"The Veteran's" CCIE Written Thread

FloOz

Goodluck NetVet!!!

NetworkVeteran

I scored 769/1000! A 790 was required to pass the exam.

I'm okay. Intelligence gained: The Boson practice tests aren't brain ****, but are very similar to the exam. Had I studied the answers I missed on my three practice tests, I would've nailed or at least passed. Still, I'm hesitant to "study the test", so I believe I might just focus on strengthening my weakest areas. Multicast, damn you!

silver145

It gives you a good idea of some of the Random questions they ask. E.G you read the books, you take the info you believe you need, you take the boson exam and WHAM you think to your self, "i just read this, but no where did i notice that......." haha.

Time wise how did you do? I tend to have ALOT of time left.

NetworkVeteran

silver145 wrote: »

"i just read this, but no where did i notice that......." haha.

Yes! I've had that feeling. I'd read the OSPFv3 section. Scan the RFC. Think "Aha! Now I know all the new LSA types and the functional differences between v2 and v3. I am set!" Then the practice task asks me to name the fields within the LSA... garr! The real exam was similar. Then again, we are supposed to be experts, not merely good at these protocols.

I had about 30 seconds to spare when I finished. I tend to take my time during tests.

I'm going to take a break this weekend, but for some Bidirectional PIM white papers for when I get bored.

carterw65

At least you know what you are facing now and what you need to do to overcome. You are really close so don't give up!

instant000

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

I'm okay. Intelligence gained

LOL @ Intelligence gained.

In the interest of full disclosure, I tried taking the written last weekend, and failed, according to Pearson Vue (LOL, still not fully accepting it). What upset me the most was getting questions about some very specific things that I had no idea at all would be worth studying. When I gave the exam feedback, I tried to express my utter displeasure with the questions.

On a more positive note, I did pass the test today (had a special Sunday testing going because Rackspace's Cloud Academy had the test center open because they're trying to get their students certified).

The Boson practice tests aren't brain ****, but are very similar to the exam. Had I studied the answers I missed on my three practice tests, I would've nailed or at least passed. ...I might just focus on strengthening my weakest areas.

Yeah. I went back through each Boson practice test, and made detailed notes on everything I had the slightest question about. In addition to this, I read RFCs to clear up some things that I had no clear idea about (I don't really understand things until I know the full story behind them. Sure, I can regurgitate something at face value, but I don't really "understand" it, unless I dig into it.)

Once example of what I mean (which I can fully disclose, as it was not on either test I took, but can serve as an example of fishing out what you don't fully understand):

OSPF LSAs. There was a Boson question about the S2 and S1 bits. I got a Boson practice question, and I couldn't relate these S2 and S1 bits to anything at all.

Later, when I did some more reading on OSPF (maybe it was in Boson, everything blends together after a while). Anyway, the point was that the S2 bit being set would correspond to a value of 4 in the LSA code filed, and the S1 bit being set corresponded to a value of 2. For some reason, knowing those two things made it so much easier to associate 0x4005 with the LSA five, which has AS-wide scope. Then, you can look at LSA 8 (0x000, which has neither the S2 or S1 bit set, and it corresponds to a link local scope. All the other LSAs use the (0x2...) format, so they're just area wide.

So now I know that the S2 bit, when set, corresponds to AS-wide. The S1 bit corresponds to area-wide. (Which I know now, but didn't know before digging into it a little.)

I see your thread, and the sheer number of flash cards that you have prepared is amazing, but I'll tell you this: I had made over 4,000 flash cards, but scored lower on my first attempt than you did, so your review method is much better than mine.

I'll let you know what got me over the hump:
1. Going back through the practice tests and taking detailed notes on anything that I wasn't totally clear on.
2. Record myself reading these notes aloud.
3. Play back the audio of the notes, over and over and over and over again to myself.

When I took the test today, I could literally hear myself "explaining" the topic and remembered what the notes looked like on the paper, as I had listened to myself so many times. It was only about an hour or so of audio of the topics that gave me issues, so you can imagine how I was able to repeat this several times a day. I estimate that I heard my recording maybe 25-30 times before I had the retake this morning.

This method might annoy others (if you don't have headphones) but it cannot be beat for drilling concepts into your head. I used a similar audio-recording method to clear the CCNP:Switch exam, where I recorded all 750+ of my flash cards, and played those back. To use a switch example, it helps immensely to have recorded yourself saying aloud a detailed switching configuration. (I can't think of a suitable example from switch that wasn't on the 350-001, so I can't go there with an example.)

I didn't invent this method of the audio recording. I totally copied it from Tassos, CCIE#19858.

carterw65

Good discussion Intsant. I like it! I think perhaps I will record my flash cards as well when I get a better stock of them. I didn't go that route for the written, but wish I had; I would have a nice stock of them by now.

instant000

I didn't record my flash cards for the written. I got fatigued, and only recorded a few on IPv6. My other cards were so numerous that I got disheartened about it. My calculation was that it would take about 9 hours to record them all, and it's rough. You have to sip water and take breaks. And, really, it's a bit much to go at it saying something like this:

Question:
What is a Type 4 LSA?
Answer:
0X2004
ASBR Summary LSA
aka Inter-Area Router LSA

Question:
What is the usefulness of a Type 4 LSA?
Answer:
Generated by the ABR to describe a route to an ASBR to neighbors outside the area.

... and so on.

You can find yourself making a lot of flash cards. I'm going to look into an automated repetition system. What I do now is manual, and not very well planned out.

Link-state advertisement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note: wikipedia has a mistake on LSA type 9 compare bits 16-25 on their LSA 8 and LSA 9. Then, compare versus the RFC "pppffft ... newbs". (This is said totally in jest, as the more I learn, the more I realize what I do not know.)

I'm not about to edit Wikipedia right now, but someone else feel free!

NetworkVeteran

I'm back from a brief hiatus after some important business projects and travels.

I went back through each Boson practice test, and made detailed notes on everything I had the slightest question about.

Instant, appreciate the advice! Will take it to heart. Tentatively step one is to review my flashcards, step two is to do more multicast study, and step three is to do a more detailed review of the Boson questions.

Mrock4

No worries man. Unfortunately, as you know, it's very to miss all the small details in the study guides and such, and it's even more frustrating when you know the technology (or think you do) and then stumped on the test. I have no doubt you'll knock it out of the park next time (and then possibly we'll see a Babe Ruth photo vs. a Hindenburg one!)

Iristheangel

Glad you're back at it. Sorry to hear about the CCIE written but it sounds like you're maintaining a positive attitude about it. Keep on going!

NetworkVeteran

6.0 hrs
226.0 : Total

I spent the last couple days reviewing RIPv1, RIPv2, RIPng, and UDP. There were many nuances I'd forgotten about it, first and foremost how damn slow, unscalable, and inefficient it is. I still wonder why RIPng's developers didn't add address-family support for IPv4, when ironically, the older RIPv1/v2 could support multiple network protocols.

My favorite RIP labbing command: 'offset-list 0 out 1' on slow links for the win!

NetworkVeteran

Reboot. It's been a busy couple years. I got a role on a challenging network team and I now lead that team. My cisco certifications are two months from expiry, and that must not happen.

NetworkVeteran

18-July-2015:

3.1 Addressing technologies

• 3.1.a Identify, implement and troubleshoot IPv4 addressing and subnetting
  • 3.1.a Address types, VLSM
    
  • 3.1.a [ii] ARP
• 3.1.b Identify, implement and troubleshoot IPv6 addressing and subnetting
  • 3.1.b Unicast, multicast
    
  • 3.1.b [ii] EUI-64
  • 3.1.b [iii] ND, RS/RA
  • 3.1.b [iv] Autoconfig/SLAAC, temporary addresses [RFC4941]
  • 3.1.b [v] Global prefix configuration feature
  • 3.1.b [vi] DHCP protocol operations
  • 3.1.b [vii] SLAAC/DHCPv6 interaction
  • 3.1.b [viii] Stateful, stateless DHCPv6
  • 3.1.b [ix] DHCPv6 prefix delegation

NetworkVeteran

19-July-2015

2.3 Layer 2 WAN circuit technologies

• 2.3.a Implement and troubleshoot HDLC
• 2.3.b Implement and troubleshoot PPP
  • 2.3.b Authentication [PAP, CHAP]
    
  • 2.3.b [ii] PPPoE
  • 2.3.b [iii] MLPPP
• 2.3.c Describe WAN rate-based ethernet circuits
  • 2.3.c Metro and WAN Ethernet topologies
    
  • 2.3.c [ii] Use of rate-limited WAN ethernet services

5.1 Device security

• 5.1.a Implement and troubleshoot IOS AAA using local database
• 5.1.b Implement and troubleshoot device access control
  • 5.1.b Lines [VTY, AUX, console]
    
  • 5.1.b [ii] SNMP
  • 5.1.b [iii] Management plane protection
  • 5.1.b [iv] Password encryption
• 5.1.c Implement and troubleshoot control plane policing
• 5.1.d Describe device security using IOS AAA with TACACS+ and RADIUS
  • 5.1.d AAA with TACACS+ and RADIUS
    
  • 5.1.d [ii] Local privilege authorization fallback

5.2.c Implement and troubleshoot IPv6 first hop security

• 5.2.c RA guard
  
• 5.2.c [ii] DHCP guard
• 5.2.c [iii] Binding table
• 5.2.c [iv] Device tracking
• 5.2.c [v] ND inspection/snooping
• 5.2.c [vii] Source guard

phantasm

Back at it again? Looking over a lot of the threads in here and I'm seeing some that span several years. Crazy amount of dedication. I'm just starting on to prep for the written, well, right now I'm aligning my resources and plan to start studying on 8/1. Good luck to you!

Iristheangel

Nice to see you back at it Hope all is well wit you

NetworkVeteran

Iris! So glad to see you're still here. Life's been good to me lately. Hope it's the same for you.

Phantasm, I'm actually crazy lazy! I just want to avoid retaking 1 associate + 5 professional exams! Good luck to you. The CCIE R&S Written is no push-over but your CCNP covers a good chunk of the content.

Iristheangel

Yep. Studying for the CCIE DC over here so my life is filled with crazy lab hours I'm sure you're feeling my pain

gorebrush

Took me five years from when I first decided to go for it to pass the lab. The "final" attempt took me ~19 months from start to finish.

Life gets in the way a lot with these kinds of things, but I have proved it is possible. Good luck with the re-sit of the Written, NetVet!

NetworkVeteran

21-July-2015

5.2.a Implement and troubleshoot switch security features

• 5.2.a VACL, PACL
  
• 5.2.a [ii] Stormcontrol
• 5.2.a [iii] DHCP snooping
• 5.2.a [iv] IP source-guard
• 5.2.a [v] Dynamic ARP inspection
• 5.2.a [vi] port-security
• 5.2.a [vii] Private VLAN

• 5.2.b [ii] IPv6 traffic filter
• 5.2.b [iii] Unicast reverse path forwarding

• 5.2.c [viii] PACL

5.2.d Describe 802.1x

• 5.2.d 802.1x, EAP, RADIUS
  
• 5.2.d [ii] MAC authentication bypass

NetworkVeteran

25-July-2015

I have 3.1 and 5.1 down cold, and I've strengthened my knowledge of 2.3 and 5.2. I've read up on security, PPPoE, DHCPv6, IPv6 addressing, and NA. I watched many security videos on INE. I practices infrastructure security and Cisco ACLs.

My self-assessment and a practice test are at odds. Disappointing. Either way, I'm going to hit Network Principles next.

Self Assessment

1 Network Principles - 70%
2 Layer Two - 65%
3 Layer Three - 65%
4 VPN Technologies - 75%
5 Security - 85%
6. Infrastructure - 70%

Practice Quiz

1 Network Principles - 44% (29 questions)
5 Security - 58% (14 questions)

bharvey92

Read through the whole of this thread and boy is it a biggie! How are your stuides going mate? I hope to do the CCIE one day....

Danielh22185

Keep it going man! I look forward to tracking your progress!