Nick, One thing that has helped me out a ton is Safari. I do not know how I survived without it. There are tons of Cisco books as well as other vendors. Any time I need to learn something on a topic, I just logon and find the book I need and read the parts I need online. If I purchased all of those books it would have been far more then the cost of the service. They have several different plans. I currently have the unlimited so I can pull anything I want at any amount. I Get tokens every month and have used them to purchase some of the books in PDF form so that I will always have them or want to be able to read them while not on line. It is worth the look if you have not already. Rob _____
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of nicholas golden Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 1:16 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [OSL | CCIE_RS] Ye Old Timeless Question - The beginning. Where tostart? So here's the scoop and the timeless question where to begin? I've sifted through posts and this question is somewhat common but maybe I need a fresh view on it. What I mean is I went from the CCNA in March 09, to the CCNP just last week. I got laid off right when I finished my CCNA and said "Screw this, I'll show you and go for my CCIE" so I went the path of the CCNP to learn things along the way going towards the CCIE. I have not passed the written *yet* but that's coming. Now, I am sitting here with a ton of material and feel frozen on what to do next. I just passed the CCNP on Sept 2 2009 and took some time off, enjoyed labor day went wake boarding caught some air had fun etc. Now I am back and paralyzed on how and where to start. For the CCNP I have a close to CCIE level lab,(Lots of 3640's, one 3550 and 2522's, 2511 etc but missing the 3560s = $$$) but not enough really so I am renting rack time. Before I dive into the rack time I want to know opinions on what to do before that point. I have the following materials as of now: CCIE R&S guide 3rd edition (Pre ordered 4th edition which comes out this oct) Jeff Doyle Volume 1 and 2 (The bible I hear) IPExpert BLS (Of course!!) Some other material I am eyeballing, Qos Exam guide, some mpls books etc. At the moment, Im just identifying weak areas for me like BGP and Multicast and *some* QoS etc(I found QoS not that hard in comparison to BGP, maybe im crazy) so I know I need to work on those along with other areas to find out where I will get bit in the ass on. So the question is, assume I ID the weak areas and move on and I have NOT passed the written *yet* but at same time keeping skills sharp on my rack for my next job (crosses fingers, market is craptastic right now) how should I approach the written? Should I just read, practice what I read on the rack and re read to confirm move on and revisit it later for light review and to keep it fresh? I know when I passed the CCNP it was I would read something, go find a config for it set it up and see how it worked then re read it again and see if I could remember to set it up on my own and then break it to see what happens. Maybe it's just the allure and scariness of the CCIE but I need to know what others are doing and maybe adapt to it as I know I am embarking on truckloads of information about to descend on my brain to issue deep psychological abuse of memory cells. So, how does everyone do it? Longer post than I expected, but been contemplating it for a while and need some direction. Thanks, Nick No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.95/2368 - Release Date: 09/14/09 05:51:00
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