OSPF = DONE

Well, I finally finished the OSPF labs in both the Technology Focused and Bootcamp workbooks and man do I feel better. I had a pretty good understanding of OSPF before, but a lot of the nuances always got me - like Frame Relay interface types and OSPF. I understand all of that much better. In fact, I was able to rip through all the labs in under 6 hours. I consider that to be not too shabby. I won't be studying next week, because I will be out of town for 3 days in Miami. It will be nice to get away to a warmer climate and see the beach, but at this point, I really do hate missing ANY study time.

Anyway, when I return I plan to attach the BGP labs for two weeks. There is lots of information on BGP and I wholly expect all the labs to take two weeks. I was lucky enough to get access to the Cisco ASET labs. I plan to use the ASET labs purely for my switching labs. I can use up to 6 sessions per month, for free. So if you work for a Cisco partner, and you don't have access to a real rack, get with your Cisco rep and get access to these labs. Between Dynamips and the ASET labs, you can study for your CCIE for almost $0 hardware costs.

After I utilize the ASET labs, I will review on what I though. The one downside with the ASET labs is they are pretty booked up, so you may need to schedule up to a week in advance.

In other news, the bootcamp scheduled for the second week in May has been cancelled. Well, that really sucks. The bootcamp was going to be free (as my 2nd retake) and I was going to stay with friends, but it a great way to stay on top of things. Well, with that session being cancelled, the next session that is available for me is in July - right before my test. I was planning on taking that session anyway, but just as more of a brush-up right before the test. Well, since I will only get two bootcamp sessions in, I am going to move my test back a week.

With my test moved back a week, I can take the bootcamp on July 20 -24th, head home, whip through as many mock labs in a week as possible, and then fly out to take my test - with of course a few days rest inbetween. Well, that is all I have for now - I'll post more on BGP and ASET in a few weeks.

Frame Relay Labs

Well - I've just finished up the first round of the Frame Relay labs. Nothing really threw me for a loop except for the Frame Relay switching part. I was just reading too much into it and adding WAY too many commands. I've got some DocCD reading to finish up today, but other than that - it's going to be an early day for me. I am really liking how things are progressing. I should finish up Frame Relay this week (maybe even tomorrow) and rip into OSPF next week.

I'm feeling more and more confident as the days pass - but I figured a little "good luck" can never hurt - so I'm growing a beard. The beard will remain until I pass my CCIE. I figured, Hey, this works for athletes right?

Also got some good news today. I passed my EIQ SecureVue examination. So I am now EIQ SecureVue certified! Yay! Now, exactly how far will this get me in the world? I have no idea. But hey, it never hurts to add another certification to your list of achievements!

Here is a good tip - IP Expert released a pretty nice Core Knowledge Simulator. One of the best features is it has 100 questions and it is totally free. I've been firing it up once per day just to stay sharp. I also take a few notes every day for things to look up in the DocCD. Like most of these simulators, your answers have to be exact. Minor pain-in-the-ass, but hey, you will know if you got the answer right or not, and that is all that matters. I've been scoring well on anything that isn't a 'timers' related question and most of those just have to be memorized.

Well, that is all I have for now. More later...

Back at it again...

Well studying has not quite progressed as well as I wanted to after returning from my first boot camp session. Generally, I was a little burned out the week after boot camp, and then last week I had to travel to Boston to attend training on EIQ SecureVue. Great product, but unfortunately has little to do with CCIE!

So, I got back at it today. Re-visiting the RIP and EIGRP labs. I feel much better going through the labs a second time. I was able to just rip through the labs, without checking the answers or consulting the DocCD. This is exactly what Narbik's materials teach you. By cutting the lab into sections, and really focusing on those technologies, you learn the protocols inside and out. After I have completed all of the workbooks, then I should be able to attack some mock labs with 100% confidence on the core topics.

Tomorrow, I will finish up the remaining EIGRP lab (it's a big one - 20+ tasks!) and then switch over to Frame Relay for the rest of the week. Hopefully I can complete Frame Relay this week, and really focus on OSPF for the next week. Wow - time really flies as the my next boot camp session is approaching in a mere four weeks. I certainly haven't covered as much as I would have hoped between sessions, but I simply cannot pass up a free re-take of the CCIE bootcamp. Hopefully I will cover all of the RIP/EIGRP/FR/OSPF/BGP labs before the next re-take. I am also expecting some updated materials and the mock lab from Narbik when I attend the boot camp again in May.

Wow...I'm really starting to love this shit...If anyone out there is interested, I am attending the boot camp on May 4-8, 2009 in Columbia, MD.