From: Jay Hennigan (jay@xxxxxxxx)
Date: Thu Oct 11 2001 - 03:40:51 GMT-3
On Thu, 11 Oct 2001, Marc Russell wrote:
> So, do you really feel that this type of knowledge really gives someone an
> unfair advantage? I think this pushes the NDA to an extreme that wasn't
> intended.
Yes, I feel that the type of information that you were requesting in
your original post would give someone an unfair advantage. And, yes,
I feel that revealing it would definitely be an NDA violation.
> I suppose next it will be considered NDA to discuss what you ate for lunch
> during your exam.
TTBOMK, lunch is not served in the exam room. At San Jose, you were given
a voucher for day one lunch and escorted to the cafeteria where there was a
varied menu. On day two you were on your own for lunch. I would presume
that this may vary by location, but that the candidates taking the one-day
exam would likely be escorted to lunch. Frantic phone calls to TAC from
the payphones in the Cisco cafeteria are not considered good form.
> My interpretation of technical content would be something more like this
> "Hey did you hear that OSPF virtual-links now count for 90% of your score,
> better know that concept cold." If a CCIE candidate is going to actually
> gain an advantage by knowing the extent of preconfiguration of basic IP,
> interfaces, etc. he/she is going to fail miserably and it is a non-issue.
> How would this information help them pass the test? I guess I just don't get
> it. Help me see the light.
Look at what you asked for:
* We just want to know as to what extent the network is pre-configured.
* Is it just basic IP addressing and activated interfaces or more complex
* issues like ISDN setup, frame-relay setup, or basic routing protocols,
* etc.
Look at bullet point three of the confidentiality agreement found at
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/625/ccie/ccie_program/confidentiality_agrmt.pd
f
* That You may not disclose the Exam questions or answers or discuss any of
the content of the Exam Materials with any person, without prior written
approval of Cisco;
IMHO, the extent to which the network is preconfigured and the specifics
you asked about with regard to IP addressing, interfaces, ISDN and frame-
relay, and basic routing protocols are indeed very clearly "the content of
the Exam materials" as defined by the NDA.
> I have customers and competitors all going crazy over this 1-day format
> deal. It doesn't make any difference, but it is a marketing issue I need to
> address. The skills, preparation, and knowledge required will be the same
> for either test format. If I can actually get a customer on the phone and
> explain it to them they usually understand that it doesn't matter.
The CCIE program is not, to the best of my knowledge, obligated in any
way to accommodate the customers or competitors of those in the business
of providing exam preparation services. In some ways the relationship
is adversarial.
> It is just a customer perception problem I need to deal with. However, going
> through all of our older labs and updating them will be a lot of work and I
> would prefer to do it only once.
I would approach it within the guidelines of what is on the Cisco website,
and not ask for people to risk violating NDA. Perhaps the newer CCIE
Assessor may be of value.
Let me provide an observation, based on having taken the lab more than
once and having participated in this forum for a long time. There are
some technologies and scenarios I have seen discussed here frequently,
often in excruciating detail, that I have never seen in the lab. There
were things I saw in the lab that haven't been touched upon here at all.
For me or anyone to provide information such as "You're wasting your
time studying 'X'", or "You ought to know how to do 'Y'", based on the
experiences of having seen the lab would clearly be wrong, do you not
agree?
Yet what you're asking here is for information as to how the lab is
preconfigured. That is fundamentally part of the exam materials and
would give candidates inside knowledge of what not to study because it
is provided preconfigured.
-- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Administration - jay@west.net NetLojix Communications, Inc. - http://www.netlojix.com/ WestNet: Connecting you to the planet. 805 884-6323
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