My story- CCIE #35355

Thanks:
I thank God.B This has been a dream of mine for 6 years, and he
solely helped me attain this! I donbt want to start a religion roll as we
are all from different parts of the word and have different religious
backgrounds.B However, give God a year of your faith and belief and see if
things donbt change!
Secondly, my wife and family for dealing with me.B
Itbs been a constant 2 years of knowing that I need to get home and lab.B I
thank those that have helped me on the forums, and especially Narbik.B He
gave me a personal relationship through my training, and even hung out with us
until the wee morning hours during bootcamps to chat with us about anything
and everything.B He really does care and it shows in his work.B Finally, I
thank my employer.B Without their support, I would have had to quit my job to
get this accomplished in 2 years.

Materials used:
Global Knowledge CIERS1
bootcamp
CCBootcamp MPLS for CCIE candidates (taken at Cisco LIVE)
INE (video
only)
IPExpert Blended Learning Solution (Vol1 and 3 only, video on demand,
audio on demand)
CCBootcamp ALM bootcamp
Narbik CIERS1 (attended twice)
bootcamp, Advanced workbook, bootcamp 4.0 workbook
B
Hardware used:
I was
using 2800/3800/3560bs hardware cabled for each vendor.
B
Products that
didnbt work:
CCBootcamp workbooks- I attended a CCB in September 2011.B The
instructor (Rahim) was great and very knowledgeable.B I attended a bootcamp,
but quickly cancelled on day 2 due to the workbooks alone.B There were so
many typos, that even the instructor had to work through the workbooks to find
that it mentions the wrong routers as part of the restrictions.B This made me
start to doubt myself- not a good way to learn!B Ibm sure the owner will
come after me again for this posting, however, he did not follow up on his
promise to rectify the situation (by receiving a beta version of the new
workbooks) and Ibm advising students away from your products as I said I
would.B I have a few more examples of the bad business practices, but I will
spare you those details.B WORST WORKBOOKS EVER!
B
Dates:
- April 30, 2010-
Passed CCIE R&S Written
B
- May 3, 2010- Global Knowledge Bootcamp, CIERS1
(San Jose, California)
B
- July 2010- Passed CCIE Security written (Free test
at Cisco LIVE)
B
- July 2010-Dec. 2011
I was averaging 15 hours a week of
rack time over 4-5 days a week.B
B
- June 2011
I attended Narbikbs CIERS1
bootcamp.B WHOA.B Thatbs a lot to take in, but amazing training.B The man
is a walking IOS dictionary and can rattle off 7 levels deep of IOS
commands.B I learned his theory (not verbatim) that if you need a sh run or
to use a b?b, you arenbt ready for the lab.B I carried this with me
throughout my studies after that.B Narbik taught me to look at the
requirement or question, think about what technology is at hand, and if itbs
a global, or interface command before starting in on a solution.B Great
advice!
B
- Nov, 2011
I attended Narbikbs CIERS1 bootcamp for the second
time. I was better prepared and did much better on my assessment labs.B I
felt close to ready, but Narbik informed me that I wasnbt ready.B Yet, I
still had to make my attempt at the Lab to qualify for the Lab Safe program.
B
- Dec. 13, 2011
My first attempt at the CCIE R&S lab.B I got a 50% (avg)
on the config section, and an 18% on troubleshooting.B I didnbt expect to
pass, but I was forced (so to speak) to take the lab by the end of the year to
qualify for the bLab Safeb program (free second attempt).

- Dec. 15- 2011
Kicked my labbing into high gear, and focused on the technologies I didnbt
know well.B These were mainly IP Services.
B
- Dec. 20, 2011-March 20, 2012
Stepped up my lab times to 25 hours a week.B My method was this- Run through
IPX VOL1 for the technologies I saw that I didnbt know well.B This was
about 12 topics.B Run through IPX VOL3 Mock labs very slowly.B In fact, I
sometimes took 16-20 hours for a Mock lab because I was looking them up on the
DOCCD, and playing with different options to actually break the solution and
finding a second solution as an alternative.B This was a key building block
for me.B I want through Narbikbs Adv. workbooks and Bootcamp 4.0
workbooks.B I especially liked Narbikbs workbooks for the reason for the
solution.B If I didnbt know something in-depth, Narbikbs workbooks were
my direct solution.B All of the vendors workbooks were still weak in IP
Services, especially EEM an OER.B I know that Narbik, and Ibm sure the
other vendors will as well, have updates to their workbooks as this has been
mentioned time and time again.B I believe Brain with INE has
 committed to releasing something soon.
B
- March 20-April 30, 2012
Kicked my
labbing into high gear.B My job allowed me to work from home, so I was
averaging 30 hours a week (7 days a week) without any days off from labbing.B
Those last 5 weeks were rough!B I was staying up late at night, drinking
Monster energy drinks, and chasing them with Red Bull energy drinks!B Up
until midnight/1am, and getting up at 6am, taking my girls to school, going to
the gym, and then heading back to the house to lab/work.B The last week
before my lab, I actually took a week of vacation and turned off my email and
didnbt answer my work phone except at breaks.
B
- May 1, 2012
Passed CCIE
R&S Lab in San Jose!B Although they say to stop labbing and relax your mind,
I don't work like that.B I labbed until midnight the night before the lab in
my hotel, and labbed for an hour that morning.B This is partially becuase my
mind was conditioned to do that (lab late), and I wanted my mind alert and
fingers ready that morning for the lab.B I didn't feel it was proper to show
up and not have the mentality for the wording of the lab.B *NOTE* You could
have cut the tension with a knife in the waiting area prior to the lab at
Cisco's San Jose's office.B I couldn't help but crack jokes!B Probably my
way of dealing with nervous situations.B Also, it took 10 hours for my email
that I passed!B AHHHHH!B Why was it that when I failed I knew in 2 hours?B
Needless to say, I got zero sleep that night!

*My tips to success*
When you
lab up, take your time to learn a technology.B When you learn it, go to a
different vendor and work their technology based labs.B Go through them, fix
it, and break it.B Get fancy with it and find another way to do it (because
there is always another way and you might get a restriction that will throw
you for a loop).
B
Preferred vendors (there is no single vendor), and why-
Narbik-Workbooks are in different degrees of difficulty, they build upon each
other, and have a VERY detailed explaination to learn from.B After paying for
his bootcamp and attending, you can re-take the bootcamps if seats are
available for free.B With the amount of information delivered, I highly
recommend taking it at least twice!
B
IPExpert- VERY hard, right out of the
box!B But, their BLS has videobs that help understand how, but not why.B
Itbs up to you to learn the technology prior to working their labs.B The
VOD is a bdeath by slideshowb that didnbt help me at all.B I did
thoroughly enjoy their video on demand.B I have a lengthy drive to work each
day, and these came in handy to some extent.B But, once I found myself solid
on a technology, and I was done with Narbikbs workbooks, this is where I
went.B This is for the advanced student that feels they are ready, but in my
opinion, not a learning tool.
B
INE- Their all access pass is great, and
offers you discounted rates on their CCIE workbooks.B Their videobs are
REALLY good.B For a lot of candidates, INE is a good choice as their hardware
is 1800/2600 model routers and less of a financial impact.
B
Cisco 360- I
donbt care for the workbooks, but their assessment labs are good to get a
feel of the lab interface, and gives you an idea via a score of where you
are.B If you can score high on these labs, you will do good on the labs.B
But, I saw technologies on the lab that I did not get tested on within the
Assessment labs.
B
I hope this helps you.B Now, onto CCIE Security!B
Re-cabling my racks now for IPExpert and Narbik's layouts.B ;)B
B
God
Bless.

Regards,
Jay McMickle-B CCIE #35355

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Tue May 08 2012 - 20:42:23 ART