1st CCIE lab attempt blog and help for candidates.

Turgon

Ok Lab 10 post BGP topics now.

I have one more practice session scheduled followed by a Mock exam the next day. We will then be in the final week of our holiday so I have decided to stop the lab practice and spend more time with the family who have been very supportive and patient during my study sessions the last three weeks. We will be moving around quite a bit anyway. On return to the UK there will be no time for rack practice for a few days. So it could be as long as two weeks before I hit the command line again. I should find some time before then to turn over some reading though. Over all, it's been a very useful few weeks on the study front. I wouldn't normally go for a mock exam so soon after the last one (a week) as this really isn't much time to make a difference. There are certainly lots of topics that I need to get down a little better. However I would like to see if I can work the second one in a pacier way before some weeks elapse before I attempt a third.

Certainly glad I did not rush the v3 attempt. In the months ahead I have a written to clear, various v3 topics to master and new v4 topics to get down. Good luck to anyone cramming now to meet that October 18th date. If you are on top of the topics you have a shot at clearing the test. If you are not, you will most likely fail.

MPLS awaits!

Turgon

Lab 10 post BGP topics cleared. ACL practice for RP group announcements required. Certainly have lots of work ahead of me on the security sections. Fiddly things.

Turgon

Used the last hour on the rack to work over the FRTS and MQC questions in lab 9. Went very well.

ccie15672

MPLS is easy... its just a way to do tunnelling basically... Once you wrap your head around it, you'll want to virtualize the sh*t out of your network...

Turgon

ccie15672 wrote: »

MPLS is easy... its just a way to do tunnelling basically... Once you wrap your head around it, you'll want to virtualize the sh*t out of your network...

Yes Im sure you are right Derek. I had to work with MPLS on my last contract and I could follow the configurations quite well. I shall be setting a few weeks aside to concentrate on MPLS just before my lab attempt.

Turgon

Just waiting for the configurations to load. Another session this morning and afternoon. I will be going through as many BGP questions as possible from lab 7 onwards. Then tomorrow I get mullered in my second mock. Henchforth my hands on practice endures a hiatus of a fortnight until I have an opportunity to sit at home again and put in significant rack hours. In the meantime I will turn over my notes and work hard on theory. Need to take the written out and get up for those OEQ's.

Turgon

Configured BGP sections in labs 7,8,9,10 and 11. There wasn't enough time on the rack session to go over lab 12 properly so I will just read that one later. The remote racks worked well on this session. I simply loaded a lab after the BGP peering section and set about all the tasks. Once complete I loaded the next lab up. It all worked quite smoothly and I covered a lot of things during the session. I need to put some notes together and go over the details again. I will take a peak at the mock exam results this evening and then that's it until the second mock tomorrow. I'm kind of glad this phase of hands on practice is over. It's been very worthwhile but the last three weeks have become a grind and Im rather bored with it all now. Some theory the next couple of weeks should recharge my batteries. Taking technologies individually in rack session drills is definitely the way ahead. Im pretty good at spotting what is required to meet a task these days. The issue is that while in many cases I have the solution details down, in others Im still wooly. These are the things Im working on now and it's incrementally getting better each practice session across all topics. But it is tedious, and it does take time.

Repetitive training is fine at this point in my studies. My foundation is really solid and I understand things well enough, it's just recalling those little things that escape you for some of the command line constructs to achieve results.

Turgon

On to the mock now. One of the reasons for the duration of my studies has been an absence of regular lengthy rack sessions. Typically I have been putting in about a couple of hours in on rack sessions in the evening after work. At weekends I amass more racktime but generally sporead out throughout the course of the day. Now Im off work I have been able to put in longer sessions which is certainly helpful. I ran out of time in the last mock so I will try to get through the topics in a pacier way today.

Turgon

Ok I finished the mock exam. I think it went a bit better today. The last few sections were rushed and I left too many points on the table so I expect the mark to be shocking. Speed is my problem at present. That will improve with more regular practice sessions and I know a lot of candidates have problems with that at this stage. Aside from being too slow Im pleased to report that my studies of late are helping in every way. I was overall comfortable with the tasks. I still need to improve in areas that are known to me but really speed is the secret sauce now.

No more lab prep for a while now. Time to enjoy the rest of this vacation with the family before we return to England. It's been a really good period of study here in Russia giving my chances a boost thanks to the support of my family. Time now for some relaxation with everyone without books and labs for the last week of our holiday here.

Turgon

Ok on with theory prep until I return to the UK and some more rack time opens up. Itenery for rack practice is lab 11 and 12 (the post BGP tasks), then on alternate days the core topics of a lab followed by practice on a post BGP topic from five consecutive labs. Will hit up another mock exam at 850 practice hours.

Turgon

Clattered through all 90 IP routing questions on the Boson and hit 81%. It's been weeks since I saw these so quite pleased with that. Will look over the trivia I got wrong tomorrow.

ncsugrad2002

You've mentioned renting a rack quite a few times.. how much does it cost and how well does it work for you vs purchasing equipment?

Turgon

ncsugrad2002 wrote: »

You've mentioned renting a rack quite a few times.. how much does it cost and how well does it work for you vs purchasing equipment?

Remote racks work well for me when the slots are available. Prices vary, you can get a lot of racktime for a couple of hundred dollars. A homerack is more convienient but can be pricey to set up and noisy. I have done a lot of configuration practice at home. The benefits are the gear is paid for and it's great for as and when practice sessions. The downside is the noise and the lack of the latest features with what I have at home.

Turgon

Well a buddy failed his lab at the fourth attempt on the OEQs and he's rather unhappy at it. I'm afraid this process is failing hardworking capable candidates as well as catching cheaters. Having to endure five open ended questions about almost anything in the R&S space is rather unnerving. Memorising everything in Cisco Press books is beyond most of us. For my part while I think I could respond adequately on many topics there are always going to be things that can be dredged up that could give me trouble, fox me or simply confront me with something I should know well but have forgotten. I'm not rainman. So I think you need some luck in terms of the questions heading your way on the day. Studying for the written should help me somewhat. Of late I have found that lab prep has not (for example) been overly good at reinforcing details of the differences in mechanism of things like loopguard, rootguard, bpduguard and bpdufilter. Such things are heading my way on the written and OEQ. People including my wife think OEQ are ridiculous and complaints should be made to Cisco. Cisco are not listening. We will just have to suck it up.

Bl8ckr0uter

Turgon wrote: »

Well a buddy failed his lab at the fourth attempt on the OEQs and he's rather unhappy at it. I'm afraid this process is failing hardworking capable candidates as well as catching cheaters. Having to endure five open ended questions about almost anything in the R&S space is rather unnerving. Memorising everything in Cisco Press books is beyond most of us. For my part while I think I could respond adequately on many topics there are always going to be things that can be dredged up that could give me trouble, fox me or simply confront me with something I should know well but have forgotten. I'm not rainman. So I think you need some luck in terms of the questions heading your way on the day. Studying for the written should help me somewhat. Of late I have found that lab prep has not (for example) been overly good at reinforcing details of the differences in mechanism of things like loopguard, rootguard, bpduguard and bpdufilter. Such things are heading my way on the written and OEQ. People including my wife think OEQ are ridiculous and complaints should be made to Cisco. Cisco are not listening. We will just have to suck it up.

That seems odd. Aren't the OEQ like opinion based? So what, Cisco is now so great that it can tell you if your opinion is correct?

ncsugrad2002

Yep, the OEQ's are ridiculous. Friend of mine works for Cisco and was part of the trial of that part of the program in China a couple of weeks/months ago and said people with 97% and above on the labs failed because of the OEQ's. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me.

Turgon

Back in the UK now. The unpacking is done. It's now full steam ahead on written prep although with no family around to support my wife like when we were on holiday I will have to pace the preparation accordingly so I can help out with the little one and the chores. Let's get Boson finished, then the Odom questions. After that it's note taking from the Odom end of chapter questions and the things I highlighted in the chapters when I read the book. This gives me some notes to look over before I sit the exam. I will see if I can book a rainman test experience for early next week. If I don't get through will resit in a weeks time assuming I don't get splattered. Some years ago I remember the written changing and a CCIE who was recerting commenting that it took him four attempts to clear the new version. Looking back I think the test isn't that much harder than the old versions but it is harder to prepare for. Back in the day if you put the time in you would clear the test. Today, time isn't enough, you really need to get the state machines and protocol mechanics down.

Turgon

Marks on the Boson are solid, it's been a useful study tool. Tomorrow I will revisit the remaining topics, switching, multicast and Ipv6 and then move on to the Odom test engine.

Turgon

Boson finally obliterated today. I found it good for clarification on all kinds of things across protocols. Glad it's done. Odom test questions tomorrow. Over the weekend the Odom end of chapter questions and notetaking consolidating all the things I highlighted in the book when I read it some weeks ago. Should have some useful notes to look over Sunday before I test on Monday, assuming I can get a slot. I hope I clear the test. If I miss and the score is in the 60 mark I can clear it with no trouble next time out. High 50's are less good but still doable. But if we slide to low 50's or god forbid a high 40's score then Im in real trouble. Need to return to lab prep asap. I have mapped out some technology practice sessions across all 20 Vol II IWEB labs. It will be a lot of work to get through all those so I need to make a start very soon. Looking at an evil six weeks ahead to finish blasting the v3 topics and get those mock exam marks up. I need to be hitting the end of October and starting on the v4 technologies.

Turgon

Mock exam results came back. For mock one I left a lot of points on the table and came in at 38. The second mock I felt I did slightly better and got around more topics. The result is a fabulous 18. Cool. Scott Morris told me its not so much the score as what you learn from it. The only feedback are the percentage scores on each topic so I wont know what happened until I pour over the solutions and I have no time for that this weekend.But I think I can guess. It will be serious issues with the core work. While I set about configuring everything I believe I made many bad choices. Bad datalinks, frame issues and split horizon, bad switch config choices and perhaps redistribution loops. The moral is to work hard on the core. With everything stemming from there if you have issues you can expect to get clattered no matter how many later tasks you get around. I will need a sh1t hot core methodology before Christmas. Outside of labprep the pressure is now on to find a new contract before they all dry up with the year end looming so I expect to be spending lots of time finding some gainful employment in the weeks ahead. Then you have the stressful first month in a new job with the commute. This will impact my study hours as days are long and tiresome and you need to stay focussed requring most of your energy. On top of this a wife waiting at home worried about how the new job is going. It's important therefore to crack on with as much study as I can before I start a new gig. I know someone who just cleared CCIE at second attempt. Been at it since 2004 and hardly saw his little one grow up with all the study and bootcamps and what have you.

I think for the next mock in a few weeks time I will forget the clock and just stay on core topics until Im as happy as I can be about them before trying to cherry pick marks on the post BGP topics. Sucks to be a CCIE candidate sometimes but it's all part of the fun. The pain makes you a better specialist.

It's 8:30 am here and our two year old is being naughty. I shall try and concentrate on
theory prep the next 72 hours

Turgon

Into the Odom questions now. So far not too bad but I definitely need to brush up on the spanning tree mechanics.

Things to work on (being updated)..

spanning tree mechanics - .1d,1s,1t
VRRP/HSRP/GBLP mechanics
exclusive summary addresses
SNMP version mechanics
WCCP features
watch out ip default next-hop
eigrp metrics

Turgon

A good day on written prep. A fair few hours. Time to call it a night so as not to upset Mrs Turgon. We did get to the bank at 4pm so that was good.

Turgon

Battering on with Odom questions today. The EIGRP section is good. Its amazing how you forget the details of how EIGRP actually works computing feasible successor, feasible distance, reported distance and how variance works.

Heres the latest list of minutia to work hard on..

Things to work on (being updated)..

spanning tree mechanics - .1d,1s,1t
VRRP/HSRP/GBLP mechanics
exclusive summary addresses
SNMP version mechanics
WCCP features
watch out ip default next-hop
eigrp metrics
auto-cost reference bandwidth fun
OSPF neighbor and adjacency state machine
DR election process

Turgon

Wrestled with the intracacies of eigrp and ospf theory today. It's hard going. Odom's questions tease out all the details I forgot. I think I have them down again now but how you are supposed to remember all this across so many protocols and have a life? Difficult. There is still a lot to cover and most of Saturday has evaporated. I can't say my wife shares my enthusiam for much more study the next few days but it has to be done. The written is an elusive little test. It's annoying to come up against questions you cant answer correctly when you know you have covered the necessary several times before over the years but simply forgot the damn details. No DocCD for this one unfortunately. Areas that give me trouble generally fall into the following categories..

1. Minutia. Such as frame types and field lengths. Ipv6 and Multicast addresses. VRRP, HSRP, GBLP Mac addresses. Far too many **** things to list and memorise.
2. Mechanism. Message types, state machines, parameters, timers, metrics, costs. Various types on just about anything you can think of in R&S. Difficult to remember how everything works in exact detail.
3. Features. How many widgets does WCCP need to do blah etc. Almost endless scope there for so many things in just Odom's book.

With all the study Im not so bad on some questions which I can figure out. But others its multiple guess if the brain can't recall stuff.

It's tough going. Let's just make the best of it!

Turgon

Time to get the kid off to bed now. Calling it a day on theory prep. Got through the first 10 chapters of Odom on the test engine today since early this morning. Straightened a lot of things out.

ncsugrad2002

If you don't destroy this exam I'm going to be like wtf

Turgon

ncsugrad2002 wrote: »

If you don't destroy this exam I'm going to be like wtf

I wont destroy the written. Dumpers do that and rainmen. No I shall just be grateful to squeak through it. Nasty test. A *****. All kinds of horrid situations awaiting me there on things I either suck on or have just plain forgotten. You are trying to master the mechanics of a LOT of things to pass the written which is a difficult thing to do. I more or less understand everything on the blueprint now but recalling it in the test that's another matter. I'm 2 and 4 on written tests in my life and what I have learned is that if you are really not ready you tank that test. I just hope if I dont get through it I dont take a pasting because I want to press on with lab prep. Im losing momentum.

Turgon

8am. Time to finish working through the remaining Odom problems for the CCIE topics starting with BGP. Then it's time to hit the job boards and find a new contract. If anyone has anything interesting in the UK or Europe by all means please drop me a PM. Now where is my coffee..

Turgon

Back from a short break looking at some properties in the city. Back now on the BGP questions on the Odom test. Really took a pasting on those. Forgot things. He's keen on all the specifics of peering as opposed to the manipulation of the BGP table using MED, AS_PATH, Local Pref, Weight etc like we work on in lab practice. So Im going to have to spend some time today working through all the peering mechanics.

Turgon

Well just went through the ones I got wrong and got the marks up quite a bit this time with some reasoning and elimination of the previous bad choices. Except for the origin type and message type questions. I needed the book for those. Watch out ebgp-multihop and iBGP peers not advertising routes (obviously). Also watch out route reflector prefix advertisements and confederation peer full mesh requirements. Remembering what prefixes get advertised to clients and non clients on a RR always gets me scratching my head. One of those things in a book full of many of them. Reminds me of subordinate references in Netware 5 for some reason.