And it begins again - On the road to my CCIE in Storage

And it begins again. The road to CCIE certification is a long one. The last time I stepped down this path I was attempting my Routing and Switching certification. I learned some hard lessons during my two attempts at the lab.

The first lesson was that knowledge alone is not sufficient to pass the lab.
The second was that the lab is not the real world, and the proctors do not intend to replicate real world problems.
The third lesson was that speed is as important as brains.
The fourth lesson is that you can’t make it alone.

This time I am taking a different tack. I am studying with a partner. My focus will not be real world implementations, it will be on all possible hellish combinations a proctor could come up with. I will be spending many late nights working on my speed.

I have passed all of Cisco’s storage exams, including the Written qualification for the CCIE Storage Networking exam. At first I thought the biggest challenge would be getting ahold of lab gear. It is not like this stuff is cheap. However I have been finding more gear out there than I had thought I would. This is a good sign.

I will be posting my experiences throughout this entire process. I am not under the illusion that it will be easy. Luckily I have the lessons learned from my attempts before the war, and a new found enthusiasm.