WoW man this feedback is so valuable ..... I ll read it again before my lab exam (I was about to say attempt :D )
See you dude and I hope I'll pass like you did :) 2011/2/17 Bojan Zivancevic <[email protected]> > Thanks guys for the kind words. :) > > Marc and Marko ;) you are just too kind. Now there is a danger of me > becoming conceited. :) > > Marko, everybody knows who's the instructor and who's a student, so... :) > > Marc, this is the best compliment I have ever received from somebody who > does not know me at all. Thanks a bunch. > > Yes it feels great to did it the first time. I must admit. :) I devised a > nickname for me and my friends from the bootcamp - it is "CCIE unnumbered". > It gave us a feeling of being almost there! :) Now that I am CCIE Numbered > it feels even better. :) So think thoughts of success, and go confidently to > the exam. > > Anyway, I was not a frequent poster here, but a frequent reader. I feel > obliged to pay my debt to this group because it was helpful during my study. > First, I would like to thank Tyson and Marko for prompt and detailed > responses and for all their help. Second, thank you all for trying to help. > > I appologize for the LONG email, but I am trying to point out the important > things and help people see the small things which are needed to pass this > exam. Knowledge is a must - but this is on my opinion only 80% of what is > required for passing. Other things are various skills you gotta have, skills > which are hard to define and describe in words. > > So, I will try to sum up the most important things that made me pass on the > first attempt. The things that in my opinion are really making a difference. > But everybody has their own way, so see what fits for you. > > First two things are for those of you who still have few months ahead > before the lab: > - learn how to use the notepad for configs (Marko is a good example, just > watch one of his lectures and you will see); it is a pain in the butt at > first, but eventually it makes your life much easier - it boost your > confidence tremendously, it speeds up configuring in a great amount, and it > makes finding your own faults easier. For instance, configuring full mesh > bgp between four speakers, with several neighbor commands, is done in > several minutes. Also when you are in the exam, write everything you do in > notepad and mark device numbers. You will easily spot the error you made if > you do this. For instance, on the very exam, I made an error with > etherchannel and when things started to flap and go mad :) I quickly looked > at my notepad and spotted the error in a matter of seconds. On the exam I > did some 80-90% of everything in the notepad. Just some insane services and > stuff I really don't remember the syntax... > - make your own notes as you study; this is huge, on my opinion... I made > my own (electronic) notes for every blueprint topic, and kept updating that > during the whole study period. Before the exam I managed to put up some 500 > pages of pdf document (a book really!) with explanations and real examples, > in color. So, I never had that trouble "oh god where did I read that > explanation? Web? A book? Video course?" - I just quickly glance at my notes > and there it is. But this makes sense only if you are not close to the exam > of course. > > Now for other things... first the very exam: > > - use putty, the feature that you can select something and it gets > automatically copied into the clipboard is a big time saver - then another > time saver is the right mouse button which pastes automatically; these two > combined are powerful method of quickly doing things. You can even use ALT > and select in column mode which is a great tool to select several commands > in a row from the console window. Now imagine doing vlan configs in vtp > transparent mode, you type it all in the notepad and then just paste it with > the right button on several switches in a row. few clicks and it's all in > there. > - be thorough in your studies, and be focused; but this must be done as a > combo, not separately; what I mean is that in order to effectively use your > study time, you must choose what will you focus on. And this is not easy, > this is not a decision on whether I should focus on OSPF or not - it is more > than that. OSPF itself is so huge that you must also stop in some point in > time and say "no more digging deeper". You must choose these points wisely. > So, when you decide on you focus, for all the blueprint topics, be > thourough, be detailed. Learn everything about it (but stay inside the focus > boundaries you chose for each topic) because it would save your butt on the > exam when the wording of the question is vague, or when you realise that > some question influences your work on earlier questions during the exam. > - talk to the proctor, but in a way that he sees you know your stuff; in > last 6 months I have never heard that proctor was rude or not wanting to > help - and my experience is not like that either; he was very polite and > nice. And I was the ONLY ONE who was talking to him - and I am 100% sure I > was the only one who passed that day because I saw the faces of other > candidates afterwards. If you talk to him the right way you will clear your > doubts about some questions. And if you don't get the exact answer, this > should be a clue for you that he can't give you the exact answer because you > did not understand what's going on completely! :) It happened to me. I > talked to him 6-7 times and on several occassions I got the precise answer, > and on others he gave me a vague answer which set me up in a direction of > digging deeper and thinking about the task again. Finally I realised what > was he talking about. > - time management... don't stick to one task too much, even if it is a core > task... this is a sure way to hell. Your mind just keeps running round in > circles and you don't see the solution no matter how easy it is. Afterwards > you find what's the problem in minutes. Yes, of course, this also happened > to me on the exam. :) I got stuck and one part of my IGP did not work. It > was in the third hour of the exam. So, I decided to leave it broken like it > is and work on services. I knew If I lose more time on this, I will have > trouble of finishing everything. So, for next two hours I have done services > only and then returned to my IGP fault. Of course, I solved it in 5 minutes > :) and blood started running through my cheeks again. :) In that point I > knew I am sooo close to passing. > - Time mgmt is also crucial on TS; My first two tickets were long for > solving - I figured that out from the task - and I skipped them just like > that. No sweat. I know I can do it, but I will do easy and quick tasks > first, to have enough time for the hard ones, so I won't drop in the state > of panic. That attitude brought me to the point that I solved 60% in 1 hour > approx. Then I came back to finish the skipped tickets and ended up having > 90% done in 90 minutes. Just one ticket unsolved and 30 minutes left. > - pay attention to details! details! don't think "oh this is the easy task" > - maybe it is, maybe it is not... I have heard so many people talking "I did > everything and get 0% on this section!" - the problem is either they did not > read and understand the task fully, or they did not talk to the proctor and > clear things up. There is a fine line of passing and failing, and sometimes > not paying attention on details in one task, can influence your points in > another task... So this is like a roller-coaster to 0 point score for many > tasks. > > Finally, how did I prepare? In short: > - use AS MANY SOURCES as possible (vendors, workbooks, articles, courses, > whatever... but stay focused! You can't read everything there is...) > - choose the bootcamp which will brush up your skills, otherwise it is a > waste of time and money; you can learn by yourself 90% of the topics - there > is the internet for you, waiting! use bootcamp for the advanced stuff, and > if you can stay longer! I think strongly that one week is not enough - of > course excluding bootcamps which offer one mock lab per day, this is > obviously great way to make final preparations. > - trust yourself! don't trust others opinions on the internet, whatever - > when you don't understand something or you have a task to solve, dig and > find your own answer; I did it like this and it proved right - and this is > the best way to learn of course (this is the way for knowledge to get stuck > in your brain) > - use dynamips extensively; you can have 3-4 routers network in your > computer running all the time, even if you are on a trip. Whenever you are > not sure of something, config these 3-4 routers and give it try. It is a > tremendous help. > > I wish everybody GOOD LUCK on their way to prosperity, and thanks again for > the support on this group. > > Best Regards, > > Bojan Zivancevic > Network Engineer > -----Original Message----- > From: marc abel [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 16 February 2011 17:07 > To: Marko Milivojevic > Cc: OSL Routing and Switching > Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_RS] Congratulations to Bojan Zivancevic - CCIE > #28189 (R&S) > > Congratulations Bojan! I knew from your helpful, intelligent replies to > this list that it would not be long for you. > > On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 6:54 AM, Marko Milivojevic <[email protected] > >wrote: > > > I would just like to congratulate one of our active OSL participants > > and students, Bojan Zivancevic, on passing R&S lab... on FIRST attempt > > (I'm jelous - it took me three)! He is now CCIE #28189. > > > > Well done, Bojan! > > > > -- > > Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427 > > Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert > > > > FREE CCIE training: http://bit.ly/vLecture > > > > Mailto: [email protected] > > Telephone: +1.810.326.1444 > > Web: http://www.ipexpert.com/ > > _______________________________________________ > > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, > > please visit www.ipexpert.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > -- Nicolas MICHEL Ingenieur Réseaux et Securité (CCNA/CCNP) _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com
