To Ferberize or not to?

So our son just turned 7 months a few days ago and me and the wife have decided that its time for him to sleep on his own. He's been sleeping with us for the last 7 months in our bed with a co-sleeper but we'd like to be able to sleep through the night and you know, actually get to sleep together so we are moving him to his spacious crib in his spacious room. So we thought about all the different methods and are going with the Ferber Method. Its named after some Doctor in Boston who after doing years of research and studies found that babies after 4/5 months who have trouble sleeping through the night can be taught to sleep by a system of soothing, quiet bed time and letting them cry it out. We are on night number 2 and let me tell you, hes got a set of lungs. He lasted 34 mins the first night and last night he lasted 49 mins cause I made the mistake of picking him up. We are going to stick to it for a few weeks to see how he responds but once he was able to fall asleep, he stayed asleep for most of the night. My question is this. How many have tried the cry it out method and when did you see a dramatic difference. Also, if you had a baby who wasnt able to sleep through the night and woke up every few hours, what other methods did you use? Who knew parenting was so complicated. I have more respect for my parents with each passing day.