Re: Passed CCIE RS on first attempt in Brussels. CCIE #28676

Congratulation on your achievement. An amazing challenge which you took up and led by example on.

Well done again!! Have a break before you start security and enjoy your ample free time....you will miss the studying ;)

Congratulation!!

--
Sent from my iPhone.
Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors.
On 20 Apr 2011, at 18:22, "Saulat Ali" <Saulat.Ali_at_Ticketmaster.co.uk> wrote:
> Guys,
> 
> 
> 
> After 18 months of hard work, sleepless nights and  countless hrs of
> labng finally I passed the CCIE RS Lab in Brussels on Monday 18th, what
> a feeling it is and what a feeling to pass it first time, unbelievable
> journey.
> 
> 
> 
> First of all I would like to thank THE ALMIGHTY GOD for giving me the
> strength and courage to prepare and pass this exam, secondly my family
> and friends for their support  and prayers but mainly my wife for her
> tremendous support she kept me motivated throughout this journey and
> without her support it would have been impossible.
> 
> 
> 
> I would also like to thank my study partners Fabio and Afar, guys you
> are amazing and I'm sure you will get your numbers soon.
> 
> 
> 
> I started preparing for lab in Nov 2009 after passing the written in Oct
> 2009. It took me couple of months before I had a fully working lab. I
> used 4 x 3560s with GNS3 and it worked like a charm.
> 
> 
> 
> Study approach:
> 
> 
> 
> I started with INE vol1 before starting any section I used to watch CoD,
> read relevant materials and wouldn't move to next section until I fully
> understand the technology inside out.
> 
> 
> 
> Attended INE boot camp in July 10 in London taught by Anthony. This not
> only helped me in technical  areas but also Anthony's fantastic Lab
> strategy and Time Management skills proved to be one of the key factors
> in passing the lab, thank you Anthony.
> 
> 
> 
> It took me a while to complete Vol1 as I had to break my studies few
> times. My wife was expecting so I had to be with her for support and
> care and after the birth of our beautiful daughter in Oct 2010 I didn't
> touch anything for at least 2 months. I started again in Dec and by year
> end I finished vol1.
> 
> 
> 
> I stared vol2 in Jan 11 only completed 5-6 labs of difficulty level 6-7
> as I was more worried about the TS section. I completed all vol2 TS and
> vol4 TS labs, also completed couple of vol3 labs. Whenever I found
> myself struggling on anything I used to go back and review vol1 for that
> section.
> 
> 
> 
> During the last month I was mostly working on my weaker areas and
> reviewing Vol1 I also spent loads of time on INE racks doing vol2 TS and
> Vol4 again and again. Beside INE I also used couple of Narbik TS labs
> and Cisco 360 TS labs.
> 
> 
> 
> Material I used:
> 
> 
> 
> INE Vol 1 - 4
> 
> INE  CoD, ATCoD,
> 
> Scott Morris Audio Boot camp
> 
> Cisco 360 TS videos
> 
> Cisco 360 TS labs
> 
> Narbik TS labs
> 
> Number of  Cisco press books but didn't read any from start to end.
> 
> Cisco Docs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Big Day
> 
> 
> 
> On the lab day there were total 9 candidates taking the exam. 5 were
> taking RS, I and another guy were appearing for the first attempt.
> 
> 
> 
> Before starting the TS part I wrote down numbers from 1 to 10 on the
> scratch sheet for TS questions. After starting the lab the first 5 mins
> I spent reading the guidelines and viewing all tickets then started with
> the tickets which I thought would be easy to handle. Completed 4 tickets
> in first 30 mins that was a confidence booster, for every ticket I
> completed and verified I just put double tick against its number on the
> scratch sheet. Tickets which I worked on and couldn't able to resolve I
> put single tick and move on after 10 mins.
> 
> 
> 
> In the end I was left with 2 tickets which I couldn't resolve and I had
> 15 mins on the clock, so I started again on each ticket with a different
> approach then I used previously on them and finally was able to fix both
> before the end.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In the config section I read guidelines, all tasks and view what
> diagrams they gave me, I didn't draw any diagram as they provided enough
> information.  After reading all tasks I made sure that I fully
> 
> understand what they are asking and made notes for any special
> requirements or areas which were interlinked with other tasks. Before
> working on any task I read the question at least couple of times to make
> sure that I don't misunderstand the requirements or violate any rules.
> I was able to complete the config section with ample time for
> verification.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It has been one of the most wonderful and rewarding experience of my
> life and I'm ready to take this challenge again. After taking some rest
> and spending some quality time with my family I'm planning to start
> Security.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you all,
> 
> 
> 
> Saulat Ali,  CCIE #28676.
> 
> 
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