CCIE Study Tips

Study Tips for Your CCIE Exam

CCIE is considered the most difficult Cisco certification test in the IT industry. It consists of two parts: A written exam and a lab exam that takes the whole day. There are a total of five tracks offered in CCIE. They are

Routing and Switching
Security
Service Provider
Storage Networking
Voice

The most popular of these being routing and switching. The written exam consists of multiple choice questions and ‘fill in the blanks’. This exam must be passed before you can attempt the lab exam. The lab exam is the toughest and most of those who have passed it so far have been able to clear it after two or more attempts. The lab exam is more practical and problem solving skills and requires hands-on experience, knowledge and speed. CCIE’s have to renew their certification every two years by taking a written exam.

Skills you Need

Cisco’s recommendations before you attempt the CCIE exam are extensive knowledge in the following areas.

Two years experience on Cisco Networks (implement, deploy, manage and troubleshoot)
Familiarity on Cisco Hardware and networking solutions
LAN, WAN, TCP/IP and client server technologies
Show and debug commands as well as packet level diagnostics
Protocols on Routers, bridges, switches and security devices.
Network design, new internetworking technologies and solutions.

CCIE Study Resources

There are few tips to follow with CCIE Studies

Get the Syllabus

The syllabus of the CCIE certification, Cisco test is quite general and what you get in the exam is quite in-depth. Practical experience is the best way to clear the examinations. The topics in brief that you must know are

Cisco Device Operation (set up, commands, operations, security)
General Networking Theory (OSI, Routing: Standards & protocols)
Bridging and LAN Switching (VLAN’s , Ethernet channels, security)
IP (Addressing , services, applications IPv6)
IP Routing (OSPF, BGP, EIGRP, IS-IS, RIP etc...)
QoS (PoS, CoS, Shaping, 802.1x)
WAN (ISDN, ATM, Frame Relay, Leased Lines)
LAN (Ehternet, Wireless)
Multiservice (Video, Voice, data, secure data types)
IP Multicast

Visit Vendor Sites

The Cisco site it the best site for guidance. It gives you the various books you can read from as well as the various practice centers where you can go for your training. You could also check to see if the trainers at these centers have a CCIE validation or not. The Cisco press site gives you a lot of valuable links to books and other information. The Cisco certification forum gives you a lot more like discussion, whitepapers etc.

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/ccie/ helps in assessing your lab preparedness.

Testing your Knowledge

The test of your knowledge is to help you get confidence. There are many computer based testing systems which are available in the form of CD’s or even online web sites that help you in getting acquainted with the written examination. The written examination is quite easy to get through compared to the lab examination.

Cisco website has an online examination for lab preparedness. If you want to assess your preparedness then you could apply for this four hour practice examination. This helps you identify the areas of where you are unprepared and suggestions are given as to areas and resources for further study. The link to this page is http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/ccie/preparation/index.html

Certification Forums

Certification forums are a way of discussion that can help you assess yourself. Many go for CCIE after CCNP or other Cisco credentials and Cisco certification community is an exclusive place for certified individuals to get news, video presentation, white papers, articles and other content on networking tools. You can also join a discussion group. The link is http://www.cisco.com/go/certcommunity. Cisco Certifications Community is available to qualified individuals only after verification of their certification status online. Some of the advantages are

Three hours of free online training on security best practices.
Technical information
Profiles of successful individuals in CCIE.
Games to put your skills to the test for both CCNA and CCNP
New information about updates and recertification.

Check out Chat Rooms

There are various conference rooms and chat rooms that help people in preparations as well as give people ideas and suggestions in the preparation toward CCIE training and CCIE exams. http://www.ccie4u.com/ccielab_chat.htm may help you in getting to know more about the lab exam and ways to prepare for it.

Continue to : Cisco CCIE Training

Cisco Certified Network Associate: A Boost In Your Networking Career
CCNA And The Steps To Success
Be A Professional With CCIE
Network Professional’s Next Stop: CCNP
Expert Advice To Become A Network Professional

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