CCNP Switch cleared...

The test ended up being more difficult than I thought it would be, and I stumbled a bit in the Sim's but ended up passing, although I wasn't sure it would be a pass until they printed out the results.

So... one step closer to CCNP, one step away from Bust.

I took the test to the day, exactly one year from taking ROUTE.

I hadn't really intended for it to take that long, but life intervened. So now, I'm scheduling T-SHOOT for a week from now.

Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

One day...

And this will probably be my nemesis:

Pouring it on...Test in two days.

In case anyone wanted to know, the method to my madness.

$99.00 month subscription to CBT.nuggets.com
Cisco Press Route/Switch/T-Shoot books
YouTube labs from others for the test
Self-created practice test from the Cisco Press book

So how I go about it is:

Watch Jeremy Sciorra's video for a section, and do any configuration he runs through on my homelab.

Re-read the section in the Cisco Book

Run through a few You Tube labs on the section on my home lab

Take practice test's, created from questions in the Cisco Press book. Keep going until I hit 95%

I'm about 3/4's through the book/videos, with really just WLAN's to go, and two days until the test.

Then six days until the next test. I've lost some of my Route skills over the last year. (I'll be taking SWITCH exactly a year from the day I took ROUTE...)

Long time no post

Well, I've been a busy camper lately. Between the business, and now looking for new opportunities, It's been tough to think of helpful things to post for others.

That said, the CCNP journey continues, with a little more urgency. I'm in the midst of interviews right now with several great companies, but won't know more for a few weeks. Sitting at home without a plan is not really part of my M.O. , so I've scheduled my CCNP Switch test. No going back. The plan is to schedule CCNP T-Shoot the week after completing Switch should I pass.

I should be able to remove the "Bust" from the title of the blog within two weeks, barring any unforeseen loss of grey matter.

Thought I'd drop a pic of the lab set up for HSRP/VRRP/GLBP labs:

Lot's o' goodies. CCNA security, voice, and wireless racks coming soon...

Picked up all of this from one lot for an insane price... (plus a 2970, 3 2950g's, and a couple Cisco business class routers and switches.)

And yes, that is a 3560 POE switch.

I am only missing a p/s for the ASA. If it doesn't work when the P/S get's here I'll probably cry a bit.