RedWarriorNet

A very good friend of mine gave me just the kick in the pants I needed today and at just the right time.  Prompted by his suggestion, I am officially commiting myself to studying for the CCIE R&S this year and next as part of my path to networking nirvana.  My reasons for backing off from continuing along the wireless path mainly stem from the offer of a great study partner for the R&S and the relative newness of the Cisco wireless track, which has me thinking that doing the CCIE R&S will be a great next step before going back to wireless.  I’m not sure how well this will be received at work, though, where getting one’s CCIE has generally meant then leaving and where they are needing me to learn wireless at breakneck speed.  I am hoping that doing wireless by day and Routing and Switching by night will bring me some balance and move me closer to both goals.

Why was this such good timing?  Because I couldn’t run this morning.  How are the two related you ask?  Well, in the past month I have taken up running and usually run between 1 and 2 miles each morning before the chaos of life takes over.  One of the things I like about running is that it is difficult to carry on a conversation with yourself in your brain while your lungs are screaming for air.  This gives me a break from thought and some time to just be.  This morning, though, due to my shin splints acting up a bit and my stomach behaving questionably, I opted to walk instead.  Of coure, my mind took this as an open forum to mull over everything it might find and I began thinking how certification study is much like preparing for a major race.  I’ve been reading quite a bit about how runners prepare for long distance races as I consider running a 15k next year and the thought processes behind their training and my own studies were striking.  The part that stuck with me the most was a runner explaining that it is important to view the training for the marathon you run as just, if not more, important than the actual race.  He basically said that the best runners are those that enjoy the process of training, not those who only run to see the finish line.  If you’re really serious about a career in IT, certifications are just like that.  There will always be another one to earn or renew and its important to pace yourself and plan for the long term.

For networking professionals, at least those who work closely with Cisco gear, the CCIE is arguably the longest distance race we run.  It involves many of the same emotional challenges of any long race, including the self-doubt, frustration, loneliness, and pain that can come as you run day after day preparing for a finish line months in the future that you have no clue if you will be able to cross.  It requires dedication and a self-discipline similar to that of an athelete training.  It requires support of family and friends cheering you on and even comforting you if you fall short.  It is definitely an accomplishment just to have attempted, but a thrill to win.

Right now, I feel equal parts fear and excitement.  I definitely feel like I’m the slowest, least prepared runner on the training team and that the other runners around me are wondering what I’m doing there, but win or lose I intend to give it all I’ve got, using BSCI as my starting point for my studies.  I feel like I’ll have to sprint hundreds of miles to catch up, but I’m willing to keep trying.  I’ll see you all along the road.

This morning I passed my BCMSN exam with a little room to spare.  I would have to say that this was one of the more fun of my CCNP exams and I thought the exam was pretty well in-line with what I was expecting, except for one sim that threw me for a bit of a loop.  Interestingly, the areas I normally find easier and do at work regularly, I scored less well on than the areas I only have book/lab knowledge of, which proves that you can overthink questions on exams easily.  Here’s what I used to study from:

Cisco Press Study Guide for BCMSN
Cisco Press Lab Protofolio for BCMSN
CBT Nuggets
Trainsignal Videos
Some excerpts from Bridges and Switches by Caslow

My hardware lab:
2 3560’s
2 2950’s

I’m excited about studying for the BSCI exam, not only because it is my final CCNP exam, but also because it is all about routing, something I actually do not handle much at work.  It should be an interesting ride and I hope to be ready to test by the end of the summer!

I was very, very sick for about a week, which threw my exam preparations into disarray, but now I’m back to studying and I have scheduled my exam for next monday morning.  I’m feeling pretty confident about the material and I’m thinking it will be a great feeling to be 75% done with my CCNP and ready to move on to routing with my last exam, BSCI.  I hope to have my CCNP all wrapped up by the end of the summer and be ready to refocus my studies back on wireless.

I am thinking that, for me, next year will be the year of wireless.  I hope to face again my nemesis, the CCNA Wireless, and defeat it, and then probably move on to the new professional level wireless certification that Cisco is rolling out this summer.  I am considering also trying to work in one or two of the CWNP vendor-neutral wireless certifications along the way.  Wireless is a big part of my current job and I support both autonomous and lightweight Cisco networks and we have the possibility of adding another network made up of a third party vendor’s gear later this year.  That is a lot of wireless to take care of and there are only 2 engineers in our company specializing in wireless, which is a big deal in our particular market, particularly as RFID applications grow.

There’s just so much to learn and so little time.

I’ve neglected my humble little blog lately and I’m sorry I have.   Since I have been gone, I have successfully passed my ONT exam, making me 1/4 of the way to my CCNP.   :)  I really have to say that this exam is much more focused on theory than practice than many of the Cisco exams I’ve taken and a lot of the material just isn’t possible to recreate in a home lab.  Here’s what I used to study and pass:

CBT Nuggets - These are entertaining and great for getting a basic grasp of exam concepts.  I felt that they really helped with making information “stick.”

Trainsignal Videos - These are a little drier than the CBT Nuggets, but have much more detail to them along with some information that may not be covered by the exam, but is good to know for real life.  I credit these with being the most helpful towards passing my exam of all my study resources, but I’d recommend you use them after you have used the other resources you plan on studying as they can be overwhelming to just dive into.

Cisco Press Exam Guide - This book alone wouldn’t have given me a passing score and didn’t on my first exam attempt, but I think they are still necessary to read and should definitely be a part of anyone’s library studying for a CCNP exam.

The Cisco website, on the job hands-on with QoS, and some work wih the NetworkSims simulator and a 1710 router.  Like I said, it’s not really feasible to recreate some of the objectives in a home lab, but I found that the simulator I used was pretty good for the price and helped me practice.   My 1710 gave me some good hands-on time with both the MQC and the SDM interfaces.

Now I’m studying for the ISCW and plan to have a study guide posted for that as well as soon as I’ve gotten deeper into my reading.   My strategy for this one is as follows…

1.  Watch the CBT nuggets for an exam objective, for example, watch all the nuggets for MPLS.
2.  Read the Cisco Exam Guide chapters relating to that objective, so here that would be all the chapters relating to MPLS.
3.  Once I’ve made it through the Exam Guide and Nuggets, watch each objective in the Train Signal series one at a time.
4.  After watching each Train Signal video, get some hands-on lab practice as well.
5.  Take a practice exam and repeat until scoring in the 90%’s for every objective!

In somewhat related news, I start a new job in 2 weeks as a full-blown Network Engineer!!!!   Woo-HOO!  I’m very excited to be officially doing what I was unofficially doing and have a permanent home rather than remaining a contractor.