Thank you for your explanation, now its clear how multicast MAC-to-IP conversion works. There will be no problem on the BSCI exam )

Ciao!

Thanks for this great blog, i finnaly decided to get my ccna and this blog will be an inspiration for me.Congrulations for your CCNA, please leave if you want comments on my blog to help me for prepare my CCNA.

http://myccnaroad.blogspot.com/

Vincent

Regards,

Donavan

Kevin

Its not too important if you miss your timeline or not; the important thing though is to have a timeline. Without one your floating nowhere.

I Hope creating my own CCNP lab quickly!

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
- Winston Churchill

Marianne

greetings from Chile
Victor Gonzalez

Note: Sorry about my English is a bit bad = S

grieve for 6 months enjoy your kids, be here now and then know in 6 months you are going to stop grieving and hit it! your mom I bet would want you to move on. Your mom wouldnt want you to grieve your whole life.

6 months, enjoy your family and kids, wife and play around
then hit the switch man!

you can do it.
I lost my mother at 12 years old to cancer. it was very hard to go on with life
but I am living life to the fullest and my mom like your mom would want you too!

-Robert

thanks again

My Best wishes to you and your Mother. I really understand a Cancer, a very difficult cause for Death for the pacient and for Pacient’s family.

Rafael Matias

Nice piece, i hope i can start blogging some day!!

Ali (Pakistan)

Thanks for pointing it out. I suck at proof-reading. Oh yeah, that’s b/c I don’t proof-read. I really should specially when more and more people read my stuff. My newbie-ness is starting to show. LOL!

Anyway, mis-spellings and grammatical errors, notwithstanding, I hope you find the rest of the materials somewhat helpful in your pursuit.

@Omar: I’ve heard great things about Chris Bryant. More so now. I’m just bummed I didn’t get his material early enough. But maybe I’ll throw down some cash to get the materials for ISCW and ONT. 

If you’re goals go according to plan, we might finish the CCNP around the same time. I took longer, of course, ’cause I started last year.  

Keep using your resources at work especially from those who have real world experience. I try to do the same here and every little nuggets of knowledge that you can’t find on the written text is a worthy gain. Good luck with everything.

Anyway, good luck on your exam!

@durga: Thanks for the tips. That’s a nice score! I’m just hoping to pass.

hey guys… i’ve used this comeback2009 the 3rdtime also.. it worked for me…:)

@Nick: You want that and the Ultimate Cisco R&S lab? A little much don’t you think?

Also, I think the good Lord some how keeps us in check when we chase after things too much that puts us out of balance and the more we try to obsess over something we love that takes away from the devince balance (ie family, health, friends, family ) he some how helps us remind ourselves that we need to balance and rest in him tooo not just in our great abilities that he has given us if you know what I mean my brother……

@Erica: Thanks for sharing. I’m glad your husband is better now.

I’m still struggling for the right balance, but hopefully I’ll get it right soon enough. Cool, you like P90x too. I haven’t tried Kenpo X yet but I’m a fan of martial arts so I’ll probably like it too. 

God bless you too and your family… 

As far as P90X I have been doing it now for 40 days and I LOVE IT…from where I started to where I am at now I am so much better off from a health perspective…I absolutely love the Kenpo X program.

God Bless you and your family during these trying times

As far as my goals for CCNP. It is certainly not needed for my current job – I use about 20% of the knowledge towards work. My usage of it increases when I create “controlled” situations at work where I actually have to utilize some of the more interesting skill-sets. If you know what I mean   But I definitely am looking to increase the opportunities that the knowledge and certification will bring.

Regarding your time frame — if you don’t *need* to complete the CCNP in a specified time for work or a job opportunity, don’t rush it…it’ll still be there in 2 months.

Keep up the good work!

@Shivlu: Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I checked out your blog and you have some pretty helpful articles in there. I’ll be sure to add yours to my blogroll.

Inspired by all the CCIE candidates out there, I’ve decided to roll the prep for my final CCNP exam into the beginnings of my own CCIE R&S studies.  Gulp.  It ought to be an interesting ride!  Thanks again for the encouragement and I hope to see you around the boards!

@Jo: LOL. I see you’re a fan as well. I didn’t think anyone would notice or know who he is. I almost used Air Supply as an example… ahahaha… but them being even a less known group, I’m sure the humor would have been lost in their obscurity… Good catch though.

@Rakesh: Hey Buddy! Studies are fine. I’m just making it a point to read at least a page or two a day with all the things going on with me. Are you taking your CCIE lab anytime soon?

I’ve slowed down quite a bit as well. But I definitely haven’t stopped. Be nice to see a little bit of life on your blog, though . I was about to send you a little message last week when I was  reminded of you when I saw your website being referenced by one of the cisco podcasts that I watch. Were you aware of it? It’s a video podcast by Darrell Root on http://www.ciscohandsontraining.com/. I believe it’s the Spanning Tree video.

Anyway, wishing luck on your studies and everything else.

I can’t say that my response time is stellar. I really should consider outsourcing any service level agreements I might consider taking on until I start noticing people are talking about me

I’ve taken on the job that has been keeping me busy. I started in one end of the company and they moved me to another end and I can’t say that I am totally happy with how things have turned out. It’s so far from what I enjoy and so far from what I am comfortable with but I’m not doing too terrible.

I’ve been trying to keep my studies at least “going” but this has been almost impossible with the time schedule I’m working on. It has taken me almost 6 months to work through a couple of pages which is making me very frustrated. I’m going to be changing things up and trying a different approach soon. Hopefully some more movement will be seen over at Network Ninja.

I’m not going to make any promises cause for all I know this attempt may fail miserably.

Deon

best regards

Nice twitt client man

Regards,

Brandon

@Nicolas: The French mercenary, errr… Airman ;) Should we save the champagne bottle? Well you should, at least until I’m done with CCNP. Looks like you’re gonna beat me to it.

@Erica: Thank you. Prayers mean a lot - specially with our own limitations.

@Ed: Yes you sure have been. But it’s good to know that even though you have accomplished big things ( your 1st CCIE) and working on the next, that pursuit doesn’t consume you. That’s important. I’m gonna have to check out that book now.

@Daddy: As always you’re nothing but class.. and a crackup

@Mike: Thanks. STP helps me cope.

@Suffah: Where’ve you been my friend? Hope you’re not slacking like me.

@Mike: Thanks man.. Glad it’s helpful for you.

Thanks for your write-up, very helpful!

Best,
Aleksey

My prayers are with your family, hope everything is going ok for your mom, we all know how hard it is atm for you.
Get some rest from studies if you don’t have the motivation, you come back with “full-mojo” and will kick ass that CCNP ! and we will celebrate together

Bye Bye !

I hope things with your mom get better. Best of luck.

1. IOS Software Configuration Guide 12.0(5)XU
2. 3560 Configuration Guide 12.2(20)SE (3rd paragraph)

Thanks for the heads up

I did lol @
Congrats buddy !
for his first year birthday, give him a router

What would you give him for his 5th bday? a CRS-1!?

You stated the following:

Querier election mechanism

The router with the highest IP address on the same segment becones the designated querier.

Isn’t the designated querier the router with the lowest IP address and the DR is the router with the highest IP address?

Many thanks

I should’ve put a blurb that the exception on the reserved vlans (1006 – 1024) apply to Catalyst 4500 and 6500 family of switches. Unfortunately, I can’t lab this out since I don’t own these higher-end switches. I should practice on our production switch… Nah!

Switch(config)#vlan 1006,1007-1024
Switch(config-vlan)#exi
Switch(config)#^Z
Switch#sh vla br | in 10
1002 fddi-default                     act/unsup

1003 token-ring-default               act/unsup
1004 fddinet-default                  act/unsup
1005 trnet-default                    act/unsup
1006 VLAN1006                         active
<skipped>
1024 VLAN1024                         active

so i don’t think these vlans are some special.

And yes, I did use this promotion, and it worked!  I was so happy!

Yesterday, I did my BSCI exam, and i got 788, the pass grade is 790, so Imagine how i felt.

Thanks very very very very much.

I was about to spend again the 150$, when a friend of my told me about the possibility of retake the exam, you saved me money and gave me a big smile bro!! thanks!!!

You can do it G right to the top for you man!

-itdaddy

Yeah I recall seeing your handle on networking-forum. I go there as well but not as often as techexams. See you around the forums.

Stumbled across you site very nice i keep meaning to do the same but i find time the issue

I am at the same point as yourself i have read the book to or three times watched the trainsignal videos  (very good)
and labbing around 4 hours a day atm with 3 to hours reading a day, hope to site the exam in a month or so.

I hang around on Networking forum

this is a link to my blog not been updated for a while

http://sirsamons.blogspot.com/

How do you find STP topic in BCMSN Books ( Authorized Self-Study ) ?
I found some complex one for Specially STP. but still i’m getting to try all of stuffs.

BSCI was one of my favorite exams across all the vendors and all the tests I have taken.  I absolutely love BGP, it is so fun working with a protocol so important that the Internet could not exist without it.

Thanks again for popping by my blog a few days ago, I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment until just now, but I just responded with how I use index cards to help with my studying.

Congrats again, and please keep updating your blog, I am definitely going to add it to my RSS reader, and will love to come and congradulate your on your CCIE soon enough!

-Eric M Phillips
http://blog.phillips.tc

@RouteLeaker: Thanks Roy! See you in the twit world

i will do a detailed plan for my BGP studies going from ur method till i learn to plan my studies. i have just two 3550 switches, you can dynamips for ur stp studies in bcmsn

Also, the end of chapter lab exercises are definitely tamer than the ones I got used to with BSCI.

@Andy: Hey thanks man! That is good to know. Hopefully after I read the study guide,  the exam guide will put things in a more orderly way that is geared toward helping me pass the test.

Already I’m liking this one more than ISCW or ONT, though…there is more material involved that I use every day, so it is a little less tedious doing all the reading.     How are you liking it?

I am impressed with your discipline and planning. Keep it going.

@Seraphus: Hey you need to update more often. You’ve got a killer lab setup. Now you don’t have any excuse for not getting through all your lab exercises.

@ITDaddy: You’re still cool!

@Redwarrior: Looking forward to following your progress on BCMSN. I kinda found the design part of the BCMSN boring. I pretty much sped through it. Like you I’m anxious to get to the CLI.

@Andy: Thanks man! And thanks for the tips on BCMSN.

@Jeff: Yeah, the idea was to get the hard part out of the way. Hopefully within a few months I can hammer out BCMSN

@Joey: Thanks bro! How’s the sonicwall gig going? And what happened to your blog?

@David: Thanks David! I’ll be doing BCMSN next. Are you still on ISCW?

@Suffah: Thanks for the shout out on your blog. Also, I did enjoy the dinner with my family. I even had left over for lunch at work.

@Nwachonky: Hey bro! Have you finally found a job in the tech field? I’m hoping so. If not, just keep working at acquiring knowledge as much as you can. You probably finished the QoS exam by now, right?

@Newton: A congratulations is in order for you as well for passing the BSCI yesterday. Let’s go know out BCMSN next!

@Kpjungle: I’m glad you took my advice and consider going for the CCIE.

@ITdaddy: Dude! What can I say, you always crack me up! You’re a good man. Always pumping everyone up. Like I’ve said before, I got your back!

@Eric: Thanks Eric. One thing I wish I’ve done though is to have taken the exam last October when I originally set out to do. So that set me off four months. But who knows, maybe I might’ve failed it twice if I’d taken it back then.

@Shadowman: Thanks Wassim! Time for me to catch to you on BCMSN…

Good luck with your BCMSN studies.  I’ve just started to read the Study Guide and I’m slogging through all the SONA model and such.  I’m looking forward to some of the “meatier” chapters coming up and I have the CBT Nuggets and Trainsignal videos waiting as well as some lab equipment at work.  

Thanks,

Robert;)

I hope you enjoyed dinner with the family!

When I am on the court, my dribble is the rhythm of my heart. If you are going to do anything, you might s well do it passionately. And so my playing days in highschool and college became a logical outgrowth of this philosophy.

When I am playing, I feel invincible. The opposing team is nothing more than an obstacle. If I get into a pushing match with another player, I am not attacking the individual, but the obstacle. Sometimes I lose my head, an argument breaks out, someone throws an elbow, its all part of the game. Passion brings out our best and worst emotions. In a good game, our warrior selves come out. There is nothing the other team can do to provoke you. But when you are losing, or playing poorly, frustration becomes a factor. And if you are not the type of person who punishes yourself, you’ll resort to retaliation.

As the years accrue over my once youthful life, I’m realizing more and more everyday that game persona is an outward manifestation of my passionate self. When I really want to win, I’ll do anything, even if that involves trash talk. In life, when I really want a job, a certain girl, or respect at the office, I make it my mission to get it. Anyone who gets in my way is just an obstacle.

So at the end of the day, each game is its own battle. The wounds make me stronger warrior. And if I don’t win that particular game, the memory becomes a part of my repertoire and I’ll use it as a weapon to ensure that I never lose the same way again.

Nevertheless, as for real battles, I’ve always subscribed to the philosophy of: ‘whatever happens on the court, stays on the court.’ I play with my friends all the time. I know their weaknesses and I attack them.  At the end of the game, they respect me for my warrior spirit.

It is this philosophy that has made me a strong, successful individual. I suspect you are the same kind.

-Jordan

I thought it was brilliantly composed that made it look real – mispellings and grammatical errors notwithstanding. And if it’s actually real, I’d laugh even harder.

@Brandon: I’m sorry, too, to hear you failed the exam. Thanks for sharing your experience and confirmation. I left you an email with some questions about it.

@Fu: Absolutely! Your story is alwasy a good motivation. And I can always use a good motivation.

CCIE Trivia.

I can confirm that it works.  I failed an exam for a cert I did not already have on Wednesday.  Today I used the promo code and I now have a free retake scheduled.

But I agree with you on what you said.  We all are the same. We all take a dump from time to time no matter who we are CCIE to CCENT.

You remind me of the time I worked for the U-2 Spy plane squadron in the USAF at Beale AFB, CA. I was stationed there and we had huge big 5 star generals arrive and party there and secretary of defense showed up there. I worked with generals and colonels and man these guys and gals were tight! But  they laughed had family issues and well, were human just like me. They just worked very hard to get where they wanted  to go. And I evelated them, they deserved their position of greatness. I talked with them and learned that they played the life game. They finished their college, finished their credentials, and worked hard to succeed.

In addition to what you said, I believe if you work at getting your credentials and love what you do, you willl find what you are looking for.

-Robert (itdaddy)

ps. keep you Aerogon name for your columns that you write some day. It is cool!

@Jan:Thanks Jan! I’ll keep that in mind. Unfortunately, I probably won’t have a lot of time to do this kind of writeups in the following weeks because of test preparation. This article was already pre-written from a while back. I just had to “re-lab” it so I can give examples for the theory.

However, I plan to do more of this type of write-ups after I take the exam – so stay tuned for that.   And if you look through some of my archives, you’ll find other posts similar to this one.

Anyway, I corrected the error and also bookmarked your blog.

I debated whether to buy the quick reference or not, and decided against it eventually. I bought the one for CCNA and I hardly used it – although I’m sure it would’ve been helpful had I used it. There is a lot of reference material out there. The problem is being smart about picking just the right amount for the length of time I have to study. 

Ill check out the link on the Cisco Learning Net.

Nice blog title, by the way

For my CCNA I did, however, use quite a lot of Boson tests which did help me calibrate my readiness and speed. For the BSCI I didn’t buy it basically because it came out not too long a ago for the actual version of the BSCI blueprint and i’m not too happy with being a guinea-pig…
On the Cisco Learning network, https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/index.jspa?ciscoHome=true there is a small test engine designed for speed which I quite liked. Check it out.

What also I found that helped me for the last minute revision is the CCNP BSCI Quick Reference Sheets, the BSCI condensed to 70 pages, at $9.99 its really good for its money.
http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587053128

Good luck!

Now if you’re someone like Roy, you like to override that MAC and administer it locally, giving it a 1 value on the 7th bit.

And for good measure, I tried out your example, and sure enough, the results are just as you described:

R1(config)#int f0/1
R1(config-if)#mac-address 1234.1111.1111
R1(config-if)#no shut
*Feb  7 09:04:15.055: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface FastEthernet0/1, changed state to up
*Feb  7 09:04:16.055: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface FastEthernet0/1,changed state to up


R1#sh int fa0/1
FastEthernet0/1 is up, line protocol is up
Hardware is i82543 (Livengood), address is 1234.1111.1111 (bia ca00.0614.0006)


R1#sh ipv int fa0/1
FastEthernet0/1 is up, line protocol is up
IPv6 is enabled, link-local address is FE80::1034:11FF:FE11:1111

Thanks again for sharing!

Just a quick note about the modified EUI-64 process.
In a lot of places it mentions setting the 7th most sig bit from 0 to 1 but what if the 7th bit is already a 1?

As you can see below, if the 7th bit is 1, this gets inverted to 0 during the process:

R1(config-if)#mac-address 1234.1111.1111
R1(config-if)#
*Mar  1 00:09:15.207: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface FastEthernet0/0, changed state to up
R1(config-if)#do sh ipv6 int f0/0      
FastEthernet0/0 is up, line protocol is up
IPv6 is enabled, link-local address is FE80::1034:11FF:FE11:1111

Natually if the 7th bit was indeed a 0, that bit would be inverted to a 1:

R1(config-if)#mac-address 1034.1111.1112
R1(config-if)#do sh ipv6 int f0/0      
FastEthernet0/0 is up, line protocol is up
IPv6 is enabled, link-local address is FE80::1234:11FF:FE11:1112

So whatever the 7th bit is, it gets inverted.

HTH.

Make sure to use the references in the “Resource” section of each writeup I make. Most of the information are gathered from there and I simply put them in nice bulleted format for ease of review – and a few personla commentaries here and there   Hopefully more people can benefit from it as much as I do. 

the funnies part is that my current dept has nothing to do with I.T but i still believe that one day(soon) i will get a place that will enable me fullfil my dream.

i am currently on my CCIP now, Qos to be precise, i will be writing the exam in 2weeks time and move on to BGP.

dont give up  man…. keep the spirit hot

The main book I use is Building Scalable Cisco Internetworks (BSCI) (Authorized Self-Study Guide) (3rd Edition) by Diane Teare and Catherine Paquet.

I also used part of Routing TCP/IP, Volume I (2nd Edition) and Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) series sparingly for a deeper perspective of the theories.

Apologies for those trying to follow my schedule. Somewhere along the way my schedule went haywire and it became harder and harder to maintain a definite agenda. Nowadays I focus on certain technologies and spend as much time as I need depending on how I feel about the subject. You can probably benefit more by following my technology related posts to follow where I’m at at certain points in my studies.

Finally, a contrarian point of view from the rest. Like I said, I still believe that going through the rest of the tracks in NP is the right course for me. From time to time, I do get the nudging feeling that I should skip the exams but carry forward with the knowledge gained from the NP preparation onto the IE. Ironic as it seems, sometimes I feel that exam preparation kinda gets in the way of thorough learning.

But my gut tells me, however, that I should take the exams for my own sanity – as was said again and again, as a checkpoint. After all is said and done, the traditional route of taking the NP exams will most likely win out for me… But you do present a strong empirical argument for the alternative.

I don’t think I need to wish you luck on CCDP. And yes, it would be weird to have to pass the composite in order to gain the DP.  But I’m sure you’ll only need a week (2 at the most) to brush up.

@JasonS: I actually asked the rep how Pearson/Vue would know about the certs and she spoke with her supervisor (supposedly) and came back to say that they know it through Cisco. I didn’t dig much further and took her word for it.

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le37/le10/learning_certification_type_home.html

it would be nice to find a great course on  IPv6.. I just cannot find a good course on it anywhere? I am a math dude but would be nice to really know it. And subnetting
holy god is that going to be nutz. cant we just use calculators. it is not often we derive equations or formulas before we use them like  KE=1/2mv^2. how often do we derive it anymore.This is a kinemtatic equation for calculating Kinematic energy. But if we use calculus to derive it, it would be too much. I just want to use it. so be nice if they could just give a software calculator and then just understand the segments and what they are used for. just seems so combersome but sure they will use it as a weeding outer! I am all for cool math stuff. but talk with any physics major. they say who cares how the go to it unless you are a scientist creating new systems. just use it and focus on more important concepts! :0
my 3.2 cents

PS its gone now so dont go lookin  

Anyway I am and have been in a very similar situation to you. I concider myself a cisco newbie as I just passed my CCNA 18 months ago. I am also CCIE R&S bound. I now have some decent real world experience and have passed BSCI and BCMSN.

In response to your questions on if you should do your CCNP or not, I say do it. In fact I will be and you should concider, completing all professional level certs before tacklink the CCIE. Thats CCNP, CCDP and CCIP. And here is why.

Firstly, your going to need to know this stuff anyway. If you look at the CCIE blueprint its all of these topics and more. More importantly, all of these exams will crosstalk on some topics. For examble, BGP is in the CCNA, BSCI and BGP exams. And repetition is the best way to remember this junk.

Also, you can get the recognition for your hard work now. If you obtain your CCNP, you can get a better job, more money and more opportunity to mess with higher level cisco crap which will give you a better chance at passing R&S. 

Lastly and most importantly, you can plot out a path to the CCIE. The CCIE is great because it means you know a lot of technical horseshit but I believe it stands for a lot more than that. I believe it stands for being able to prove (to employers and to yourself) that you can set a long term goal and take steps towards achieving that goal… and then achieve it! 

If you try to tackle the CCIE head on, you will most likely get blitzed and be out for the season. Take it one play at a time. Build your knowledge and work the plan. Don’t get down about failure, just make the next move. One game at a time.

Seriously dude just keep doing what you are doing. I failed BSCI once before passing and I can tell you that its all down hill from there. If you just keep giving yourself time to study the exams will become less threatening, material will absorb quicker and stuff actually starts to make sense. Its all good!

PS, your post about BSCI being removed from the CCNP made me backflip! For a minute there I thought I went through all that torture for nothing! Now I have to get back to studying ISCW and stop reading CCIE blogs. Hehe.

Peace.

G take the composite exam. dude as smart as you are you can do it.
study both and then hammer the composite exam out. I might do this route.
I did the 640-802 composite exam I think I can do the composite exam for ccnp as well. it will be hard but maybe after  1 year and 1.5 years I can do it tak ethe composite. i am going to go this route maybe. i hate exams and want to get  them over with. maybe like you said really study like a CCIE but then take the ccnp composite you know what I mean….push for ccie and take the composite exam.
i think i might go this route.

so there is a composite exam for routing and swithinG????? is this true
robert

i passed my ccna Jan 2007  and completed my ccnp dec 2008 that , that by my calculation is 2years, so u dont have to worry, just stay focused.it was not easy for me, i passed my composite around june 2007 and ONT exam around april 2008 and ISCW dec 2008,

some times i did not study for months because i was very busy, but at the back of my mind i believed that i will achieve what i set off to achieve.

right now i am heading for my ccip and i intend to complete by the middle of 2009
 
happy studies

Haven’t checked in on ya in a while. I wish I was working on my CCNP, but I gotta knock out my degree first.

Hang in there man, you have the ability. Don’t get to caught up in deadlines, if it takes you 2 years to get your CCNP, great, if it takes you 3, its still great. Don’t skip the CCNP phase and go straight for the prize. Its an important milestone you need en-route to the CCIE.

Everyone learns at a different speed, if you truly feel its taking you longer than it should, evaluate your study methods, maybe try something new.

Good luck bro!

The reason I say this, is becuase it’s such a monumental effort to get the CCIE.  It’s not unrealistic at all to pass a CCXP exam every month.  To me, this serves as a nice checkpoint, and a little pat on my back that I actually accomplished something.

But there are no such rewards when studying for the CCIE.  You will most likely spend a year, maybe 3 or 4 like I did, bridging the gap from CCNP to CCIE.  And you will doubt yourself–I did many times.

All of that being said, you have been very dedicated toward your CCNP studies.  You are literally studying the material at a CCIE level.  If you keep going at the pace you’re on, by time you get your CCNP you’ll probably be set with the majority of topics and just have to put some time in studying Frame Relay, IPv6, and QoS, as far as the theory is concerned. 

So I’d suggest #2 and that you stay the course, with CCNP making a nice checkpoint/reward to pick up along the way. 

@Newton: I was in the same predicament when I was just starting my studies. I probably wasted a lot of time just trying to figure out where to go next before I can get anything started. But once I’ve identified my goals and written them down, it was easier to formulate how I was going to get there. Once I had a workable formula (far from perfect, of course) it was just a matter of following that. And remember, “don’t break the chain” -  an offense I was guilty of more often than not.

@Nwachonky: First off, congrats! I’m still far from getting my CCNP. Right now I’m sort of in a quandary. For one, I want to just get through the CCNP so  I can move one to the CCIE. But another says that I should take my time and master the materials in the NP level so that when I get to IE, I’m that much better prepared. I feel that there is pros/cons for both. I need to go back and re-asses my plans 6 months ago and see where it still aplies and where I need to make adjustments.

Thanks for the advice as wel.

i just completed my CCNP Dec 2008 and i am currently studying for Qos. during my ccnp days i did not have access to any switch , so i used only dynamips.

i just bought two 3550 switches , which will soon enable  me brush up my switching studies again.

As for the Qos , dynamips has really helped me alot because i was able to practise wel while studying for it, i am currently in vol II of the student guide.

The big surprise is that i am not in an I.T dept but in operation in my current place of work and what i do has no relation to cisco at all.

but i did not allow that to weigh me down because i believe that one day i will beable to achieve my goal in the I.T world.

So my advice is that always fnd time to cover your studies because you are lucky to work and your work thus relate to your studies.

happy studies

Thanks for this outstanding blog . I’ve just started to write a blog about my cisco learning path .
It’s written in english but it’s not my mother tongue so there will be a lot of grammar mistakes , but please forgive me about that !
I passed the ICND1 exam and now going to take (read try to pass ) the ICND2 exam

I’m summarizing all the Cisco Chapter i’m reading
If you have any advice that can improve my blog and my knowledge , please i beg you for telling me

Regards Nicolas

@Manuel: Thanks for the comments and for stopping by. Unfortunately for the ICND1, I did not have my template thought out completely so I don’t have a copy of that schedule. However, it wasn’t that much different from the ICND2 schedule. The thing about these lower level study guides (or maybe it’s Odom’s style of writing) is that the chapters were pretty predictable as they contain an equal amount each chapter. Dividing them into manageable “modules” was pretty easy if you want to create an “even” schedule on a weekly basis. For the CCNP tracks, I’m finding it a little bit more challenging

@Aaron: Thanks for commenting. I’ve been following your blog for a while now as well.

You’re not alone as far as updating. I look at the frequency of my posts and it’s not as good as it used to. I guess that’s why I put out that call. Just like you, I use this blog to keep me moving and  to track my progress. When I’m not writing, that usually means I’m not studying or studying is not consistent enough.

Thanks for putting the call out there, and for keeping me accountable.  I’ll start posting more! 

Great Blog!

Thanks

oopsy!

Seraphus: Thanks! Hey let us know how you’re doing with your job search.

Nickelby: Thanks Nick! As I recall you’re a newly-wed yourself. Any chance your first will be on the way soon.

Want/*need* to study, but I’m definitely still learning quite a bit working for SonicWALL, so at least I’ve got that going for me….

Yeah, Google does some pretty great stuff.  I wish they’d update the maps a little quicker, but it’s still the map app I use.

Btw, good work on your studying & stuff, keep it up!  Additionally, you may appreciate this link: https://www.j-central.net/  They’ll send you a copy of “JunOS Enterprise Routing” completely free, no shipping charge even.  Mine finally came in the mail yesterday, it’s great!

hey you have to tell me what you used foryou posts? I mean what do yu use to make them up? what program you dont just use the one given wordpress do you??? and what do you use to make your topologies and your command line code snippets???? and you use Arial font like size 12 or 14? thanks
let me know dude please this is the 3rd time I have asked you turkey please let me know i want to make my posts as nice as yours thanks l;)
itdaddy

In a way the feeling of guilt is a motivation in itself, and Im sure u will use the guilt to do whatever you can to progress your studies.

You can do this!

Keep pressing on.  It’s all downhill after the BSCI.

Robert (itdaddy)

If you like MRTG, be sure and check out cacti (http://www.cacti.net/).  It does pretty much the same things as MRTG, but it’s much easier to set up and configure (completely web-based).

Good luck on your continued studies,
Jeremy

Bruce: I appreciate the link. I’ve actually been visiting that site for quite a while now. I assume you’re into Cisco, or at least networking. Keep checking back every now and then. I should have more updates later on what I think about dynataz/slitaz.

Justin: Thanks bro!
About the GNS3, I’ll check it out. I’ve been meaning to for a while but right now I’m so entrenched on using Dynagen that I’m a bit reluctant to switch. Although everything I’ve read about it so far has been better that what Dynagen seem to be able to do. I’ll find out this week because I’m planning on attending a local Cisco Users group on Thur night and someone is supposed to be presenting on GNS3.

If you haven’t already, check out GNS3. (http://www.gns3.net/)  It’s a graphical front-end for Dynampis. =)

Thanks for stopping and good luck with the CCIE. I”ve added you to my RSS reader so I’ll be following your journey.

PS Too bad you won’t be at the USC game. I hope it’s not a scorcher, it’s been hot lately.

I can understand the frustration with Nagios, I tried a home install a ways back (read before I knew what I was doing) that didn’t go so well; however, we’re successfully using it (across multiple servers) to monitor something like 15,000 nodes (no one ever gives me an accurate count).  We don’t get too tricky with it, just ping and SNMP; however, if all you’re looking for is up down, including interface status, with notifications it’ll definitely get you squared away.  There’s even a quick install guide, or something along those lines, on their site.

Oh, and congrats on the 100th post!

My boss tried installing nagios two years ago but it didn’t work. I think he was trying to get too complicated before even getting to the basic installation first. So in turn, that kinda scared me off of nagios. Plus, my understanding was nagios was really designed better for monitoring services on host computers and servers (I don’t know). But it’s certainly worth a try.

http://www.cacti.net/

For your bandwidth / traffic monitoring.  We use it, and it’s pretty slick.  If you’re thinking about getting some network monitoring setup, and wanting to go the FOSS route, I’d look into Nagios.

http://www.nagios.org/

Great work on everything else, keep it up!

Otherwise, what do the EdgeMarc Advanced->IKE-Proposal settings look like (i.e. 3DES-SHA1-MODP1024)?  Not sure how late/long you were working on this, but are you certain both sides match?

HTH,
B-

ne ways good luck …

regards
rakesh

G/l figuring it out!

Suffah: Hehe.. It wasn’t that bad really. At that moment I really wanted to jump at the opportunity and I was so focused that the whole day all I did was troubleshoot and configure. And each time I got closer I felt more and more motivated.
As far as how I stand, he hasn’t really said anything to me. Yesterday he was acting like nothing ever transpired. But then again he was also extremely busy because our CEO was in town. I’m sure he’s cool about everything and he’ll surely give me some props later. Maybe

It always amazes me when I sneak in a “oh, well you missed that” on our engineers, it’s amazing what extra eyes can do.

Good work, keep it up!

Maybe one day we can play ball somewhere. Recently I’ve been playing in the Diamond Bar City league with some long time church friends. We’ve played in Ontario city leagues as well , and other bball leagues around north Orange County (e.g. Anaheim, Yorba Linda, etc.)

Carl: I appreciate the link. I did find that article a while back (in fact I wrote about it on another post ) But I appreciate you lookin’ out.

It’s kind of a bummer though that I might not get to implement it after all. My boss keeps changing his mind. We used to have it configured for our routers and I was fortunate enough to see the configuration and analyzed it. I did learn a pretty good amount – although it’s nothing close to mastery or even familiarity. I think I can recognize the configuration though if I see it again.  When time permits, I definitely want to lab it up especially that it has piqued my interest ten fold when I first thought that I would get to help implement it.

http://blog.internetworkexpert.com/2008/08/02/dmvpn-explained/

Wow, when you said you were in SoCal I didn’t realize you were out in the Inland Empire area.  I was actually going to ask where do you play b-ball.  As for me, I live up in the Stevenson Ranch area, work in Burbank, and play ball everywhere (i.e. Santa Monica, West Covina, Calabasas, etc.).  I have a client out your way though so if and when they require my physical presence, I’ll be sure to hit you up when I’m in your neck of the woods.

Suffah: Yeah, I’m really glad that this opportunity landed on my lap. You’re right, it is an extra motivation to keep studying. And the great thing is that the studying is very interactive in that what I’m actually studying is something I’m able to apply in the real world right away. Sure, I’ve put some of my BSCI studies on the side in favor of learning about VPNs. But I still am using a lot of what I’ve been learning about routing and general IOS concepts.

Funny thing is, for the past 6 months I’ve been trying to find a way to “get things moving in the right direction” as you put it. I’ve been at my present company for 2 years and the most challenging thing I’ve done so far is change the toner on our laser printers – a little bit of a hyperbole but you get the point. I’ve seriously considered finding a job that pays much less if it meant I would get the opportunity to work on any part of a network. This opportunity couldn’t have come in a better time.

And yeah, you need to update!

Does your internal ‘routing device’ behind the firewall know how to get back to your client vpn pool?

I’m actually in the exact opposite situation at work now and I have taken some drastic actions to get things moving in the right direction.  I really need to update the blog!

However, the way ours is setup is that the router is connected to the outside world and traffic is passed to the Pix and the pix is connected to a Catalyst 4500 where the rest of the local network reside.

I’ll try to get a diagram so you get a better picture of the scenario

w/b

@CCIE Journey: I can’t believe you got a free XBox 360 from IE. I hear ya about getting rid of that thing. It sure is a good way to derail you from your studying. As we speak I have completed the CoD4 and working my way through Battlefield. Geez! I would’ve done me good if I’ve actually gone through InternetworkExpert’s COD rather than the other CoD (Call of Duty)

@Steve: Hey Steve! We actually planned on spending some time in the Gas Lamp district but since this vacation was a time to just relax and be lazy, we were too lazy to go. So we ended up lounging around the hotel and eating a lot. It was a more preferable alternative than fighting through traffic and worrying about parking and walking around. We have a year pass to Sea World and we’ve been there twice in the last six months so we decided to forgo that trip and go to legoland instead.

my 2.3 cents worth

see you at the top G!
Robert;)

I don’t handwrite my notes. First I read a section of the book. Then I go back again and start taking notes on what I just read. Usually I let a day or two go by after the first pass before going back and re-read and take notes. My notes pretty much rehashes the materials I just read. Sometimes I reword everything and sometimes I just copy exactly what’s written on the pages. But I write them in a layout different from how the book has it. You will notice most of notes are in outline formats. I’ve found it useful before when studying for CCNA. I printed out all my write-ups and was very useful for review.

The goal really is to go through the book slow enough to get a better understanding. Writing it down forces me to slow down the learning process. Oftentimes I find myself having read an entire chapter without remembering what I just read.

So does it take a lot of time? You betcha! It’s a very slow process. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re under a deadline. This post alone took a good days work. The screenshots you see above are from my own lab set up I created. So part of my reading/note-taking process is to lab-up some scenarios and take some screenshots of some output. I haven’t mastered image manipulation so that alone takes time.

But if you and others find it “highly valuable”, its worth all the effort. Not to mention some knowledge I gain here and there

I’m trying to get a feel on the best way to go about note taking.

-True

I haven’t decided if I will post the whole schedule all at once or post up week by week schedule. So far I have a set schedule until the end of this week. I’m going to have to re-do the rest after I’m done with this weeks material.

I’ll try to post up this weeks’ schedule between today and tomorrow. Please come by often and let me know how you’re doing in your studies.

Isn’t it funny? I kinda get the same effect. Even though I read the stuff and write notes on them myself, reading other people talk/write about the same concept somehow help hammer in the information. It doesn’t matter if what other people wrote is exactly the same concept I just wrote/read about. It’s strange that way I guess.

@suffah: You’re somewhat right in that I’m very pre-occupied with work. Actually I’m learning all about IPsec/GRE VPNs at the moment, while still trying to keep up with my BSCI studies. The cool things is that learning about the VPN stuff is easier because I actually have a real world scenario against which I can compare and test what I’m learning. I also get to apply what I’m learning about routing, specifically OSPF – that’s what we use at work.

As with your promotion, that would be wicked cool handling WAN and VPN for multiple sites. Throw in VOIP too. Two or three years doing that and you’ll look back and laugh at how easy things seem from when you were just starting – at least I think so. You must be excited. I would be. Crossing my fingers that you get your promotion sooner than later

@Michael: I hope you didn’t misunderstand. I don’t mean to imply that I am losing steam towards my goals. I’m still very motivated. In fact too motivated to press on that, like you, I tend to jump to other subjects because I’m just too excited to learn everything at once.

You’re right about the unreasonable expectation of mastering something within a limited amount of time. With the time frame I’ve given myself, there’s no way I can really master the subject. But I believe that there’s a point where you can get yourself just familiar enough with the subject that you can pass a test as well as perform a job competently, without actually being a master of it, and still feel good about not short-changing myself. So I think I’m starting to feel a resolve that that might be what I have to do. I have plenty of time to master the subject long after I’ve attained a CCNP, or even a CCIE.

@Carl: Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a profound quote. I was thinking about it the other night you left the comment while I was up at 1:30am still pluggin away on a simple EIGRP lab I think it’s very telling of how we, as professional, toil all day at work, take care of our families, and yet still plow through mountains of learning materials just to set ourselves apart from the average and mediocre. Yeah, someday I’d like to reach that height that Henry Wadsworth is speaking of.

@Deon: Hey Deon Botha, my brotha from another motha and fatha. Haha! Sorry couldn’t resist.

I have to be honest with you, sometimes I do feel that I’m trying to compete with others when trying to complete my cert. It’s one of those things that come and go. And you try to tell yourself that you shouldn’t think about how fast others are attaining their certs. But sometimes you question yourself how in the world these guys are able to finish their certs in such a quick manner. You get curious and want to know how they did it, what books they read, how many hours a day they studied. I guess it’s just human nature. But for the most part I’ve done pretty well managing those doubts and questions and not to let them get to me.

The upside of it is that, a little competition can be healthy in that it forces you to keep up. It’s never good to feel too comfortable with your methods otherwise things become bland. The proverbial carrot on a stick (pun aside!) keeps your feet moving and keeps you motivated.

Something I try and keep in mind, somewhat successfully and unsuccessfully at times is that certifications and me getting certified isn’t a race with anyone.

Sometimes life and work just takes priority for a while and then its back to the grind stone and the books after things are sorted out again.

Best of luck bud and go get em. Last year about this time I had to configure CME from scratch and I had no clue where to start.

Let me share you one of my favorite quote:

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

   I had false expectation thinking I’ll master this in a certain time which only let the air out after I read a few chapters of Cisco Authorized study guide for BSCI. I had to go back to what I’m familiar with, an instructor type teaching along with his reading material. Thats where Chris Bryant and his line of CCNP level training came in. I bought his ultimate study guide which takes you what you need to learn for the exam and for real world practice. Now in no way am I promoting his website or material but I know what works for me and reading chapters and chapters of CISCO material bores me, I need to see it and then read what I need to know to get back in the game. I refuse to read a book that goes so deep into OSPF that after you read it you look up with that deer in the headlight look and you’re back at ground zero all over again. So with that said, you’re a smart guy take your time and dont try to be the master of this, like chris says, take each part and understand it then go on, we dont have a time table to figure this out so with this said I’ll be scheduling my exam when I’m ready…

  take care friend and I’m sure you’ll find the answer to what you’re looking for…

Gonna be taking my S+ sometime in the next little while, so hopefully I can start really plugging away with my CCIP from there.

The CCNA covers a much broader spectrum, and tries to fit in as much as possible in those two (or one ^.^) tests; whereas, the CCNP/IP/whatever flavor you prefer, seems to take the time to be certain to get the point across, and verify that you have a fairly thorough understanding of the topics at hand.  As such, the studying is more intense, the going can be slower, etc.  Just keep hangin in there, you’re definitely on your way!

Regarding #5:  Very cool man, glad to hear that.  I’m actually supposed to be getting a promotion sometime in the near future myself, to Network Engineer…handling the WAN & VPNs for 5-15 companies could be kinda fun.  I’ve been told I’ll be able to get extremely hands on with VoIP as well, which is a big boon.  I’m sure you’ll do very well with your prospect, and will be a tunnel building machine!

As far as setup that I can suggest, I may not be the best person to ask. But I can tell you that with equipment you have you may be able to lab out this practice lab I did with dynamips, but using your own equipment.

With the 4 a/s that you have, and the 4 WICs on the 1700s, I’m assuming you’re referring to a NM-4A/S and WIC-1Ts. If that’s the case, you can definitely create a nice hub-and-spoke topology with that and should be good for frame relay (can anyone reading this confirm that?) Come to think of it, I should drop dynamips for a few nights and implement that with my real lab at home. I bought them, might as well put them to more use

Joey: I feel better now that you mentioned your co-workers. I guess as long as you know what you mean even though you say something else that would be ok… i think :-\

I work with a few guys that are CCIE capable (they hold some odd, bitter grudge against Cisco) and still get the these terms wrong or mixed up.

To be honest, I’ve thought about cutting down on my note taking and focus a little bit more on speeding up my studying (it does drag down the process a bit). But I figured, this is my style and I’ve heard from others that it helped them in terms of being able to have access to a quick review guide.

I guess we can consider that as my little contribution to the Cisco/networking world. “Cause Lord knows other bloggers had the same effect on me in terms of helping motivate me.

Anyway congrats on passing and come by often and let us know your progress.

I’ve been following your blog for the last couple of months and today I finally sat and passed my CCENT exam! huzzah for me!! Got an 844 which im very happy with, anyway I just wanted to say thanks to you for putting your time into the blog and for helping me stay focused enough to begin the CC** exam route, which I’ve been putting off for years now (literally).

Keep up the good work, alot of people are following behind you trying to catch up!

Your work is very much appreciated even if people dont say it often!

By applying variance 2 command on RouterE, the path through router E meets the feasibility conditions.

I think you meant “router B meets the feasibility conditions.”

Thanks,
Hom

Lets not forget Route my world in the list!

Keep well m8

I’m definitely going to be modifying it a lot. I haven’t even done any of the labs because I’m already behind my readings. The only consolation, if you can call it that, is that I know how much I have to catch up on just to stay within my schedule.

However, I’m putting more emphasis on getting a solid understanding of the materials over following my schedule – that’s why I’m behind. I don’t plan to stay strictly on my schedule just for the sake of being on schedule. I use it to give me a clear direction and if I stray a little bit, it’s OK for me. I’m just trying to make sure, though, that I don’t give myself too much excuses and never moving on.

It’s cool that you get to work on them first hand. For our small network, we don’t typically get to play around with it as much. It’s sort of a “set it and forget it” type of deal for our network.

Michael: A schedule is a MUST if you want to stay disciplined in your study (if you aren’t already). If you’re like me, I tend to wander around if I don’t have a specific daily goal to shoot for. In the end I accomplish nothing. And congrats on the blog. Blogging has also proven to be an effective motivator to study ever since I started having regular visitors. So, if I don’t study I don’t have anything to update the blog with.

Suffah: Hey Suffah! I’m glad that I inspired you to start your blog. The truth is, I use everyone else’s experience as inspiration for me as well. That’s why I like reading other people’s blogs to help me moving when I feel like I don’t want to study. When I see people really into their studies, I feel like, “hey, I can do that too.” And also, I feed off other people’s style of studying. I’m always tweaking my study methods to find the most effective ways to learn.

You actually inspired me to start a blog last week.  I need to update my links (gonna have to steal some of yours, haha) but thanks for everything.

http://ciscofun.wordpress.com/

Bless..

http://jsbnb.blogspot.com/
Just trying to wrap up my S+ (easy, I know, but I’ve been slacking) and then I’ll be hitting my CCIP.  Current NA (April 07).

-Joey B

Caue: Hehe.. I doubt it about finishing “very fast” I plan to take about a year and a half for the CCNP. The main reason is I don’t have much experience with Cisco and what little exposure I have at work, they come very few and far in between. So I want to really let the knowledge sink in through prolonged study. 

Jeremy: I’ll be sure to post some of my thoughts about the BSCI lab portfolio. I did however find that there is ample lab scenarios you can find online. I just decided to buy the book because it saves me the time scouring the internet to find the labs (I already am addicted to the Internet as it is ).
Secondly, having the book allows me to follow a more organized format instead of using fragmented labs scattered all over the Internet. I have found many them everywhere.

Also Suffah! I do have all Doyle´s books and they´re amazing! OSPF/ISIS is very good one, you can read it from cover to cover and it´ll don´t disappoint you for sure!

Hope to see you guys soon with your CCNP numbers! You´re doing all right and for sure will finish it very fast!

Cheers!

Yup, it has been a long 6 months for you and I guess the CCNP will be a little more longer but if you’re like me, once you get that certificate under your belt, it will be worth all your sweat and hard work!

Once again, congratulations! And just a little thing to add in … I AM EXCITED WITH YOU !!! WOOOOOOOOO!

If you keep the efforts you put in the CCNA, BSCI will be really easier!

It´s a fantastic work you have so far!

Let me know if I can assist you in anything within your studies, we´re all here to help each other!

Cheers man!

https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/index.jspa?ciscoHome=true?utm_source=blog+commenting&utm_medium=media&utm_content=Google&utm_campaign=Domestic

Justin: Thanks. Nice blog you got. You said in May that you were turning that blog into your “CCNP Journey” blog. All I see is Microsoft stuff now. What happened?

Richard: Thanks bro! Hey for my NP studies, I think I’m gonna incorporate your style of putting a weekly log of what I’ve studied, how much time spent, etc. It’s a nice way to give me a reminder, a bird’s eye view, of what I’ve accomplished so far.

Nullrouter: Thanks for the congrats! I’ve been following your blog for the last couple of weeks. And I see you started posting at Techexams as well. Looking forward to more of your posts.

Caue: Thanks for stopping by. I’ve been to your blog more than once in the past. I haven’t been a regular though. I’ll probably start stopping by more often just to check how you’re doing on your journey. When do you plan to take the lab?

CCIE Pursuit: As one of the more popular CCIE bloggers out there, it’s an honor to have you here. You were one of the first blogs I’ve read prior to starting mine. I appreciate you coming by and congratulating me.

Thanks again everyone for all your well-wishes and congratulations.

So, tell me, how relieved were you when you walked away from the testing center after passing the exam?!

Greets

Ciscogeek

Good luck with the “NP”

Richard

CiscoGeek: Thanks for commenting. I’m glad you like my method. I added you to my blogroll. It’s rare that someone blogs about their CCNA/CCNP experience. There’s a lot of CCIE bloggers but not a lot of the former. I think it’s as important to set a good foundation to build on as you move from CCNA to CCIE. I believe this process of blogging about our journey is a good start to the right direction.
I estimate about a year to – more realistically, a year and half to finish my CCNP.

Dean: I totally forgot about the credit card. Haha. I got one for for CCENT and it’s wedged between two switches in my lab rack (yeah, good use for a nice Cert ) I was kinda looking forward the nice certificate you get in the mail and I forgot about the card. I remember I was pumped and motivated when I received my CCENT kit in the mail, I wanted to work even harder to attain the CCNA. But that only lasted for a day. Haha. At least it was enough to keep the momentum going.

Thanks for stopping by.

Feels great to walk out the testing centre and get the results and it all says pass doesn’t it.

Just wait for the credit card CCNA thing to arrive then you can legitimately say you are a card carrying network geek

Congratulations! I have to quote ya on this:

“Read and Re-read. This is a very important step for me. With all the broad technologies covered in the CCNA, three times is really minimum amount of time to re-read.”

LOL, thats what I did on the ICND1, I’m making my final 3rd read now, thru the ICND2, using the same books. Great minds think alike =)

I’ve been looking at job postings, and reflecting back on what’s covered on the CCNA, and what I’ve learned–Even entry-level jobs, map much closer to the CCNP than the CCNA. The CCNA seems like a teaser, just a preview of all the cool things to learn, my point is, after finding your page and seeing someone at the same level with similar opinions, I’ve made up my mind to jump right into the CCNP next, instead of the new CCNA concentrations. I expect it to take me about 1.5 to 2 years. Have you estimated how long it will take ya?

Greets

(my blog is pretty dry atm, too busy studying =)

Thanks for passing by the site earlier – I’ve added your blog to my list of links.

nullrouter

http://www.nullrouter.com
blog.nullrouter.com

I’ve been looking at your posts and been getting a lot of information. There’s a lot of information there, I hope your not killing yourself. At the same time, make sure that they are sticking. I spend a lot of time writing my posts. It helps me think about the concepts and fundamentals a little bit more. I’m far from CCIE level but I’m trying to develop the mindset and discipline as if I’m going to take the CCIE exam. I should be ready by the time June 28 rolls around.

If not, thank God for second chances

this statement of yours kills me! been there doing that! hahhaa
ahahhaha you are such a funny dude!

yeah, I can do everything with my Cisco Netviz 7 except
etherchannels and STP root bride (force election commands)
BOSON cannot do it either. So I am going to use my home lab.
Well I am trying to build Sim templates blank or half way there
so I can hammer out lab after lab without having to reset everything up again. For practiciing my routing I am making
sim routing labs for my OSPF, EIGRP, and RIPv2. Trying to cut down on rebuilding and resetting up time to templates already
ready to build. It is easy to tear down just takes time. Ijust want to build build build! my CCNA SIM cities!!!!! over and over again. getting nervous…man I had better pass damn it! 7 Aug 08. I should the skill sets are getting easier and sticking in my memory well. I plan on taking a few days off beofre my exam to do a memory dump.. I have a crap short term so I have to do a 3 day mem dump of of memory skills like VLSM, Subnetting classful and classless..and theory mem stuff like CDP times and the OSI/TCP models and what protocol goes with what.. I know some but want to be in memory fresh when I walk in. I feel good about it and I have like under 60 days to go! good luck to you Aerogan. when do yo take your exam ICDN2?

Anyway, nice to see another on the the same boat as I am. Hopefully some of my write-ups can help you with your studying. If anything maybe you can catch some tidbits that you’ve missed in some of your personal readings. Drop by often and let me know if there’s anything I missed in my own notes. Learning is more fun when there’s interaction.

Later!

You and I are on a extremely similar study path, it’s scary. My ICND2 exam is scheduled a couple of weeks before yours though. Keep blogging!

Good luck with the studies! I added a link to your blog as well.

mrd
CCIE# 20217

mrd
CCIE# 20217

mrd
CCIE# 20217

Next time I’m definitely re-vamping my study methods. I’m still somewhat new at it but it’s quite a learning experience on more ways that one.

It’s all about putting in the hours! I think I’m going to use that as my slogan.

mrd
CCIE# 20217

Thanks. Means a lot to get validation and support from someone who has done it and reached the level that most of us can only dream of.

GOOD LUCK!!!

mrd
CCIE# 20217