CCIE Journey Ends and Life Long Learning Continues

The CCIE Journey Ends and Life Long Learning Continues..........

I passed the CCIE exam on May 25, 2011 and I have to say that it was long and a difficult process. Most of us perusing the elite certification continue to work fulltime and try balancing between our families and studying which makes the process that much more difficult.  I will break this up into 2 sections, the first section will give a summary of studying material and tools used during the process and the second section will give some insight into San Jose and RTP.

Primary Study Tools

·         IPX Blended Learning Solution (BLS) / Self-Study Bundle  - (IPX provided me the core foundation and additional hands on experience required to achieve the CCIE designation.)

o   Video on Demand Course

o   Volume 1 Workbook and Walk Through Videos

o   Volume 2 Workbook

o   Volume 3 Workbook and Walk Through Videos

o   Proctors Labs (Rack Time)

o   Audio Book

·         CCIE R&S Reading List -(The CCIE reading list provided me a great list of books to ensure that I understood the technology  to depth required to become an expert.)

·          Cisco Doc-CD - (The Doc-CD should be used in your day to day job as this ensures that you are implementing technologies that Cisco offers from the makers of the technologies. The ones that know it best)

·         IPX Online Study Group – Leveraging the OSL allows you to participate in problems that others are facing during their studies, gain insight into how others are approaching things, gives you a forum to discuss anything in regards to your journey. Not to mention that there are multiple experts contributing to this forum.

·         Blog  - This was the avenue that I took as it made me dig even deeper into the technologies as I was posting and creating material for the world to view.  My site has a slew of questions that I created, troubleshooting scenarios, and just information about technologies.

·         Working with the technologies in your day to day job – This one may be obvious but I included anyways

Secondary Study Tools

·          INE - (INE gave me an opportunity to work with different workbooks that are structured and worded differently – helped get me out of the my comfort level when working with only 1 type of workbook)

o   Volume 2 WB

o   Volume 3 WB

·          Graded Labs (Rack Time) – Same as the above and I needed to be able to work with the topologies that were specific to INE

·          Dynamips – Allowed me to create my own LABs as well as leverage it to run IPX and INE labs when I could not be bothered to schedule a lab and be bound to a timeline

CCIE Journey RTP

Well, here is the story as it stands today.

I attempted the LAB in July 2010 and had a lot of technical difficulties (the infrastructure itself) and Cisco provided me with a free retake (by the way this was a mobile lab). Please note that if you have any issues or concerns you must work with the Proctor immediately and in most cases these issues are easily resolved. Since March 2010 I have been doing a lot of labs totalling well over 400 hours and after the July fiasco I decided to dig even deeper into the technologies and felt that I was well prepared.

Primary Study Tools
• IPX Blended Learning Solution
• Proctor labs (Rack Time)
• Recommended books in the blueprint
• Cisco Doc-CD
• IPX Online Study Group
Secondary Study Tools
• INE WB2 and WB3
• Graded Labs (Rack Time)
• Dynamips

Anyways, on to the retake and my official first attempt of the CCIE route and switch lab exam. The morning of the LAB started out very much like to trip down to RTP that consisted of a couple of issues ( Trip to RTP ). The person that does the complementary breakfast and shuttle service at the hotel decided not to show up to work and the hotel had no alternatives. (That’s right no ride to Cisco). While trying to resolve the issue another candidate showed up that drove down from Georgia and was kind enough to offer me a ride. (Life happens, I did not let this affect my ability to give a 100% during the lab) We arrived at the Cisco facility on time and the exam began. I can’t say anything about the exam due to NDA but I felt that I did well but I knew at the end of the day that the results could go either way.

I understand all the technologies and have no issues configuring any of them in the lab or in the real world; the issue is being able to do it in the timeframe allowed. That being said my CCIE journey continues and I will be scheduling my second attempt sometime in the very near future. I will be coming up with a strategy to help me with my speed as well as leverage my existing studying tools to dig even deeper into some of the technologies. Stay tuned, if anyone has any additional tips please add it to the comment section or email me through OSL.


Of Note: I have read that the average attempt of a candidate passing the CCIE R&S lab is 3 and the average cost to the candidate is around $10,000.


BTW: The hotel tried to right the wrong and upgraded my room to a suite

Arrived in RTP

Finally, I made it to RTP but not without a few headaches. I booked my trip using Travelocity (amazing prices) and before hitting the submit button I called the hotel to get confirmation that it was the correct Wingate, (close to Cisco and has shuttle service) they confirmed so I booked the trip and all seemed well. Flights were with America Airlines and I have to say the experience was good. I arrived in NC and called the hotel for the shuttle service and they informed me that there was no shuttle service and that I had booked with the wrong hotel. What!!! I asked them what can I do about it and they said that I need to call Travelocity and have them look into it. (Travelocity is the customer of the hotel and you (me) are the customer of Travelocity). In a nutshell Travelocity with some coaching (booking with the same hotel chain may have helped) worked some magic and convinced the hotel to credit me back the funds and book me at the correct hotel. Great work Travelocity and Wingate!!!


Studied hard last night and its continuing today, the one thing I have learned through this process is that going for your CCIE no matter how much you study there is always something that you have not seen or learned.


Well I better get back at it

CCIE Journey

CCIE version 4 Blueprint

I will be reviewing each one of these topics and highlighting the topics in RED once complete. This should help identify any missing pieces.

1.0	Implementing Layer 2 Technologies Configuring and Troubleshooting Layer 2 Technologies
1.01	Frame Relay
1.01.1	Frame Relay Multipoint Links on a Physical Interface Using Inverse ARP
1.01.2	Frame Relay Multipoint Links on a Physical Interface Without Using Inverse ARP
1.01.3.	Frame Relay Multipoint Link on a Subinterface Using Inverse ARP
1.01.4.	Frame Relay Multipoint Link on a Subinterface Without Using Inverse ARP
1.01.5.	Frame Relay Point-to-Point Subinterfaces
1.01.6.	PVC with a Multipoint Interface on One Side and a Subinterface on the Other Side
1.01.7.	Authentication on a Frame Relay Link Using PPP
1.2	Catalyst Configuration
1.2.01.	Trunks Using an Industry-Standard Encapsulation
1.2.02.	Trunks Using a Cisco Proprietary Encapsulation
1.2.03.	Creating, Deleting, and Editing VLANs
1.2.04.	VTP in Client/Server Mode
1.2.05.	VTP in Transparent Mode
1.2.06.	VTP Authentication
1.2.07.	VTP Pruning
1.2.08.	Controlling VLANs That Cross a Trunk
1.2.09.	Optimizing STP by STP Timers
1.2.10.	PortFast
1.2.11.	Loop Guard
1.2.12.	BPDU Guard
1.2.13.	BPDU Filters
1.2.14.	UplinkFast
1.2.15.	BackboneFast
1.2.16.	MSTP
1.2.17.	Selecting the Root Bridge for VLANs in a PVST Environment
1.2.18.	Selecting the Root Bridge for an MST Instance in an MST Environment
1.2.19.	Setting the Port Priority to Designate the Forwarding Ports
1.2.20.	EtherChannel Using an Industry-Standard Protocol
1.2.21.	EtherChannel Using a Cisco Proprietary Protocol
1.2.22.	Disabling Protocols on the EtherChannel
1.2.23.	Load-Balancing Type on the EtherChannel
1.2.24.	SNMP Management on the Switch
1.2.25.	Telnet and SSH Management on the Switch
1.2.26.	Controlling Inbound and Outbound Telnet on the Switch
1.2.27.	Regular and Smart Macros
1.2.28.	Switch Banners
1.2.29.	UDLD
1.2.30.	Switch Virtual Interfaces (SVIs) for IP Routing
1.2.31.	Router on a Stick
1.2.32.	SPAN
1.2.33.	RSPAN
1.2.34.	IP Routing on the Switch Using RIPv2, EIGRP, OSPF, and BGP
1.2.35.	IP Phones to Connect to the Catalyst Switch
1.2.36.	Dot1q Tunneling
1.3	Other Layer 2 Technologies
1.3.1.	HDLC
1.3.2.	PPP
1.3.3.	PPP over Ethernet
2.0	Implementing IPv4 Configuring and Troubleshooting IPv4
2.1.	IPv4 Addressing
2.1.1.	IPv4 Addressing
2.1.2.	IPv4 Subnetting
2.1.3.	IPv4 VLSM
2.2.	OSPFv2
2.2.01.	OSPF on a Broadcast Multicast Access Network (Ethernet)
2.2.02.	OSPF over a Frame Relay Multipoint Network by Changing Network Types
2.2.03.	OSPF over a Frame Relay Multipoint Network by Using the neighbor Command
2.2.04.	OSPF over a Frame Relay Point-to-Point Network
2.2.05.	Virtual Links
2.2.06.	Stub Areas
2.2.07.	Totally Stubby Areas
2.2.08.	NSSA Areas
2.2.09.	NSSA and Stub Areas
2.2.10.	NSSA and Totally Stubby Areas
2.3.	EIGRP
2.3.1.	Basic EIGRP
2.3.2.	Passive Interfaces
2.3.3.	EIGRP Stub on Routers and Switches
2.3.4.	EIGRP Update—Bandwidth Control
2.3.5.	Changing the Administrative Distance of EIGRP
2.3.6.	Unequal-Cost Load Balancing for EIGRP
2.4.	Filtering, Redistribution, and Summarization
2.4.01.	Route Filtering for OSPF Within the Area Using a Distribute List with an ACL and Prefix Lists
2.4.02.	Route Filtering for OSPF Between Areas
2.4.03.	Summarization of OSPF Routes Between Areas
2.4.04.	Summarization of External Routers Within OSPF
2.4.05.	Filtering with a Distribute List Using an ACL and Prefix Lists
2.4.06.	Using Advanced ACLs and a Prefix List for Filtering Routes
2.4.07.	Summarizing Routes with EIGRP
2.4.08.	Route Summarization for RIP
2.4.09.	Redistribution Between OSPF and EIGRP
2.4.10.	Redistribution Between RIP and EIGRP
2.4.11.	Redistribution of Directly Connected Routes
2.4.12.	Redistribution of Static Routes
2.4.13.	Redistribution with Filtering Using ACLs and Prefix Lists
2.4.14.	Redistribution with Filtering Using Route Tagging
2.5.	IBGP
2.5.1.	IBGP Peering
2.5.2.	Advertising Routes in BGP
2.5.3.	Next-Hop Attribute
2.5.4.	Route Reflectors
2.5.5.	Redundancy by Neighbor Relationships Based on Loopbacks
2.6.	EBGP
2.6.1.	EBGP Peering
2.6.2.	EBGP Peering Based on Loopbacks
2.7.	BGP Advanced Features
2.7.01.	Filtering Using ACLs
2.7.02.	Filtering Using Prefix Lists
2.7.03.	Filtering Using AS Path Filters
2.7.04.	Redistributing Connected Routes into BGP
2.7.05.	Redistributing Dynamic Routing Protocols into BGP
2.7.06.	BGP Aggregation
2.7.07.	BGP Aggregation with the Summary Only Parameter
2.7.08.	BGP Aggregation with Suppress Maps
2.7.09.	BGP Aggregation with Unsuppress Maps
2.7.10.	BGP Best-Path Selection – Weight
2.7.11.	BGP Best-Path Selection – Local Preference
2.7.12.	BGP Best-Path Selection – MED
2.7.13.	BGP Communities – No-Export
2.7.14.	BGP Communities – No-Advertise
2.7.15.	BGP Confederation
2.7.16.	BGP Local AS
2.7.17.	Working with Private AS Numbers
2.7.18.	Route Dampening
2.7.19.	Conditional Advertising
2.7.20.	Peer Groups
3.0	Implementing IPv6 Configuring and Troubleshooting IPv6
3.1.	IPv6
3.1.1.	IPv6 Addresses
3.1.2.	OSPFv3
3.1.3.	EIGRPv6
3.1.4.	IPv6 Tunneling
3.1.5.	IPv6 on a Frame Relay Network – Multipoint
3.1.6.	IPv6 on a Frame Relay Network – Point-to-Point
3.1.7.	Route Filtering with a Distribute List Using an ACL and Prefix Lists
3.1.8.	Route Redistribution Between OSPFv3 and EIGRPv6
4.0	Implementing MPLS Configuring and Troubleshooting MPLS
4.1.	MPLS Unicast Routing
4.1.1.	MPLS Unicast Routing Using LDP
4.1.2.	Controlling Label Distribution
4.2.	MPLS VPN
4.2.1.	MPLS VPN Using Static Routing Between PE-CE
4.2.2.	MPLS VPN Using EIGRP as the PE-CE Routing Protocol
4.2.3.	MPLS VPN Using OSPF as the PE-CE Routing Protocol
4.2.4.	MPLS VPN Using EBGP as the PE-CE Routing Protocol
4.2.5.	Controlling Route Propagation Using the Route Target with Import and Export Maps
4.3.	VRF-Lite
4.3.1.	VRFs at the Customer Sites Using VRF-Lite
5.0	Implementing IP Multicast Configuring and Troubleshooting IP Multicast
5.1.	PIM and Bidirectional PIM
5.1.1.	PIM Dense Mode
5.1.2.	PIM on an NMBA Network
5.1.3.	PIM Sparse Mode – Static Rendezvous Point
5.1.4.	PIM Sparse Mode – Multiple Static Rendezvous Points
5.1.5.	PIM Sparse Mode – Auto Rendezvous Point
5.1.6.	PIM Sparse Mode with Multiple Rendezvous Points Using the Auto Rendezvous Point
5.1.7.	Bidirectional PIM
5.2.	MSDP
5.2.1.	MSDP
5.2.2.	MSDP to an Anycast Rendezvous Point
5.3.	Multicast Tools
5.3.1.	Multicast Rate Limiting
5.3.2.	IGMP Filtering on the Switch
5.3.3.	Use of the Switch to Block Multicast Traffic
5.3.4.	Multicasting Through a GRE Tunnel
5.3.5.	Multicast Helper Address
5.4.	IPv6 Multicast
5.4.1.	IPv6 Multicast Routing Using PIM
5.4.2.	IPv6 Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) Protocol
6.0	Implementing Network Security Configuring and Troubleshooting Network Security
6.1.	AAA and Security Server Protocols
6.1.1.	Use of a Router to Authenticate Against a AAA Server Using TACACS+
6.1.2.	Use of a Router to Authenticate Against a AAA Server Using RADIUS
6.1.3.	Local Privilege Authorization
6.1.4.	Accounting to a AAA Server Using TACACS+
6.1.5.	Accounting to a AAA Server Using RADIUS
6.2.	Access Lists
6.2.1.	Standard Access Lists
6.2.2.	Extended Access Lists
6.2.3.	Time-Based Access Lists
6.2.4.	Reflexive Access Lists
6.3.	Routing Protocol Security
6.3.1.	Routing Protocol Authentication for EIGRP
6.3.2.	Routing Protocol Authentication for OSPF – Area-Wide
6.3.3.	Routing Protocol Authentication for OSPF – Interface-Specific
6.3.4.	Routing Protocol Authentication for OSPF Virtual Links
6.3.5.	Routing Protocol Authentication for BGP
6.4.	Catalyst Security
6.4.1.	Storm Control
6.4.2.	Switch Port Security
6.4.3.	Dot1x Authentication
6.4.4.	Dot1x Authentication for VLAN Assignment
6.4.5.	VLAN Access Maps
6.4.6.	DHCP Snooping
6.4.7.	DAI
6.4.8.	IP Source Guard
6.4.9.	Private VLANs
6.5.	Cisco IOS and Zone-Based Firewalls
6.5.1.	Basic Cisco IOS Firewall
6.5.2.	DoS Protection on a Cisco IOS Firewall
6.5.3.	Basic Zone-Based Firewall
6.5.4.	Zone-Based Firewall with Deep Packet Inspection
6.6.	NAT
6.6.1.	Dynamic NAT
6.6.2.	PAT
6.6.3.	Static NAT
6.6.4.	Static PAT
6.6.5.	Policy-Based NAT
6.7.	Other Security Features
6.7.1.	Configuring the TCP Intercept Feature
6.7.2.	Configuring Blocking of Fragment Attacks
6.7.3.	Configuring Switch Security Features
6.7.4.	Configuring Antispoofing Using an ACL
6.7.5.	Configuring Antispoofing Using uRPF
6.7.6.	SSH on Routers and Switches
6.7.7.	Cisco IOS IPS
6.7.8.	Controlling Telnet and SSH Access to the Router and Switch
7.0	Implementing Network Services Configuring and Troubleshooting Network Services
7.1.	DHCP
7.1.1.	Configuring DHCP on a Cisco IOS Router
7.1.2.	Configuring DHCP on a Switch
7.1.3.	Using a Router and a Switch to Act as a DHCP Relay Agent (Helper Address)
7.2.	HSRP
7.2.1.	HSRP Between Two Routers
7.2.2.	Pre-empt for HSRP
7.2.3.	Authentication for HSRP
7.2.4.	VRRP
7.2.5.	GLBP
7.3.	IP Services
7.3.1.	Use of the Router for WCCP
7.3.2.	Use of the Router to Generate an Exception Dump Using TFTP
7.3.3.	Use of the Router to Generate an Exception Dump Using FTP
7.3.4.	Use of the Router to Generate an Exception Dump Using RCP
7.3.5.	Broadcast Forwarding for Protocols
7.4.	System Management
7.4.1.	Telnet Management on the Router and Switch
7.4.2.	SSH Management on the Router and Switch
7.4.3.	Disabling Telnet and the SSH Client on the Switch
7.4.4.	HTTP Management on the Router and Switch
7.4.5.	Controlling HTTP Management on the Router and Switch
7.5.	NTP
7.5.1.	NTP Using the NTP Master and NTP Server Commands
7.5.2.	NTP Without Using the NTP Server
7.5.3.	NTP Using NTP Broadcast Commands
8.0	Implementing QoS Configuring and Troubleshooting QoS
8.1.	Classification
8.1.1.	Marking Using DSCP
8.1.2.	Marking Using IP Precedence
8.1.3.	Marking Using CoS
8.2.	Congestion Management and Congestion Avoidance
8.2.1.	Priority Queuing
8.2.2.	Custom Queuing
8.2.3.	Weighted Fair Queuing
8.2.4.	WRED
8.2.5.	RSVP
8.3.	Policing and Shaping
8.3.1.	CAR Using Rate Limiting Under the Interface
8.3.2.	Frame Relay Traffic Shaping Using Map Classes
8.3.3.	Discard Eligible List
8.4.	Link Efficiency Mechanisms
8.4.1.	Compression
8.4.2.	Link Fragmentation and Interleaving (LFI) for Frame Relay
8.5.	Modular QoS CLI
8.5.1.	Policing
8.5.2.	Class-Based Weighted Fair Queuing (CB-WFQ)
8.5.3.	Low Latency Queuing (LLQ)
8.5.4.	Shaping Using MQC
8.5.5.	Random Early Detection Using MQC
8.5.6.	WRED Using MQC
8.5.7.	Using NBAR for QoS
8.5.8.	Discard Eligible Marking Using MQC
8.6.	Catalyst QoS
8.6.1.	WRR on the Catalyst Switch
9.0	Troubleshooting a Network Troubleshooting Network-Wide Connectivity Issues
9.1.	Troubleshooting Layer 2 Problems
9.1.1.	Troubleshooting Catalyst Switch Network Issues
9.1.2.	Troubleshooting Frame Relay Network Issues
9.2.	Troubleshooting Layer 3 Problems
9.2.1.	Troubleshooting IP Addressing Network Issues
9.2.2.	Troubleshooting Routing Protocol Network Issues
9.2.3.	Troubleshooting Routing Protocol Loop Issues
9.3.	Troubleshooting Application Problems
9.3.1.	Determining Which Aspects of the Network to Troubleshoot to Determine Network Functionality (Given a Set of Symptoms)
9.4.	Troubleshooting Network Services
9.4.1.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured NTP Setup
9.4.2.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured DHCP Setup
9.4.3.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured Telnet and SSH Setup
9.4.4.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured SNMP Setup
9.5.	Troubleshooting Security Services
9.5.1.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured ACLs
9.5.2.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured NAT
9.5.3.	Troubleshooting Misconfigured AAA Services
10.0	Optimizing a Network Configuring and Troubleshooting Optimization of a Network
10.1.	Logging In
10.1.1.	Logging into a Remote Syslog Server
10.1.2.	Logging into the Internal Buffer
10.2.	SNMP
10.2.1.	Use of a Router to Communicate to an SNMP Management Station
10.2.2.	Use of a Router to Generate SNMP Traps
10.3.	RMON
10.3.1.	Use of a Router to Generate SNMP Traps Using RMON
10.4.	Accounting
10.4.1.	IP Accounting
10.5.	SLA
10.5.1.	IP SLA
10.6.	Implementing Network Services on the Routers
10.6.1.	Use of a Router as an FTP Server
10.6.2.	Use of a Router as a TFTP Server
10.6.3.	Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager
10.6.4.	NetFlow
10.6.5.	HTTP and HTTPS on a Router
10.6.6.	Telnet on a Router
10.6.7.	Implementing Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) on a Router