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

Congratulations! Thanks so much for sharing. Great insight. I am
booked for August 9 in San Jose and hope to post a similar story.

Marc

On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 11:34 AM, Marko Milivojevic <markom_at_ipexpert.com> wrote:
> Well done, Nadeem!
>
> --
> 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/
>
> On Fri, May 6, 2011 at 02:29, 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 B 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. B 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. B 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 B 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.
>>
>> B 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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Received on Fri May 06 2011 - 12:13:11 ART