From: Sean.Zimmerman@clubcorp.com
Date: Fri Jun 15 2007 - 08:24:47 ART
I've finally completed my goal, and what a journey! I started all of this
back in May '06 when I started preparing for the written. I took labs in
RTP and San Jose beginning in November '06, with my last (and final) R&S
attempt yesterday. I'd like to thank Scott Morris and IPExpert for the
excellent knowledge passed along during their one week boot camp, and of
course for all of his answers on this forum.
I'd especially like to thank InternetworkExpert for their COD's and lab
workbook, which I started using about 45 days before this last attempt.
The Brian's are incredible, and their tips and opinions provided
throughout the classes are extremely valuable. I agree now completely with
Brian Dennis' opinion that doing massive ammounts of practice labs won't
get you there very efficiently, if at all. Before this last attempt, I
only did about 7 of the IE labs in dynamips and 2 of them with
gigavelocity rack rentals. I spent most of my time listening to COD's
(even while sleeping), and reading the doc CD. If I came across something
confusing or that I hadn't done, I labbed it up in dynamips to really
understand how it works.
My opinion now is that practice labs help you generate speed and get you
familiar with the lab structure, but the test itself is truly a test of
expertise, not speed. You must truly understand how the different
protocols and features work. It's also not about knowing all of the SRT's
(stupid router tricks), as one of the Brians coined them. There's not much
time for trial-and-error, but there is plenty of time to look certain
things up on the doc CD to verify all of the required settings were
applied. I was done with the entire lab with just about 2 hours to spare,
verifying all along the way. I then spent the last two hours searching for
mistakes, and I found a few. I even reloaded my entire rack and ran all of
my reachability tests again. I walked out of their 100% confident that I
nailed it, and then I just had to wait for the email in gut-wrenching
agony.
What's even more amazing is that my wife and kids didn't leave me while I
worked towards this goal. I've been doing my own thing for months, and
between my job and CCIE preparation, they didn't see much of me. The CCIE
for me required my full attention. It was a 2nd full-time job (at least
for me).
Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone on this group that's sent questions,
and to those who answered them, and to those who corrected those who
answered.
Experience:
IT since '94, networking since '96 - Current. I began my career as a Small
Computer Systems Specialist in the Marine Corps.
MCSE NT4.0
CCNA, CCNP (recertified twice, last recert by CCIE Written)
Training:
IPExpert One Week R&S Bootcamp
InternetworkExpert Advanced Technologies COD
Current IPExpert Lab workbook
Current InternetworkExpert Lab workbook
Online References:
DOC CD (the most valuable resource)
Various RFC's
Books
Routing TCP/IP Volume 1, 2nd edition (an IGP bible by Doyle)
CCIE Routing and Switching Official Exam Certification Guide, 2nd edition
(for written, but it's loaded with concise and useful information)
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