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How I Passed the CCIE Route

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LeaLeona:
I originally drafted this after passing the CCIE Route Switch lab, just over 12 months ago. I recently received an email from Cisco warning me that recertification is just 12 months away, and I realised I never published this article. Lately, I’ve had a few people ask me about my CCIE studies so thought it was about time I shared it.

earwigenchant:
With emerging technologies such as SDN, OpenFlow, NFV, as well as many strong non-Cisco networking vendors; why would you want to invest the time and money in one of these? For me, it was not just about the technologies in the blueprint. It was not about reaching the pinnacle within a vendor certification stack. It was not about a pay increment. It was about a thirst for knowledge, the ability to do that which most do not, and the ability to achieve the seemingly impossible.

authorstockley:
Do you have to do a CCIE to be a good network engineer? Of course not. But if you decide to chase it, you have to want it, and want it badly. If you have other pressing commitments in your life, then maybe leave it for another time. During my journey, my wife and I had our first baby. This was life changing, but I was able to keep up my study (albeit at a slower pace). Some people will meet their significant other, and forget all about studying. This is perfectly normal and you should not feel guilty. You need to be at the right stage in your life, and have enough motivation to successfully see this through.

utilitieshyn:
A very (very, very) small part of my CCIE studies led me to reading about the success stories of other candidates. Occasionally, you need some inspiration. Whether the candidate passed on their first attempt, or their tenth attempt; at some point, it came down to the candidate versus the Lab. I enjoyed reading about the candidates who prevailed.

LeaLeona:
I decided 3 years prior to the lab that I was going to complete a CCIE qualification. My role had been mostly routing and switching, so that track made the most sense. After looking at the blueprint, I found that there were technologies that I barely understood included in it, at an expert level… Multicast? MPLS L3VPN? IS-IS? Even good old BGP… had I even touched the surface of this protocol? It didn’t look like I had. These technologies I noticed were also part of another track. So, I spent the first year of my CCIE studies completing the CCNA and then the CCNP Service Provider certifications. While this did not provide the expert level of knowledge required for the CCIE RS exam, it got me far closer than I was before (i.e. nowhere), and was much easier than drinking from the CCIE fire hose. I also learnt about a few other interesting technologies like L2VPN and I could do some basic configurations in IOS-XR.

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