Darby Weaver's Journey to be a CCIEby Darby Weaver |
CCIE RS - The real story of what took me so long to get this out of the way.
1983 - Got a TRS-80 as a birthday gift from my parents. Learned to program some stuff like musical chimes, colors, and actually perform backups to a tape recorder. Life was calling so the TRASH-80 hit the shelves of my bedroom after the first year. Let's face it 13 year olds had better things to do that learn "Basic Programming".
1987-1994 - Completed correspondence courses on Basic Programming, COBOL, and Fortran Programming through self-inflicted study, not to mention about 40 others courses... Ok - I was a little addicted to reading and studying. What else do you do for 6 months on deployment in the Indian Ocean? I completed a college course on College Algebra while deployed and working around my very busy work schedule. I was in Engineering on a U.S. Naval Aircraft Carrier, and as such 18+ hours a day while underway performing maintenance, security rounds/watches, and responding to emergencies as a Firefighter was the order of the day. I learned to sleep in one-hour increments and it kept me sane.
Later I'd take some hands-on courses in WordPerfect and DBASE III. I worked for a Help Desk of sorts that served as a Nerve Center for the USS Forrestal. Not quite the same technology we have today but the concept was the same. Reports were important.
Before I left the US Navy, while on Limited Duty, I did a stint with ADP (Advanced Data Processing) and I got my very taste of Novell Networking, I think it was like 2.x or maybe we were upgrading to 3.x, anyway it was an adventure and Batch Files were of necessity to help map drives... and write Menu Systems for End-Users. I got some hands-on with some Computer Repair before parting ways with the Navy.
1994 - 1997 - I learned a bit about computers and started college in 1994 immediately after getting out of the Navy. I discovered BBS (Bulletin Board Systems) and with my lightening fast 2400 Baud Modem and 486sx25 IBM PS1 Consultant I was armed for bear. By the end of the first year, I was an Midnight Maniac online. I also learned how to format my hard drives and pretty much build PC's from scratch. Data Recovery became my thing and Peter Norton was a Saint to me. I ran my own consulting business from my house and I guess by the time I decided to call it quits and become an employee, I had well over 300 clients who called on me regularly as needed and I had completed building networks with Artisoft Lantastic, Novell 3.x/4.x, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, and even OS/2 Warp.
1998-2000 - Went from Network Support for a 3500 City-Wide MAN to a supporting a Small Frame Relay Network with m first Cisco Devices and even a local college with about 30,000 users total. I completed my MCSE, A+, and Net+ during these years after taking a course on Networking Essentials and NT 4.0 Server Administration I was forced to pick up the rest on my own and so before you knew it I owned my first 6 Server Network. Yes, that is when my fever started for owning my own network. Well virtualization was not happening for me yet... MS Exchange was, MS Proxy was, and so was IIS.. even SQL... So I learned to make these systems interoperate with Linux, Solaris, HP-UX - all requirements of the job and so as I'd take a new job that required those skills I'd learn to get the stuff working, buy some books, read some books, and then go sit the appropriate exams. By the end of the year 2000, I was an MCSE+I (Internet) and I was a CCNA to boot. The CCNA changed that year as I recall about 6 months after I passed the first time and so I studied the updates and took it again. My little modest home lab consisted of a few 1600 Routers, Hubs, and a few IGS Routers.
2001-2002 - Time was flying. In 2001, I was a bit naive and gung-ho about the stuff and I ended up spending $30-40k buying parts piecemeal from Ebay. It sounds like a lot, but you have to remember, I was an accomplished MCSE and I taking my $1000.00 per day consulting earnings and channeling it into buying a few routers here and some upgrades there. When I started it was nothing for an AGS Router to cost $800-$1000.00. 2501's costed about the same. Other models of 2500's cost more. Upgrades were expensive for modules, DRAM, and FLASH but I bought them anyway. Cables were not even cheap and some cables were outright exotic costing $50.00 - $125.00 each at the time for some of the cables I required. I bought non-Cisco trying to save money and I lost money from the experience - older and wiser I suppose. My ISDN Simulator cost me about $800.00 and I was happy to get it. My 3920 might have cost me about $1200 and my Cat 5000 with Sup I and a couple of 24 port FE Modules cost me about $5000.00 by itself. RSM's were rare and far too pricey at the time. I opted for other ATM Switches and finally bought my first ATM LS1010 for maybe $1000 and probably spent another $2000.00 beefing it up. I got the Cisco 2522 Router that I have today from a recent CCIE at the time for about $800.00 - it was a bargain. My first 2511 probably cost my about $1000.00 when I bought it, but my first Term Servers were actually the Cisco 5xx Series and I bought two of them for about $300.00 and $500.00 each. It was a costly game to play with Cisco. I finished my CCNP, CCDP (first Cisco exam that I took twice - it was that hard - I did the Exchange Emergency Project the night before the exam I failed - work comes first, it always did and still does for me), and passed the CCIE Written that November, despite Token Ring.
It was ok my first Cisco Project I billed out for $16,000.00. It was HUGE... I set up a hub and spoke network for 4 Routers. When I actually did the work I had the process down to about 3 minutes per router. Cisco skills were valuable and there was money to be made. I actually got the project after saving the day with an emergency recovery of MS Exhange and MS Proxy Server. It took me a night's work and I billed $1000.00 for it. Then I got asked to do the work for the Cisco Stuff. This is incidently what started my funding of some of the items above that I mentioned.
2002-2004 - I went to work for a larger employer, a School District. I ran the Data Center and did most of the Server Administration, DHCP, DNS, Firewalls, VPNs, and other some light Cisco stuff - not really that much really but I was involved in the process with VoIP mostly. Frame, ATM, FE, and GE was the order of the day. My first 3030 Cisco VPN Concentrators, a pair of LS1010's, and about 50,000 users in the district over about 65 remote WAN sites. Cisco Wireless was employed and I got a chance to taste it too. Network Analysis and Security were my stronger points and I got a lot of varied experiences with both and some Network Management too.
I was doing more of my own stuff by now and my MS Certs were waning, while unemployed in mid-2002, post 2011, I was blessed during my 6 weeks of being unemployed and during that time I was selected by my state to receive a scholarship for a certification program. Having recently completed my CCNP, I opted for Windows 2000. I completed like 7 courses and my Microsoft Certified Trainer Certificate that qualified me as an MCT in 2004.
I was not unemployed very long. I remember getting approved for the scholarship for training, and getting not one but three job offers that June. Two jobs with Cisco and one as a Trainer at night for a local college and life was good again. I took the School District (100% Cisco Network) and the Trainer Job. Between the two I guess my salary stayed pretty decent and I got a chance to bite into two apples at the same time.
I was a workaholic and I worked all the time, holidays, weekends, and mostly every late night I was not teaching. I had lots of great experiences at the time. No doubt. I bonded remarkably well with my boss, and we worked to upgrade that network through nearly 200+ projects in the 2.5 years I was there. Two Cisco Whitepapers were published and we were dubbed the Fastest Growing School District in the State of Florida for the number of Schools that we were able to get up and operational - all Cisco powered. Most of the credit goes to DiData, Coleman Technologies, and another company I can't remember who helped with our Wireless Deployments. I did a bit with my boss on some of the Project related stuff and he used me to square away the heart of the network - it was a sore spot. So by the time I left after more than a few weekends we took about 2000+ square feet that you could not walk through and it was pretty decently squared away. Whew!!! It took ots of work to get that done.
2005-2008 - I got hired by not one but two outstanding companies. NBC/Universal Studios Orlando and SunGard Higher Education. I was the Sr. guy at Universal and I was one of two Sr. guys at SunGuard supporting a lot of named Colleges around this country. Anyway Universal was a Cisco powered network with minor exceptions and SunGard was anything but fully Cisco... Lots of technologies. Some of my MS Skills came in handy but I was mostly doing Switching, Firewalls, Network Management, and IPSec VPNs. I worked with an extremely sharp CCNP and he taught me a lot of stuff. It was very nice to finally have a peer to compare and contrast technologies with. My partner was this guy.
During this time, I'd been interviewed by Cisco, Cisco Partners, and even signed on with Cisco Partners from time to time and was compensated pretty decently for smaller projects. Hey nothing says "Thank you" like $10,000.00 checks for project work and my lab/library was one hungry starving beast... It had to be fed. I also would occasionally buy/sell at auctions and the like and this allowed my project funds to go a little farther.
By this time, I could see a future with Cisco and I started letting my MS Skills lapse a bit, since I was clearly no longer a Server Admin/Engineer any longer. So I invested heavily in VoIP, Service Provider, Security, and updated all of my Routing and Switching Lab Equipment. My library was also constantly growing and I was reading everywhere... Cracker Barrel, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Outback, and even the dimly lit Carrabba's... I always kept a book on hand and a notepad. If you see a guy with a 2 to 3 inch book... that was me.
I remember an office party at Universal over at SeaWorld... everyone else had a beer... my I was reading Doyle's TCP/IP Volume I on a bench. Sad, but true story.
Funny thing, I almost never have time to read during work... weird but also true.
From June 2006 to October 2008, I would take the CCIE Lab 5 times. True enough. The saddest part of the 5 trips is I somehow as a strategy always found it acceptable to not complete or even skip Multicast and QoS... 14-17 points and I'd usually score as low as 0% in either or both sections... despite higher scores in these areas on graded labs.
I guess we call that a mental block. Well word to the wise... you cannot pass the lab if you are prepared to give up any points without a long and drawn out fight for them. You just cannot do it. I'm stubborn and it takes me a bit to realize this sometimes. I pay for a date and I go, sometimes I would even pay for a date within the no-refund or no-reschedule window somehow thinking my schedule would magically allow me time to study for this lab. Well that really does not happen either - or at least not for me.
All the while, I had been gaining hands-on skill and experience with a wide-variety of Cisco Technologies. Lots of Security, Wireless, some VRF-Lite/MPLS, Voice, Network Management, and Network Analysis.
During these years, I had a Nortel Project and so I completed a Nortel Switching Certification. I did more Sniffer Analysis than is legal... so I promptly completed my Sniffer Certified Master Certification. I had to renew my entire CCNP/CCDP/CCSP/CCVP tracks or actually earn them and given the breadth of my daily job requirements I needed them. I'm one test from my Wireless certs and one exam from my CCIP... MPLs - I failed it by 100 points.
I passed more Cisco certs during this time than I can count and gained a variety of misc tools like the Cisco Discovery Tool. I keep a home lab for consulting, training labs, and generally anything I'm working and I use it to mimic my campus/enterprise networks to test features or functionalities. Hey I can't be expected to spend all my time labbing for one exam like the Routing and Switching CCIE.
I had to work a lot on various types of VPNs and high availability. We all do what we have to do to get paid. I also spend/spent an inordinate amount of time helping others work out their issues... I'd log into their racks, offer mine from time to time, rent one of mine here and there, and generally test things for other people to remove any doubts... Hey, not everyone has switches despite Dynamips' popularity. As a result over 300+ CCIE's have thanked me for my efforts to help them out.
Unfortunately helping other people on topics I excelled out did little to help me on the topics I was less than stellar at. So no CCIE for me, despite myself. Not yet.
2008 - Later in the year, I took an awesome job with what be my most favorite job to date: Nemours Children's Clinic. Nemours is a fully Cisco powered Network and I take care of the State of Florida and the Data Center for it. This means upgrades, projects, new sites, VPNs, Firewalls, Business Partners, Wireless, QoS - especially for Video Conferencing, route optimizations... Security in general and maintenance of everything not mentioned.
I've gotten a chance to finally attend Cisco Live this year (work prevailed every other year for me even to the point of having all expenses paid and being cancelled up to the last hour before my flight... yep. Work always comes first for me...).
Below is more of the story but this tell you where I was up to this point and gives the curious a bit of my background and what I've done or not done to prepare or not prepare for the CCIE up to now.
Well I took the lab last on Oct 5th, 2009. I worked about a year shy of 15 days since my last attempt at it. I worked mostly on cornering my little issues. If you promise not to laugh too hard, the reasons I failed any labs were not really that much at all. It came down to 100% mastery of Layer 2 technologies, 100% mastery of L3 IGPs, including all the possible issues related to Redistribution including the usage of tagging. This snowballed like clockwork to affecting my time-line for BGP, QoS, and Mutlicast. Historically, I'd barely give myself any time for these three and usually BGP took precedence over QoS/MCast, and QoS over MCast. The result was I'd cheat myself out of 17-21 points nearly every single exam almost without fail.
So this year I got immersed in QoS, then I got a nice little project with EIGRP, BGP/MPLS came next and I found the time to bury myself in Multicast. Meanwhile I worked like the devil whenever I could to figure out what the hell was going on with my L2/L3 since I thought I had these wrapped up so long ago.
The whole process took me longer than it should have. Some may wonder how long truly and why?
1. I passed my first CCIE Written in about September of 2001. I was pretty cool with most technologies of the time except those hard to reach ones: Token-Ring, ATM, and all the stuff I really did not know but thought I did.
2. I already had my CCNA (and I had taken it twice in 2000 when the new exam came out - I passed both).
3. I worked with a friend of mine in a startup Cisco Partnership that failed back then. I had to get a job quick instead of sitting down for a few weeks, buckling down, and just taking the lab back then. So I stopped and took the job.
4. That job resulted in a 2.5 year hiatus away from CCIE RS. However, I got some super Security, WLAN, DataCenter, VPN, NMS, and Firewall experience. Kewl. I did read most of the recommended CCIE books, CCNA, and CCNP books at this time.
5. So now we sit in December of 2004... my CCNP/CCDP, CCIE Written, and even my CCNA/CCDA were all now expired. I considered just giving up any idea of Cisco. Truly no one really asked for it and if they did, then they never validated it. What was the point again? I was a little upset about a promotion to the Network Analyst job that my employer gave to a family member of a board member. So... I dusted myself off and for about 3 months of hard core review I went and started renewing my fervor to renew my Cisco certs. I did. Well CCNA/CCNP and I retook the CCIE Written and passed it for the second time and the clock was clicking.
6. January of 2005, I got the job I was recertifying for at Univeral Studios. Kewl. And they actually wanted me to be a CCNP. I spent most of 2005 working night and day learning the parks. Not much time for study. About October so I started diving into INE's COD and CBT Nugget's CCIE Videos. So I got a good refresh and my and a friend of mine started doing some lab in December of 2005. The goal was to complete INE's Labs.
7. January 2006, March 2006, and April 2006 - I went to see Bruce Caslow at NMC. I went but I was not ready and I had worked on a lot of that those months of December/January before going to NMC but could not/did not verify my work worth a damn. My singular goal was to get to the point I could follow along in the book and at least complete a lab. It was some kind of a goal for me. And I had the equipment (at the time I set up two full racks on 3550's, 2 Terminal Servers, 4 Frame Switches, and 6 4700 Routers and 3 7505's for each rack - one for my study buddy and one for me. I made them Wirelessly available at my house and we configured lab after lab. One by one, when I was at NMC, my failure to learn to verify struck me hard... Real hard. I was no where near ready for the lab. After all three classes at NMC my average was only about a 56 and my highest score on a CheckIT Lab was only a 71 or 72. But in my mind I only needed to clear 8 points. So I set a lab date for June of 2006.
8. May of 2006, I did the Mock Labs with the Brians. for all of my study from April to May, I had made no grade. I did 4 Mock Labs that week and I averaged only 57 points. Not much better than I was doing at NMC's CheckIT Labs and my best score was maybe a 71 or 72. Talk about Deja Vu... Two of the best vendors in the business and my scores with both were about the same.
9. Also in June of 2006, I took a CCIE Accessor and guess what my score was... As I recall it was a 56 too. Now three different "vendors" and my average was just my average. Well my 18 months was up and I was dying to go to lab. Maybe I'd get lucky.
10. There is no lucky in the lab. None! A 56 or 57 average is not an 80 and no amount of wishing or hoping will make it so. I failed.
11. I scheduled for October. Got not much if any study aside from maybe reading a book or two and some light labs. I took a week's vacation and completed only 1 lab. Everything that could go wrong the month before the lab actually happened... seriously my favorite uncle died, my dog died, my plumbing was a mess for a month of repeated plumber visits and assurances, I even had a huge tree in my front yard ripped out... I went anyway and I failed like clockwork. My score was about the same as my previous scores which was about the same as my mock labs. At least I was consistent.
12. In March of 2007, I went to see Heinz Ulm in Denver, Colorado for 1 week of Mock Labs. I only got past day 1 and I had gotten really sick and had to withdraw to my room by middle of Day-2. I made it back for Day 5's wrap up. Heinz really does not grade labs, he pretty much gives labs and I learned a bit from the Master Heinz.
13. May of 2007, I hit the lab again. I'm a workaholic and never sleep and it showed in my lab reports. I failed this one with a really poor score. I actually thought the lab was tenderly easy too. So I paid for the re-grade. Never got it back and to this day I have report of it on my reports. I had to email the CCIE Support Team for help and Jeff Buddemeier emailed me back with some feedback. I failed and my grade was unchanged. Imagine that.
14. I read some books, worked on some areas here and there and worked a lot. Time passed quickly.
15. December of 2007, I went back to the lab. I really didn't do any full labs. I did do a lot of debugs. My game was not bad but it was not perfected. I scored well this time at about a 71-72 maybe even a 73. Not a pass but I was thrilled.
16. February 2008, I went to see Narbik Kocharians. Great class and there were so many things his workbooks had pointed out to me that I just "missed" before. Whew! Easy and doable! Renewed my spirits.
Note: At this point in the annals of history I had well over 200+ CCIE's who thanked me for my lists and help I may have provided them. Yet I was not even a CCIE... not yet. No luck for me.
17. I spend the buk of the time between February and October studying tidbits and working through the workbooks. Lots of verification, CLI Help, and the Documentation, mostly in tandem. Even some "speed drills". Still work a lot, perhaps too much.
18. I take the lab for the 5th time and I fail with a remarkably low score. Remarkable. But since this was a repeat I had to ask myself why I take the lab for a second chance and still scored so low. I'm missing something and I needed to find it. Quick!. As you might imagine by this time, I'm pretty proficient with the IOS, I'm using lots of debugs, and I know the Documentation well... and I've read every Cisco Press Book on the CCIE List, and some non-Cisco Press Books and even Cisco Press books for Design and other tracks. I even took the time to get certified as I went and nearly cornered every major CCxP and Partner cert in the business and I'm good with PEC. Hell I even got certified to use the Cisco Discovery Tool.
19. 2009 rolls around. I go back to the books and complete a few on TCP/IP by Doyle, BGP/OSPF by Parkhurst, a couple of QoS Cisco Press Books lots of vendor lab stuff, some CODs and a lot of little practice and real hands-on.
Note: By this time, I've been hired by 3 Large Enterprise Networks as the Lead or Co-Lead and a couple of small time contract roles. All had decent interview processes, and I've been offered jobs with Cisco Partners (2 Golds) after tough interviews with CCIE's, and been interviewed by even Cisco. And a few others in between...
I've completed a few decent sized Campus or Enterprise Projects. I help people around the globe here and there with their own queries from CCNA all the way to CCIE. Even different tracks.
20. I go Cisco Live 2009 in San Fran and take 2 Hands-on Labs, one with a Proctor and the other with the Cisco 360 Program.
21. I got selected and went to Seattle to meet the CCIE Development Team and take another Lab. I spent most of the time admiring how the proctors came to their conclusions about some various solutions, so I guess I was distracted a bit, but in a fun way. It was another lab and it was written by the proctors themselves with their own words. It was worth the trip. Because of the trip I was advised how to ask for a lab date and I did so and sure enough got a pre-October 18th lab date. Whew! Lucky me.
22. I won an IPE BLS Program and I took a week long Bootcamp with Joe Astorino and I bonded a bit with Joe and verified a few things I'd held close. Strange enough Joe covered a few things that I'd been missing even in my own racks and so I pushed a few more things past him too that week.
23. So here we are... October of 2009. By the way last week or so I started my own lab with all the tricks and the issues I've had to contend with and I completed my issues with a healthy amount of verification. And my time per task was good and what I'd consider a rate equivalent to what I'd think necessary to pass any given real CCIE Lab. I also took about 2 months to coach as many CCIE Candidates as possible through the lab and to my surprise many of them have passed!!! So that works well to for my own prep, I even would log into their racks and resolve whatever issue they presented me with real-time and provide them the logs and the summary of what I'd done to help them. Kewl!!! Especially when some of the people I was helping were Cisco TAC Employees who are pretty sharp most of the time. Nice!!! My prep was paying off and so my own mentoring too. Maybe this will be good for me...
24. My own week has not been fruitful for actual labbing or prepping prior to the date. My projects at work have eaten up all my time. But I'm strangely calm and positive - hey knowing I've overcome my varied and sundry issues, knowing the Documentation, and knowing my own self... I think has the right ingredients for a winning combo.
25. October 8th. I finally looked at my results on my 6th trip to the Dungeon and I'm still not a CCIE.
So a good lab by all accounts. My timing and verification was pretty good. I inflicted some wounds to myself but was able to troubleshoot and resolve/verify quick enough. So I got a few points for things I normally lose points on.
Well after my 6th attempt, I realize no matter how well I understand most technologies, I still need a little bit more to get myself over the edge.
So this week I'm in class in Ohio with IPExpert for a week of grueling CCIE RS Mock Labs - quite brutal and more so with the latest and greatest technologies thrown in for fun.
Next month, I'll heading to Glendale, California to see the inestimable Mr. Narbik Kocharians once again.
In the meantime, I'm labbing up as much as I can... Yes this means I'm investing in with an hour-glass or an egg-timer...
I've got a new batch of study buddies and the idea is to allow these lucky/unlucky folks who hail from every corner of the globe to use some of my facilities to enhance skill with items like troubleshooting.
I have my own working Cisco Call Manager, CCM Express, and Unity System and an IPSec VPN that allows people from anywhere to collaborate with my real-time. Given the nature of the latest troubleshooting sections, I think it helpful to allow others to break one's rack and then troubleshoot accordingly. Hey nothing like the real thing. IP Phones and Collaboration tools are great for studying and conferencing is great when there are more than one of us.
If you are on one of my forums that I administer, or I am a moderator for, or even just a humble member, please excuse me as from here on out I have a CCIE to complete. So I may have seemingly fell off the planet but I'm closer now than ever before and I don't intend to give up the fight. I know other that have gone at least as many times as I have and I know it seems shameful to some... however, when we do get to the lab, pass it, get awarded our hard-earned digits, we know they are our own and quite frankly that is what this is all about.
Remember the CCIE itself has but one goal and that is to forge a higher quality Network Engineer, nothing else. Pride has no place in this pursuit or the ultimate goal. Every test is a another step forward. No one wakes up one day and just says... " I think I'll go nail the CCIE Lab today"... Just doesn't happen that way.
The CCIE is a hard battle, its a worthwhile fight, and like any fight worth fighting, you have to take your licks, get off the floor, pull yourself together, dust off your pride, wipe off the blood, sweat, tears..., and get back in the ring... just to let them know... you may not know who is going to win this fight... but you damned sure know who is not going to lose...
This is like a boxing championship match and we've just finished the 6th round... but hey it's early yet... we don't ask for quarter... we just get back in the ring, take the punches, we beat it down... Taking a beating may not ever be fun, but it does build character.
Darby Weaver
Network Engineer
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