Tag Archives: IEWB

Back on the horse…for real.

Posted by on January 27, 2010 No comments

  Well, I’m getting back into the CCIE game..again. I had a false start last time. I got IEWB Vol I, which was a great book, and I made it pretty far through it, but I got sidetracked, and really wanted to complete my CCNP before going for the CCIE. Mostly so that I had something to “show” for my work. Since I got my CCNP this month, and am testing for the CCDA soon, it seems natural to move on to something else. So here’s my rough timeline..subject to change, as always.

R&S Written exam: June 15th (or sooner)

R&S Lab exam: June 15th, 2011 (12 months after the written)

Study materials (written): IEWB Vol I, the typical CCIE books…too many, dynamips, some rack rentals. I learn best by doing, so I’ll be reading and labbing in betwee, although I won’t be doing any full labs during this phase.

Study materials (lab): IEWB Vol I/II/III, Maybe IPexpert Vol II labs, some rack rentals, as wel as dynamips for focused study on individual technologies. I’ll also be putting together my own lab (see below):


My lab (proposed): It will essentially consist of several 1841 routers, 2 3550′s, 2 3560′s, a terminal server, along with a couple of 2620′s to fill in the gaps, and a couple of BB routers. Total cost will come in at somewhere around $5-6k when it’s all said and done. I’ll be piecing it together over the next 6-9 months (while I’m studying for the written). During the early stages of my lab prep, I’ll rely on dynamips and rack rentals, and once my home lab is complete, use that.

Because of the OEQs and troubleshooting sections, I plan on integrating some book study with my lab study time..possibly a couple of hours a week throughout the entire lab prep process. I’m hoping this will keep me sharp, and give me an edge on the troubleshooting section.

As I said, I take my CCDA in a week. I have studied that book inside and out, and am ready to take it. I’m bored with it infact..so I’m starting to read Routing TCP/IP Vol I from cover to cover. I’ll be doing plenty of dynamips labs while reading this book. For anyone who cares, I’m running Ubuntu 9.04 with GNS3, on an Intel 2.4ghz dual core w/ 4GB RAM. It’s a nice setup, but I want real hardware, so I can just fire it up and kind of eliminate the issue of troubleshooting dynamips/ubuntu.

Not sure how much I’ll be posting while prepping for the written (at least in the next month), since I need to review a lot of material. I’m rusty on my routing topics..but I feel good with switching, so that’s good. Anyway, as I learn more, I’ll post more :)

IEWB Vol I Ver 4, Bridging/Switching

Posted by on April 20, 2009 No comments

Lately I’ve kind of jumped around, so I decided to start at the beginning of IEWB Vol I and move forward from there. Bridging/Switching has been my subject of reading for the past week, so this will be a more focused approach and bring some regularity to my studies for the next X amount of time that I’m studying switching. I expect to complete bridging/switching labs by next weekend. Once I complete those, I’m going to go through Ver 5 of the bridging/switching labs also to verify that I know my stuff. I’m looking forward to making more progress. I have been doing good, but want to step it up a little bit. While I am busy with completing the bridging/switching labs, I am going to write out a detailed plan of study so that I have something to base the rest of my studies on. I look forward to it! Will post more informative stuff once I get a little bit further.

By the way, I was at the Clearwater, FL beach with the family yesterday, and knew instantly that I am meant for this career as when I was laying in the sun I was trying to figure out some NAT issues :)