First stage complete

That’s the easy part out of the way – I’ve passed CCIE written. I worked my way through the huge stack of books I’ve got, managed to get enough to soak in, and got the written exam out of the way.

It wasn’t too flash, but a pass is a pass, so now I can book the lab. The aim will be to sit it late this year, before my wedding. It takes an average of 2.7 attempts to pass, so I’ll be happy to pass it in 2 attempts. The nearest location for me is Sydney. Not too bad, although it would be nicer to do it at home.

I need to do some research over the next few days, comparing and pricing workbooks, study material and rack rentals from INE, IPexpert and Cisco 360. Unfortunately it’s all very expensive (thousands of $US), so I need to do a bit of analysis before spending the cash. They have a range of different learning options, payment methods and approaches. I’ll probably go with INE, but add in a few bits and pieces from the other vendors.

Guess it was never going to be cheap studying for CCIE.

Other good news: I’ve ordered an iPad, and it should arrive next week! Purely purchased for…ah…study purposes. Yes that’s it.