I just sat and passed the CCDP exam.
Spending nearly a day and half flying to, around, and from the USA over the last two weeks gave me a lot of time to read the certification guide, as well as the other one I mentioned, after I passed the CCDA.
I would highly recommend both books. Especially the official guide.
I havn't finished all of the official guide, but I will continue reading it, as it is a very good book. Not just for the exam, but it's one of those books that every network engineer should read to understand more about how to properly design a network. I would give it a full five out of five stars. Well recommended!
The exam itself was pretty easy (thanks to the guide), a bit of routing protocol knowledge really does help, but I was done in about ten minutes. 55 questions, no drag and drops. Walked out feeling good.
So now it's back to CCIE.
104 days to go.
Time will fly.
I must say that I don't really feel prepared at the moment. I do know my stuff, I feel confident that given unlimited time to sit the exam I would pass with full marks. Unlimited time, however, is not an option.
So, how best to prepare? How best to makes sure I can do what's requested in the limited amount of time?
My wife is very understanding, thankfully, and she knows that I need more time to study at the weekends. The flip-side of this is that I also want to spend time with my family. The boys are at a great age now of three and a bit, where they are fun to play with. So, really, I am not one of those people who can do 12 hours a day study, partly by choice, partly due to other commitments (and my family is far more important that a qualification, really).
So, although I can squeeze some more study time out, it's about working smarter, not harder.
Still trying to come up with a plan though!
If any of you have any ideas, then I'd really like to hear them!