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

It was such an incredible honor to assist you with this!

Congrats and I look forward to following your continued successes.

-----Original Message-----
From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of Marko Milivojevic
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 1:40 PM
To: Saulat Ali
Cc: ccielab_at_groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: Passed CCIE RS on first attempt in Brussels. CCIE #28676

Nice work! Congratulations! :-)

--
Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427
Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert
FREE CCIE training: http://bit.ly/vLecture
Mailto: markom_at_ipexpert.com
Telephone: +1.810.326.1444
Web: http://www.ipexpert.com/
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this message are mine and my only and not the official or unofficial opinion of, or affiliated with IPexpert and its owners in any way.
On Wed, Apr 20, 2011 at 10:22, Saulat Ali <Saulat.Ali_at_ticketmaster.co.uk> wrote:
> Guys,
>
>
>
> After 18 months of hard work, sleepless nights and B 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 B 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 B 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 B CoD, ATCoD,
>
> Scott Morris Audio Boot camp
>
> Cisco 360 TS videos
>
> Cisco 360 TS labs
>
> Narbik TS labs
>
> Number of B 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. B 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, B CCIE #28676.
>
>
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>
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