Im sharing my experince with you so to have an advantage from my silly mistakes i did, and hope you pass the exam from the 1st attempt .
Preperation for the CCIE R&S LAB exam 1st trail 8/7/2008:
Last day before the exam , i have reviwed my tips , reviwed Doc CD , and went shopping.
I slept earlly , and woke up fresh ...heading to the exam
On my way ( Taxi cab ) , i was listing to my best songs and was so excited about the exam.
I started the exam , read the exam , drew some sketches & started ......
At the Lunch break i have done the SW , IGP, IPv6 and some ipservcies.
I finished the exam in 6 hours .
Have relaoded the equipments before i started.
Reloaded the equipment during the break.
And reloaded the equipments for the last time before my final revision.
And i was enjoying the exam so much , i wasnt afraid or paniced at all.
I reviwied every thing , TCLSH on all routers for all networks were pingable.
SW & IGP was great , i know that i got some small mistakes in redistribution that will cost me points.
IPv6 & its routing protocol was great .
Multicast was working.
i calculated my exam rate and said i may get 90 % ...and i went after the exam is finished with a big smile telling my self i passed i passed...
So what made me Fail ?
1- Some issues in redistribution that i didnt take care of.
2- I configured ipv6 & multicast in a way that wasnt desired...even if it worked i got 0 in this sections.
3- After 3:30 hours of the exam , i needed to smoke, i asked the proctor that i need a 5 min break for smoking....And he replied..No smoking is allowed,
and that he cant leave me go out of the bulding to smoke (in Dubai) ...so i went back to the Desk and continued...AND THAT WAS A MISTAKE..I HAD TO GO TO RELAX FOR 5 MIN , RATHER THAN DOING WRONG CONFIG IN REDISTRIBUTION due to headec.
Rather than that i got 100 % in all other sections
So what ive leared from this is :
1- Not just read the exam, Read the exam very well , cause there was sections that i config in a way that was canceled/reconfigured in a later section.
2- READ WELL what is needed to be done in ipv6 & multicast , if you see your self confused about the method of config ..ask the proctor ( there are alot of ways to get this done , but you must do it in the way thay CISCO need it to be done)
3- When you see that you need a break TAKE IT, take a 5 min break in the relax room and come back.
Of cosre i was shcoked off the result that i failed....But atleast i got the experince of the exam , And im proud that alll other esctions was 100 % and that i was enjoying the exam not paniced....
Wish me best luck in my 2nd attempt.....which is soon : )
And hope you take advatge of my mistakes.......................And yes THE EXAM IS EASY , NOT HARD...BUT SO DAMN TRICKY
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So i went for a 2nd trail.....and that was the result ..Failed again @ 8/8/2008
1- I didnt do any practsising between 1st & 2nd attempt .
2- Self confidence that i will surely pass the 2nd attempt
3 IP services & security section sucks specially in wording........i had to rad and read , and ask the procotor to clarify more
4- yes the exam i had wasnt easy and got alot of tricks
5- i got stuff in the exam that i didnt ever thought i may face , it took my time t oconfig it as i didnt practise it at all........Guys , master the DOC CD , as there were technologies that ive never expceted to see in the lab , and found it punching me in my face.
6- started to feel that CCIE exam isnt not only for technical, time mangment & experince.....but its also for English language test..loool
Good thing is that i was very close to passing the exam.
Good thing is im taking a break for a while as for Ramadan.
But willl never surrender.
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And i started to learn from my mistakes...........It wasnt technical mistakes, it was basicly EXTRA-self confidence that made me fail.
So what i did to pass in 30 days
i failed my 2nd attempt for same reasons :
1- Silly mistakes.
2- extra self-confidence about passing .
3- didnt review well the exam .
4- the 30 days between 1st and 2nd attempt....I DID NOTHING
so i failed again on 8/8/2008 , and i shcedualed to my 3rd attempt also after 30 days....@ [color]8/9/2008[/color]
1st week after failing : had a break.
2nd week after failing : Working + reviewd my Tips on each technology, and check DOC CD on each of them.
3rd week : Working + did 5 IE exams labs 11-12-13-14-15 , 1 exam each day after work , just to keep my hands speedy & mind remembering every cmds for tech.
4th week : Got engaged , continue in DOC CD reading , traveled to brussles,
Last 2 days before the exam : I read my Old Posts well, reviewd my tips, and tried some stuff on Our lab @ work (remotely)
In the day of the exam , couldnt sleeep , slept only 2 hours .
In the EXAM :
1- I read the whole Exam
2- made a PLan .
3- Config Switching , FR , then reloaded all equipments
4- Configured Routing , and took some sections from security & ip services while doing routing on the same time....
As i thought they are related.
5- break started , have done SW-FR-IGP smal security & IPservices
6- during the break i reviwed the exam in my mind , and put a plan for the next 4 hours , and what i will star to config
and the cmds that i will use....That was during the 30 min break with 3 nice cigrettes.
This is becuase i read the exam very well, so i knew what i will be needing in the other sections.
7- started the exam after break , did the security,ipservices, multicast,qos & BGP in 2 hours.
( speed & cuz i already knew what will be the cmds that i will be using , cuz again i read the exam 1st very well)
8- reloaded all equipments after i finished , and took 30 min break , ate apples & water and stayed in the relax room.
9- last 1:30 H , made a very very strong review on every word written in the exam ,
I used my notes that ive written while i was reading the exam , the score board i made for every section and its points
(like IE advised in thier last vedio)
I Used only the sh & debugs , No sh run at all for config .
Just sh cmds & debugs for verification , I told my self imagin that your the testing script and mark your exam.
And guess what , i recovered 6 lost points with this revision , silly mistakes , password mistakes (typo),
cmds that i added to confirm every thing is ok ,
10- when the proctor said the time is finished .I had a very Big Smile on my face , cuz i was confident that i have passed....
still got this posion of self-confidence..lool
When i went back home , i really couldnt sleep , i kept saying , oh , if i got this wrog , and ohh..did i config this right ....
and then the result came up @ 6 am .....: )
Thats it .....: )
Ahhhh...Also 1 last Wired Funny thing is
I got engaged last week before the exam , And got my CCIE Digits.....So what do u think about how the CCIE number will look like.
Its My Fiancee Birthday !!!!!!! ofcorse i didnt recognize it as i was happy with passing the exam , But she did...hehehhe
FEB 19th 88 = 2/19/88 = 21988 or Feb 1988 = 21988 !!!
So thats my story .......dont congrates me as that was 2 weeks ago .Just Take advantage of this post , so you can clear your exams from the 1st attempt : )
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Thanks & B.Regards
Ahmed Elhoussiny, CCIE # 21988 (R&S)
Network Consultant & Cisco Academy Instructor
CCNP-CCDP-CCIP
Cisco Express Foundation Design Specialist ( FOUNDSE 642-371 & LCSE 646-392 )
Cisco IOS Security Specialist ( SNRS 642-503 & SND 642-552 )
Cisco Certified Academy Instructor ( CCAI )
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