Re: my ccie journey (passed!)

Congrats Yuri!!!

-- 
Paul Negron
CCIE# 14856 CCSI# 22752
Senior Technical Instructor
> From: Yuri Bank <yuribank_at_gmail.com>
> Reply-To: Yuri Bank <yuribank_at_gmail.com>
> Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:09:43 -0800
> To: Cisco certification <ccielab_at_groupstudy.com>
> Subject: my ccie journey (passed!)
> 
> 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