It’s just a push up! (yeah, right)

Reposting from my old CCIE blog (originally written May 2010). Side note: it’s amazing just how long this entire process is taking. Everything from my kid being born, buying a house, and work ups and downs have taken more of a toll than I thought…

There are so many guys that talk talk talk about studying, and they share their approach and “strategy”. In the end, this can be empty talk. It’s dangerous because we run a high risk of distracting ourselves from actually learning. But talking is important, and sharing ideas is important because we can keep each other on track and focused. “Do this” or “Don’t do this” can be fruitful, but it can also be a pit of mire that we get stuck in.

That said, I am going to post what I am doing right now. I will lay it out like this: I have to get CCIE. In my mind, everything I do in my career going forward completely depends upon my ability to reach this goal, and therefore I am deadly serious about having purpose in most or everything I do related to studies. Ultimately, I am looking to this challenge to make me a superior engineer, and a trusted/qualified manager. That means I have to put the blood sweat and tears in to it, and not take any shortcuts.

…..and that is why, after already months in to my studies I have decided to spend all of my energy using a method given to me by Narbik. Narbik gives this method to every student, and leaves it at that. A lot of students say they are going to do it, but how many do? I want to verify and test Narbik’s methods. He stands in front of classes and says, “if you do this, you will pass”. And “do this” is no easy task. The “doing this” is what I would like to express here, and then for those willing together we can verify his methods.

To be totally frank what Narbik is asking us as students to do is probably….no….definitely overkill. It is designed to make you sure of yourself on the topics Cisco is asking us to know before and after we become CCIE. The beauty is that it is simple. It’s like being told you must do 100 push ups in a minute. It’s just a push up right!?!?!? Yeah…..right.

So step #1 is this:

Pay for and ATTEND week 1 of his boot camp or even the end-to-end boot camp….you will get all the workbooks at end-to-end, but I am not sure about the other boot camps he has for R&S

After class ends your real jedi training begins

Narbik basically has 4 levels of lab books:

Assessment
Advanced 2.0
Advanced Boot Camp
Troubleshooting

I broke it down in to the following topics, but this is not a set in stone thing….it is more important that you go by topics

Switching
Frame-Relay
RIPv2
EIGRP
OSPF
BGP
Policy Based Routing
Redistribution
IP SLA
GRE Tunnels
QoS
NAT
IP Services
IP Prefix-List
IPv6
Security
Multicasting
MPLS and L3VPN

For each topic…..

Read up on topic (whatever reading you prefer but just expose quickly, a “quick dip” such as 1 afternoon reading)
Do the advanced labs
1. Summarize in your own words as you work through the lab. Anything you learn, write it down…
2. Read/Use DocCD as you work through labs, find what Narbik is explaining in the DocCD for yourself
Create your own labs using summary
1. do not use notes to do labs
2. re-summarize as needed
Do Boot camp 2.0 Labs
1. Summarize
2. Read/Use DocCD as you work through labs, find what Narbik is explaining in the DocCD for yourself
Create your own labs using summary
1. Do not use notes to do labs
2. Re-summarize as needed
Read ALL your summaries
Do Troubleshooting Labs
1. Summarize
Rinse and repeat until you know 100% of your summary work

Overwhelmed? I am on switching Advanced Labs, so imagine how I feel! 🙂

The point is, it’s hard. The secret service has a saying about counterfeit money. If you want to spot a counterfeit you need to study the real thing. That is what we are doing here. Doing this takes a long time, and requires hours of tedious and obedient labing. By obedient I mean you can’t skip a section because “I have seen that before”. It is suprising how you can learn something new about Etherchannel you didn’t really pay attention to before. Believe it or not, some day you may be in front of a customer and be explaining Etherchannel LACP/PAgP differences as a SE. You should be able to do mini lectures on all of the above topics….on the entire blueprint really, and configure it.

Getting access to a lab can be difficult. I opted to build my own lab, because it provides the greatest flexibility with my schedule, and allows me to configure/test/verify at any moment I want to. The freedom of this pays dividends toward my goal. If you cannot do this then I believe GNS3 is the best solution. Beyond that, rack rental is a fine option. If you go with GNS3 you are probably aware that you need to find a way to integrate advanced layer 2 equipment with your virtual environment. I have no idea how to do this, nor do I plan on ever knowing!

Good luck….

Common Mistakes CCIE Candidates Make

Originally written June 2010 on my old CCIE blog

As a student I observe as much as I can. Part of what I observe is through people who have taken and failed the lab.

I believe I have been able to gather a list of common mistakes people in my position make. I invite you to make your own conclusions about these…

Mistake #1: Learning By Osmosis

This one rings true of almost every one of us. How many books do we have? How many bookmarks to various Cisco white papers in our browser, and study groups are we a part of? Often we think that being around something is enough to actually gain the knowledge. I bought “that 1,000 page MPLS book” by “that guy”, and now it sits on my book shelf. For some strange reason I think I know MPLS more than I did before having the book. We think having this information close to us will enable us to get to our goal. In reality it becomes a mirage, and slowly we delude ourselves in to thinking we are further ahead than we are because of all these piles of books around us. I want to tell you that just buying books is not enough. Just going to boot camps is not enough. You must engage,and you must put to practice what you hear. We often think we can learn by osmosis. An analogy to this is the boxer who talks theory all day, and who watches videos of fights, and debates about technique while occasionally beating the bags. This type of training will result in being knocked out. What needs to happen is the boxer must prepare, and must practice punching, foot movement, and even practice against real opponents before taking on his official fight. For the boxer it starts with a mental focus, and transcends in to physical duty toward his craft. For engineers this is backwards. Maybe we should consider focusing on our physical well being, eating right, exercising, and then let that bleed in to our mental skills. At this point the boxer executes on a preparation path. This means waking early, exercise, sparring, and sparring continually. In relationship to our goal of CCIE this would be the equivalent of sitting down to practice labs every day. It is not enough to buy a book. It is not enough to read a book even. We cannot learn by osmosis. We cannot learn by just being around technology. We must be at the healm of our ship.

Mistake #2: Over commiting

If I had a dollar for every time someone who failed the lab said this, “I wasn’t ready, bottom line, I didn’t prepare like I should have because I didn’t have time, but because I had the lab already scheduled I figured what the heck might as well just go for it”…yep, I would be rich. This is a problem similar to osmosis. We think maybe we will get lucky, or maybe we know more than we do. It’s a delusion mixed with a fear of failure without at least “trying”. Listen, this certification process is for you and you only. This is not a team sport, it’s not a race, nor is your life on the line. While it’s critical that we take our studies extremely seriously it is just as important that we get to CCIE through a lot of smaller goals rather than one large one. By “large one” I mean those goals of “CCIE by 2010 or bust” goals. Forget that crap. You have no idea what you are committing to so why bother? When Tiger Woods says “I want to win a Master’s in the next 3 years” he at least understands what he is committing to, and knows what it will take…you haven’t even been to the lab so why make such lofty goals for yourself? I propose a simple solution to this. Instead of grand goals focus on technology in sizes you can swallow. One of my favorite shows to watch is Man vs. Food. Adam Richman goes across America looking for any food challenge he can tackle. I have seen him eat quantities of food I didn’t think were even possible. This is no hot dog eating contest. These are often dairy filled, protein filled, and at times extremely spicy meals. Sometimes he takes on an opponent or does the challenge side by side with a local. There is always a timed component to his challenge, but it is not what he focuses on. What he does is simple…he eats, and he doesn’t stop. We have control over so many factors in our lives, but when it comes to time we have no ability to slow it, speed it, or predict it. Therefore, all we can do is take one bite, and then take another bite, and keep eating until we reach the main thing….that is, our goal. Our goal should not be to finish within a certain deadline, but simply….to finish. Do not over commit. And if you do over commit confess it to yourself, take a step back, breathe deep, and reevaluate what you can do differently. Do not be afraid to move your test dates, your lab dates, your boot camp, or whatever you need to.

I have something to say about people that go to the lab and do not pass, but only went because they had a goal to meet. On a positive note it might seem beneficial because you get exposed to the lab. On a more negative note it’s a huge speed bump and tempo hit to your life. I don’t care who you are, or how prepared you are for failure it hurts. You spend money and time, and a lot of mental, physical, and emotional energy to get there….and if you are only going to meet a deadline then you are not taking things seriously enough. It’s one thing to go, and think you are prepared, and to even have avoided the very pitfalls I am talking about and still fail. It’s another thing to know you are probably not prepared, but still show up on lab day.

Mistake #3: Rushing the written

I really do believe that many more students than we realize have brain dumped their written. I have made a personal decision to not look at anything that might even resemble a brain dump, because I don’t want something as serious as CCIE on my conscience. I have seen dumps in that past for Cisco and non-Cisco certifications. It’s unfortunate, but they are accurate. I don’t take it too serious, because I think the good engineers always stand out whether or not they use brain dump material to get through a written test. In the case of CCIE though there are some unique issues for students who spring through the written via brain dumps. First, the clock starts ticking the second you pass. That means, even if you didn’t want to set a time oriented goal you have now done so. This will lead to over committing, and at times even taking the lab just to extend that date further. Don’t do this to yourself! The last thing a candidate needs is added pressure. A secondary impact to brain dumping the written is the false sense of knowledge. Passing any test, whether we brain dumped it or not boosts our confidence. Thirdly, a brain dumper is not getting the full experience of reaching the goal through the means provided. By “full experience” I mean the added benefit to knowing you just passed a difficult written exam before taking your lab. I have the philosophy of not taking the written until I am ready for the lab. I believe this is a powerful strategy to boost my confidence, all be it a risky one, but with rewards that far outweigh the risks. It is the first “fruit” rewarded for all the lab preparation. Being able to walk confidently in to a written exam. Finally, the last reason rushing the written is a bad idea is because we tend to rest on our laurels after a while. It’s only natural to think we have accomplished something when passing the written, but the reality is we didn’t. From the eyes of the professional world there is no pat on the back or even acknowledgment for passing the written. By taking it early, we would tend to think of ourselves as “ahead” of other candidates, and that line of thought can lead to complacency or even pride.

Mistake #4: Not attending a boot camp or having a mentor

I have been to Narbik’s boot camp, and I will go again. I think it is a mistake not to attend a boot camp because what a boot camp offers is the environment to test your mental, physical, and even emotional abilities over long periods of time. The boot camp I attended was 12 straight days, and it was honestly the first time in my life that I have done labs for more than 8 straight hours. This is like a runner training for a marathon going out and running 10K races. It’s a tool in your shed to sharpen aspects of yourself that you otherwise are not able to. You meet other candidates, you can gain a mentor relationship with your instructor, and you get some decent practice materials. Read my review of Narbik here

Mistake #5: Not investing in yourself

Bottom line, too many guys are using GNS3 and not taking serious their investment in layer 2 network. While GNS3 is a great tool at the end of the day a physical lab will pay dividends for a long time after you get to CCIE. Your lab is the single greatest investment you can make toward CCIE. I say this without question. To become a CCIE requires hours and hours and hours of labs. Virtual systems do not provide the freedom of doing any lab anywhere in the world. This is especially true for layer 2 networks. There is no alternative to having a personal use lab. What happens is students begin to put off their layer 2 studies and go in to the lab seriously weak on topics like spanning-tree, and a handful of IP Services. I have even spoken with students who failed the lab because they didn’t really practice certain topics. That said, I think someone approaching the idea of getting a CCIE needs to seriously consider investing in the lab equipment, and doing so right out the gate. Yes, 3560’s are expensive, but they hold their value. For those who cannot afford it I would suggest 2 things. First, use GNS3 because it is free (except IOS). Secondly, purchase cheap time on racks through the vendors. The money you save on your own lab equipment will be traded in for having to schedule time and reserve large block of your time (8+ hours) to lab. Your lab time will not be as fruitful. This means that if at hour 4 you get really tired and need a break you will be paying to sit there and drink some water. So because of this, I encourage people to dig deep and get a lab of their own. Start by purchasing switches. I know that as long as I can take my lab or build another one like it I could achieve my certification goals. My lab is the single most important thing to me. There is a time for GNS3, and it’s important to integrate that, but at least invest in switches. I compare not building a lab to joining and advanced photography class without a camera, or with a camera, but no lighting equipment. Think about this. GNS3 has done nothing but make it too easy for people to enter this field, and the only guys I see being successful using only GNS3 are field engineers who work on Cisco day in and day out already….

Mistake #6: Not sticking to a strategy

I have already written about learning through osmosis, not over committing, rushing in to the written, not attending a boot camp, and not investing in equipment. Now I want point out that many students don’t have a strategy, and many more that do don’t stick to it. What I mean by a strategy is being selective about how you will approach the topics you need to learn, and how you will make sure you learn them in a way that advances your skills to where they need to be. I have found that every person seems to have a different strategy and some better than others. I have written about my strategy here. The bottom line to a strategy is to look at all the ways you can approach this thing and pick one that will fit your lifestyle. With CCIE there are some general similarities between everyone. For example, we all spend hours doing labs. Beyond that there is not much similarity. Some guys use DocCD + lab workbooks only. Otherwise use an entire library + huge labs and workbooks. Still some use GNS3 and boot camps only. Each of these fits a different lifestyle. As important as it is to get a strategy, it’s ten times more critical that you stick to the strategy. In picking a strategy it’s important to be realistic, and pick one you are willing to commit to, and one you know will get you to your goal. When you have this in place your goal can sustain just about any disaster such as a 2 week trip to Hawaii that puts you on hiatus. Because when you return you know where to begin. Without a strategy we often don’t know where to start, pickup, or end our work.

I hope you enjoyed reading some of these pitfalls for CCIE candidates. In conclusion, remember that we can learn from others. We can see the struggles that other people have and tweak our experience in order to get better mileage oursleves. Do you see yourself being over confident in the books you have, putting too much expectation on yourself, rushing things like taking the written, putting off tools like boot camps, and not being willing to invest in equipment? Maybe you should write out a strategy, and share it with your mentor. Remember, there is nothing better than accountability from those who are where we want to be at in the future.

each connection makes us stronger