My first attempt at passing the Cisco CCIE Lab in Sydney (Routing and Switching) last week was unsuccessful. By the time I had completed the Troubleshooting section at the start of the exam I knew I hadn’t achieved the objectives of 3 of my troubleshooting questions, with the number of points I missed putting me below the 80% requred for that section. Nevertheless I persisted with the Configuration section and thought I’d share my experience of the exam and the format of the day. Knowing how the day is structured and what to expect will definetly help me in my next attempt.

I’m giving myself 6 months of revision and then I’ll hit the exam again.

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It’s been a while since my last post, I’ve been spending all my spare time studying for the CCIE. Since my last post I sat and passed the 350-001 Cisco CCIE Written exam.

350-001 Written Exam Debrief

Without violating my NDA agreement. The exam contains no simulation based questions and wasn’t as difficult as I imagined it would be, however it seemed the range of questions drew from every area of the exam blueprint. The drag-and-drop style of questions were a pain, that style always seems to frustrate me, and I believe that is where I likely lost most of my points.

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If you’ve missed part one of my CCIE Study Method you can find it here.

CCIE Study Method – II

Purchase INE Materials

I’ve heard good things about the CCIE preparation materials at ine.com, specifically their video training courses, audio bootcamp and lab workbooks. Their all access pass seems to be a bit costly, so I’m not sure yet if I’ll go with a monthly or annual pass. They’ve got over 2200 video’s and I’m not sure how long this would take me to get through. My CCIE Study Method will have me watching 3-4 hours per night so will need to estimate how long I’ll need to remain subscribed before I choose this option. The annual subscription does include access to the lab guides, so this may be the more cost effective way to go.

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