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Beta Results Came Back (Finally)

Posted in CCIE Written, Exams on November 13, 2009 by Gerren

After almost exactly 8 weeks since I took the 350-001 beta, I got my results back. (See my previous post for the background on this)

I ended up with a 623, which given the little studying I did, makes me feel pretty good. Let’s just say that I really need to hit multicast pretty hard. So with the right amount of preparation, the written should be relatively simple..I hope.

I need to get back into the game here soon. The little one has somewhat of sleep schedule now, but it just doesn’t necessarily agree with my peak study times! (ie she’s awake around 4am — I’m still operating in zombie mode)

Reading through the success stories on ieoc.com has helped get my motivation going, now it’s just time to do something about it.

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CCIE Written v4.0 Tomorrow!

Posted in Exams, General Announcements on September 8, 2009 by Gerren

Tomorrow, I get to look forward to finding out how poorly I did in 6-8 weeks. My main focus tomorrow will be on how the written exam is “written.” Basically, is it similar to the the CCNP exams, or is it something completely different. I suppose it’s not a great way to go about it, but I basically want to find out what’s on the test. I know that each version of the written will vary of course, but I guess the best way to phrase it is “How do they cram about 90 individual topics (on the blueprint) into 100 questions?”

Let’s see what happens! I am looking forward to a fresh start again though in a few months. Mad props to all of you who manage to pull off the CCIE while working and having a family! Once we find out what life with a newborn is like, I will be able to get a better idea of the (realistic) amount of time I can devote per day to studying and go from there.

I’ve learned that from the few short weeks I’ve been studying, I need to devote more time to each topic to completely understand it and master it. I started off by creating a pretty rigorous study schedule and found that as time went by, I would rush to finish reading the material just in order to keep up with “my schedule.” I know that I need to have some sort of time line to actually pull this off, but it needs to be realistic and allow me to grasp the material and not just “read it” for the sake of reading it.

I also think that I’ll revert back to my original strategy of studying for the lab, and taking the written sometime during that time. I’ve found that the layer 2 material I studied using a combination lab/reading approach has stuck with me much more than the material that I’ve simply just read through, and not really labbed out.

So, with all of that said…I’m checking out for now. I’ll post my thoughts on the beta written sometime later this week, but aside from that, I’m out until further notice and in final countdown for arrival of Baby Smurf.

Good luck to everyone in their studies!

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Staying Motivated During CCIE Prep

Posted in Exams on August 8, 2009 by Gerren

I’ve only been at this 3 weeks, and am finding it hard to stay motivated. I’ll have a really good week of studying/videos/labbing, etc. but then the weekend rolls around (today for example), and I have little desire to sit here and read about HDLC, PPP, and everything that goes along with it.

I think it’s more of the overwhelming amount of information one tries to absorb during this time, versus not enjoying the material. Sure, some of it’s pretty dry, but all in all, I still find most of it enjoyable. It just feels that even thought I’m making good progress (I think…), there’s so much more to absorb, remember, regurgitate, repeat, etc. This material has to become part of who you are, not just a collection of memorized facts stored away for future use.

I think that’s the part I have a hard time with…trying to determine which specific facts about the technology/protocol are important to remember permanently, versus which facts are needed, but easy to correlate with the task/question at hand during the written and lab exams. I know that I understand the concept and how a protocol works, but I worry about not remembering that one random fact.

The more I read about some of the OEQ horror stories, the more I become concerned. I can’t imagine putting in all this time, just to be shot down for 4 lousy questions. Sure, the concept of the OEQ is well-intentioned, but the results seem to be discouraging. I know there are people that still pass, but as time goes on, the OEQ’s weigh heavily on my mind.

I think part of the other issue is that the network I manage on a day to day basis is very small, and most of the CCIE topics are generally not something I can use/implement daily. I’m sure there are many out there in a similar situation, so how do you stay motivated? What gives you that extra kick to keep going? Coffee is having limited success for me at the moment….*sigh*

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Week 1 Down…??? to Go

Posted in CCIE Written with tags on July 26, 2009 by Gerren

For various reason, which for now will remain a mystery, a I lost a lot of motivation this week, but still managed to get in a decent chunk of studying. Instead of updating several sources, I’ve made my time tracking sheet available as a Google doc. This link will take you to the public spreadsheet I am using to keep track of my hours.

Friday and Saturday were my weak days, which both tie in to the lack of motivation. I managed to get back into the game on Sunday with a solid 4+ hours, but I would’ve liked to do more.  The past week has been dedicated to spanning tree, and all of its various incarnations. I forgot how much I liked studying spanning tree…or maybe I should say that I’ve come to like spanning tree more as time goes on. This coming week will be focused on VLANs and VTP, along with Etherchannel.

I’m going to try this week to see if I can get my company to cover the cost of ordering the INE CCIE 2.0 study package. The only thing I need to figure out is if they are going to have a CCIE R&S v4 package out soon. I want to dive in and get started, but don’t want to buy the v3 package if its going to be updated soon.

Anyhow, hopefully this week I can stay focused a bit more.  I think I’ve managed to get myself out of the funk that I was in, but we’ll see how the week plays out.

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CCIE R&S Written Exam Prep

Posted in CCIE Written with tags on July 19, 2009 by Gerren

I’ve begun the task of preparing for the written exam, and I have to say that the concept of actually passing this thing is a bit overwhelming. I’m sure that most people feel that way at first, but holy hell! there’s so much damn information to keep track of.

I’ve started using Google tasks to try and keep me on track. So far, I’ve broken down section 1.10 of the R&S v4.0 Written Exam Blueprint and I’ve got a full week scheduled (damn you spanning tree and all of your diabolical offspring). It’s painful to think that there’s 11 main topics to cover!

For those of you that are interested, I’ve started bookmarking sites that I will be using/reading in accordance with the lab topics and have tried to categorize them using the exam topic number (for example – 1.10 is spanning tree). You can view my list here: http://delicious.com/gerren.murphy

Does anyone have any good tips on keeping things straight during their exam prep?

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ONT – IP Quality of Service

Posted in Exams with tags , on July 2, 2009 by Gerren

Also available as a PDF here

Introduction to QoS

Converged Network Issues Related to QoS

  • Acceptable end-to-end delay for VoIP packets ~ 150 to 200 ms
  • 4 major challenges/concerns with converged networks
    • Available bandwidth
    • End-to-end delay
    • Delay variation (jitter) – difference in amount of delay
    • Packet loss – usually caused by sudden burst or failures
  • Available bandwidth
    • Maximum bandwidth of a path is equal to the bw of the link with the lowest/smallest bw
    • Available bandwidth = MaxBW/Number of Flows
    • Possible remedies include:
      • Increase link bandwidth – not always beneficial for bursty traffic
      • Classify and mark traffic
      • Deploy queuing mechanisms
      • Use compression techniques
        • Link compression
        • TCP header compression
        • RTP header compression Read more »

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ONT – Introduction to VoIP

Posted in Exams with tags , , on June 30, 2009 by Gerren

Also available as a PDF here

Introduction to VoIP Networks

Benefits of Packet Telephony

  • More efficient bandwidth usage
  • Lower transmission and network costs/expenses
  • Improved productivity
  • Access to new communication devices

Packet Telephony Components

  • Phones
  • Gateways – Interconnect with other gateways and allow communication between devices that may not be accessible from the IP network. Also responsible for connecting PBX’s to IP networks
  • Multipoint Control Units (MCU) – conference calling device that combines the streams from participants and returns the result to each participant
  • Application & Database Servers
  • Gatekeepers – these provide call routing and call admission control (CAC) services. Call routing resolves a name or number to an IP address. CAC grants permission for a call setup
  • Call Agents – handles call routing, address translation, and call setup
  • Video End Points
  • Digital Signal Processors – convert analog signals to digital signals using different codes

Read more »

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ONT Study Plan

Posted in Exams with tags , , on June 29, 2009 by Gerren

I think that in an effort to do better on the ONT exam, I’ll do some documentation via posts in hopes that it will sink in with me more effectively. I’d like to do a chapter by chapter breakdown using the OECG to start. Maybe like a “terminology” type section, “related protocols” section, configuration notes, and some “gotchas.” Sounds a bit cheesy though…we’ll see what pans out.

Stay tuned…

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ISCW Passed!

Posted in Exams with tags on June 27, 2009 by Gerren

wOOt. I passed the ISCW today…not a top-of-the-class kind of score, but passing nonetheless. I’m not generally an overachiever, but I thought I would do better than I did.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that I passed, but either way…I still would’ve enjoyed a higher score.

I think that I get caught in up in the people that are posting that they “Got 1000/1000″ — I suppose that there are folks out there that can ace these tests without much effort, but I’ guessing that a lot of people I see posting these kind of messages are brain-dumpers. No disrespect to anyone who has aced a Cisco exam without using dumps of course.

I supposes that I should be proud that I can pass without using dumps, but I would still like to improve my score next tie. Ahhh…oh well, who cares! 3 test down and only ONT to go for my CCNP.

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ISCW Performance Anxiety

Posted in Test Taking Strategy with tags , on June 26, 2009 by Gerren

Here’s what I dislike about Cisco exams. You study, and study, and from your experience and past exams, you feel confident that you are ready to tackle that next exam. Exam day rolls around and about halfway through the exam, you realize that you mos definitely were not prepared.

I’ve had that happen twice now, and I’m not sure what the issue is. So, I’m scheduled to take the ISCW tomorrow, and feel very confident on for this exam, but the anxiety of getting there and realizing a few minutes into it that I’m not as ready as I thought, is always frustrating. Very, very frustrating.

Does this happen to anyone else, or is it just me? I know my weak points are as follows:

  • PPPoA/E configuration commands
  • Some of the IPSec smaller details
  • Some parts of AAA, but I’m not sure what!?!

So, I’ll be running through those questions/topics again tonight, and then tomorrow at 1000 is judgement day. If I pass this, it will be 3 down and ONT to go!

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