Chuck, Congratulations! Thanks for the good word on NMC-1 because I'll be taking that class the week of February 25th.
Todd Carswell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Church" To: ; Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 12:43 AM Subject: Whew! CCIE 8776! > All, > > I think the title says it all. Took the lab today at RTP. 4th time > was the charm. I don't know where to begin. Might as well start with the > thank you's. Thanks to Bruce, Val, and Fred at NetMasterClass. Thanks also > to those on the list that I've either studied with or have helped me out in > the past with problems. Thanks also to Paul for putting this great list > together. As far as how I prepared, I might as well give the whole story. > Started working on Cisco about 2 1/2 years ago after going though the Novell > and MS Certs. After getting NA, DA, NP, and DP, I passed the CCIE written > in October 2000. Without really knowing how to study or what to prepare > for, I got my butt handed to me in January at RTP. Didn't know much more > than your average CCNP would. Tried again in April, but BGP killed me, and > again I didn't make it to day 2. After that, I found a study partner > (Thanks Boris) and we worked pretty hard last summer. Did all the bootcamp > labs, thought I knew everything I needed to. > November 4 of 2001, figured I'd breeze through the lab. I don't > know if it's true, but I heard the first couple of months with the new 1 day > format had a very low pass rate. I know I could have used a couple more > hours to finish. If anyone took the lab in Oct or Nov of last year and > failed, don't be discouraged. I think they've scaled it back a little > nowadays. > Fast forwarding to today. After spending a week with Val, Bruce, > and Fred at the NMC-1 course, and doing nothing but working on my speed, I > felt pretty prepared. Everything in the Doyle Volume 1 and Bruce/Val's book > made sense. Though running a little low on sleep, I felt good this morning. > Roughly 4.5 hours into the test, we got lunch. At that point I was done > with the IGP's and almost done with the EGP's. In other words about 2/3 of > the way done, by my estimate. At 1:30 I was done, but needed to go back and > work on 3 things I couldn't figure out. A little discussing with the > proctor, and 2 of them were fixed. But then I think I read too much. I had > solved a problem one way, but realized the wording of the question might > change what they were looking for. Checking with the proctor, I got the > impression that he really didn't like my solution. So there I am, 1.5 hours > to go, and I'm making a somewhat major change :( Looked OK, but with 1/2 an > hour to go, I noticed a 'neighborship' bouncing up and down :o 10 minutes > to go, got it all working, but didn't get a chance to completely double > check all my other work as time expired. I know I left 1 thing unconfigured > (a 2 pointer), but started wondering if I'd made other mistakes. They said > to expect the results tomorrow afternoon. A plane flight back to New York, > and there's the email waiting. 8776! > If anyone's wondering what I used to study, here's the short list: > > Groupstudy! Paul's done a great job. There are certain people on this list > that should be flagged as must-reads. I won't mention any last names, but > there are a couple guys named 'Brian' (both long-time CCIEs) that are a huge > asset to this list. Thanks guys. > > Doyle - Volumes 1 and 2 - Everything you ever wanted to know about IP, but > were afraid to ask. > > Bridges, Routers, and Switches for CCIEs - Bruce Caslow and Val Pavlichenko > - Used edition 2, but I understand 3 is coming out soon. This book covers > most everything. I expect the new edition will cover more multicast and > QOS, and drop Appletalk and DECnet. But still the most useful book I've > found. > > Halabi - Used 1st edition, but everything I was asked to do with BGP is in > that book. > > Bootcamp labs - Worked though these with a partner, because his company was > cool enough to buy them for him, and my company wasn't! Great preparation > and simulation for the test. > > Various docs from CCO - Might as well go to the source! > > Most importantly - NMC-1 http://www.netmasterclass.net/nmc/ Bruce and Val > explain the most difficult subjects very well. A couple of things are a > little lacking in the book, but they cover those very well in the class. Be > prepared to work your a** off that week though. 8:30AM to 11PM is the norm > that week. But I highly recommend it, especially if you've come close to > passing before. > > Well, sorry to ramble on so much. I'm off to bed for a L O N G > sleep. > > Thanks again, > > Chuck Church > CCIE 8776 > CCNP, CCDP, MCNE, MCSE > Sr. Network Engineer > Magnacom Technologies > 140 N. Rt. 303 > Valley Cottage, NY 10989 > 845-267-4000 x218 > _________________________________________________________________ > Comercial lab list: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/commercial.html > Please discuss commercial lab solutions on this list. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=35296&t=35296 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]