CCIE study materials

[nightowl]

Anyone have any good suggestions for study materials for the CCIE R&S. Myself and some of my co-workers/friends are going to start working on it. I know that Spidey has taken it, so maybe he could chime in on what he did to prepare. I don't want any of the "test" question study sites. I am really looking for good books to read for the written and good lab practice scenarios. I have access to any of the Cisco Press books too.

 

[spidey07]

The written isn't that big a deal if you study/know what is covered, however the written has changed so make sure you check with cisco's site. Doyle's TCP/IP routing volumes one and two are "bibles"

As far as labs - 4-5 routers and a switch or two.

testking has really good lab scenarios.

 

[nightowl]

Thanks Spidey! Is there much difference between vol 1 & 2 or is it safe to just get vol 2? Also, I have access to all the hardware I need through work. I just need to find some ATM interfaces for the routers or a couple LS1010s.

 

[spidey07]

volume 1 and 2 complement each other. With volume one being heavy on IGPs, vol 2 heavly on EGPs.

 

[TheRouterNinja]

Like Spidey said, Volume 1 and Volume 2 are good for the written. I think you'll find the written test very easy, as long as you have a good head on your shoulders. If you're looking for lab materials, you definately need to purchase a workbook. I would go with www.netmasterclass.net ($350) or ipexpert.net ($500) for their workbooks. Both of these also require a great deal of equipment as well(at very minimal, 10 routers + 2 switches), so I hope you know what you're getting into .

If you have any questions, i'm on aim(sn:therouterninja).

I've got my second lab attempt scheduled in May @ San Jose, hope this is the one.

 

[bgroff]

As far as books are concerned, I would also suggest Radia Perlman's "Interconnections" books. She was the person who was instrumental in developing spanning tree, NLSP and ISIS. Its not a Cisco Press book, but its still worth the time to at least glance through. I'd also suggest "Internet Routing Architectures" by Sam Halabi. Its the "BGP bible." Of course, from the looks of the blueprint there's more QoS and Multicast on the written nowadays. They also seem to have added some IPv6 stuff as well. I guess I will be reviewing that stuff myself soon since my recert deadline is June...

 

[nightowl]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Getting equipment will not be a problem. One of the benefits of being on the "inside".