CCIE R&S Studies Start Now!

I am finally starting the journey that is the CCIE R&S. My study plan is for 20 hours a week of study time. That will be broken down to two hours per weekday and ten hours spread throughout the weekend. I will be keeping a spreadsheet that I have nicknamed my “CCIE Time Card” that will be used for record keeping of start/finish time and what was studied on that date.

My study materials will consist of:
Books
CCIE R&S 4th Edition OCG
Routing TCP/IP Volume 1 2nd Edition
Routing TCP/IP Volume 2
IETF and IEEE Docs
Cisco Docs

Videos & Workbooks
IPX Blended Learning Solution

Practice Exam
Boson Ex-Sim Max

My study method will be to read about a topic from multiple sources, watch a video about the topic, lab up the topic, figure out where I am lacking on the topic, reread sections of the topic I feel I am lacking in. I think this will be good to start off but I do realize there will be some modifications as time goes on.

Three quotes I will be keeping handy as the journey goes on:
“Don’t memorize. Learn it.”
“The CCIE pursuit is a marathon and not a sprint.”
“Be honest to yourself in your assessment of your knowledge about a topic.”

I am hoping to use this blog a lot more in the future for notes, labs, observations from my CCIE studies, so stay tuned!

CCDP Squashed!

Last Friday I pass my CCDP exam on the second take. The first sitting was close to a pass so I knew I just needed to hit the areas I was weak in and come back at it soon after the fail. I used the FLG and most of the RFCs and design guides that are referenced in the FLG. I have to say the design track is definitely not my favorite when it comes to testing but the subject matter is about as interesting as it gets.

I am thinking of taking a month off from studying before picking up on the CCIE Written studies but as it goes for most of us that are addicted to networking, I’ll probably start up my studies in a week or so. 🙂

I made a quick question to one of my bosses today about if they would pay for training materials from INE or IPX and he said that it wouldn’t hurt to fill out a req and he’ll see what he can do. That news might make my bank account not have a heart attack.

I don’t think they are many materials I really want to get for the CCIE Written outside of the most often recommended books. I am thinking about getting the IPX CCIE Written VoD though. I always like to start out slow with the videos before digging in deep with the books.

We’ll see.