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Does the Reputation of CCIE Drive the Popularity of All Cisco Certs

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Does the Reputation of CCIE Drive the Popularity of All Cisco Certs
Does the good reputation of CCIE have an impact on people’s choice to pursue their first Cisco cert? And if so, did the published CCIE stats have any impact on your perception of CCIE? Today I’ll explore this one topic, and also wrap up the answers I gathered at Networkers this year to a variety of Cisco certification questions.

First, let me tackle the list of questions. This post is essentially part 3 of 3 discussing the questions we gathered back in this blog post in early June. A final thanks to Fred Weiller, Director of Marketing at Learning@Cisco, who graciously answered all the questions I asked of him. This post also includes answers I gathered informally by those in the know at the show.
CCIE Stats:

I asked Fred why Cisco stopped posting CCIE stats. For those who didn’t realize, Cisco has posted stats about worldwide CCIEs, by type, by geography, and listed stats about multiple CCIEs as well. (Brad Reese, former Cisco Subnet blogger, used to blog about this topic with some regularity.) Fred’s answer was that they simply analyzed pros vs. cons, and decided to stop listing the stats. The two specific cons:

1. Posting the stats was a manual process that required more than a trivial amount of time.
2. Making the info available to competitors was worse than the benefit of making it available to those in the family, so to speak.

Additionally, I asked him if it had anything to do with the fact that Cisco CCNA Training didn’t post stats for non-CCIE certs. While this wasn’t necessarily a motivating factor, he did say that the decision to post CCIE stats pre-dated the existence of the Cisco Career Certs (CCNA, CCNP, etc), and changing so that the policy to not post cert counts across the board made some sense as well.
CCIE Open Ended Questions:

This one’s a bit like beating a dead horse, but I wanted to mention it to be complete. The CCIE R/S lab exam formerly had Open Ended Questions (OEQs) as part of the lab. I had heard that Cisco might send a lab candidate home before finishing the day if they failed the OEQs. That was not true. Cisco clarified with me that while failing the OEQs meant you failed the lab exam, Cisco never sent anyone home early in the lab day because of the OEQs. OEQs are now dead, hoorah, so it may not matter much any more.
CCIE SP Ops Lab Performance:

Someone had asked me to ask about how the CCIE SP Ops lab exam was going – probably to find out if there a big failure rate like some of the other early times for new CCIE labs, that kind of thing. Short answer – they hadn’t held any CCIE SP Ops lab exams as of Networkers. I’ve re-queued it for next time I ask around formally with Learning@Cisco.
IOS XR on CCIE SP

I asked the CCIE program folks, and heard a lot, but only a little info is publishable yet.  What’s publishable? There is a 100% chance of IOS XR being on the CCIE SP lab. No other details yet, including timeline.
CCNP Shrinkage – a Trend?

I asked Fred a question with the premise that CCNP shrunk with the changes early this year. Then I asked if that shrinkage was purposeful, or was a design goal, or a coincidence. It was an interesting reaction: CCNP shrunk? Once we talked through it, Fred said that making CCNP skinier/narrrowerlarger/smaller or whatever was not a design goal. Instead, the design goals were:

* Remove redundancy vs. adjacent certs, e.g., all the CCNAs
* Study current job roles, and change the cert to match

IOS 15.0

I asked about when we’d see IOS version 15.0 or beyond on a cert. Short version, that’s like worrying about the flea on the tail of the dog. IOS version, from his perspective, wasn’t considered when re-designing a cert. I imagine the CCIE team thinks about it more than the rest of the crowd, but for the career cert space, the IOS version appears to be a tactical choice driven by bigger issues, for example, to add feature X to the associated course and cert, you need IOS version 15.0.

Does CCIE Rep Impact Those New to Cisco Certs?

Now let’s back up to the CCIE stats thing, and let me ramble a bit. I focused on Fred’s comments that Cisco looked at the CCIE stats, and thought that there was more harm than good in posting the stats. Companies make choices like this every day, and that’s fine with me.

But I wondered: what pros might we suggest to Cisco that would tip the balance back the other way? Or, would there be reasons – yet to be considered reasons – for Cisco to not just post stats for CCIE, but across the board? Or at least keep posting them for CCIE (and CCDE and Cisco Certified Architect)? (We are now squarely into Wendell’s random thoughts, and not into info learned from Cisco.) Sure, I enjoyed being able to pop in and satisfy my curiosity about CCIE stats, but satisfying our collective curiosity isn’t a very strong argument. So, let me toss it out for discussion: if Cisco asked your opinion about why Cisco should keep listing at least the CCIE stats, what would you tell them?

Again, just thinking out loud, I came up with a theory. It’s admittedly a stretch, but it may spark some interesting discussion.

The theory is that folks considering jumping into their first Cisco cert see a very strong and respected CCIE cert at the end of the rainbow. (I know CCDE and Cisco Certified Architect are there, but I think CCIE is what’s on the newbie radar still.) So… does the rep of CCIE have any impact on people’s choice to pursue CCENT or CCNA? And the follow on: do the CCIE stats have any positive impact on the CCIE rep?

Here’s part of my rationale: most folks who are choosing to start their Cisco cert work are working towards becoming more technical in the networking world. As a techie, they look forward to the options after that first cert, and see the venerable CCIE down the road. At the same time, they might not know many or even any CCIEs personally. So, the stats might have had some positive impact on their perceptions about he CCIE itself. Again, just thinking out loud, and it’s maybe not a big impact, but it’s food for thought.

Some related thoughts that make some loose ties to the idea that CCIEs rep is enhanced by the stats:

1. Most newbies to Cisco certs are in or pursuing technical jobs.
2. CCIE seems like a great goal for a techie.
3. Most newbies don’t personally know any/many CCIEs
4. Most newbies perceive the reputation of CCIE from online sources, directly or indirectly
5. The CCIE stats help that online reputation

So, let me close this longer post, and toss it to you folks. What reasons would you add to the list of pros for listing CCIE stats? Did CCIEs rep make any difference to you when you started CCNA? Did the CCIE stats have anything at all to do with it? If you have any specific recollections related to this from your own Cisco CCNA Certification cert journey, I’d love to hear them.

ICND1 and ICND2 vs CCNA

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ICND1 and ICND2 vs CCNA
Hello again and Welcome Back!!

Well today I would like to talk about a topic that has been mentioned or taught somewhere many times. What is the difference between taking the ICND1 & 2 exams against just taking the one CCNA exam?

Now we have all heard the experts such as Todd Lammle, Wendell Odom and Jeremy Cioara. Now I believe in all their products and as far as I am concerned they are the best in business. They will all tell you should be able to do some things quicker in the Cisco CCNA Certification exam than the ICND exams. They are correct but, which option is better. The answer is… Not Much Really.

They will both set you back 250.00; they both test your knowledge of Cisco networking products. But in the end they get you the same certification, CCNA! Now with the ICND exams you will pick you up the extra certification, CCENT. So if you want to add certifications to you resume then you may want to go this route and if you want the one and done, then go with the CCNA exam.

Now, if you think for one minute that you can just go in and take the ICND exams and just breeze through them, then I am here to tell you, you may get your feelings hurt. For the CCNA full exam you will have to be much faster with you answers but then again you can’t just take your sweet time in the ICND exams either, or you will run out of time with those as well.

So, here take some advice from someone who did take both the ICND1&2 exams. For the ICND1 exam you should be very thorough with subnetting and should be very good with NAT. The ICND2 exam you should be very good with OSPF, and VLSMs.

Here are some more tips. If you have not taken a Cisco CCNA Certification exam before then you should go to their website and check out how their exams are setup. I was in shock at how much different they were than the other certification vendors. But if you want the best you have to adapt and be successful.

So, Good Luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Free Sophos tool blocks Windows shortcut attacks

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Free Sophos tool blocks Windows shortcut attacks
The security firm Sophos released a tool on Monday that it claimed will block any attacks trying to exploit the critical unpatched vulnerability in Windows’ shortcut files.

The tool, dubbed “Sophos Windows Shortcut Exploit Protection Tool,” will protect users until Microsoft releases a permanent patch for the problem, said Chet Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at Sophos.
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“The tool replaces Windows’ icon handler, so that anything that calls the handler, we’re going to intercept,” Wisniewski told Computerworld.

But Microsoft refused to condone the Sophos tool, a position it takes whenever third-party solutions to a Windows bug are introduced.

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“Microsoft does not endorse third-party tools,” said Jerry Bryant, group manager with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). “We recommend that customers apply the workaround in Security Advisory 2286198 , as it helps to protect customers from all known attack vectors Cisco CCNA Training.”

The vulnerability is in how the Windows parses shortcuts, the small files that graphically represent links to programs and documents. Shortcuts are a key component of the Windows desktop, including the Start menu and the taskbar.

The bug was first described more than a month ago by VirusBlokAda, a little-known security firm based in Belarus. It attracted widespread attention only after security blogger Brian Krebs reported on it July 15.

A day later, Microsoft confirmed the bug and admitted that attackers were already exploiting the flaw.

All versions of Windows contain the vulnerability, including the preview of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and the recently retired-from-support Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000.

Exploit code has been widely distributed on the Internet, and Microsoft and others have spotted several attack campaigns based on the bug.

Initial attacks using the shortcut vulnerability were aimed at major manufacturing and utility companies. Two weeks ago, Siemens alerted customers of its Simatic WinCC management software that attacks using the vulnerability were targeting computers used to manage large-scale industrial control systems, often called SCADA, for “supervisory control and data acquisition.”

Hackers gained control of computers at least one German customer of Siemens with the shortcut-exploiting “Stuxnet” worm, the electronics giant has confirmed Cisco CCNA Certification.

Nearly 60% of the PCs identified by security vendor Symantec that have been infected by Stuxnet are located in Iran, a statistic that’s sparked speculation that the country’s infrastructure may have been targeted for attack.

Microsoft’s advice has been to disable the displaying of shortcuts, a move many users may resist since it makes much of Windows almost unusable. The Sophos tool leaves shortcut icons untouched.

Wisniewski defended Sophos’ release of the tool. “This is a reasonably unique situation in that we can put ourselves in the way of attacks,” he said. “We’re not suggesting that users not apply the Microsoft patch when it’s ready. And the tool doesn’t modify Windows or other files, so it’s not really a patch.”

Cisco goes green with Catalyst 3750-X

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Cisco goes green with Catalyst 3750-X

Buy less equipment, use less power: That’s a proposition network managers can get behind, and it’s what Cisco promises with the new power management features in its Catalyst 3750-X stackable access switch.

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As this exclusive Clear Choice test demonstrates, Cisco makes good on that promise with StackPower, a means of pooling power among switches in a stack. Testing validated that StackPower can cut both capital and operational costs.

The switches also support PoE+, a new method of lighting up power-hungry Web cameras, 802.11n Wi-Fi access points, and other devices requiring more juice than the old PoE standard can supply.

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INFOGRAPHIC: StackPower saves on capital, power costs
Click to see: INFOGRAPHIC: StackPower saves on capital, power costs

We verified full PoE+ operation on 48 switch ports concurrently, and ran the switch through a rigorous battery of conformance tests developed by Sifos Technologies. Those tests turned up only minor issues, none of which should affect interoperability Cisco CCNA Training.

The 3750-X offers other new features, such as MACSec encryption and Smart Operations deployment software, on top of what is already a lengthy features list. We focused on the new switch’s power management capabilities.
Power-sharing arrangement

StackPower offers a means of pooling power supplies within a stack and making wattage available to any switch as needed. The advantages include savings on power and power supplies; redundancy with no extra footprint; and a prioritization scheme that first cuts power to lower-priority ports in case a power supply fails.

StackPower connections are conceptually similar to the StackWise Plus links supported in earlier Catalyst 3750 switches, with multiple switches connected in a ring topology. The switches continue to share power if a connection fails, something we verified in testing. (While StackPower works only with the new X series switches, StackWise Plus works between newer and older Catalyst 3750 models.)

Ethernet cheat sheet

Up to four Catalyst 3750-X switches can form a StackPower ring. This is fewer than the nine switches supported in StackWise Plus. However, a nine-switch StackPower unit still can be formed through the use of an XPS-2200, an external redundant power system that connects to the switches using a star topology. We did not test the XPS-2200 Cisco CCNA Certification.

Cost savings is StackPower’s most obvious benefit. Given the importance network managers typically place on high availability, it’s not uncommon to find redundant power supplies in every switch throughout the enterprise. With StackPower, it’s possible to purchase fewer power supplies and still obtain N+1 redundancy for power supplies in a ring (or N:1 redundancy if using the XPS-2000).

For example, if each of three switches in a stack consumes 200 watts, the aggregate power draw is 600 watts. With 715-watt power supplies, full N+1 redundancy would involve six power supplies at $1,000 each, supplying up to 4,290 watts.

In contrast, the StackPower could run the same stack with as few as two 715-watt power supplies. That’s a savings of four power supplies or $4,000, and a rated capacity of only 1,430 watts, with the same level of redundancy.

Making Technology Really Accessible

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Making Technology Really Accessible
Accessibility features, such as screen readers and on-screen keyboards, have become common in most operating systems. Yet, some of the lesser common shortcomings seem to have been ignored by technologists. This gap can be filled neatly by technopreneurs if they understand the huge market for accessibility, through consultation, development and customisation.

The Disability Act of 1995 was enacted by the Indian government to ensure equal opportunities for the disabled (or the differently abled). Laws regarding accessibility have also been put in place. In 2004, the Election Commission advised that all voting centres should have ramps and that information in the voting machines/cards should also be displayed in Braille. Just as buildings have emergency exits, they are also supposed to have ramps for entry and exit. Current malls and multiplexes have accessible rest rooms. Companies employ disabled people, not just as part of their corporate social responsibility, but because such people are really gifted and work hard. We see several schools for special children. In short, we do see accessibility efforts undertaken around the country Cisco CCNA Training.

However, has this awareness percolated across the information technology world too? Yes, IT companies also have ramps and accessible restrooms, and they also employ differently-abled people, but we are looking at the issue from another angle – is technology in itself accessible to all? Considering that technology is positioned as a magic tool that can help reform disintegrating economies, generate employment, create opportunities and reinforce functions ranging from education to banking, technology should definitely be accessible too, because every citizen deserves to be touched by its benefits.

Accessibility for ‘all’

We do see accessibility features in most operating systems such as GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows. One of the most common features you might have noticed in operating systems today is speech-enablement, to varying extents. However, one reason several companies fail to include more accessibility features in their products is because they look at the term ‘accessibility’ from a very narrow point of view, and therefore consider it to be a small and unprofitable market.

But accessibility is not just something that enables a disabled person to perform normally; it is also something that makes it easier for a normal person to perform better.

If a task that required the user to navigate through four menus can now be done at the click of a mouse, that is an improvement in accessibility too. If an operating system or application is made available in numerous Indian languages, it breaks the language barrier and makes the solution accessible to more people. If an expensive application is released as an inexpensive/free version, it overcomes the economic divide and makes the solution accessible to a greater population. In short, any improvement that makes a product available to more people can be considered a move towards improving accessibility Cisco CCNA Certification.

The market for accessible solutions is huge. Looking at speech/Braille enabled software as something that caters only to those with eyesight problems is a narrow view. In reality, it can be used for anybody who has trouble with the printed word. “Software for the blind also works for the illiterate. Both have difficulty with the printed word, not the spoken. This is why it is important to train blind people in computer programming. The software they write will help the 50 per cent or more of the country that cannot read,” points out Arun Mehta, professor of Computer Engineering, JMIT, Radaur. He adds that all of us are disabled in some way or the other. “When trying to use a computer while driving, it must treat you as a blind person, because your eyes are not available to view the screen. That is why navigation devices are speech-enabled. So we are all blind, deaf or motor-challenged at times, for when this kind of software is great,” he explains.

Social Networking Website Kerchoonz Receives £250,000 Investment

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Social Networking Website Kerchoonz Receives £250,000 Investment
The Scottish Co-investment Fund, a £45 million equity investment fund set up by Scottish Enterprise, made a £250,000 investment into UK-based multi-media company Kerchoonz.

Scheduled for beta launch this September, Kerchoonz.com is a social network site offering a simple, yet innovative concept: that musicians be compensated for the music they make available to fans. While an unending list of sites allow musicians to give their music away for free, very few actually pay them. Kerchoonz pays registered bands, artists, DJ’s and songwriters every time they’re music is downloaded or streamed on the site Cisco CCNA Training.

Kerchoonz.com’s model is a recognition of the changes that have impacted the music industry, driven by technology and changing attitudes among consumers. Research firm NPD’s latest Digital Music Study found that the overall portion of music that consumers actually paid for fell from 48% in 2006 to 42% percent in 2007. At the same time, while the percentage of US web surfers engaged in file sharing capped at 19% last year, it continues to grow aggressively among teens while the number of files downloaded per user increased.

“Fans want free music without the hassles of DRM or advertising, while musicians want appropriate compensation for the use of their music,” noted Christian Ulf Hansen, former Director of Writer / Publisher Relations BMI Europe. “Kerchoonz recognizes this reality and strikes the right balance by meeting the needs of both musicians and fans Cisco CCNA Certification.”

Fans, musicians and music industry professionals are invited to sign up in this pre-beta stage at https://www.kerchoonz.com

A USB Hard Drive That Asks For Your PIN Before Allowing Access

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A USB Hard Drive That Asks For Your PIN Before Allowing Access

Here’s a hard drive that comes with a secure PIN (personal identification number) access that bars anyone who’s not authorised.

Taking hard drives along for storage and portability needs has become a necessity these days. But security is still an unaddressed issue, in case the hard drive lands in the wrong hands. Apricorn has just come up with a new concept incorporated in its Aegis Padlock encrypted USB hard drive. The hard drive comes with a secure PIN access that bars any unauthorised entry if it is either lost or stolen. The Aegis Padlock includes a keypad on which you have to enter the required PIN as and when you try to access the data stored on it Cisco CCIE  Labs.

The Aegis Padlock features a choice of AES (advanced encryption standard) 128- or 256-bit hardware encryption that offers better security. The hard drive is available in the 250 GB, 320 GB and 500 GB capacities, and is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The price starts at $ 99 (Rs 4,829 approx.) Cisco CCIE Written Exams.

End of Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista (with no service packs installed)

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End of Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista (with no service packs installed)
If you keep up with the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy (and honestly, who doesn’t? J), you may have noticed that we have a number of products and service packs with upcoming support transitions.  In today’s post, I want to discuss the end of support for two of our operating systems service packs:  Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista without a service pack installed (sometimes commonly referred to as RTM/SP0).

What Does this Mean?

Windows Vista with no service packs installed will reach end of support on April 13, 2010.  Windows XP SP2 will reach the end of support on July 13, 2010.  In both of these cases, support for the service pack will expire in accordance with the Service Pack Support policy. We first outlined this part of the policy back in October but now that end dates are coming closer, we wanted to remind customers that there is a need to take action. You can find more information about this here.

But first, some basics (if this is too 101 for you, you can skim this part). Let’s start by defining what a service pack is. As part of the effort to continually improve Microsoft software, updates and fixes are created and released for recognized issues. Many of these fixes and others are combined into a single package (called a service pack) that is made available for installation. This can include updates for system reliability, program compatibility and security. The products we’re talking about ending support for in this case are Windows XP SP2 and the original release of Windows Vista – one with no service packs installed. To set some context, the current service packs for these products are Windows XPSP3 and Windows Vista SP2. These are both available at no cost for customers. If you are running anything less, than you’re missing important free updates for your PC that can make your PC safer and run better.

Now let’s identify what end of support means. End of support means that Microsoft will no longer provide further support for that specific service pack level.  This means that customers need to upgrade to a supported service pack to continue to receive security updates, hotfixes or assisted support from Microsoft Customer Service & Support Cisco CCIE LABS.

If you are running one of these versions that is about to reach end of support, I’d really encourage you to think about upgrading to Windows 7.  Why am I recommending Windows 7?  Basically, Windows 7 makes your PC simple to use and provides the latest security technology from Microsoft in both the OS and Internet Explorer (IE8). It also allows you to do more with your computer – and ensures your PC is completely up to date. If you are a consumer, I’d also recommend ensuring that you have an up-to-date antivirus program (such as Microsoft Security Essentials).

How To Keep Your PC Up-To-Date and Safe

Here is a quick snapshot with links for easy reference.

1. Click this link to check for updates to your Windows PC.

2. Accept and install all important and recommended updates

3. Go back to check for updates at least once a month to keep your computer up to date

4. Download IE8 to ensure a safer browsing experience.

5. Download our free antivirus offering called Microsoft Security Essentials

More on How to Upgrade

If you’re not ready to make the move to Windows 7, you should — at an absolute minimum —move to a supported service pack (Windows XP SP3 or Windows Vista SP2) as soon as possible. This way, you’ll continue receiving security updates and support from Microsoft.

If you’re not sure which version of Windows Vista or Windows XP you’re running there are a couple of easy ways to find out:

· Click the start button, Run (or Windows Key + R), and type in ‘winver’ (no quotes); the resulting dialog will indicate which service pack they have installed.

· Click the start button, right-click on Computer, and select Properties to see a window that indicates (among other things) the service pack installed.

Even beyond Service Packs, it’s important to make sure you stay up to date with all updates for your Windows PC. If you have not done so already, I also strongly recommend turning automatic updates on Windows Update. If you turn on automatic updates, you not only will be sure to get critical updates automatically, but also the latest improvements and security updates for your PC.

What if you are a Business customer of Microsoft?

Our end of support policies impact all customers running specific versions, but there are a few things business customers should keep in mind:

•   Small and midsize businesses should consider  Windows 7 Professional, which is designed to help you work the way you want, help you get more done, and safeguard your work. If you have an Open License agreement, you can get a really great deal while upgrading.

•   Larger organizations should evaluate to Windows 7 Enterprise, which enables enterprise customers to be more productive from anywhere, while helping IT departments manage risk and reduce costs through streamlined PC management CISCO CCIE Written Exams.

•   Upgrading to Internet Explorer 8 improves the level of protection against current and emerging online threats

Finally, if you are concerned about potential application migration issues, there are a host of tools available to help, including the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, Windows XP Mode, and Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) to help migration. To learn more about these tools, visit the Springboard Series on TechNet.

In my next post, I plan to focus on a couple of other key support transitions that will impact our business customers.  The end of support for Windows 2000 and the Extended Support phase transition for Windows Server 2003.  If you are running either of these products, you may want to familiarize yourself with the situation for these products.

As always, please keep the comments and questions coming.  We certainly appreciate your feedback!

CCIE Lab Preparation My personal path and Recommendation

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CCIE Lab Preparation My personal path and Recommendation
Well this post will be in two parts. The smaller first part will detail what I did to prepare for the lab.

And the in second part, I will detail what I think is the best way of preparing for the CCIE lab, based on personal experience and problems I had along the way. In short, if I had to prepare for the lab all over again, the path I’d take will be in the recommendations J

My preparation path:

Realistic Exams Question and Answers with explanations Certkingdom’s Advance Technology actual Preparation material and vol 2 (68 labs)

Q & A with explanations not required:
After preparation from Certkingdom.com ccie written exams bundle and ccie lab no Q & A with explanations is needed each and every topic is very very

I started my journey last year and started working on written and lab simultaneously.

I cleared the written exam in March, and then started concentrating on the lab.

Even before that my method was to read through DOC cd and make small labs to understand a technology and feature using dynamips. By the time I study from Certkingdom’s Q & A with explanations in April, I had finished first 68 labs.

After the Q & A with explanations I concentrated on Certkingdom’s Preparation Material and completed it cover to cover and did some of the IEWB labs over and over again till the lab date.

I followed this path, but will I do the same if I have to do everything all over again? No, I will change the methodology and hence my recommended preparation method is as follows.

Recommendations:
Assuming you have cleared your written exam what should be your next step.

Personally I think, you should start with focusing on individual technology.
For that I recommend Certkingdom’s Advance Technology Preparation Material. His philosophy is to take a technology, make small labs about every feature and then beat it to death. When you are finished with his Preparation Material, you have typed in 95% of commands you need to know and practiced 95% of all features that can show up.

The figure 95% is estimation, and Certkingdom is continuously updating his Preparation Materials and you can instant download for latest updates for 12 months absolutely free.

Now, I am also very satisfied with IE Preparation Materials, and IE is reshaping their Vol 1 technology labs according to same philosophy. Up till now, those are in Beta Phase. So at the moment, the only deep technology Preparation Material that I know of is Certkingdom’s.

I did attend Certkingdom’s Q & A with explanations and I have only good things to say about it. I chose it because it was the cheapest, but the 5 day Q & A with explanations was really informative and a great experience. Once again, I didn’t attend other vendors’ Q & A with explanations so I cannot compare. But from what I heard, everyone praises both IE and IPexpert Q & A with explanations as well. So I’ll also recommend Certkingdom’s Q & A with explanations to all readers.

After that, you should start with full scale labs. I only tried IE first 10 labs and I was really happy with those. I didn’t try any other vendor for full scale labs so I cannot comment on those. I would recommend those to all readers as well.

In this way, by doing Certkingdom;s ccie written exams first, you learn to do almost everything you need to, independently. And with full scale labs, you improve your speed, stamina and learn how to approach a full scale lab and get a very good idea about how technologies interact with each other.

I hope this post is useful for readers of this article readers.

My CCIE Lab Rack Overview

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My CCIE Lab Rack Overview
Cisco Certfied Internetwork Expert I finally PASSED the CCIE Routing & Switching Lab Exam today, May 5th 2005, out at RTP in North Carolina!

I have been studying for the CCIE Written exam for almost 3 years now. I am proud and ecstatic to announce that I finally passed today out at RTP in North Carolina. I just got back into Chicago and found out about an hour ago. So I am wired to say the least.

I came out of the exam feeling very confident that I had passed it. I knew I had absolutely nailed it. The worst part was having to endure the torture of waiting and not knowing the whole way home. I kept second guessing all kinds of issues that I ran into. The mind can be an evil thing when it is left to its own devices…

CCIE Plaque Anyway, I am so happy and thankful that this chapter of my life has finally come to an end (so are my wife and kids). I already packed my library of Cisco Press books back onto my bookshelf and powered my lab rack down. Yeehaw! I can actually have my life back and stop spending all my nights and weekends studying my butt off in the basement. What a huge burden off my shoulders. Now I might actually be able to interact with humans again instead of routers and switches. I never thought I could get sick of working on this stuff, but I proved myself wrong.

Time to book at least a 2 week vacation to St. Somewhere.
For those that are interested, here is my Lab in my basement. This is where I spent all of my spare time preparing to take the CCIE Routing & Switching Lab exam. Fortunately the whine of the fans on all this gear does not carry throughout the house. The nice thing is I added some APC remote start power supplies which allow me to leave the rack powered down and I can fire it up at any time from anywhere remotely.

I collected a lot of this gear off of eBay and some of it was spare hardware from the office. This is about the bare minimum of equipment you need to run through many of the practice lab scenarios. The only equipment I am missing is an LS1010 ATM switch and a couple of ATM modules for my 2600’s. That gets quite a bit pricey, so I just rented lab time for that since it was an insignificant
amount of material to cover with respect to all the other topics.

If you think I am an extreme geek, then you haven’t seen anything yet. Check out Scott Morris’ lab…the only non Cisco employee to have 4 CCIE Labs certifications! The man is a machine when it comes to this stuff.

My preparation path:
Realistic Exams Question and Answers with explanations Certkingdom.com Advance Technology actual Preparation material and vol 2 (68 labs)