How indepth does the written go?

TesseracT

Just wondering for those who have sat the written how far down the rabbit hole do we have to go?

For example I'm studying MPLS at the moment. I'm labbing up scenarios where there's some cool little details I never knew. Such as using OSPF as the CE-PE routing protocol and changing the domain-id to change whether the route is IA or E. Labbing up sham-links to get around the backdoor problem / Using site-of-origin to stop loops happening for EIGRP/BGP etc.

Is this too far for the written exam? I don't want anyone to break NDA or anything but a nudge in the right direction wouldn't go astray

Do I need to know that OSPF uses the I, M and MS bit in the DD packet or am I getting too sucked into the details?

reaper81

The written is focused more on a wide number of topics than extreme details of stuff. You still need to know how the protocols work but it sounds like you are maybe taking it to the extreme. Look at questions from the Cert guide or buy from Boson. That will give you a good impression on what level you need to be at.

jamesp1983

Thanks reaper. I was curious about this as well. I've heard mixed reviews.

TesseracT

yeah I sometimes get stuck in the minutiae without looking at the big picture. I think I might step back and focus on the official exam guide from now on.