Re: Passed CCIE RS on first attempt in Brussels. CCIE #28676

Congrats....
Take a break now...njoy ur time

<raghava>

Sent from my handheld---

-----Original Message-----
From: "Saulat Ali" <Saulat.Ali_at_Ticketmaster.co.uk>
Sender: nobody_at_groupstudy.com
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:22:29
To: <ccielab_at_groupstudy.com>
Reply-To: "Saulat Ali" <Saulat.Ali_at_Ticketmaster.co.uk>
Subject: Passed CCIE RS on first attempt in Brussels. CCIE #28676

Guys,

After 18 months of hard work, sleepless nights and countless hrs of
labng finally I passed the CCIE RS Lab in Brussels on Monday 18th, what
a feeling it is and what a feeling to pass it first time, unbelievable
journey.

First of all I would like to thank THE ALMIGHTY GOD for giving me the
strength and courage to prepare and pass this exam, secondly my family
and friends for their support and prayers but mainly my wife for her
tremendous support she kept me motivated throughout this journey and
without her support it would have been impossible.

I would also like to thank my study partners Fabio and Afar, guys you
are amazing and I'm sure you will get your numbers soon.

I started preparing for lab in Nov 2009 after passing the written in Oct
2009. It took me couple of months before I had a fully working lab. I
used 4 x 3560s with GNS3 and it worked like a charm.

Study approach:

I started with INE vol1 before starting any section I used to watch CoD,
read relevant materials and wouldn't move to next section until I fully
understand the technology inside out.

Attended INE boot camp in July 10 in London taught by Anthony. This not
only helped me in technical areas but also Anthony's fantastic Lab
strategy and Time Management skills proved to be one of the key factors
in passing the lab, thank you Anthony.

It took me a while to complete Vol1 as I had to break my studies few
times. My wife was expecting so I had to be with her for support and
care and after the birth of our beautiful daughter in Oct 2010 I didn't
touch anything for at least 2 months. I started again in Dec and by year
end I finished vol1.

I stared vol2 in Jan 11 only completed 5-6 labs of difficulty level 6-7
as I was more worried about the TS section. I completed all vol2 TS and
vol4 TS labs, also completed couple of vol3 labs. Whenever I found
myself struggling on anything I used to go back and review vol1 for that
section.

During the last month I was mostly working on my weaker areas and
reviewing Vol1 I also spent loads of time on INE racks doing vol2 TS and
Vol4 again and again. Beside INE I also used couple of Narbik TS labs
and Cisco 360 TS labs.

Material I used:

INE Vol 1 - 4

INE CoD, ATCoD,

Scott Morris Audio Boot camp

Cisco 360 TS videos

Cisco 360 TS labs

Narbik TS labs

Number of Cisco press books but didn't read any from start to end.

Cisco Docs

Big Day

On the lab day there were total 9 candidates taking the exam. 5 were
taking RS, I and another guy were appearing for the first attempt.

Before starting the TS part I wrote down numbers from 1 to 10 on the
scratch sheet for TS questions. After starting the lab the first 5 mins
I spent reading the guidelines and viewing all tickets then started with
the tickets which I thought would be easy to handle. Completed 4 tickets
in first 30 mins that was a confidence booster, for every ticket I
completed and verified I just put double tick against its number on the
scratch sheet. Tickets which I worked on and couldn't able to resolve I
put single tick and move on after 10 mins.

In the end I was left with 2 tickets which I couldn't resolve and I had
15 mins on the clock, so I started again on each ticket with a different
approach then I used previously on them and finally was able to fix both
before the end.

In the config section I read guidelines, all tasks and view what
diagrams they gave me, I didn't draw any diagram as they provided enough
information. After reading all tasks I made sure that I fully

understand what they are asking and made notes for any special
requirements or areas which were interlinked with other tasks. Before
working on any task I read the question at least couple of times to make
sure that I don't misunderstand the requirements or violate any rules.
I was able to complete the config section with ample time for
verification.

It has been one of the most wonderful and rewarding experience of my
life and I'm ready to take this challenge again. After taking some rest
and spending some quality time with my family I'm planning to start
Security.

Thank you all,

Saulat Ali, CCIE #28676.

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Wed Apr 20 2011 - 17:28:20 ART