IP Expert Blended Learning Solution First Impressions

I hadn’t planned on picking up IP Expert’s Blended Learning Solution (BLS) until I had passed my written test.  But when I found out that the price was jumping from the promotional cost of $1000 up to $2000, I had to pick it up.  Since then, it has become one of my main study sources.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the product.  But if not, head on over to http://www.ipexpert.com/index.cfm/product/sku/Self_Study_Blended_Learning_Solution_CCIE_RS_Lab_Exam (after reading the rest of my post of course ).  It contains 2 main study sources: workbooks and lectures.  The lectures can be viewed as a video or listened to as MP3s.  The MP3s are nice for getting some study time in the car or on the go.  Everything is contained on a USB hard drive that gets shipped out to you.  The workbooks and audio files are also downloadable from the IP Expert website.

The lectures are given by Scott Morris (or at least the ones that I have viewed so far).  Scott has a nice teaching style and keeps things from getting too dry.  The videos go through the normal CCIE lab topics, and Scott does a nice job of pointing out good things to keep in mind for the test.

Typically for each major topic, there is an “Exercises” video lecture on the topic that goes through actual configurations and troubleshooting of the topic.  These videos are extremely helpful.  It’s helpful to watch the configs happening.  But it’s great to watch how Scott does his troubleshooting even though it’s probably pre-planned for the most part.  That has been the most helpful method for me to get the different technologies cemented in my mind.  The exercises lectures are not available in the MP3s.  But they really wouldn’t work in an audio-only format.

I started looking at a few of the workbook labs, and they look nice.  The workbooks come with proctor guides that explain how to solve all of the labs.  The IP Expert labs do require a lot of hardware to follow along with.  I believe they use about a dozen routers and 4 switches.  You can rent online racks.  But creating your own setup will cost you.  You will need 3550s and 3560s to do the layer 2 labs.  I’m pretty sure you can get by with lower-end stuff for the routers though.

So far the BLS is a great product.  The material is high quality.  At $1000, it was a no-brainer to get.  At $2000, I would be thinking hard about it as I also am planning on picking up Internetwork Expert’s products as well.

Feel free to ask me any questions about the product.  I’ll give you my unbiased opinion.