BGP+MPLS Composite Studies

No rest for the weary right? Now that the QoS exam is behind me I will be concentrating my efforts on the BGP+MPLS composite exam to complete the CCIP. I have a bit of experience with BGP from previous positions but am weak on the implementation side of MPLS. My goal is to have this one complete by the end of the year which should be doable with the amount of travel time I have coming up. For study materials, I am planning on the following:

BGP:

Amazon.com: Internet Routing Architectures (2nd Edition) (9781578702336): Sam Halabi: Books
Amazon.com: Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition) (9781587052026): Jeff Doyle, Jennifer Carroll: Books
Amazon.com: Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) (9781578700899): Jeff Doyle, Jennifer DeHaven Carroll: Books
Cisco PEC BGP Studies
INE BGP videos

MPLS:

Amazon.com: MPLS Fundamentals (9781587051975): Luc De Ghein: Books
Cisco PEC MPLS Studies
INE MPLS videos

Labs for this one will be almost 100% in GNS3. I'll be pulling labs from Cisco PEC, INE, and of course GNS3-Labs. I'll also be recreating customer scenarios that I have worked on and will change around some of the configurations to make it more interesting.

By no means will I be neglecting either topic in my course of studies. The decision to take the composite over the individual exams is purely financially motivated. The $200 saved by taking one vs two exams will be going towards extra lab tokens or gear for future studies... ok it'll really be going towards mani/pedi's for the wife who has been wonderful in supporting me and assisting me with my studies (making coffee, putting the little one back in bed when he wakes up at 11pm, etc).

Let the next round of fun begin!

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I'm done with the first chapter of IRA and while it wasn't mandatory reading for the exam, it does present a good historical view of where the internet came from and how the need for BGP arrived. Sometimes understanding why something was done in the first place gives you a better appreciation for the hard work that went into the development of the technology.

Since it's the weekend, I'll probably get a few hours of study time tonight and tomorrow. I suspect the labs will begin around chapter 4-5 of IRA 2nd ED which gives me time to start re-cabling the lab. In the meantime, I'm going to start reading on ISP Services and Characteristics (Chapter 2).

Chapter 2 of the IRA was a high level overview of some of the connections and services that organizations may use, as well as to introduce ISP redundancy considerations. I laughed when I was reading about how a DS0 (56k) connection was high speed because I have some clients today who are still on a dedicated DS0 connection!

Chapter 3 was a walk down memory lane with IP addressing, CIDR, and VLSM! One take away from this, and also a review from ROUTE, is to consider the Longest Match Routing Rule: Routing to any destination is always done with a longest match basis!

Consider that you have two routes in your routing table
-Path 1: 10.0.0.0/16
-Path 2: 10.0.5.0/24

Now, you are attempting to deliver data to a ftp server connected at 10.0.5.74. Based on the longest match routing rule, the path with the longest prefix that matches the destination will deliver the traffic. In this case Path 2 has the longer match and will be preferred over Path 1. If for some reason Path 2 becomes unavailable, the router will take the next longest match in the routing table, Path 1 in this case.

*Note: using ACLs, PBR, Routing Maps, etc we can alter this behavior... this is just a high level representation

Chapter 4 is a review of basic routing principals: Distance Vector vs Link-State Routing protocols and it sets the stage to discuss Autonomous Systems which will be a the major focus for the remaining chapters. They also introduce Single Homed AS, Multi-homed AS, and Multi-homed Nontransit AS.

The fun begins with Chapter 5, Border Gateway Protocol v4. This chapter begins by explaining what BGP is and laying out the protocol architecture so that we can get an appreciation for how things work and to prepare us for the advanced topics to come. From a debugging/troubleshooting perspective its very important to know the way this protocol works so that when we are faces with issues, we are able to determine what is normal, what is expected, and what ways does BGP notify us that there may be an issue.

networker050184

Good luck with the studies! This was definitely my favorite exam to study for. BGP+MPLS are very interesting technologies with all of the things they can do. It really takes a lot of the fundamentals you are used to and gives a workaround for all of them.

Thank you! So far its been a good review of the protocols/technologies which will help to reinforce some of the things I've either neglected or forgotten. The IRA has a lot of theory to comprehend before you get into any implementation. I'm actually planning to supplement the BGP studies with either the the two books listed below AND I'm meeting a coworker for lunch who is donating the Cisco BGP course material from the class he took last year. The last item will provide some good labs!

Additional Books for consideration:
Amazon.com: BGP Design and Implementation eBook: Randy Zhang, Micah Bartell: Kindle Store
Amazon.com: Cisco BGP-4 Command and Configuration Handbook eBook: William R. Parkhurst: Kindle Store

BGP Design and Implementation is just awesome, it's got a whole chapter with case studies.

I've recommended that book to a few of my co-workers.

Lots of good stuff in there.

Good to know! I'm planning to pick up the kindle copy to read on my ipad while traveling.

I'm off to Orlando for a few days for a brief (4hr) install, and then to hit the Pre-Opening of LegoLand with my 2 year old. I should get a few hours of study time in the evening which should be sufficient for me to finish IRA and start BGP Design and Implementation. I did pick up the BGP Course books from my coworker yesterday, but leaving those at home so they don't get lost while traveling.

On the CBT front I've been going over the PEC BGP Material and starting the INE BGP videos from the All Access Pass. No CBT Nuggets this time

So almost two weeks later I've made a bit more progress with the BGP studies. I'm going over BGP Confederation and Reflection and have reached about the 50% mark for this topic.

I recently decided to start watching the INE BGP Videos while doing cardio, especially if I am traveling, to give me something constructive to do as well as to help pass the time. I am about halfway through Module 3 with the BGP Videos and have been reviewing peer groups and path attributes along with the Internet Routing Architecture studies.

I may have to go back and re-read over the section on introducing default routes (Notated as 0/0 route in the book) through BGP since I was pretty tired while going over the material. While most of it was trivial, I found myself dozing in a few sections that I may need in the future.

Really? I've found BGP very interesting. It's got that cool complexity to it and the stuff you can do route maps is just awesome.

But I think I did have more fun labbing it in GNS3 then reading about it.

Your making some great progress though

Don't get me wrong, it is interesting stuff! Unfortunately I've been spending very long hours on site working with clients so when I was reviewing "Controlling Routing inside the Autonomous System" I found myself fighting to stay awake. I made sure to re-review that chapter (short one) and moved on to "Controlling Large-Scale Autonomous Systems" tonight.

I'm not a big fan of putting in 15-20hr days at the office, but when its a billable engagement I just have to buckle down and get through it.

I agree with you there, the days I spend 10-12 hours working I really don'y study afterwards.

Again another week goes by with few posts due to work life. I've finished half of Chapter 11 and am starting to work labs for the simple and complex bgp configuration scenarios that will be come. Plenty of route maps and prefix lists for filtering traffic, as well as setting local pref, weight, as path (prepend), and metric (med) to influence route selection. Remember... route maps are your friend! But don't forget about the implicit deny all at the end (unless you add a permit statement).

I've been having a lot of Nexus fun lately and may upload some pictures of the project I have been working on. Needless to say its over $5mill of Nexus gear (7K, 5K, 3K, 2K... 4K coming soon) per datacenter and a lot of fun configuring FC/FCoE and massive bandwidth for aggregation. The only MDS implemented is for FCIP tunneling since the 7K/5K does not perform that function (yet).

... and yes, I will be configuring BGP in the WAN Aggregation layer

Edit: I also know where Apple is hiding a portion of their HOSTED data center in NC. They just happened to receive a large shipment of gear that their engineers will be installing in the next week. Can we say iCloud?

Back into some BGP Confederation studies tonight and a lab or two as well. I had about 90 quality minutes reading (finishing) chapter 11 and on to the last chapter in IRA. Looking forward to moving on to MPLS in the next week or so but for now its time to get back into the fun of Advanced BGP Configuration!

How are the PEC Videos? I've got access to them but I just haven't bothered to watch any yet.

They are ok but I've kinda dropped them after watching about half the series. I may review one or two more but I'm using the INE videos a bit more.

I've finished reading IRA, selected sections of Routing TCP/IP Vol I/II and sections of cisco documentation on BGP. With a few labs behind me I'll be starting on MPLS Fundamentals today and working through this content. I'm still on target to have the composite completed by end of year. With about 4 hours of flight time this week, and another 8-10 waiting in airports, I should get through the first few chapters and into the heart of MPLS.

I still need to finish Module 5 of the INE BGP videos, but that will be done this week when doing cardio. Time to load INE MPLS videos on the iPad!

A semi-quiet week so far which means I get more time to review! I've gone through the first 3 chapters of MPLS fundamentals which refreshed and added to my existing knowledge of MPLS design. I'm about to start getting deeper into LDP and begin some configuration which means it'll be time to break out Dynamips and have some fun.

In the meantime, it's back to configuring BGP and OTV for a client.

I've been slacking on the updates due to a busy work schedule! I've completed through Chapter 7 MPLS VPNs and I'm starting early on the GNS3 labs to get more hands on experience with MPLS before attempting the exam. I've also taken the time to go back and review the INE MPLS videos where I am hoping to finish MPLS VPNs and VRF by end of day today, and if all goes well I should have the majority of the videos done before the weekend.

I figure another week or two of studies/labbing and I may take an attempt at the exam... assuming I keep getting a decent amount of study time! I just might finish my goal of accomplishing the CCIP before the end of the year.

MPLS VPN I think were the most interesting part of MPLS, once you get past the idea that each VRF is completely separate (Like a ASA Security Context or L2 VLAN) they aren't too bad.

Sounds like you are going to make deadline! I understand the whole thing... in the last days I've worked over 20 hours myself

I'm just trying to hold out for the holidays!

The MPLS VPNs aren't bad at all. It's just a few of the finer points that could make or break the configuration! I'm having fun with the redistribution between protocols and MP-BGP, as well as playing around with route-maps to filter content into and out of some VRFs.

I'm no so worried about the deadline as I am about making sure I have a good foundation in MPLS. I say that as I watched ~5hrs of INE videos today since it was a slow day working from home. I have MPLS TE, AToM, IPv6, and Troubleshooting left to review.

Sometimes it helps if you set a date. I scheduled the composite for Dec 9 which means now I need to get myself in gear and buckle down for the next few days to finish the MPLS material. I'm almost done with the INE MPLS videos and about 2/3 of the way done with the MPLS fundamentals text.

Since I have tomorrow through next week as work from home, I plan to finish the reading and spend at least a few hours per day studying/lab'ing unless I am on a conference call. Time to finish AToM and VPLS!

A few days left until the exam and I am so unmotivated to lab/read/study tonight. I'm praying that I get some quality review time on my flight to Charlotte tomorrow but I have a feeling I won't get as much done as I had hoped.

I need some liquid motivation!

Keep at it man, you'll be CCIP by the end of the week!

If all goes well I will be! I've been so busy designing solutions for work and traveling to client sites that I needed a night off... which we all need from time to time.

I was supposed to have from today until the end of the year "off" to take care of things but that all got changed when one of my clients decided they needed a last minute strategy session onsite with a 2 day notice. This one will most likely end up with a trip to CPOC sometime after the new year.

FWIW, I was in your and Colby's neck of the woods this weekend. Took the little guy to Sea World and then to a wedding yesterday.

Well enough slacking. I guess one lab before bed couldn't hurt.

MPLS Fundamentals text is complete and I have a few labs to finish tomorrow before my attempt. I'll try to get a bit of review done on my flights back from North Carolina!

I am glad this one is done and over with and it should be the final exam required to complete the CCIP. While I passed the exam, I still don't feel confident enough in my MPLS skills and may spend some additional study time in developing them to where I think they should be long term.

Now I wonder what is in store for me next... Any suggestions? I'm thinking vacation!

CCIE!

Congrats man!

networker050184

Congrats! Vacation sounds pretty good to me.

Congrats man! Take a break you've earned it!

Thanks guys but no rest for the weary. I have a list of things to accomplish over the next few months, and unfortunately at least one of them has to be done before the end of this year. I'll spend tonight catching up on episodes of Grimm and Dexter to clear them off my DVR and then back to the grind tomorrow.

This season of Dexter gets starts off a tad slow but gets a lot better about halfway through

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