1st CCIE lab attempt blog and help for candidates.

kpjungle

Turgon wrote: »

No time for serious reading today at work but I was able to scoot through a Netmaster practice test getting 89%. Also looked over the questions I got wrong. At home I have finally got through all 300 questions on the new Boson I picked up on Friday. Exhausting getting through so many new questions on that thing but worth it. I came out with 57% which considering the breadth and overall difficulty of the questions Im quiet pleased with for a first pass. It does however confirm what I suspected............

Hi Turgon,

The Boson practice test you mentioned, is that the one thats included in the CCIE R&S Exam cert. guide? or is it something you purchased on the side?

Turgon

kpjungle wrote: »

Hi Turgon,

The Boson practice test you mentioned, is that the one thats included in the CCIE R&S Exam cert. guide? or is it something you purchased on the side?

It's a new one that just came out. It's pretty good so far. Lots of diagramatic questions and what have you.

Read the Odom chapter on Shaping today. Just got done with the IP questions on the Boson scoring 71%. Will be looking over more Odom chapters tomorrow followed by Switching on the Boson in the evening. I will need to work over routing and switching theory very hard across the next four days and nights.

Turgon

Chapter 12 Classification and Marking covered. Also Chapter on Introduction to Multicasting. IGMP and CGMP fun and insane message flows.

kpjungle

Turgon wrote: »

Chapter 12 Classification and Marking covered. Also Chapter on Introduction to Multicasting. IGMP and CGMP fun and insane message flows.

CGMP back and forth, USA GDA getting to you?

Turgon

kpjungle wrote: »

CGMP back and forth, USA GDA getting to you?

hehehehe..by about that stage of my reading I was just about fed up with it all yeah. But I think I get the general idea! Helps with IGMP message efficiency too seemingly. Ok I just got done with the Boson switching sections tonight. 80% there and a few things straightened out thanks to the decent explanations. Think I will do general network theory and multicast tomorrow night.

Turgon

Read Odom chapter on Frame Relay

Turgon

Once I read the BGP chapter I will have completed the Odom book. While it is well written it's a patient read to get through so much material properly. So on track. Just did the General Networking Theory questions in Boson scoring 87.5%. Will try Multicast questions now.

djhss68

Did you schedule your written yet?

Turgon

djhss68 wrote: »

Did you schedule your written yet?

I will be scheduling for Friday if I can get a slot. I have only been studying hard for about three weeks but it's worth a punt.

Turgon

77% on the Multicast questions. Watch out for Administratively Scoped Addresess and message types. Obscure stuff.
55% on QoS. Interestingly this was my best topic when I tanked the test in February. Need to brush up on mechanisms and values there.
64% on IPv6. Addressing and Message types to brush up on.
76% on WAN

Turgon

73% on Security. I need to get CBAC down better.
54% on MPLS. Figures. Not many questions there and mostly theoretical.

Turgon

A short break from all this now. I have cleaned the car and Im taking the family out for an hour or two. Once the boy is tucked up in bed this evening I will continue with the IP routing questions. Some good explanations in there, one of which cleared up auto-summary nicely after all these years!

Turgon

An early start. Im going through the 90 questions on IP Routing in the Boson. Will report findings later.

Turgon

77% on the 90 IP Routing questions. Some tricky ones in there and a lot of small details straightened out when working things through a topology. Time for breakfast!

Turgon

My worst hand by miles is MPLS. Having abandoned a futile attempt to answer the MPLS questions in the test that comes with Odom book I printed the questions and answers and took them to work. I looked them over in the afternoon. Im weak on this subject. I will have a go at the Boson MPLS questions again this evening. The test is now bumped back to a week on Saturday providing I can find a UK testing centre available at the weekend.

Turgon

63% on MPLS questions on the Boson. I will take it. A modest improvement thanks to today's effort.

Turgon

Ok I checked the record of scores by topic. I blow on QoS 55% and IPv6 64% so that's my reading for lunchtime on Tuesday. Will take the Odom brick to work and then try those sections in Boson again in the evening. With the exception of MPLS (63%), all other sections are over 70%. Will need 80% + across the piece I reckon. The weekend will be busy on the homefront as we have a guest so there will be no time to study until Sunday evening. Next week I will need to work on the topics I struggled on when I took a punt at the written in February. These areas require particular research while I skim through the Odom book concentrating on all the areas I highlighted in the chapters during my reading the last three weeks.

I also have the transcender for BGP and QoS so may well give those a whirl time permitting.

Turgon

Some time spent working through the IPv6 chapter in Odom. Got about a third way through then had to take a break before getting busy the rest of the day. Made some useful notes and picked up some useful things with what amounts to my second reading of this chapter. It's an intense one with little to be gained by rushing. Work goes well and I expect to complete my assigned project on time. Satisfying. I think the regular reading hasn't gone unnoticed but I din't overdo it at work. For two reasons really. Firstly I have never been a good studier on works time as I find it hard to drop out of work mode. Secondly in my experience I have not found employers or peers for that matter to be very tolerant of study time at work. The fact it's lunchtime doesn't seem to add up. Having to read a book is not a good sign in the eyes of many. It also creates an impression that one isn't busy enough. I shall have to redouble my efforts. It amuses me. Just how do employers suppose their professionals obtain the skills they expect them to have? I can tell you, by reading on hundreds of commutes over the years, evenings, weekends and all on my time and dime.

My contract was renewed and runs for a while yet. Feedback has been good. There is plenty of work to do, but it's all about budget. I imagine if the budget is there I may be offered another renewal. I can certainly do the work. The irony is Im most probably going to decline any offer so I can concentrate fulltime on my lab prep. Each day out of work will cost the family hundreds of dollars in accrued running costs and lost earnings so I imagine I will be well motivated, but even so I really need some time out to finish this thing across the best hours of the day. The body and mind is refreshed without having to juggle everything all the time for the sake of a couple of hours of study.

IPv6 questions now. More later.

Turgon

I had a go at the Odom questions and that went rather well. Then I had a go at the Boson IPv6 questions. I got the same score 64%. More comfortable with the ins and outs though. I think the reading helped a bit. Dropped points on LSA types, tunnel modes, message types and addressing but the solutions have cleared that up nicely now. QoS tommorow!

Turgon

At lunchtime I got a quick look over of FRF.9 compression and FRF.12 fragmentation in the Odom book. That was it. I emailed my work account last night with a couple of links I found to QoS things but nothing showed up in the Inbox. Work mail filters I imagine. Watch out security.

Now busy getting mangled by the QoS questions in the Odom book. Once done I will have a go at the Boson QoS questions again. You know just looking at the three Odom chapters on QoS today Im most probably not going to get much milage by reading them over again. Tough read and there is little time for deep immersion in an involved topic like QoS before the test now. Probably the best I can do between now and then is have a go at the QoS Transcender I have on Sunday evening and skim through the things I highlighted in the book to try and commit some important items to memory. Details. Details.

Turgon

Ok after lumping all 35 Odom questions together Im calling time halfway in. Marks are very poor indeed. The knowledge is there but it's mush at the moment. What is white is black, and what is black is white in my head. I will need to have another go at these tomorrow evening when I have had time to think a bit. Odom's questions are good at straightening these things out. The explanations really help providing you have the reading under your belt, which I have. Will rectify tomorrow. So far as lab prep is concerned I reckon it's a week solid on QoS to really get it down at this point. Jolly good.

Turgon

At lunchtime today I got no more than a cursory look at the end of chapter questions in the Odom book. Attempted all 35 questions from the Odom test and came away with just under half marks. I have printed the problem questions and solutions and these will come to work tomorrow for a lunchtime going over. On the Boson I improved a little, upto 64%. Some of the details have come back to mind but I need to work the Odom questions out to really put things back in the right boxes. QoS isn't rocket science but you do need to work it regularly to stay sharp and you do forget the finer points.

Turgon

75% on the Boson QoS questions tonight. Things have improved quiet a bit over the last three days. Good. Formulas, parameters and shaping and policing mechanisms understood better.

Turgon

Just back from a London trip. Tried the Odom IPv6 questions and scored very well. Then took a gander through the Boson IPv6 questions. 94%. I have to be happy with that.

Turgon

Went over IGP theory for a couple of hours and some Multicast minutia. Time for the Boson IGP tests again..

Turgon

Half way through the test and hitting 80%. Pleasing improvements on IGPs. Will do the remainder tomorrow evening after work. It's going well. Anyone reading this who is put off by the effort and tempted to use bra1ndumps don't. The effort to slog through the written patiently and properly is absolutely worth it. My mechanism know how is definitely improving. Some of the finer points still need work but getting there.

rsutton

Regarding the reading at work. I have the same problem; people think if I am around during lunch I should be doing something. During lunch I walk outside the building to a nearby park and read there for 45 minutes. I need to separate myself from the building/email/datacenter etc.

Turgon

It's a common problem my friend.

Ok 78% on the Netmaster today. I got done with all 90 IP routing questions on the new Boson and hit 82%. I'm pleased with that. It will be switching next!

Turgon

Lunchtime at work I looked over the chapter questions on spanning-tree in the Odom book. Time for the Odom switching questions now followed by another sortie on the Boson switching questions. Tired of reading and practice questions now but another week should do it.

Turgon

Odom Switching questions 73%. Overall not too bad. Better on parameters and different STP scenarios. Messed up on the questions where adding preconfigured switches to a topology requires one to correctly identify the root switch and root port and vtp membership and roles. Those questions are messed up but fun nontheless. Will return to those.

Now the Boson switching questions..