ROUTE Attempt

down77

If there is anything that I have learned, its to never let your credentials expire. It's been more than a few years since I last passed the BSCI, which means for me to obtain the CCDP/CCIP/CCNP triad I have to take the latest ROUTE exam! The bright side is that this adds to the CCIE prep by requiring me to review familiar concepts and then dig deeper as I climb up the Cisco ladder. Another plus is I already have the SWITCH and ARCH exams behind me and according to Cisco I just need TSHOOT for the CCNP, but need ROUTE for the CCIP. Regardless I'm doing ROUTE now as I am a firm believer in updating your skill set especially to review concepts/topics that have become less-familiar over the years due to lack of use.

The materials I will be using for the ROUTE attempt:

Amazon.com: Implementing Cisco IP Routing (ROUTE) Foundation Learning Guide: Foundation learning for the ROUTE 642-902 Exam (Foundation Learning Guides) (9781587058820): Diane Teare: Books

Cisco 642-902 CCNP ROUTE CBT Nuggets

Amazon.com: CCNP ROUTE Lab Manual (Lab Companion) (9781587133039): Cisco Networking Academy: Books

And of course plenty of time in GNS3. I've already read the first 700 pages of the ROUTE FLG and hope to finish the last chapter (IPv6 Routing) by the end of the week and then go back and re-read/review the majority of the book while doing the labs.. which I am still debating on using the TSHOOT topology as a ROUTE lab . If all goes well I will be attempting this exam mid to late July with TSHOOT a week or 2 later.

While I have the INE CCNP/CCDP videos, I am going back to Jeremy's wisdom for the ROUTE exam. I'll save the INE for the CCIE prep!

Guys feel free to post your ROUTE words of wisdom/tips/practices/suggestions/rants/etc.

*BB*

Good luck man. I scheduled mine for July 9, but will have to reschedule for sometime in August. Life has been getting in the way of study time. Makes understanding redistribution a real PITA lol.

down77

I understand life getting in the way of studying. I spent the last 4 weeks dealing with family issues that totally derailed my concentration. I hope all goes well for you too and keep us posted on how your attempt progresses.

down77

Reading the section on Dualstack routing, NAT-PT, and 6to4 tunneling and I have to admit that I kind of like ipv6 routing. The plan is to finish up this chapter and then review the highlights from each section and lab for a solid week or 2 and then attempt the exam.

Since I just found out I am traveling to Arkansas July 11 - 29 I may have to find a test center there to take the exam.... or take it during my ONE day off on July 15th.

down77

Finished reading Chapter 8 (Implementing IPv6) of the ROUTE FLG. Tomorrow I'll go back through the chapters to review and start a week of Labs/Videos before taking the exam. I'm still hoping for a July 14th or 15th attempt.

down77

Over the holiday break I completed the EIGRP, OSPF, and IPv6 Videos and saved the BGP, PBR, and Redistribution videos for this week. A few things to brush up on before I take the exam:

EIGRP Authentication
OSPF LSA Types
OSPF Stub Zones
OSPF Authentication
IPv6 6to4 Tunnels

Labs are coming along, and will go even better once I get some additional memory in for my personal Laptop (4GB to 8GB). I'm not using my work laptop (faster, more memory) since I tend to keep that machine as clean as possible.

Tomorrow/Thursday will be a review of BGP.

down77

Now that I'm back from a little road warrior work... I've been working on the ROUTE labs leading up to the attempt. A few areas I have been concentrating on:

OSPF Stub Zones (STUB, Totally Stubby Area, NSSA, Totally NSSA)
eBGP with path manipulation (Route Maps)
BGP route reflection (out of scope for ROUTE, but needed as a PoC for a client)
EIGRP
IPv6
and Redistribution (RIP into OSPF, EIGRP<-> OSPF, Default routes)

Chris_

Good prep, probably worth making sure you know the ins and outs of gre and IPSec aswell. Add virtual links to your OSPF prep too.
Good luck.

down77

Good call Chris_! will go over the gre/ipsec notes tonight. Can't hurt to review setting up a crypto map and ISAKMP association.

A quick link to Crypto Access Lists courtesy of Chris Bryant:

CCNP Certification Crypto Access List IPSec On Cisco Router

and OSPF Virtual Links from Cisco:

OSPF Virtual Link [IP Routing] - Cisco Systems

mzbagasra

Good luck down77.

down77

mzbagasra wrote: »

Good luck down77.

Thanks!

down77

Took the exam and finished with about 3 minutes left on the timer. While I can't say specifically what was on the exam, I would recommend a review of the areas above that I had been concentrating on. The extra effort paid off.

Celebrating with a Chicken Burrito from Moes and by buying my son a copy of "The Incredibles" on Blu-Ray for him and I to watch.

viper75

down77 wrote: »

Took the exam and finished with about 3 minutes left on the timer. While I can't say specifically what was on the exam, I would recommend a review of the areas above that I had been concentrating on. The extra effort paid off.

Celebrating with a Chicken Burrito from Moes and by buying my son a copy of "The Incredibles" on Blu-Ray for him and I to watch.

Congratz!!!

I'm studying for ROUTE myself. Been watching TrainSignal, CBT Nuggets, and readying The FLG. Half way done with the book.

Bl8ckr0uter

down77 wrote: »

Took the exam and finished with about 3 minutes left on the timer. While I can't say specifically what was on the exam, I would recommend a review of the areas above that I had been concentrating on. The extra effort paid off.

Celebrating with a Chicken Burrito from Moes and by buying my son a copy of "The Incredibles" on Blu-Ray for him and I to watch.

Congrats! How long did it take you to kill this one? Oh and what's next? I heard you maybe be in the CCIE forums pretty soon.

BrizoH

Congrats on the pass!

Bookmarking this for when I get to the exam prep stage - just starting the FLG now so that may be some time away

Chris_

Congrats, enjoy the inevitable beers!!
I finished with a minute or 2 left on the clock too. I found this exam quite enjoyable in all.

down77

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Congrats! How long did it take you to kill this one? Oh and what's next? I heard you maybe be in the CCIE forums pretty soon.

Thanks guys! I reviewed an hour a day for about a month... plus time spent traveling in the air between client locations!

I'm going to take a few days off and then refresh up on the CCIP material, starting with QoS. Once the CCIP is complete I'll probably start on the CCIE R&S path of insanity.

I agree with Chris_. The Route exam was enjoyable but I did find it a bit more challenging than the SWITCH exam. I'm half tempted to try TShoot when I get back from my next engagement just to see if it's as fun as everyone says it is.

BrizoH

You may not be answer this one due to the NDA - but both the FLG and Cert Guide mention the planning concepts.

Did you notice much of this in the exam or, as I suspect, is it really just common sense and best practise that most of us will do in our day to day jobs anyway?

mikej412

Congratulations on the Pass

ITdude

Congrats! You got that CCIP pre-requisite, bear off your back.

Don't get too crazy with the burritos.:)

TesseracT

Nice work bud

down77

Thanks guys. It's great to have this one done and it leaves QoS and the Composite left for CCIP. I'm planning to work on those from now until the end of the year. I'm half tempted to pick up an iPad as an ebook reader/CBT viewer as I further down the Cisco path and begin on some of the more advanced topics.


BrizoH - I can't say whether it was or wasn't on the exam but what I can say is that the ROUTE exam topics (see link below) contain the creation of an implementation plan for each section. If it's on the exam syllabus then there is a high chance you will see it.

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-6565

FWIW, the burrito was awesome!

BrizoH

Thanks - I'm tempted to get either an iPad or a Kindle myself.

Unfortunately I only found out recently that the standard Kindle doesn't display PDF's too well, the DX does but the price of that is almost in iPad territory.

I work for one of the big four UK mobile providers and still can't get a discount on an iPad though

down77

My wife has the Kindle and I tried a few of the Cisco PDFs on it... I was disappointed in the reformatting plus it doesn't handle color video like the iPad does. I can understand your pain on the discounts. I'm waiting for the iPad 3 to be released so I can get a cheap iPad2 refurb. I may just end up cashing in some Hilton Honor points for a few gift cards to get an iPad as a portable study tool. Sometimes the laptop is too inconvenient.