Passed My CCIE: My Experience, Tips, and Thoughts

Last Friday, when I passed the CCIE Certification exam, the long journey reached the best part. I’d like to take some time to discuss my experience and advise those who take the exam actively.

My Path to Success

Many people know that they are not a prerequisite for trying CCIE. You do not need any practical experience, nor do you need CCNP or any other certification. However, I strongly believe that without many years of practical work experience, the task of solving CCIE seems impossible. I also think the structured learning provided by CCNA and CCNP makes learning all of these materials easy to manage. Having said that, I have been working in this field for about nine years, I got CCNP, in 2010 and I have been a senior network engineer for the past four years, working as a service provider and enterprise network every day.

Study Plan (CCIE Written)

Given my solid background, I think it’s time for me to put up with and win my CCIE. I began to read classic books such as volume 1 and volume 2 of TCP and completed the Cisco Press CCIE exam certification guide. I make sure I review and test each chapter throughout the book. Tired of reading, I turned to the video. I looked at almost all the materials from INE, a huge fan of advanced technology courses,), IP experts and CBT. After using these materials, I am ready to arrange written documents. Unfortunately, my first attempt failed, but I didn’t bomb it. I went back to study my weak topic (GETVPN, IS-IS). I arranged my second attempt a little and left a pass.

Study Plan (CCIE Lab)

Lobbying the technologies

Given what I know now, I may do more laboratory work while preparing for my writing (which may have saved me an attempt). It is incredible how much material you can actually absorb when reading and watching videos, but lab work brings all the information to the forefront. I spend most of my time using INE workbooks. This may seem daunting, and it does require commitment, but I completed every experiment in the workbook (more than 2000 pages). Now, you’re sure to take the time (hours and hours) to discuss topics you’re unlikely to see in the exam, but that doesn’t mean a waste of time. Everything you have learned helps. Also, keep in mind that the goal of CCIE should not just be a CCIE, to become an expert and learn from any assistant.

Full-Scale Labs

After completing the SPOTO workbook, I began to do a complete experiment. I used the SPOTO simulation lab and the Cisco 360. This may seem strange now, but I don’t think I’ve learned a lot about these technologies, even though it may have taken me hundreds of hours. But doing these laboratories must be an important reason for me to pass. Now, this seems to be a strange statement, and if I don’t think I know much about these technologies, how can these laboratories contribute so much to my success. That’s because the simulation lab taught me how to attack the lab. I’ve tried every lab, and I’ve developed better strategies to do it, and I’ve learned how to speed it up (very important). I outlined the following tips.

Trouble Shooting Section Tips

For questions worth 2 points, adhere to the strict rules of 10 minutes, for questions worth 4 points, adhere to 20 minutes. There are some problems in my simulation lab and in the real exam. I can solve them in a minute. You don’t want to waste your time on a problem, because they may have problems that you can solve quickly and easily.

This part of the topology is very large, I have 40 equipment simulation laboratory. Before looking at anything in CLI, view the provided chart and narrow the scope of the problem. You can usually reduce the problem to five or fewer devices. Spending 2 minutes looking at the chart saves you more than 10 minutes running the show command aimlessly on the router, which may not cause your problems.

After narrowing the scope, do not be afraid to view the running configuration. Or at least part of it. For example, if you know that the problem is that everything about BGP does "sh run sec BGP." I heard earlier that you should rely on debugging, logging, and other troubleshooting techniques, but given the time constraints and the fact that this is the first time you’ve seen a topology, I don’t think this is the most effective way to do this part. If you see something as strange as routing diagrams, distribution lists, offset lists, access lists, and so on, it will give you something to check immediately. Alas, I even advocate a gaze and comparison between routers, especially if one direction can work in one direction rather than the other. Find out what’s up to date, and if you know what you have, you can immediately tell you if these differences can cause your problems.

Diagnostic Section Tips

All I can say is don’t let people know what to do. There is a lot of information provided to you, and most of the information does not need to answer this question. Compared with other parts, questions and answers are not very difficult in the end.

Configuration Section Tips

I found that the configuration was much simpler than I expected. I really don’t think there is a lot of "technical problem" or confusing wording. Do you know how to configure the technology? I’ve heard tips on reading the whole test or making my own chart. I think it’s a waste of time with plenty of time. I think you can simply finish each task from top to bottom. Yes, there are other parts of the dependency, but Cisco is very friendly to tell you that, in the exam, they do not prevent you from configuring what you’re asking for, and you just need to get back to this issue after you’re done. I also think that the chart provided by Cisco is easy to understand and I don’t see the benefits of making my own charts. I do understand that recently, Cisco provided two displays for the lab. Maybe there will be some help in a day when a monitor has its own chart. But for me, I’ll save the chart on a screen and work on another screen. Finally, make sure you have time to go back and check your work. I’ve got at least 6 points for a very simple error.

Well, everyone, that's all I have for now. If anyone has any questions, you can contact me or SPOTO to give you the best suggestion.