Final Destination: CCIE

Surfing...and not the internet

2009-08-31T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well an unexpected surprise happened when I visited the West of Ireland...surfing. Wow, totally hooked...I can't wait until I get back to do some more!! Next time I'm bringing my kayak to surf some of the waves as well. So the last week has been consumed with searching for a board and wetsuit so I don't have to rely on renting the next time, there were so many waves lost the last trip.

So maybe that has been why I'm completely un-motivated to study this past week! Hopefully I can pull myself from the funk here in the next few days and get back on track.

Tough schedule with work the next two months, so I might have to scale back the plans and shoot for QoS in November.

liquid

QoS Plan, review of INE CCIE Written Bootcamp COD

2009-07-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

Well I have mapped out a pretty decent plan for tackling the QoS exam.

Reading:
Implementing Cisco QoS Student Guide Vol I&II (160 pages in so far)
Cisco Catalyst QoS: Quality of Service in Campus Networks
QoS section from CCIE Certification Guide
QoS SRND

Already read previously:
Cisco QOS Exam Certification Guide

QoS Videos:
INE Written Bootcamp COD - QoS Completed
INE Advanced Technologies COD - QoS
INE Open Lectures on QoS

LABS:
INE Vol I: QoS 1-81

I have viewed the BGP and QoS sections of the INE CCIE Written Bootcamp and I'm not impressed at all. It seems to be lower than CCNP level stuff being covered. I was expecting a deep dive into the theory of each protocol down to the fundamentals of how things worked and I have been hugely dissappointed. The presentation is great, albeit a little slow to load each video (sometimes 10 minutes) when some of them aren't even 10 minutes long, but if the material was good I could put up with that. So I feel that was a definite waste of money, if I could advise other people...stick with the Vol I technology labs and the Advanced Technologies COD which are both excellent. If you haven't completed your CCNP I would get the Written Bootcamp.

liquid

passed BGP 642-661...QoS next!

2009-07-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Well that one was much closer than I would've liked! Just above the 860 mark, but I think it was a fair representation of my preparation. The last week of study has been seriously interrupted by "emergencies" at work and long nights of change. I am again impressed by the sims, i just wish there were more of them, they were challenging but definitely proved if you knew what you were doing. I do wish they gave you more leeway on what commands you can use, but i guess it is still a sim.

Onto QoS, but due to some holidays and a serious project on the horizon I think it will be sometime in September before I attempt it. Still on track for a December written attempt and I think that this BGP study will be a big stepping stone for that.

I hope the QoS exam is as challenging as the BGP and MPLS exams have been....

liquid

BGP MindMap - Update

2009-07-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well this week has been pretty productive on the study front. I have completed INE Vol I. BGP labs up to 7.25. The most important thing I have learned so far is that I need to really understand the BGP Best Path Selection a whole lot more!!! So using a new tool, mind mapping, I have created a map to hopefully help me understand the order and whether higher or lower is preferred.

I have also completed the BGP study guide vol 1, but before I more onto vol 2 I am doing a little reading on TCP/IP Routing Vol II to just change things up a little. Final push coming next week with the exam on the 10th. With a weekend away with friends this weekend I need to kick it up a notch.

liquid

os x and dynamips...bgp

2009-06-19T00:51:00.001-07:00

MAC
I am continually impressed by the performance of the Mac Pro, with 16 cores and 16gb of ram I haven't been able to scratch the surface. It still amazes me that I can run a full bgp enabled 11 router scenario in dynamips, use a vista VM and it feels more responsive than my real test lab.

BGP
I have completed BGP 7.8 - 7.12 with nothing major to report. I have also completed reading through the BGP section in the CCIE certification guide, this has lead me to my next books which are the BGP 3.2 Student Guides. I really like the student guides, with their step-by-step instruction and I feel that it is a shame that you cannot buy them as a separate resource. Along with the reading and the labs I have completed most of the IE Advanced Technology Videos on BGP. Although they are a bit dated, not much in the BGP world has changed!

WORK
I am looking forward to installing a new product that we just purchased to manage our IP addresses, Proteus IPAM from BlueCat networks. It seems like a great way to delegate and administer our IP addresses, making my life easier! I have also just got done installing Checkpoint R70 in the lab and will be updating production next month. R70 is really just a rebrand of a smaller release, but still impressed by the GUI that checkpoint uses...Cisco could learn a lot.

liquid

BGP 7.1 - 7.7

2009-06-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Just going through the BGP Vol 1 labs. Learned about neighbor disable-connected-check, it's like EBGP multihop 2, but it's not...I guess the CCIE is all about a million ways to do something and just letting the exam tell you which one to use.

Getting into the swing of things, I have all the base configurations saved and working which is nice. I also like the new BB1/BB2/BB3 configuration where you only get certain options when you login...like sh ip route or sh ip bgp summ, a lot closer to the real lab!

About to pass out, it was a long day cleaning out the shed and attic and it will be a long day tomorrow minding the kids as the wife is studying ;)

liquid

more ram, sick, CCIE 2.0

2009-06-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well I ordered 16gb of ram for my Mac Pro, it came with 6gb, and the intention was always to up it. I opted to completely fill the 8 banks, so the memory won't be in it's optimal mode...but the extra 4gb is worth it for real-life performance.

I also completed my order for the Internetwork Expert CCIE 2.0 intructor-led printed program + written COD bootcamp... unfortunately I have been hit with a small cold that has limited my ability to look over the material. Although, so far it looks really good! I have just got the Volume I setup on dynamips so I should be able to start cracking through the BGP technology labs this weekend. I have also started through the BGP Advanced Technologies COD, and other than the annoying Adobe interface (each time you pause then resume it spends like 15 seconds catching up) it seems good.

I hope to get through some more of the material and post my review on the program soon.

liquid

BGP, CCIE study materials...

2009-06-07T01:21:00.001-07:00

Well I have been gathering up study materials for my BGP exam next month, so far I have:

BGP Section, CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide
BGP Section, Routing TCP/IP, Volume II
Implementing BGP Study Guide 3.2 vol I&2

I am also hoping to buy the Internetworking Expert CCIE 2.0 Program on Monday, so I can start through the BGP Vol I technology labs. I have booked my BGP exam for the 10th of July, but depending on how fast I get through the material above I might push it out a week or two.

Buying the CCIE 2.0 Program is a big step, both mentally and financially. To this point I have purchased a few CCIE books, but this really means that I'm going for it. I am really hoping to pass the written this year and then the lab next year!!

I have reviewed some of the IPExpert BLS and I think that IE is just better quality. I am also looking forward to the Open-Lecture classes, although due to me living in Ireland I am hoping that the class times are suitable... I think that having scheduled lectures will be an added bonus to my studying.

Another random note...I have recently joined up with a few fellow CCIE wannabes from techexams.net and hoping that will grow into something useful.

Shout out to redwarrior, from redwarrior.net...congrats on throwing your hat into the ring and committing to the CCIE. I would've replied on her blog, but I don't have a wordpress account...

liquid

sorry about the double-post, I had to turn on comment moderation after some spam was posted...

well passed MPLS!

2009-06-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

That was definitely the hardest exam I have taken so far. The simulations are definitely coming along, not quite dynamips but definitely challenging. Although really pissed about one topic that I have an unusually high amount of questions on, Traffic Engineering?!?!?! From everything I read, the exam objectives, syllabus, and the study guide there was no mention of anything even relating to Traffic Engineering.

Other than that it was a very fair exam.

Next onto BGP...maybe mid July.

liquid6

Final Week

2009-05-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well crunch time...one week left. I am a little behind where I want to be but a full schedule at work and 10 days in Spain didn't do much for my studying.

I have completed 6 of the 12 labs that I had set out to do. I have read MPLS fundamentals and Implementing MPLS vol. I, so I would still like to finish vol. II.

My new Mac Pro is really working out nicely, running 11 routers, a windows 7 vm, a windows vista vm, and testing out the new vSphere it was only hitting 30 percent cpu utilization!! I am hoping to be able to mess around with the new Cisco Nexus 1000v Switch, but I'll have to wait until after the exam.

I have found that running dynagen inside mac os x natively just doesn't feel right so I am running dynagen inside the vista vm which is working perfectly.

Wish me luck on the final push, I have two days off work so I should be able to finish everything that I need to.

liquid

Change of pace, change of blog name...

2009-05-20T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well to mark the change in my plans I have changed the name of the blog. I was watching the IE SP video on MPLS VPNs and Brian was talking about the final destination of the packet and it struck me as a good name for a blog. I still think that I might get insomnia due to my CCIE studies, but hopefully not!!

I am well into studying for the MPLS exam, which is scheduled for June 2nd. I have read the MPLS Fundamentals book and almost done with Vol I. of Implementing Cisco MPLS (MPLS) v2.1. I am also watching the IE SP COD videos that relate to the MPLS exam, and doing the labs from the IE SP vol I. I have less than 2 weeks and quite a bit to get through but I should be alright.

some random tips:

No logging con
Logging buffer

This logs only to the buffer and not to the console…handy for lab

In secureCRT - hold alt and you can select column mode

Thanks,
liquid

well...slight change of plans

2009-04-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

After hitting the books really hard for the 1st week or 2, got hit with a bunch of stuff both at work and at home. So long story short, I have re-examined my path and studying for the CCIE was seeming like an insurmountable mountain to climb. To get back into the swing of things I have decided to get my CCIP first then get the CCIE written and then study for the LAB.

timeline:

MPLS - May 29th
BGP - July 12th
QoS - August 30th
CCIE Written - December 6th.

Although the time off hasn't been a complete waste. I have completely gutted my office and redecorated, with a new desk new shelves and the best part: 27" lcd and new 8core Mac Pro!! So just getting use to OS X and running dynamips on it has been fun.

Currently reading MPLS Fundamentals and going through the IE SP Vol I labs.

I hope to be back posting more regularly now.

Weekly Update - First Week Studying for the CCIE

2009-01-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

Well the first week is out of the way!! It has been an extremely hard week, but only partly due to the extra workload of studying. The first week after taking a month off from work was always going to be hard, but getting up at 5:30am every day was pretty tough. Hopefully next week will be easier.

I did cover a fair amount of ground, learning a few things along the way. My study curriculum is still shaping up, I have replaced the Soup2Nuts from the LAB study and placed in IE vol I version 5 labs. I have also started to read the technology labs through before having an attempt at completing. I think during the phase I, learning the technologies, there is no point in not looking at the answers.

I have almost completed the 3550/3560 Switching section from Narbik's CCNP to CCIE workbook. I think there are a few errors, but for the most part it seems pretty good. I am still unsure if tackling this much lab time during the technology section is feasible for my schedule, but we will see. I am hoping to knock out the bridging/switching by the end of February.

Here is wishing that next week is full of free time at work ;)

Thanks,
liquid

Objectives completed this week

Reading:
-10 chapters from Internetworking with TCP/IP
-first read through the VOL I Bridging/Switching from IE.
Labs:
-Task 1 - 21 from Narbik's Foundations
Videos:
-IPExpert VOD Bridging and Exercises
-IPExpert VOD Switching and Exercies

Study Time
CCIE Reading : 8 hrs
CCIE Lab : 2 hrs
CCIE Lab Setup : 30 min
CCIE VOD : 5 hrs
Total : 15.5 hrs

1st few days studying for the CCIE...

2009-01-20T01:51:00.000-08:00

Well folks, back from holidays and straight into the CCIE studies. I am trying to get in the habit of getting up at 5:30am, to study at least an hour before I head to work. It hasn't been bad the first few days, but we'll see how it goes. I feel that my concentration at that time in the morning is very very good. I have also been trying to build a CCIE curriculum for myself. I think that with my extended time frame of 2 years I will need a large framework to keep myself motivated and on-track.

My first few tasks are to read Internetworking with TCP/IP by Douglas Comer and Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches, and Internetworking Protocols. During this time I hope to finish my planning and have the curriculum down. I plan to create a packet for each major section. The packet will include all labs, videos, and reading that I think I will need to master the topic.

The first topic I plan to cover is switching, the only issue that I have right now is that this can't be tackled in Dynamips. So my options are to re cable the switches at work or to turn on the beasts at home. I am thinking that re cabling the ones at work will be easier for now. The material that I plan to cover for the switching section is Narbik's Foundation, Soup2Nuts, and Advanced Technologies. Once those are completed I will move into either IPExpert or IE technology Labs. I am still hesitant that I am being overly ambitious trying to cover all the Narbik workbooks, and then move onto the IE and IPExpert Technology labs too. I am hoping to get a feel once I start labbing and I am prepared to scale back the materials as needed.

liquid

Taking the plunge...

2008-12-29T21:16:00.000-08:00

So, after a numerous hours soul searching and trying to decide whether or not to take on the CCIE...I have finally committed to taking on the huge challenge of trying to become a CCIE. I knew in the back of my head it was always going to be in my sights, but it feels really strange to announce to my family and friends that I am going to actually commit to giving it a go.

My plans are to try and get up early in the morning and study for 1 hour and then try to study on lunch. With two kids it is insane to try and study at night, so hopefully I can get in a good hour in the morning before work!

I am still playing around with the idea of trying to get my CCIP along the way, but I think that I will put that on the back burner until I feel that I am not progressing as quickly as I should be.

I think the hardest part of this journey will be the long term motivation of slogging through 24 months of serious studying...

Wish me luck, my wish of insomnia might just come true!!!!

liquid

Weekly Update

2008-09-15T01:27:00.000-07:00

QoS Reading : 1hr 1min
QoS Lab : 4hr 9min
CCIE Home Lab Setup : 1hr 17min
CCIE VOD : 24min
CCIE Audio : 27min

Total : 7hr 18min

Random QoS Notes

2008-09-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would post these few notes I did up on the QoS labs I have been doing the last few days.

MQC (Modular QoS CLI) - aka CPS
Classify - the traffic in question is classified with: Access-list, IP Prec, DSCP, CoS, MPLS EXP bits, Another Class-map, frame-relay DE bit, 802.1Q or ISL CoS/Priority Values, Input Interface, Source/Destination MAC, RTP, any packet or NBAR.

Policy-map - is configured, references the Class-map and applies a certain policy to the traffic that was classified.

Service-policy - policy-map is applied to an interface either in or outbound direction using the service-policy.

To verify CPS: sh policy-map interface
R2(config)#do sh policy-map int s1/0.23

Serial1/0.23

Service-policy output: TASK1

Class-map: TASK1 (match-all)
0 packets, 0 bytes
5 minute offered rate 0 bps, drop rate 0 bps
Match: protocol telnet
QoS Set
precedence 1
Packets marked 0

After test telnet
Serial1/0.23

Service-policy output: TASK1

Class-map: TASK1 (match-all)
12 packets, 560 bytes
5 minute offered rate 0 bps, drop rate 0 bps
Match: protocol telnet
QoS Set
precedence 1
Packets marked 12

ip nbar port-map http tcp 1180

sh ip nbar port-map http
port-map http tcp 1180

TASK7 : Wording, Only one access-list should be configured to accomplish this task....does not mean only use access-lists to accomplish the task!!!

Priority Queuing - Interesting bit on using priority-list to prioritize http traffic

priority-list 1 protocol ip low list 100
priority-list 1 interface Loopback0 high
priority-list 1 protocol http medium
priority-list 1 protocol ip normal udp tftp
priority-list 1 default low

R1#debug priority
R1#telnet 131.1.12.2 80
Trying 131.1.12.2, 80 ... Open

*Mar 1 02:41:59.655: PQ: FastEthernet0/0: ip (defaulting) -> low
*Mar 1 02:41:59.659: PQ: FastEthernet0/0 output (Pk size/Q 60/3)
*Mar 1 02:41:59.663: PQ: FastEthernet0/0: ip (defaulting) -> low
*Mar 1 02:41:59.663: PQ: FastEthernet0/0 output (Pk size/Q 60/3)

I wonder why this doesn't work, maybe it is using nbar and it knows that the traffic is telnet? ---I think the http setting is that you can go within the http protocol and classify via specifics...

priority-list 1 protocol ip low list 100
priority-list 1 interface Loopback0 high
priority-list 1 protocol ip medium tcp 80
priority-list 1 protocol ip normal udp tftp
priority-list 1 default low

R1#telnet 131.1.12.2 80
Trying 131.1.12.2, 80 ... Open

*Mar 1 02:45:03.515: PQ: FastEthernet0/0: ip (tcp 80) -> medium
*Mar 1 02:45:03.515: PQ: FastEthernet0/0 output (Pk size/Q 60/1)
*Mar 1 02:45:03.523: PQ: FastEthernet0/0: ip (tcp 80) -> medium
*Mar 1 02:45:03.523: PQ: FastEthernet0/0 output (Pk size/Q 60/1)

Custom Queuing-

To apply to interface use custom-queue-list

To configure the bandwidth limits per queue, using 15000 as the base number for calculations
Queue-list 1 queue 1 byte-count 1500 for 10%

To match a url:
Match protocol http url blog.insomniacnetwork.com

CCIE Planning Resources

2008-09-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

During the last month I have been concentrating on what it would take to pass the CCIE R/S Lab, and to develop a realistic plan of attack.

Where I have been doing my research:
-Groupstudy.com
-Techexams CCIE Forum - Especially Turgons blog
-IPExpert Psychology of the CCIE Lab - I found this extremely good and would highly recommend it.
-CCIE Lab Strategy: A Structured Approach - Pretty informative, recommended.
-IPExpert/Internetworkexpert free resources

What have I come up with?

I plan to get as much hands-on experience during my written prep as I can. Either using Foundations/Soup-to-Nuts or IEWB Vol I or IPExpert Vol I, isolating each technology and reading the books/student guides/section of CCIE Certification Guide. I hope to really dive deep during this period and really get to the base of each technology so that I can hopefully build a solid foundation.

Triage, continuous re-assessment on what is working during my study, where am I currently positioned and what do I need to modify going forward.

I am trying to learn how to properly take notes using the cornell approach and I might read a speed reading book, I am looking for anything to make my time studying worth more... On that same ntoe I am either looking to purchase a new tablet pc, or an UMPC to help me study either at home or on my commute. I am still weighing up the pro/cons on which would help more.

Sorry for the rambling, should be in bed but can't sleep!

Completed Foundation QoS Lab1

2008-09-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

The tasks were fairly straight forward, although a couple of them threw me...and it was very nice getting back to working on labs instead of reading books!

I really liked the explanation of using the MQC, with the CPS strategy. Classify, Policy-map, Service-policy. It really helps when you have a brain freeze and can't remember which one to do first.

Going to hit the hay as it is 1:15am here and who knows when the baby will be up.

liquid

Update

2008-09-06T04:43:00.000-07:00

So studying with the newborn isn't easy...but I have spent quite a bit of time planning my attack and setting up my lab for the CCIP->CCIE. I completed my setup of Dynamips on Ubuntu within VMware ESX, this is then trunked out to a Cisco 3750, which is then connected to 4 3560s. This will hopefully give me the perfect mix of virtual/physical to hopefully perform all the labs that I need. I am finishing the notes on the details and the steps required to that setup and hope to post this weekend. I do have a set of physical routers which I will configure and turn on when I actually get into the swing of things.

CCIE Lab Setup: 10 hrs
CCIE Planning: 4 hrs
QoS Lab : 3 hrs

Total Study time: 17 hrs

Cloud Computing

2008-08-28T15:03:00.001-07:00

I have always been fascinated with the thought of "cloud computing" and couldn't wait for it to materialize into something useful. After using foldershare quite successfully, not exactly cloud computing but it would synchronize content between my devices which was great, but all my devices were gone I was still hosed.

Smugmug was next which is absolutely great for photo storage/distribution, my wife has continually freaked out that 99.9% of our photos are digital and could be lost. So this has worked great for the last 3-4 months, and I logged in the other day to upload some new photos and they had announced SmugVault...which is really cloud computing using amazon's backend! So I can finally upload all my ebooks and raw photos with complete confidence.

Finally Live Mesh, which is really showing promise...I just wish they would up the storage limit from 5gb!!!

Just thought I would post this semi off-topic post before crashing out.

Weekly Update

2008-08-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

A little behind posting the weekly update, but with the birth of my second son on Monday...completely acceptable. No real study plans this week, maybe some QoS if I get a chance...

BGP Reading - 29min
CCDP - 8hrs 28min
CCIE Reading - 5hrs 7min
CCIE Planning - 4hrs 30min

Total 18hrs 34min

Passed ARCH, CCDP now!

2008-08-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well I passed...not too tough after reading the student guides and doing all the case studies.

I really like all the design material, I was re-reading some of the student guide and I think they will become a great first step when I need to look at best practices for designing something. I already have a full access layer redesign planned for work. It will tie in with a big NAC deployment we are doing, so might as well do it right!

Now no "structured" study for awhile, although I am still planning on heading onto the CCIP soon. No clue which exam I want to tackle next.

liquid

Weekly Update

2008-08-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

Countdown to the ARCH exam, taking it on Tuesday. I hope to take a half-day tomorrow to finish some of the case studies and work on more of the end of chapter reviews. Pretty focused this week on ARCH studies, although because of my recent dive into spanning-tree design topics I spotted a big hole in our LAN design at work. I was under the assumption (i know i know...) that it was a Looped-Square design, but it was a Loop-free inverted U. This didn't give us the failover times were are looking for, so I changed it to a looped-square with better results.

Hopefully I will be posting after successfully passing the ARCH exam on Tuesday.

BGP Reading 1hr 42min
CCDP 7hr 46min
CCIE Reading 4hr 57min

Total Time 14hr 55min

liquid

Weekly Update

2008-08-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

I focused mostly on BGP studies, plus listening to the CCIE audio stuff to/from work. I did lab up some interesting L2tpv3 redundancy scenarios which I should be posting in the next few days.

BGP Lab - 1hr 36min
CCDP - 30min
CCIE Reading - 6hr 30min
Misc Lab - 2hr 30min

Total Time : 15hr 46min