Re: 28781 - First and Final Try !!!!!

Congratulations Nadeem!

On 6 May 2011 11:29, Nadeem Rafi <nrafia_at_gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi GS!
> I have attempted Mobile Lab in Riyadh on 1st May 2011 and by the grace of
> God i successfully passed it. Here goes my story for this journey.....
>
> It was around 2000 that i first time came to know about Cisco, as one of
> mine friend advised me to go in this particular field of networking. I
> purchased "Todd Lammle" and read few chapters. At that time i was not able
> to get any kind of help or further information and job nature became
> Microsoft oriented. I was just able to study this stuff for 2-3 weeks and
> then shifted completely to MS and abandoned Cisco.
>
> It was mid 2006 that i felt i am almost done with my present job track and
> started looking into Cisco again. While searching for more info i just came
> to know about "Darby Weaver" and his fascinating emails :). This guy impress
> me a lot and even i shot him few mails asking for few clarifications and
> best recommended books. This guy helped me and later on even he offered me
> his racks which i declined as i already have purchased a plenty of rack time
> from different vendors. I am really thankful Darby for your amazing emails
> and initial support.
>
> Most amazing books for starting were Jeff Doyle's Routing TCP/IP, these
> books gave ample knowledge and understanding.
>
> A major boost for CCIE prep was deciding to purchase INE end to end program.
> This helped a lot to put things on fast track. I really would like to say
> big thanks to Anthony Sequeira for his outstanding support and always being
> available when i need him. I would like to say big thanks to Kady Denis
> also, she was always very supportive.
>
> I have worked with INE end to end program intensively and without
> INE/Anthony's help it was not possible to achieve this number. They are best
> and massive. They cover almost every thing you can see on blue print and
> mostly more than required. INE's only problem is that they feed you more
> than you need to pass :) Their volume-1 is amazing and i have done it more
> than 4 times end to end :) If some one can do volume-1 end to end, i am sure
> he will not fail the exam. This volume have every thing you need to pass the
> exam. If some one want to pass CCIE with extensive knowledge and have no
> worries about time then INE is best suited for him. Only OLS will kill some
> one with short time, these are around 150+ hours in depth lectures. I
> watched them more than twice end to end and some selected lectures
> periodically.
>
> I was lucky enough that i get connected with Narbik and he offered me his
> two workbooks. These two volumes are master piece of its kind and no doubt
> best in market. I have learned a lot from Narbik and his workbooks. His
> workbooks are precise and to the point. Best thing about his workbook is
> being super fast to perform them. These workbooks dont take a lot of time.
> If my memory serve me well i can say i have finished his both volumes more
> than 3 times end to end. Narbik You are simply Best.
>
> I would like to thank IPExpert team; Wayne, Tyson and Jeo Astrino. Wayne has
> offered me his end to end program along with boot camp. I would like to
> admit IPExpert study guides and videos/audio guides are superb. This
> material is to the point and concise. If some one want to do CCIE on fast
> track then IPExpert is best suited for him. Joe and Tyson are always
> available on skype for any kind of question you got. Their audio and video
> classes are best. I would admit i have not worked extensively with
> IPExpert program, but what ever i have studied from IPExpert it was proved
> to be good. Once again Thanks IPExpert Team.
>
> As i was able to work with three vendors i would recommend every one of
> these equally. Every one of them have some thing unique to offer. My advice
> for any new CCIE aspirant is to take two vendors and this will help you to
> clear your doubts more effectively. Second it will help to cover missing
> points of one particular vendor's study program.
>
> This journey was not an easy one. I have to steal time from family and my
> kids, even my 5 year old daughter was understanding that "baba" is doing
> some thing important. When she wants to do some playing or going outside she
> would say, Baba when you are done with your studies and free then we will go
> play land. These moments were really heart breaking. I am really thankful
> for my wife for being supportive and understanding, occasionally she got
> frustrated with this non-stop marathon. But without her help and support
> this journey was impossible. I am proud of her.... Thanks once again for
> your sacrifices.
> Most difficult part was when i developed signs of RSI. I was in terrible
> pain and afraid of this to be a permanent issue. I shut off the studies for
> at least two months and it helped to overcome affectively along with some
> other precautionary steps. Thanks God i dont have this issue today. I would
> like to thank all of mine friends who met during this journey and we learnt
> a lot of things from each other.
>
> Lab:
>
> It was CCIE Mobile lab held in Riyadh 1st of May. I reached almost 1 hours
> earlier. we started lab around 9:10 after short introductory lecture
> from proctor. TS part proved to be quite easy for me i never panic in this
> part of lab although my first ticket took more than 20 minutes to be solved,
> and i was thinking it was most easiest ticket to attempt. Lab topology was
> huge but very well documented. Almost every thing you need to know about it
> was on diagram. Monitors were big enough to hold a lot of open session
> screens, but i had strategy to open only those sessions which involve with
> one particular Ticket. When i was done with that ticket i would close all
> those sessions. I was able to verify 90% of tickets working as expected.
> When i was done with TS section in 1:55 minutes. Over all experience with TS
> section was quite satisfying. Speed of the terminals was quite amazing. IOU
> is really fast as compared to GNS.
>
> My advice for TS section, as it worked for me.
>
> I think candidate can start from any vendor's workbook to understand and
> enhance his TS skills. Then he should create his own topology for 30-40
> routers in Dynamips. He can try to put as many configs as possible and then
> break them, getting help from friends to break configs and don't let you
> know, whats have been broken can make this whole process a lot more "fun",
> and it helped me a lot.
>
> To solve issues, diagram in lab is very crucial, it has every thing you
> need to understand the scenario. But plz dont waste time to understand in
> depth whats going on, its not required to do so.
> Time is very important factor to solve the lab, given 120 minutes for 10
> tickets, if you stuck on any ticket it will give you a lot of stress while
> solving other tickets. First try to solve tickets which you feel are easy to
> fix and then return to other tickets. Solving each ticket is not required
> but at least 8 are must. TS is all about basic skills, not in dept or
> gotcha/tricky commands. If you know basic skills, its more than enough to
> pass TS.
>
> Try to increase the speed which can only be done through practice. This
> practice will help you to make your plan to solve tickets in different
> approaches, like top down approach, from down to upward or try to solve it
> from middle. No single approach can help, and practice will give you what
> all you need to work with TS. TS is best part of Lab which i liked and it
> helped me a lot to understand things in quick and precise manner.
>
> Try to work with debug and show commands as much as possible, but don't
> forget that there is no restriction to "do sh run". You just have to find a
> proper equilibrium among sh run and other show/debug commands.
>
> These are just my recommendations and every one can have his own way of
> doing stuff.
>
> Config Section:
> Config section proved to be a real heart breaker for me. It was a very
> lengthy lab, with lot of services and non-core stuff, and fun was that this
> non-core was actually "core" of the lab. I struggled with this part, and at
> least tried twice but it was not working. At one point i was thinking to
> leave the lab after lunch but then i decided to leave this "non-core" topic
> and finish other tasks. When i was done with my all other tasks i was left
> with only 20-30 minutes. As a final try i checked again this "non-core" task
> and found some very silly mistakes, as soon as i rectified these mistake i
> was up and routes were behaving as expected. At that point i was sure that i
> have nailed this big day. I have to consult doccd on few occasions and this
> is only friend you can get in your lab, so be friend with it during your
> prep time.
>
> If any thing is on Cisco Blue Print then its fair game, you can expect it in
> your lab. Even if you heard that this is just introductory stuff dont
> believe, that stuff can be a "core" in your version of lab. If you have some
> thing in blue print do that stuff in depth.
>
> I have studied following books during this journey and these helped a
> lot............May be i am missing some other books but....
>
> CCNP Self-Study BCMSN Official Exam Certification Guide, 4th Edition
> CCNP BSCI Official Exam Certification Guide 4th Edition
> CCNP ISCW Official Exam Certification Guide 1st Edition
> CCNP ONT Quick Reference Sheets 2007
> Cisco Press CCSP SNRS Exam Certification Guide 2nd Edition
> Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) (Authorized Self-Study Guide)
> (3rd Edition)
>
> KnowledgeNet - Cisco Multicast
> KnowledgeNet - Cisco QoS
> KnowledgeNet - Cisco MPLS
>
> CCIE Routing and Switching Exam certification guide 3rd
> CCIE Routing and Switching Exam certification guide 4th
> CCIE Routing and Switching Flash Cards (Sequeira and Wallace, ISBN#
> 1587201291)
> CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Quick Reference Sheets: Exam 350-001 v3.0
> (Sequeira, ISBN #1-58705-337-3)
>
> Cisco LAN Switching (Clark, Hamilton, ISBN# 1578700949)
> Cisco Press LAN Switching Fundamentals
>
> Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development)Routing TCP/IP,
> Volume I, Second Edition (Carroll, Doyle, ISBN# 1587052024)
> Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) (Doyle, DeHaven
> Carroll, ISBN# 1578700892)
>
> Cisco OSPF Command and Configuration Handbook (Parkhurst, ISBN# 1587050714)
>
> Cisco Press Configuring BGP StudentGuide Vol.1
> Cisco Press Configuring BGP StudentGuide Vol.2
> Internet Routing Architectures, Second Edition (Sam Halabi, ISBN#
> 15787050862)
> Cisco BGP-4 Command and Configuration Handbook (Parkhurst, ISBN# 158705017X)
>
> MPLS Fundamentals
> Cisco Press MPLS Configuration on Cisco IOS Software
>
> Developing IP Multicast Networks, Volume I (Beau Williamson, ISBN#
> 1578700779)
>
> Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide (IP Telephony Self-Study) (2nd Edition)
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Nadeem Rafi
> R&S # 28781
>
>
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-- 
Wouter Prins
wp_at_null0.nl
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net