Re: my ccie journey (passed!)

Awesome job! Very informative write up - thank you.

-SL

On Jan 15, 2012, at 7:16 PM, marc edwards <renorider_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> Congrats. Thanks for the write up.
>
> On Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 4:09 PM, Yuri Bank <yuribank_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hey everyone!
>>
>> For those of you that don't know already, I passed the CCIE lab last
>> Wednesday ( 1/11/2012 ) on my first attempt! I've been asked by a few
>> people now if I would post my journey, so here it is! (I was going to post
>> this earlier, but I've been so tired the last couple days). I tried to
>> organize this so you're not just reading a huge wall-o-text. I apologize
>> for the long email, but hopefully someone finds it insightful. (
>> Personally, I love reading these things).
>>
>> *CCNA, CCNP, & PRE-CCIE*
>>
>> I started the CCNA in 2008. At the time, I thought passing the CCIE was
>> literally impossible, and didn't really even consider it. I was more of a
>> Linux Sysadmin anyways and networking wasn't my specialty, I just wanted to
>> broaden my knowledge. But I became addicted to the technology, and after
>> passing the CCNA I immediately started studying for the CCNP. I built a
>> rack of 2600s & 3550s, and then created labs for every technology on the
>> CCNP. In 2010 I finished the CCNP and also changed jobs. At this point I
>> was feeling really burnt out and took a few months off from studying. After
>> some time (late 2010), I decided to start studying again. I sold off all of
>> my routers and switches (except for two 3550s), and purchased some reading
>> material for my 'Pre-CCIE Written' studying. These books are:
>> Interconnections by Perlman, TCP/IP Illustrated by Stevens, and
>> Internetworking with TCP/IP by Comer. These books took me quite a while to
>> read. Interconnections is especially difficult to read, but very much worth
>> the time. (These 3 books are not only on the CCIE reading list, but
>> recommended to me by the best engineers I know).
>>
>> *The Written*
>>
>> In May 2011 I started officially studying for the CCIE Written. My study
>> materials for the written consisted of the Official CCIE Routing and
>> Switching Guide, Routing TCP/IP VOL1 & 2, various RFCs, and lots of Cisco
>> Documentation. I also had SafariBooksOnline, and read chapters from lots of
>> other Cisco Press books. The only time I would touch the command line, was
>> to verify my understanding of something that didn't make sense in words. I
>> passed the written June 27, 2011.
>>
>> After passing the written, I felt like I had a strong foundation of
>> knowledge. I wanted to build upon this foundation as much as I could. I did
>> not want to hesitate between the Written and the Lab. So I immediately
>> scheduled a lab date and started building my rack ( or hybrid rack). I had
>> always used dynamips, but now it was time to get serious, and this meant
>> forking out the cash for some 3560s & a new server. The lab I built is a
>> Hybrid Dynamaips lab. This consists of a rackmount server running Debian
>> Linux, 2x Catalyst 3550s, 2x Catalyst 3560s, and a 16U Skeletek rack. My
>> server has 3x Quad-Core NICs which allow me to bridge any NIC to any
>> virtual router in dynamips. Pictures & more details here:
>> https://yuri.easytospell.net/?p=721
>>
>> *Lab Study*
>>
>> I started with INE Volume I, it was a great workbook to start with. I spent
>> A LOT of time on each task, even the easy ones. I wanted to understand
>> EVERYTHING perfectly! After INE Volume I, I started working on INE Volume
>> II. While doing the Volume II labs I also worked on Narbiks Foundations
>> workbook. On weekends I would do volume II labs in 8 hour sessions, and on
>> weekdays I would do Narbiks WB after work (from 6:30pm to 12:00am). In
>> November I went to Narbiks Bootcamp! That was a lot of fun, it was like
>> summer camp for networking nerds. Narbik is simply a great teacher, and
>> studying with other people was a great experience. Forums & mailing lists
>> are awesome, but there isn't anything that beats in-person.
>>
>> *Study Discipline *
>>
>> During my studies I tried to ban myself from using google. If I was doing a
>> practice lab I would limit myself to the DocCD only. If I was doing INE Vol
>> I or Narbiks Adv WB I would limit myself to the DocCD, Books, and RFCs.
>> Forcing yourself to understand something from the GROUND up is important.
>> It might be easy to find someone else asking the same question on google,
>> and sometimes it is appropriate to find information this way, but don't get
>> lazy. Reading should always be a part of your study routine anyways. Even
>> if its just 45 minutes on the train to work. Never stop studying the
>> theory.
>>
>> *Final Review:* 6 weeks before the lab.
>>
>> This was a little plan I created, and I am actually really proud of this. I
>> printed out the extended R&S Blueprint, and marked each section with a
>> certain amount of days. I divided each section into time ranges ( over 30
>> days), giving bigger topics more days than others. Day 1 for a topic would
>> consist of researching and studying the topic on the DocCD. Day 2+ for a
>> topic would consist of labbing various scenarios from Narbiks WB & INE Vol
>> 1. I did this for every single topic on the Extended Blueprint. After 30
>> days I had covered the entire Blueprint. With two weeks left berore my lab,
>> I spent 1 week finishing INE volume II, and the final week resting with
>> some light review. 3 days before the lab I did one final Volume II lab. It
>> was an easier lab that I had already done, but I wanted to keep my spirits
>> high.
>>
>>
>> *Lab Day:*
>>
>> Since I live in San Francisco I considered just driving to San Jose early
>> in the morning for the lab, but I used to do that commute every day, and it
>> just sucks. Instead, I rented a hotel room at some place called Avatar
>> (Right next to iHOP- very classy!). After checking into the Hotel I did a
>> practice drive to building C to familiarize myself with the target area.
>> The rest of the day I spent doing LIGHT review of random topics & watched
>> some program on the History channel about Navy Seals! I tried to go to bed
>> early that night, but I couldn't sleep AT ALL, I was too excited! I just
>> laid awake looking at my alarm clock, and listening to the drunk people in
>> the next room.
>>
>> *Troubleshooting:*
>>
>> This is the section that I really feared the most. The general strategy
>> with troubleshooting is to do the easy tickets first, and that is exactly
>> what I did. If you understand the technology, the troubleshooting is not
>> very difficult. But I did get stuck on one ticket. The one I saved for
>> last!! I had 30 minutes for it too!! Grrrr!!!
>>
>> *Configuration:*
>>
>> The configuration section was fair. Now of course I had a doubts about
>> certain things. And this really lowered my expectations about passing. But
>> you just have to be confident. I finished the configuration section with
>> about one and half hours to spare. This gave me time to go over everything,
>> and it is probably why I passed this section. By the way, I am not fast at
>> typing. I just knew all of the technology. If you know the technology, time
>> management will not be an issue.
>>
>> *Post Lab*
>>
>> I went into the lab thinking I could, and SHOULD pass the first time. I
>> left the lab with my expectations low. In fact I was comfortable with the
>> fact that I will probably not pass the first time. After driving through
>> the most hellish San Jose traffic, I finally got back to SF and began
>> explaining to my family that we shouldn't get our hopes up. I said there
>> was about a 30% chance that I would pass. Once I sat down at my desk, I
>> began to furiously reproduce the issue I had on the troubleshooting. But I
>> couldn't reproduce the damn problem in my lab! This really annoyed me! So I
>> basically crashed into a depressed heap on the couch, and started chain
>> eating granola bars. Eventually I thought to check my score report. Maybe
>> that would give me a clue as to what the issue was? I know they don't give
>> any kind of detailed report, but I wasn't thinking rationally. I opened up
>> my mailbox, clicked the link for my ccie report, and to my ultimate shock,
>> read "PASS". I almost fell out of my seat. I clicked refresh so many times,
>> and I had my girl friend make sure that I wasn't delusional. I've never
>> felt so tired and happy in my life. I had just been on one hell of an
>> emotional roller coaster.
>>
>> *Advice*
>>
>> *You must understand the CORE technologies. I think everyone says this- But
>> I will say it too! Things like OSPF, BGP, MPLS, IPV6, and Multicast should
>> be something you have intimate knowledge of. Not just memorization of the
>> commands to configure X. There is a big difference between understanding
>> how to configure a protocol, and UNDERSTANDING how a protocol works.
>>
>> *I love the Narbik and INE workbooks. But the vendors cannot spoon feed you
>> everything. There is a very large aspect of your studies that must be done
>> on your own. This means using debugs, packet captures, and RFCs to better
>> understand each protocol.
>>
>> *There are a lot of IP services, but you should think of these as free
>> points, a gift from Cisco. I was really scared of them at first, all I
>> cared about were the core technologies. Spend some time to study them, and
>> you will realize that they're so easy.
>>
>> *I think I had the right attitude going into the lab. I went into the lab
>> with a confidence of 100, and by the end of the day had a confidence of 30!
>> If you go into the lab with a confidence of 50, what is going to happen by
>> the end of the day!!?? So go into the lab with a confidence of 110! I
>> promise you something in there will knock it down, so start strong!
>>
>> *No matter what happens during the lab, never give up. This kind of goes
>> with the above. Even if you're confidence is low, you're probably doing
>> better than you think! So just keep going. Finish the lab as best you can.
>> I bet you will surprise yourself!
>>
>>
>> This has been the greatest Achievements for me! Good luck to everyone out
>> there who is studying! I look forward to further participation on this
>> Mailing List, and other forums that I frequent!
>>
>> -Yuri Bank
>>
>> CCIE #33680
>>
>>
>> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>>
>> _______________________________________________________________________
>> Subscription information may be found at:
>> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Sun Jan 15 2012 - 20:17:47 ART