Your CCIE Lab Success Strategy: The Non-Technical Guidebook

So.. I just passed my CCIE R&S and I bought this book a good month or 2 prior. A coworker had recommended it to me and said he really enjoyed it. I picked it up and can honestly say the information in here helped me pass my CCIE.I will say that the bulk of the information in this information you will likely come across in your preparation for the lab, but this book presents it in a way that (at least for me) really let it sink in. I've also reached out to the author Vivek and within 24 hours he got back to me and answered my question and gave me even more advice.The biggest thing I got from this book is really to have a positive attitude about the whole experience. It's not the end of the world if you don't pass and if often takes some of the best engineers at least 2-3 times to pass. Also bearing in mind the lab exam isn't all that practical. The book is double spaced which threw me off a bit at first, but it is VERY easy and fairly quick to read. That makes it a lot easier to go back to for reference (which I did about 2 weeks before my lab).All in all , it's definitely worth it.. you've most likely spent $3000 already on your lab, so what's another $25?

I am currently in the middle of preparing for R&S CCIE. As I read through the required reading list, I realized that it is easy to get lost. There is so much information. Also, this is the only non-technical guide how to. It also helps to have two authors with 4 CCIEs between them and the wealth of information they share from their personal trials and tribulations. For those doing it alone, this book can help guide the newbies like myself to save time and steps towards a professional goal. Best wishes to everyone on this journey. Hope this helps. I really like the time line frame of time and some of the exam strategies such as keeping track of your lab scores, and making sure the core portion of the lab is working 100%. It is 60-70% of the lab grade. Other technologies such as multicast, and MPLS depend on it. Considering the cost of lab is $1500, and this book is like around $25.99, it is a no brainer. It is like having your own personal CCIE consultants. Just 2 to 3 of their suggestions will save tons of time. Get this book!

This book is like a coach. It motivates you and puts you on track.Studying for CCIE is overwhelming. You need a coach to get there, this is a very quick read and can give you some advice about how to deal with the overwhelming quantity of topics to study. As the title says, this is a non-technical book. It may give you advice you cannot find without having veteran CCIEs in your circle of friends.

I couldn't pass the offer to buy this book to see what was all this about. For many years, I have tried to be a CCIE and for many reasons I failed (absolutely no shame about it). For me it was:1. Lack of preparation2. Not going to a second try after failing the first time once I was close to it3. Not using SP materials4. Lack of financesFor point number 4, I will disagree with the authors. Both authors worked for Cisco. Cisco pay for it for at least two attempts and for any materials you need. In my case, it has been in my own with no company helping me since I am a contractor.At this point, I still haven't give up. And I decided to go for the new version of R/S. I have already passed the written.For point 3, I still dont want to spend a lot of money for INE or other SP CCIE prep. company. I am quite aware that these companies have put a lot of effort to make you pass with top notch materials. However, I have a different philosophy on this.Let me explain. Through my successive failures, I became a better network engineer over the years and I thank the CCIE for this.So what it means is that I might be a CCIE level guy but NO CCIE number:) And it might be fine considering that when you get this title you better know your stuff and be able to walk the talk in front of your peers and clients. And the authors mentioned this very clearly. With this title, new responsibilities come up. The last thing I want to hear is this person is a CCIE paper.And this syndrome is currently happening like it happened to Microsoft. Therefore, my years of experience as a network guy still counts for something. My final word is the that you are not learning all this to be just a CCIE but to be a better network person.Being a CCIE is great but is just the beginning. And you still realize after many years you still don't know much. And you start becoming humble and ready to learn all the time from your peers and clients,One thing I will recommend for the CCIE program is to be book open and be quicker to technological changes. Frame-relay just got removed. As I get older memorizing is not just happening anymore:) The goal is to understand the technology and not to memorize. But this is still one of the weakness of the program. To counter this Cisco has slowly introduced troubleshooting and other stuff to keep the actual lab building shorter ( 5 hrs now).

I bought this book after reading the many positive reviews written about it, especially since many are written by veteran CCIEs. I recieved it today and finished it in one sitting. It's that good. The authors give you a straight, no nonsense prep talk on how to confront the seemingly impossible task ahead of you. I just started my CCIE studies, and by started I mean from the ground back up. I passed my CCNA and CCNP studies a few years ago and have always been intimidated by the CCIE and never gave it much serious thought. This book put a lot of my fears to rest and gave me the confidence and roadmap to plot my own success story.

Focus on the prize, the exam becomes just another obstacle. I liked the "What We Did" sections, so that not only are they handing out advice, they are showing you how they figured out what worked and what didn't. I also liked that it was an easy read (double spaced, short and quick chapters) and a nice distraction from all the technical reading on the way to the CCIE.

I have been reading it over the past couple of days and it has touched on majority of the issues I have been dealing with. I like the fact that it helps lay out different approaches with timelines to obtain the goal of getting your CCIE number. This book was recommended to me and I will be recommending it to all others I know in the pursuit.