It's my time: Mrock's CCIE thread

Mrock4

Thanks instant!

Unfortunately Brian Dennis had to leave for the remainder of the week so we've had Dave Smith as our only instructor. I know you're saying "who's Dave Smith", well- he's a relatively new instructor with INE and a really good one. A lot of students were disappointed they couldn't learn from Brian (since that's ultimately why they booked this bootcamp in the first place), but the consensus so far is that Dave is also a great instructor, so I am personally fine with either Brian or Dave.

That being said, Dave walked us through a ton of redistribution scenarios today..lots of great information there. We also started BGP today as well, which although we only spent about an hour on it today, has already helped..I learned a couple of minor things about route reflectors that I didn't previously know..so that is always good!

This evening I'm running through the remainder of my first TS lab that I left unfinished. Funny note on that, by the way- I looked at the tickets after the fact, and thought I had only finished 5/10 in 1.5 hours, but it looks like I actually resolved two more tickets while troubleshooting other issues. I realize this probably isn't smart, because that means I lost focus and started fixing things that were on a later ticket..but it means I actually was on pace to finish the TS lab just within 2 hours (give or take 15 minutes)..which is great. So the plan is to finish those couple of remaining tickets and move onto ANOTHER TS lab tonight and complete that from start to finish.

NetworkVeteran

Wow, 15 pages and you are still rocking away at this. Keep on rockin', and I hope you earn your number soon.

jamesp1983

Mrock4 wrote: »

Oh, and as a side note, I was having a conversation with one of the other CCIE candidates, and mentioned how to unicast RIP updates without the neighbor statement (NAT 224.0.0.9 -> the unicast IP), and we both wondered whether or not it worked with EIGRP/other misc protocols. I decided to lab it up and found it did work fine with EIGRP, which is awesome. It's always good to have an extra tool in your belt to accomplish weird requirements!

Thanks, that's very good to know.

Mrock4

Thanks NetVet- glad to see YOU'RE still around here and kickin'!

James- Don't get too excited, I pre-empted that EIGRP/NAT comment a bit. I was only checking the EIGRP neighbor relationship on one side. I didn't look as closely as I should have- but it appears that the neighbor will come up (on at least one side), but as soon as they start trying to unicast towards each other, it fails. I plan on checking as time allows, because that'd be a really cool tool to have in your belt for more than just RIP updates. More to follow on that though!

Mrock4

Finally sat down and really graded TS lab 1. I got 25/30 points, which gives me a passing score! The worst part is that I had a solution for one of the tickets but second-guessed myself and gave up. The other ticket was a DHCP snooping issue. I started troubleshooting on R5 (where the issue was) but got side-tracked and gave up on it since I couldn't find the issue due to the restrictions. Turns out the devices I couldn't access were using DHCP snooping and setting Option 82- so the fix was to configure R5 to trust-all option 82's.

About to start TS lab 2. Going from start to finish on this one, hoping to finish it within 2 hours AND get a passing score. Tomorrow evening I'll be doing a couple of Vol I labs on some specific things I have issues with. Saturday is going to be a Vol II lab, with Sunday used for grading/additional Vol I labs as necessary, and possibly some 'free labbing' where I play with various scenarios. Off to lab!

Mrock4

Well, TS lab 2 was crash and burn. I spent 2 hours and only made it through 4 tickets. I got stuck on a couple of really stubborn issues. I'm actually nearly convinced these issues are NOT intended to be in the lab..but I've resisted the urge to check the solutions guide so far.

It probably also didn't help that I spent 30 minutes troubleshooting a reachability issue only to realize the RIP authentication key was CISCO4321 *not* CISCO1234...that's what I get for 16 hours of cisco today!

Off to sleep for a few hours then back to class. I plan on attacking TS Lab 2 from the start again sometime soon. I know it's a bit unfair since I've worked through some of it, but I'd like to do it after I've had some rest and am in the right mindset so I can take a more methodical approach to it.

Mrock4

Took Vol II Lab 12 yesterday. I finished in about 6 hours, but skipped a couple of smaller tasks that I was unsure about. I did pretty well in my core topics as usual, but couldn't get full reachability to one problem area in the network. By then I was tired, so I called it quits and graded it. That being said, I'm doing a lot better, just need to keep practicing.

Finished up BGP today and MPLS. Dave Smith was really great when it comes to MPLS..a true expert! Brian is not back yet..I am not sure if he will be or not. It'd be nice if he was, but like I said before, Dave is really good, so I'm not complaining.

Yesterday's lab exposed a few gaps in my knowledge. Right now they are:

-Layer 2 QoS
-IP services
-Multicast (getting a LOT better here, but still some room to improve)

Anyways, back to labbing! I am in class until 7pm each evening and have been scheduling 2 1/2 hour blocks of rack rentals in the evening to improve these weak areas.

Mrock4

Went over multicast today. Didn't go in as much depth as we had hoped. We did hit all the major points, though, so it was still a good review.

Using this evening as an "off" night so I can plan my study schedule for the next 60 days once this bootcamp is over.

vinbuck

I've enjoyed reading your thread...it's a great motivator to those of us who are just getting going. How long have you been at it now?

Mrock4

Thanks! I originally started this journey in 2009- all I did back then was Vol I labs and the written exam. Life happened (had kids, got married, bought a house, new job) and I didn't do much until 2011. I went back to vol I labs, and again, life got in the way- I never stopped labbing completely, just slowed down. 2012 I seriously started prepping again and had a lab date for January 2013, but rescheduled it due to work. I pushed it back to May 2013, and rescheduled it again due to work - and the fact that I wasn't prepared like I should be. Since late 2012 and early 2013 I've been pushing hard, so 2013 is definitely my year to knock this thing out.

My date is in stone now, so it's happening one way or another. It's funny, 60 days seems like a long time, but it is actually not enough!

Mrock4

Went over QOS and IPV6 today. Reviewed 3560 QOS on my own this evening as well as IPV6/IPV4 netflow. Doing pretty well. Going to watch a 3560 QOS video before bed. I think soon I'll be in pretty good shape on QOS..still have a lot to learn but I am feeling much more confident on QOS tasks. I think if I keep working on my QOS skills in the next 60 days I should have a fighting chance.

Plan for the rest of the week is to focus on QOS and misc IP services topics. I absolutely HAVE to do some studying on MPLS QOS. I know it from a high level but have not configured it yet.

reaper81

No Brian now in the bootcamp? He did great with the multicast section when I attended the bootcamp.

Mrock4

He was here for two days in the beginning and looks like he won't be here for the rest of the bootcamp.

shodown

How good is the new instructor? I know for a while people were unhappy with the quality until Brian came back. I'm sure he wouldn't make the same mistake again in hiring a new guy.

Mrock4

If I fail my lab, I'll be resitting one of Brian's bootcamps.

Fortunately, I should get two attempts in before INE comes to town again (I attended in Orlando only 2 hours from my house), so HOPEFULLY I've passed by then.

Mrock4

Woke up way too early (not by choice) so I decided to get some labbing in. Made some progress with NAT (I had issues wrapping my head around the proper directions for configs and such)..doing a lot better now.

Current plan is to continue working on individual topics for the majority of the time leading up until the lab, and gradually introduce more full labs. I don't really have a goal as to how many labs I want to complete by the time I sit my lab..I'm more focused about my comfort level with each technology. That being said, you could say my main focuses are:

1. Comfort level with technologies
2. Troubleshooting (which I think is a byproduct of understanding the technologies)
3. Speed (which I think is also a byproduct of configuring the technologies)

Off to lab some Zone-based firewall.

Mrock4

Didn't get as much time as I'd hoped for, but the time I did get was quality time. I felt really rough on ZBF and NAT- I understood both of them from a theory standpoint, but I just got mixed up in the configs. I'm no expert on ZBF now, but I can configure it without the documentation (For now, we'll see if I remember it!).

For those following around I have been keeping a running list of my weaknesses and sharing that- well, the bootcamp did expose a couple of other areas which I want to pay extra attention to. This is the "new" and improved list!

-3560 QOS (Need to review a little)
-MPLS QOS (Need to lab more)
-IPV6 (Pretty good on ipv6 now, but need to lab some redistribution labs then I should be good)
-Multicast (pretty good here now too, but want to work on helper-maps and misc multicast features)

Overall I am feeling pretty good- which is shocking because a few months ago I felt weak in ALL areas. This doesn't mean I have nothing left to learn in the areas I didn't list..but those are areas which I *think* I have a fighting chance at passing on the actual lab when the time comes.

filkenjitsu

Interesting to follow your updates and methodology, keep it up!

reaper81

Post here if you need any support on those topics. I have forgotten a lot of the details but hopefully I could push you in the right direction if you get stuck on something.

Mrock4

Thanks Daniel! I definitely will! I'm still ecstatic for you even though it seems like you passed a while ago..makes me feel good seeing someone else here earn their digits!

Back at it today. Hoping to get in 8-10 hours if possible. My iPad app shows 69 days until the exam...let's do this!

Mrock4

Got about 8 hours in yesterday. Was hammering away at PFR and had to step away because it was frustrating me. I was using the same configs I had used previously, and my links were being seen as OOP, but it would not take any action. I'll probably get back to it another time as I had pretty much beat it to death by the time this happened, and I'm not 100% sure it wasn't a bug (since PFR is already buggy as hell in 12.4(15)T as it is..)

Up bright and early today (7am) to start a troubleshooting lab. If time allows I'm hoping to hit a TON of topics today...some will be simple technology labs, others will be self-created scenarios to look at the interaction of various protocols, etc. I'm going to attempt INE Vol II Lab 5 tomorrow.

gorebrush

I guess you are paying for INE... Are you on the month by month? How do you find it?

Tempted to stump up for 2 years and get all the books and all the other goodies. Especially as I am really thinking about a second CCIE after the first.

Mrock4

I was paying month-by-month (for 2 months) then I got the 10 day bootcamp through my work, and if you buy the bootcamp through INE you get 2/3 years of their all access pass (depending on what package you get).

Honestly the videos are very good. I would highly recommend considering INE for Vol I/II lab workbooks, but go elsewhere for troubleshooting labs if you can. I have found a lot of misc errors in the workbooks so far- and the last thing you want to do is waste time trying to decipher what they were trying to say in the workbook.

Mrock4

Finished the TS lab within the allotted time (actually about 30 minutes early), but I would consider it a fail. I skipped one task which I didn't feel like bothering with due to time constraints. The task was 4 points, and said:

"Ensure traffic is flowing through the optimal path in the network"

Overall I did pretty good, I technically passed in my eyes, but it'd really depend on the grading scheme used, since my solution didn't meet the INE solution.

Zartanasaurus

Mrock4 wrote: »

Honestly the videos are very good. I would highly recommend considering INE for Vol I/II lab workbooks, but go elsewhere for troubleshooting labs if you can. I have found a lot of misc errors in the workbooks so far- and the last thing you want to do is waste time trying to decipher what they were trying to say in the workbook.

The troubleshooting workbooks are easy, especially the volume II TS labs. Volume IV is a little harder, but still not even in the same ballpark as the real thing. The new TS graded labs they have are good, and one of the few out there that are 30+ device TS labs, like the real lab. The fact you can buy graded TS labs from them for $60 (may have changed since I took it) and it's probably the place to go for TS too.

Real lab TS is still harder than any practice TS lab I've taken.

Mrock4

Zartan- what was your approach to the TS section? Up until now my plan has been to really know the technologies inside and out- and by virtue of knowing the technology you'll know where to look when things break. In addition to just knowing the tech, I've been working on the Vol IV labs, but it sounds like I need to supplement that. Any input on how you handled prepping for that?

Zartanasaurus

Mrock4 wrote: »

Zartan- what was your approach to the TS section? Up until now my plan has been to really know the technologies inside and out- and by virtue of knowing the technology you'll know where to look when things break. In addition to just knowing the tech, I've been working on the Vol IV labs, but it sounds like I need to supplement that. Any input on how you handled prepping for that?

I think you're on the right path with knowing how the tech functions at a fundamental level. I'll pick on ZBF since you mentioned that a few times in the thread. There's a huge difference in what pass does vs what inspect does. So knowing what it takes to get both to work in the same scenario is helpful when presented with a ZBF scenario. A lot of it is "what are the ways I could break this if I didn't know exactly what I was doing". I've seen TS described as "the network was built by a CCIE and a CCNA came in and screwed it up".

Get very familiar with show and debug commands, and what they are telling you. The debug or an error in a show command many times can point you right where you need to be e.g. mtu mismatch in ospf debugs. Have a list of requirements in your head of what it takes to make the tech work in the first place. Now what could you do to break it? What does it look like when it's broken? What's the best show commands to find errors with that tech?

I'll also requote myself from a few months ago in james's thread.

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

You KNOW they're going to screw with you with frame-relay somehow. What are the things they can do?
lmi mismatch
frame-relay encapsulation mismatch
Wrong IP configured on interface.
Wrong IP configured in frame-relay map.
Wrong DLCI # configured (probably transposed digits that LOOK right at a glance)
shutdown main interface
keepalive not disabled on back to back FR
keepalive disabled on non back to back FR
Mismatch DLCIs on back to back FR without frame-relay local DLCI command.
On the FRSW:
Wrong DLCI
Wrong interface type
No clocking
Mistake in frame-relay route/connect config

So what are the fastest ways to figure this out from show/debug commands?

show frame pvc | i ST (DELETED = problem, STATIC = no keepalive configured)
show frame map (check for misconfigured IPs)
deb frame lmi (yourseen = 0 for LMI mismatches)
sh frame route or show connect all
Everything else is easy to spot with the interface config IMO

Then think about how FR can affect routing protocols. Probably the biggest is not enabling pseudo broadcast on a DLCI.

I kind of have a laundry list of things for each topic and debug/show commands I use to figure out the problems.

Anyway, lots of practice helps you find out your tech misunderstandings and how to correct that.

Mrock4

Thanks a ton! I greatly appreciate the tips, and I am certainly going to incorporate more of that mindset (breaking stuff). I've actually considered giving myself 2 hours a day of dedicated build/break time to lab nearly every technology on the blueprint, break it, and subsequently fix it (obviously I'd pick a handful of technology per day). The end goal would be I'll have some TS-specific skills developed there..truth be told I am much more worried about the TS section than the config section.

thadizzy

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

The troubleshooting workbooks are easy, especially the volume II TS labs. Volume IV is a little harder, but still not even in the same ballpark as the real thing. The new TS graded labs they have are good, and one of the few out there that are 30+ device TS labs, like the real lab. The fact you can buy graded TS labs from them for $60 (may have changed since I took it) and it's probably the place to go for TS too.

Real lab TS is still harder than any practice TS lab I've taken.

It's funny you say that, I couldn't disagree more. In total I've done 3 R&S labs and I've passed TS every attempt (got 3 different TS labs).
I felt the INE TS labs were much much more difficult.

jamesp1983

thadizzy wrote: »

It's funny you say that, I couldn't disagree more. In total I've done 3 R&S labs and I've passed TS every attempt (got 3 different TS labs).
I felt the INE TS labs were much much more difficult.

I have to agree with Zartan on this point. I do really well on the INE TS labs (maybe miss 1 ticket here or there), but got beat up by the TS on the real lab. I ran out of time and I can usually finish INE TS labs with about 30 minutes to spare.