Here I will cover the basics of how to use Anki for CCIE preparation, and include links to Anki decks to help get you started.
Files
I'll go ahead and put the files right up top. Read further below for my recommendations on how to use these.
Description: Anki Deck for scheduling INE labs. - Assumes you have access to INE's CCIE RSv5 workbook ($299).
Description: A general knowledge deck of 3,469 CCIE RSv5 flash cards for Anki, created by Jedadiah Casey. I am using *many* of these for my preparation.
Using Anki to Study for CCIE RSv5
(much applies to learning pretty much anything)
I have been using Anki with two separate decks: one for general knowledge, and one with "lab cards". The knowledge cards are self-explanatory, I have 2700+ cards and I am a little ways into BGP (following the INE RSv5 Expanded Blueprint). I will probably have somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 cards by the time I am done. I can't share my "General Knowledge" Anki deck here because it contains tons of proprietary materials, mostly from networklessons.com and INE.com.
Creating Meaningful Flash Cards
This is a post written by Jedadiah Casey that I think many new to Anki would find quite useful:
Key Takeaways: The above is worth reading, but here are my key points.
Focus on concepts when you can, and USE IMAGES when you can. I have found that creating a small example diagram (or, more often, snagging one from another source) to quiz myself on a topic is much more effective than a text-only card. Anchoring concepts with imagery is a powerful tool for most people.
Here is an example of using a CiscoDoc image to create a flash card:
I put "no bgp client-to-client redirection" in bold in the answer because it is the key command that enables the behavior shown in the image. Now, a cool thing about this card (and many like it), is that by making and using this card, I also remember that you would have S1PE1 and S1PE2 with their own iBGP peering in this situation. Why? Because the image reminds me of all of the concepts that were discussed in that part of the document. If there were more concepts or they were more complicated, then I would simply make more cards referencing the same image.
Another example, this time using a mnemonic:
Mnemonics are useful, as lists of stuff are the hardest to remember for most people. Take the time to come up with something good (or google for it) and make a flash card with images. It will help you retain the information more quickly, and for longer.
One more tip is that more simple flash cards > fewer complicated cards. Always try to break ideas down into the smallest chunks possible. For example, imagine that my example card above said: "What are the eight OSPF neighbor states, and what happens during each of those states?". Well, crap - that is going to take you a long time to answer! In my deck I do cover what happens in each of those states, but in separate cards. For example, I think I have five or so cards asking specifically what is going on during the ExStart state. When you are reviewing your cards, take note of it if a card seems if it is asking you to recall too much information and see if you can break it down any further.
Create a New Deck for General Knowledge
I created a new Anki deck, called "Nick CCIE Prep". As I cover materials, I add cards from the Neckercube deck, and create my own or modify them as needed (I like to add pictures a lot). For example if you are covering VTP, then go into the Anki browser (click "browse" at the top of the Anki window) and move some of the VTP cards from the Neckercube deck to your new deck. You can find them easily because they are tagged. Select the "VTP" tag on the left-side pane and all of the cards marked with "VTP" will show up. I highly recommend doing it like this instead of just trying to do the neckercube deck straight off. There is a lot of material, so you are much better off adding cards about the topics that you are studying as you are studying them. As you move through materials, keep moving cards from the Neckercube deck to your "CCIE Prep" deck. If you don't like one of the Neckercube cards (for whatever reason), then make your own and don't add that Neckercube card.
To give you an idea, I have 2,729 cards in my CCIE Prep deck at the time of this writing. The neckercube deck still has 1,533 (from 3,469) cards left in it. That means I have added 1,936 of the neckercube cards (quite a few with modification), and that I have created 793 of my own cards. Some of those Neckercube cards will never make it into the CCIE Prep deck, because I made my own cards that I feel help me remember better, or because they contained information that I really didn't feel was worth committing to memory (rare, but there were a few).
Another note here is that I "cherry pick" the flash cards that pertain to the concepts that I have been covering. For example I am covering BGP right now. I have been going over aggregation, so it makes sense to add the flash cards from the Neckercube deck that relate to BGP aggregation. If I have added all of the Neckercube cards about BGP aggregation and there are concepts that I don't feel are completely covered to my liking, then I make more of my own.
Create a New Deck for Lab Scheduling
I recommend creating a second deck for your "CCIE Lab Schedule". Using the same example of VTP, while you are going through the VTP material, add the INE lab cards (download link up top) to your new lab schedule deck. Adding lab cards and doing them as you cover the material has a double-benefit:
- It helps you understand the material even better. The labs force you to exercise the knowledge that you have acquired from studying and doing flash cards, and will help reinforce that knowledge.
- It will drastically reduce the amount of time you spend practicing for the Lab Exam after you have covered all of the materials and passed the Written Exam.
The lab cards deserve a little more explanation. Basically as I go through a section, I make a card for each lab in the INE workbook. I do each lab fully at least once, or until I can do it quickly/without mistakes. If I don't do it quickly or I make mistakes, I hit "again" in Anki. I don't necessarily load up the configs for all of the labs every time (though I do 100% of them at *least* once). Usually I'll type out the key commands in notepad and check the answer. If I can clearly recall how to configure what it is that they are asking for, then I can hit "good". If I am only "pretty sure", then I do that lab anyway. If it gives me no trouble, then I hit "good". If I hit snags, then I hit "again". I covered switching in late August and I have retained the configuration/knowledge due to Anki reviews showing me stuff before I forget it, and then showing it to me more if I do.
Also I built an EVE-NG topology using CSR1000v devices. Check this link for information on how to build/configure the lab to work the way that I am using it:
I loaded each of the devices with the configs, specific to the lab. I am using SecureCRT, which allows you to "send to all devices". If I have a lab card, I can just send "config replace flash:config/bgp.confederation.cfg force" to all devices and the lab is ready within about 10 seconds. This saves a lot of time in the long run if you are doing the labs using my flash card strategy, since cards will very often be unrelated and require different initial configurations.
Do your Flash Cards Daily!!
Every day, I sit down and do my General Knowledge and Lab Schedule flash cards. OK, so I don't exactly get them both done every day, but I am definitely well above 90%.
If you find that your flash card load is becoming too heavy, then ease off on adding (so many) new cards for a few days. The review load is heavily influenced by how many new cards you are adding each day. I know it can be frustrating because you want to move ahead in your studies, but if you don't review then you are only fooling yourself into thinking you are moving ahead. The CCIE contains a lot of information, and the only way to know it all when you take the Exam is to review the information that you have already learned with regular spaced repetitions as you move forward. This process is not easy, but I feel confidant that you can pass your CCIE by using the methods I have set forth here.
Create a Roadmap (or better yet, use INE's!)
I have another post explaining how to track your progress using a spreadsheet that I built based off of INE's CCIE RSv5 Expanded Blueprint:
I am going through the material in the order that it comes up in the INE Expanded Blueprint. While I am going over the topics, I add the flash cards from the Neckercube deck and lab cards from my INE lab card deck that are associated with those topics. Some of the topics are slightly out-of-order when compared to the INE video series, but not by a lot. For example I skipped over EIGRPv6 and OSPFv3 on the blueprint because they are covered together a little later in the INE materials. Eventually, I will have covered all of the topics in the blueprint!
Keep At It!
This will take a long time. If it was easy, then you would know a lot more CCIE-certified individuals...
Thanks for sharing those tips. Very much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteuseful knowledge, thanks!
ReplyDelete