked to GOD, friends and well wishers
to make this happen....

I really waited for long and scarified 6 months nearly on a Island... :) ,
but it was worth...

Now some TIPS for open ended :

Just focus to understand the technology completely and that all :)

Now Would like to thanks some persons without whom this has not been
possible.

  Scott Morris , Brain Dennis , Brian McGahan , Narbik , Anthony Sequera ,
Jeff Doyle and More

 " If Networking is religion than you are the angels "

I wish to meet with you guys one day and would personally like to thanks :)
, till than accept the handclasp over the miles

--
Regards,
Sachin Sharma
CCIE R&S
24740
" Failure does not need preparations "
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net