Congratulations Aaron! First I want to thank you for your insightful explanation of the training habits that compelled you to achieve your well-deserved CCIE certification. I also want to thank everyone else on this list that has taken the time to help others to understand all of the difficult concepts and protocols involved in networking and Paul for keeping up this list so well. I think others on the list on the seemingly endless pursuit of CCIE certification will agree that the information you provided in your synopsis was not only perceptive but also very helpful (not boring as you stated). It also gave me encouragement and a thought like there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that with hard work and determination any goal is possible. I also agree with Nigel below about the common characteristics of first attempt CCIE's "effective studying, focus, and a strong desire to succeed". In the words of Albert Einstein "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." >>>Jeff Lodwick MCSE, CCNP (soon to be CCIE) >From: "Nigel Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: "Nigel Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Aaron K. Dixon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "GroupStudy >LAB" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "GroupStudy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Congrats...! CCIE #6460 >Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 03:50:09 -0000 > >Many Congratulations Aaron for your well deserved success. As I look >forward to the lab it enlightens me to no end knowing that it can be done >on >the first try as so many of our list members have proven. The common >characteristics were effective studying, focus, and a strong desire to >succed. As for your synopsis, let me say that it will join the existing >(CCIEAdvice.txt - thanks to Chuck L)document as rules to live by on my way >up Mount E. > >Thanks again... > >Nigel. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: Aaron K. Dixon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: GroupStudy LAB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; GroupStudy ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2000 6:32 PM >Subject: CCIE #6460 > > > > Hello all, > > > > This is a brief synopsis of my ccie lab and the tools I used to study. >If > > you're not interested you may want to just hit the delete key now. > > > > I just thought that I would take a few moments to share my study >methodology > > for the CCIE lab. I've been meaning to do this since I passed the lab >on > > November 15th in San Jose, but I always seem to get sidetracked with all >of > > my newfound free time. This was my first attempt at the lab and I found >it > > to be fairly straight forward. It wasn't as convoluted as I expected >and >I > > had seen pretty much everything before. > > > > Day 1 > > > > The first thing that I did was read through the entire lab TWICE. I > > realized that I knew how to do everything and went to work on my >diagram. >I > > found day one to be very easy and was done by 2 o'clock. I checked and > > re-checked all of my work and felt very confident in everything that I >had > > done. After that I spent time making sure that ALL of my information >was > > recorded correctly and neatly on my diagram. I felt very confident >when >I > > left, but I have to admit as I tried to get some sleep the what if's >were > > creeping in my mind. > > > > Day 2 > > > > I arrived for Day 2 happy to see the Day 2 binder on my desk and went > > through the same process of reading the entire lab twice. I realized >that >I > > knew exactly what to do on 90% of the lab and may have to browse the cd >for > > the other 10%. Again, I found that there was plenty of time and I had > > completed everything that I knew how to do by 10:30. I spent the next >30 > > minutes reviewing the cd and configuring the remaining 10%. I then >re-read > > everything and checked over all of my work and made sure that my diagram >was > > complete. Documentation is very important in the lab not only for > > troubleshooting, but to ensure that the proctor can see what you were >doing. > > The proctor spends all day at the lab and then has to check your work in >the > > evening or at lunch for day 2. The last thing he wants to do is spend >30 > > minutes trying to read your diagram. Of course, this is just my >opinion. > > > > After day 2, I felt real good about my work, but nervous none the less. > > This made for what seemed like a never ending lunch. Once we arrived >back > > at the facility I was called first and on the way back to the lab I was >told > > that I had made it to troubleshooting and that I had three hours. When >I > > returned to my desk I found the paperwork for troubleshooting and for >the > > first time found out how many points I had. I had gained 70 of the 75 > > points and only needed 10 of the 25 from troubleshooting. At that >point, >I > > knew that I had passed and just needed to knock out the troubleshooting. >As > > I looked around I realized that no one else had progressed from Day 2. >I > > spent about an hour and a half on troubleshooting and felt like I fixed > > everything so I turned in my sheet. About 5 minutes later, the proctor > > returned with a yellow sticky note with my number on it. He then asked >me > > if I would erase all of my configs and then I left with a huge grin on >my > > face. I just couldn't believe that all of my studying paid off. > > > > I met Chuck Larrieu a few hours later for a victory dinner. I knew that >it > > would be nice to have some company one way or the other and I was glad >that > > it turned out to be for good reasons. > > > > Passing the test was very rewarding, but the journey was just as >rewarding. > > It's amazing the amount of material that you learn along the way and the > > many friends that you make. I have become friends with many people that >I > > may of never met if I wasn't studying for the CCIE. > > > > Study Materials > > > > I studied the normal books Caslow, Halabi, and Doyle and found them all >to > > be very helpful. I also used three other books extensively that I don't >see > > mentioned very often. I used the configuring cisco routers for >bridging, > > dlsw+, & desktop protocols and the Cisco Press Lan Switching Book. I >found > > them both to be very helpful as I work extensively with cisco routers >and > > rarely use cisco switches. I also used the CCIEBootcamp labs which I >found > > to be an excellent resource for practice. There are a lot of other >labs, > > but most of them don't throw everything together like the bootcamp labs. >I > > have to admit that I only completed about half of them and never did the > > dreaded lab 8, but I studied all 17 of them and read up on anything that >I > > didn't know how to do. It often takes a large amount of time to do a >full > > lab, but reading through it and "spotting the issues" can be very >helpful. > > About 2 months ago I attended the ECP1 course which was taught by Bruce > > Caslow. I found Bruce's methodology to be excellent and really got a >lot > > out of the course. About a month after that I attended Cisco's ASET > > (www.cisco.com/go/aset) program. This turned out to be an excellent >program > > as well and I just wished that I would of known about it sooner. This >is >a > > 3-day lab taught by Jay and Jose in San Jose. The lab is a simulated >CCIE > > environment where each student gets a pod with 8 routers, a cat 3920, >cat > > 5000, and a ls 1010. Jay and Jose really helped me on good diagramming > > skills and allowed me to sit down for a timed lab. I did very well on >the > > lab and this really boosted my confidence for the actual lab. Another > > benefit to the ASET program is that after completing the 3-day mock lab >you > > are able to get access to the rack via internet access. I was able to > > reserve 5 days of rack time just prior to taking my lab. > > > > One of the keys is practice, practice, and more practice. It is very > > important that you understand how the protocols behave. If you're just >used > > to configuring them based on a manual or cookie-cutter config you will >have > > difficulty due to the way the lab has you configure things. If you > > understand the behavior of the protocols then the lab will seem very >easy > > because you will immediately see what they are looking for. It is also > > crucial that you have the core topics down pat. There are things on the >lab > > that you haven't seen before, but they won't comprise near the points >that > > the core topics cover. > > > > Finally, I would like to thank all of the helpful members of groupstudy. >I > > have been on the list for quite awhile and the group has brought about >many > > thought provoking questions and helped me to see things in a different >light > > than just based on what I read or how I interpreted it. I am very >thankful > > to Paul for taking the time and money to run this list. I had the > > opportunity to meet Paul and have dinner with him this year at >Networkers > > and you can tell that he enjoys running this group and works very hard >and > > adding to the group. > > > > I've probably bored you all to death by now so I'll end it here. > > > > Regards, > > Aaron K. Dixon > > > > > > > > _________________________________ > > FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: >http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html > > Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >_________________________________ >FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: >http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html >Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com _________________________________ FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
