How to become a CCIE by Darby Weaver

[Comblues]

The class started fairly promptly at or about 9:00am
as advertised.

8 students and since Narbik offers and actviely
encourages "FREE" repeats to his students, a couple of
these in use by some very well-seasoned students.

This class itself is about typical in terms of
students. 2 of us are guys who went to the lab 4
times already, 1 went 3 times, and at least 1 guy went
at least one time. And I think everyone else has not
gone yet.

2 guys are scheduled to go the lab on Monday
immediately following the end of the class. The rest
are sprinkled in mostly in the next 1-4 months or so
or may be unscheduled at this time (like me - I have
to re-take the written - my last 3 years expired).

Narbik starts the class by handing out like 5 fresh
and somewhat beefy binders labed Volume 1 - 5 and and
a new one that was kind of thin and felt a little
special. It was some of his newest work and it was
feature-rich with hands-on labs.


Narbik does not use any aids whatsoever, unless you
count the whiteboard. The guy knows his CLI and he
practices it by memory on the keyboard.

No mistakes, no misinterpretations or no this doesn't
work and I'm not sure why. Some of us have seen this
by others here and there. Not ole Narbik he is on
the ball.

If it is in his workbooks, he knows every keystroke.
If it's in the blueprint it looks like it is in there.
He takes the time to let you cover some labs and then
get right into it yet again.

He makes some amusing jokes here and there. He does
not have to repeat something got he lost his place
while competition-bashing. He's not about that. His
job is you, the student and everyone knows it and can
feel it.

Many of the students have been to other places,
Cert-Science, Heinz, NMC, NLI, IE, IPexpert, etc. All
seem pleased and pleasantly surprised by an instructor
who actually gets up in the front and instructs...

Oh and the hour... 9am to 9pm you have an instructor
and it appears the class is 5.5 days... yep... you fot
that right - DO NOT BOOK YOUR FLIGHT FOR FRIDAY - Make
it Saturday or even Sunday... You'll need it.

So... you get ~64 hours of instructor in the flesh and
another 15 hours of immediate availability or nearly
80 hours all in one week and...

for about 1/2 the price - only $2000.00 and with all
the throw-ins.

Now.. guys and gals - I've been to a few camps now and
I have to say I've only been more impressed with the
quality and creativity more and more each time.

I have to say this... the best bargain for the buck.

Now about Narbik - this is a first impression so... it
is the first time we've met and trust me we've been on
the same sides some times and minced words behind the
scenes a time or too as well over this or that.

The guy is funny, personable, and very engaging. Not
monotone, never boring and very very technically
interesting.

He was hit with a real world question concerning the
characteristics of SRR Queueing tonight and I swear I
thought he might falter.

But no, he caught his breath and gave a very concise
and precise technical explanation involving the
technology and why it did what it did the way it did.


Wham! He handled it so cool and with such ease you
would have thought he had written the RFC or designed
the Backplane or ASICs...

Very smooth, Mr Kocharians. My complimements.

He then went on and steered the class very smoothly
back on track like the disruption never happened.

The really cool thing is: He never looses his place.
He never repeats unless asked too (I had to ask a time
or two).

I've been to camps where I heard the same thing
repeated so many times it was etched in my skull, or
that the only thing I could remember was that no arp
frame had no earthly function and every other
instructor was an idiot for using it for so long in
the first place, etc.

You can say stand up and scream if you know what I
mean.

So we covered switching and though by now I consider
myself a pretty decent switching guy (I actually
scored 94% last lab attempt) he still found a way to
keep me interested in his expertly-crafted labs even
when I already knew the outcome of the commands.

He covered frame and I even had to make some fresh
notes on some of the aspects of frame-relay and you
gotta know, I do not often make new notes here at all.

Well... he brought up a poignant point about frame and
I suspect a often missed section that is probably the
single cause of my 94% versus 100% in Bridging and
Switching and I'll tell ya... it made sense to me.

No he did not break the NDA and by now after 4
attempts I'd know.

He does use some eloquent and simple techniques and
explanations to make things easier.

He offered me to come to his class with him for better
than a year now and I finally got the opportunity and
I swear had I went when he first took an interest in
me... I'd have been a CCIE by now, I'm pretty sure of
it.

There are just so many things and his labs are just so
damn practical, they make everything just fall into
place.

The idea he offers his students another seat is really
cool too...

Now, I'm not sure but I did not here a LIMIT on his
offer although one would expect to be reasonable and I
think there may be a condition or two with regard to
lab materials (he updates them frequently - as
evidenced by the fact that the lab workbook was
changed a bit from the guy who had already been to his
class before) So... he does update them...

I've been to at least one vendor whose class I went to
that the workbooks were very similar to the class
materials I had from their class that was about 6-7
years apart. Yep... And I was told that the cost was
full price to go again...

Let's see... so I paid full price for the entire
program and I have to pay full price to see what is at
least some of the same stuff... Hey maybe is business
is tough for some.

Not for Mr. Narbik. He's got a pretty full schedule
of people it seems and he always is willing to make
room for one more...

Well some might say by what about intructor to student
ratio...



Well... I'd have to remind you that Narbik's latest
workbooks, so far are fully documented, commented, and
they match what your rack will give you, line for
line. The man did his homework.

I've heard "Make No Assumptions".

Well some might give the students that a similar line
and "A-S-S-U-M-E" a student knows the "basics" and
only worry about the harder topics.

Not Narbik. No really!!! Not Narbik.

He starts with the OSI and appears to working through
it quite thoroughly...

Let me say this and if you get nothing else: GET
THIS!!!

NARBIK does not ASSUME anything from his students - He
does something new... He TEACHES his student. Yep,
old-fashioned concept and he does it so well.

For a guy like me who loves to write and take notes
and even get explained concepts one by one in no
particular rush... Narbik does this and by my opinion
does it very well. He does it with ease and he
actually conveys the material to you.

I remember once going over Cat QoS with one vendor
some time back and thinking man they know this stuff
inside out. I left the class twice and still - I did
not know it inside out - perhaps my own failing, but
I did not really get it.

4 labs - and out of say ~40 points, maybe 5 or 6...

Nope I did not get it. So maybe I'm a rock or
something. But I did not really leave with the
ability to perform the operation confidently.

So... for the past two years I've cringed when it
comes to Cat QoS...

I think Narbik brought a candle this evening and I
compared it to two of my site's real world
configurations and it just seemed to make sense.

More on this later after Narik covers the rest of
things.

I also recall taking classes with multiple instructors
present and somehow leaving feeling like I did not
quite the attention I was requesting.

Yep... True. Maybe the instructor's felt I was not
quite ready at the time and kind of ignored me and my
feeble questions for others who were more prepared and
more ready for the exam.

Anyway - I paid the same fee as the others... or I
think I did... Yep - I got the receipts.


So.. how does Narbik do it? Well with 8 students... 8
to 1 ratio... I can tell you that not a single
question went unheard or unanswered and Narbik took
them all and worked them out.

One student was have ing difficulty (real the sounds
of it) and Narbik took the time to handle it while not
missing a heartbeat and so it largely went unnoticed
by the rest of the students.

As an instructor, I can tell you - he knows how to
engage and how to work a room.

He does not spend time grading labs or making labs or
taking emails or phone calls. He is a professional
and he is at work to help his students.

Narbik does just that.

I had two close friends who were unable to make this
trip at the last minute and Narbik did all he could to
accomodate them but alas they were unable to get here
this time.

They are new to this and while I am dying to see what
comes next, they'll be looking for my thoughts and
recommendations and while I have been to others, I'm
liking what I see so much that... I'm really really
thinking that if they make it to this class, they
simply may not need to do what I've done.

Especially not when you see how many people are
passing like flies due to the simple straight-forward
approach Narbik is using.

I was met by a friend from GS and he asked me:

Did Narbik's or the Brian's materials violate the NDA?
He had gotten a little confused by one of me earlier
references to the word "materials" and I had to
clarify... Nope it is simply "GOOD STUFF".

Well, Steve (an instructor himself - not CCIE) had
already met Narbik and was impressed and so... yep
he's already booked in next month's class in Pasadena.

A couple of others are too as is one of my class-mates
for a repeat even before he started this one...

One thing Narbik does and he says this at the start of
his classes - "I'll give you an honest assessment at
the end of the class where you are and what you need
to do to get to where you might need to be to pass the
lab".

Most of us are taking practice labs to find this out.
Narbik is a seasoned instructor who has about 30 years
experience or so... He knows when he sees a someone
who can and who cannot pass.

Some instructors are not so candid with their
students. No not all are. Sorry if you thought they
were or if they were not quite as candid with you as
you thought they should be.

Narbik says he will tell each student where they are
and I already heard this in person from a former
student from a previous class. no need to doubt it.


Forgive my typos... it's just me.

I guess I have to put on my flame-shield.

Oh yes and for the person who asked me whether or not
I thought Narbik uses alias GS accounts to talk up his
class...

At first it almost sounded like it, even to me. And I
admit I was skeptical.

Well, I'm sitting in class with a some of the people
who commented on behalf of Narbik.

I've met some others in town so far or have spoken
over the phone or email and I made it a point to do
so...

Nope... if he's doing it, he's fooling me.

Now - anyone curious about the 60% of first time
passers from Narbik's classes, look up the one's who
post here on GS, the numbers jive and are unique.

The class is real and really good. I'm glad I made
it.

Even one of my other friends who told me I might find
it basic and not as much to my liking was a bit
mistaken.

I'm really impressed at how easily Narbik is breaking
things down so wonderfully.

He said he works hard on his materials to constantly
improve them and it shows. God it shows.

I used to think the only way to get good QA was using
the CheckIT engine.

Not so...

I was expecting typos and other errors - not so or at
least not yet.

Many of the most prominent vendors here have great
materials that are marred by inconsistencies and
errors that some of us bang our heads over.

If you get a chance take a chance and get over to:

micronicstraining.com and take a look at the demo pdfs
and do yourself a favor and get a copy of these
workbooks if you cannot get to the class for whatever
reason.

Seriously, they are really good. They are step by
step.

The biggest thing I have seen so far is the issue
where Narbik used 12.2.40 or 12.2.44 code on his
switches and I used 12.2.25.EED and some output is a
bit different.

Otherwise... WoW!!!

I was honestly thinking none of the vendors could make
an error free workbook.

Well... it's nice to see one that is doing it so far.

But I've got a couple of thousand pages to go before I
can be 100% sure.

But to say I'm smiling from ear to ear over this is an
understatement.

Recall Soup to Nuts and it's little mistakes... not
these workbooks.

-----------------------------------

So far day one is a perfect 100 for what a CCIE
Bootcamp should be.

About 60-70% labs and about 30-40% lecture for about
12 hours with a small lunch break at the restaurant
literally across the street.

And if anyone is counting, the hours add up to more
hands-on than mostly anyone's other classes with an
instructor in the class with "FEET ON THE GROUND".

Oh yes - one last thing... He does not leave you to
sink or swim like some of may have felt in some
classes... doing some labs. He is there in the jungle
side by side and accessible at all times.

I think that is how all classes are supposed to be.

Sadly a few of know this is not always the case.

Keep it up Narbik! Great job!

- Drinks and Snacks are available so students for free
like most other classes.

- Parking seems to be ample.

- Facility staff are very friendly and polite.

Not a single thing to complain about yet.

If this sounds like my best review yet - there is a
reason. I'm pretty impressed so far.

Later it is 12:38pm and as I said class does come
early.

Oh this one did not get out last night due to hotel
loss of Internet service. Kind of weird.

Hotel is about 1 block away if you stay at the Comfort
Inn and Ethan Banks says it's got the best breakfast!

[Tinus1959]

Seems a good teacher to me.

[Comblues]

Hmmm...

Narbik's Work Book - The Real Deal.

Sitting in class and next to Mr. Ethan Banks and Ethan's

like... I never saw that in any of the NMC DoIT Labs (He

completed all 25 labs and annoted it on his fanous CCIE

Blog).


Well it's true.

When I sat in NMC-1, they told us that what they were

giving us was the tip of the iceberg. They said we would

have to work out the rest on our own and spend a lot of

hours doing research and working out the details.


Hah Hah...

Guys... Listen carefully, I have a secret...

This guy Narbik... He did that for you. And he took it

a step further...

He did what I did not think was possible...

1. He beat the Brian's on the simplicity of his

explanations.

2. He beat NMC (I personally thought it just

could not be done) on the thoroughness and accuracy of

his explanations.

3. And... yes he did... yesterday on

Day-2 - I saw evil that surpassed that of "The Evil

Bastard, himself".

Yes - He did these things. And as he told us in class, "It is easy!"

And he laughed widly. And he deserved it.

I had to ask Ethan "Was it worth it?" He smiled and said

in a giddy voice with cherubic smile that spanned from ear to ear...

He said "YES!!!"...

I'm going to say this and say it a little early, since I

saw what what Narbik did for IPv6, RIP, and EIGRP

yesterday and about 10, yes 10 things I just had not seen

before... and they say that "Stacy's Sister's Got It

Going On" but this guy is kicking @$$ and taking names...

and he conveys it so easy...

I think I've found Luke Skywalker or Morpheus... Somebody

call the law... It is like that.

Darby Weaver
Feb 20, 2008
8:05am
Pasadena, California

[Comblues]

Hmmm...

Narbik's Work Book - The Real Deal.

Sitting in class and next to Mr. Ethan Banks and Ethan's

like... I never saw that in any of the NMC DoIT Labs (He

completed all 25 labs and annoted it on his fanous CCIE

Blog).


Well it's true.

When I sat in NMC-1, they told us that what they were

giving us was the tip of the iceberg. They said we would

have to work out the rest on our own and spend a lot of

hours doing research and working out the details.


Hah Hah...

Guys... Listen carefully, I have a secret...

This guy Narbik... He did that for you. And he took it

a step further...

He did what I did not think was possible...

1. He beat the Brian's on the simplicity of his

explanations.

2. He beat NMC (I personally thought it just

could not be done) on the thoroughness and accuracy of

his explanations.

3. And... yes he did... yesterday on

Day-2 - I saw evil that surpassed that of "The Evil

Bastard, himself".

Yes - He did these things. And as he told us in class, "It is easy!"

And he laughed widly. And he deserved it.

I had to ask Ethan "Was it worth it?" He smiled and said

in a giddy voice with cherubic smile that spanned from ear to ear...

He said "YES!!!"...

I'm going to say this and say it a little early, since I

saw what what Narbik did for IPv6, RIP, and EIGRP

yesterday and about 10, yes 10 things I just had not seen

before... and they say that "Stacy's Sister's Got It

Going On" but this guy is kicking @$$ and taking names...

and he conveys it so easy...

I think I've found Luke Skywalker or Morpheus... Somebody

Call the law... It is like that.

Darby Weaver
Feb 20, 2008
8:05am
Pasadena, California

- 9:29am - Update: What I am trying to say is that some of us have felt the need to purchase from more than one vendor to "get it right". Each has a lot to offer for sure. No doubt there. Mostly everything is very very excellent.

But, I specifically remember being told that there was no way someone could cover all these issues in a week. We would have to do our own research before we take the lab.

Really guys, this guy - Narbik is pretty damn thorough.

One guy in class is pretty advanced, Paul (from this list) and he felt some things were too basic or too thorough, etc.

He had to apologize to Narbik after Day 2. As of this morning he just said he felt the RIP and IPv6 labs for example were far too extensive and too much.

But my question is if you are a "relative newbie" or if you failed the lab and EVER had trouble with the protocol - IT CAN FAIL YOU, then you might appreciate the most extensive explantaions on these subjects.

Hint: I did.

Yesterday, I was introduced to ~10 things that were eventful and useful, that I had not seen before.

Is this bad? Not by my count. It's fantastic!!!

Seriously, I'm impressed.

I scored a 70 per my math on my last lab in December. I did not really think I really needed another lab. I got quotes from other vendors I had been to and was given FULL PRICE quotes.

Hmmm... I was told things had changed and that there was added value.

Maybe - there is.

However, since my materials that I've collected pre-date some of the current vendors and from their other "previous employers". I have pretty decent insight in this matter. I can speak on this matter as very few if any can.

Ain't much new. So maybe some of the places I've been are covering some of these nuggets.

Maybe not.

Narbik is and it is being very expertly conveyed.

He is actually "teaching".

And yes - others do to, but to be honest up till now, I have "missed" these lectures and associated labs for the entire CCIE Lab Blueprint.

Really the guy is doing a good job - but he has to:

Most of the students are repeat students (following his advice) advanced students like Ethan or Paul, or guys who have been to the lab 1-4 times.

A couple of us are or have been instructors too and so he's got a tough audience.

No mercy in this class.

But wait. The students (repeats) say he is like this all the time.

One guy told me last night he had taken a class with Narbik in Las Vegas and he was concerned since Narbik lived close that the class might not go late. Well...
he does stay till 9:00pm and later as of last night.

The biggest complaints I've heard so far:

1. Late Lectures after 10 hours of hands-on rack-time.

2. Being too thorough on IGPs like RIP, IPv6, and EIGRP. And having too many labs on these topics.

Hmmm...

Having lectures into the night is probably the worst thing so far.

Not bad overall.

You can't ask a person to stay that late and not deliver the material.

Like I said I'm impressed.

And for those who do not know - my flight to get here was from Hell. No more American Airlines for me. I hope. They made us re-check in and re-check baggage. Got into a major frantic cluster to get a flight and then... they lost/delayed our bags. I finally got my bags late night on Sunday.

I'm sure frequent flyers have these problems once too many too.

Still unpleasant.

But the class is worth it.

FYI - I am on my own vacation, and paid my expenses from a very much depleted budget - after I re-financed my house to pay for my previous expensses (including have nicer racks for RS, Voice, Security, SP, WLAN, and Network Management, and Sniffer - I own and Infinistream too). You get the point. Not sure this matters much.

I've loaned people here and other places my gear from time to time.

One more thing - It seems that Narbik is is going to release his CCVP / CCIE Voice Training after he completes his own CCIE Voice (Scheduled in the 3rd quarter of this year - it's a rumor as of the moment).

With that said, Narbik told me a long time ago that he was working on the RS Class to end all classes and I saw some of the clearest works yet, but really was not sure he could pull it off. I did not know him very well, obviously.

Narbik is giving his students what we've all been asking for:

A complete program of study.

His students are passing and some actually publish their numbers here.

[Heresay]
Apparently, Cisco questioned the number of passing students from his classes. So he gave them copies of his classes to review.

And now... it seems they may be interested in his works and using him as an instructor since his works and lectures are so well contructed and concise.
[/Heresay]

And students get his grandmother for free...


[Narbik Quote of the Day]
It's ridiculously easy.
[/Narbik Quote of the Day]

[Comblues]

Day 3 - Coming. We were very busy but I got one out.

Day 4 - BGP is a bear but I'm going to write about it after I finish doing it.

Paul Borghese the owner of Groupstudy.com asked me not to post on his list anymore. He calle it shilling.

It was a polite request and it is his list.

So... I made an offer for CiscoGroupStudy.com and bought it promptly.

I'm the proud new owner of the name. I have my favorite web designer working on my page as we speak.

I expect to run a little forum there, a new more reliable list server, and a blog too.

Thanks to the incomparable Ethan Banks (the guy sitting to my left in Narbik's class) for the Blog tips and advice. I'm going to take him up on it.

I've been working hard to find a curriculum to either endorse or help with in some small way.

So there may soon be a Tier-1 CCIE Training Provider in Orlando.

And yes, I'll be around to help it grow a little.

And Michael I have not forgot what I owe you either. I'll be hot on that asap after I finish from my client site in Pasadena.

Not kewl to be banned for stating an obvious fact that CCIE Training Providers need to step up their game.

Kewl - Since now, I'll be able to help more people. The old CCIE list was ailing badly from emails and posts not getting through.

I'm going to jump start the list by resubmitting my replies - since like 90-99% never made it. I have over 2000 in the last few months and very very few ever made it. Maybe a broke list server - maybe filtering. Who knows?

I'll tell you this, I expect that if there is a problem on my site, I'll know why and I'm at least technical enough to fix it and humble enough to admit if I cannot or do not have the time.

I'll still try to keep up my posts on the other forums around the world as much as possible - since I have so many friends from mostly everywhere.

[BosonMichael]

No problem, man. Shouldn't take you long to burn through it, considering your level of knowledge regarding the topic.

Additionally, I have no doubt that you will provide a fair and accurate review as to whether Boson's products adequately prepare people for the exams.

Thanks for your insight regarding CCIE training... it's something I eventually want to do.

[Comblues]

Michael,

If you would like I can write a review of my findings for the exam. I am biased, I loved Boson's Cisco Practice Exams and still use them to prep for interviews and review.

Seriously, I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

Darby

[Comblues]

Narbik does not cover subnetting very deeply. He does do a brief spill on it but does not cover it as heay in lectures. I have to spend more time on his Security Labs to see what he does with it there.

I consider this a crucial skill.

[BosonMichael]

Originally Posted by Comblues

Narbik does not cover subnetting very deeply. He does do a brief spill on it but does not cover it as heay in lectures. I have to spend more time on his Security Labs to see what he does with it there.

I consider this a crucial skill.

It is crucial... but hopefully, if someone is studying for the CCIE, they SHOULD have subnetting down pat. Perhaps Narbik has some tricks up his sleeve for those who can't subnet quickly... but there are high-quality subnetting tutorials out there for those willing to look for them. Not so much with more obscure CCIE topics... as you have already mentioned, there are good CCIE trainers, and there are not-so-good ones... and in neither case do they grow on trees. Thus, Narbik's probably choosing to forego teaching detailed subnetting in favor of concentrating on something that few (if any) other teachers teach.

As you've mentioned, there's only so much time, and Narbik already stays late.

[BosonMichael]

Originally Posted by Comblues

Michael,

If you would like I can write a review of my findings for the exam. I am biased, I loved Boson's Cisco Practice Exams and still use them to prep for interviews and review.

Seriously, I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

Darby

I'd be thrilled to see an honest review of the exam from you. The more people that hear the word that Boson's stuff is of the highest quality, the better... for everyone.

Well... better for Boson, and better for the customers... perhaps not so much for the competition.