From: Cassidy D. Smith (csmith@plannetconsulting.com)
Date: Sat Oct 19 2002 - 03:17:18 GMT-3
Nick, WOW! I FEEL MOTIVATED.
This is definitely one of the best posts I have read on groupstudy. This is
exactly the type of advice I was looking for!
Thank You!!
Casey
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com]On Behalf Of
Nick Shah
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 9:39 PM
To: Cassidy D. Smith; ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: Test taking strategy, organization and time management?
Hello
Your question has no best answers, it will generally depend upon your mental
makeup, even though the study methodology may not seem to have any direct
affect on the strategies of the 'D DAY' yet, it plays an imporant role in
determining a MENTAL pattern which will be engraved into you in such a way,
that your fingers will flow, and your mind will co ordinate.
- Cisco does a very good job to PSYCHE you out, so the key is to tackle it
in the same way you tackle any other FEAR, and that is FIGHT, lead an
ORGANISED FIGHT. Be Ruthless, be unkind, TAKE NO PRISONERS. :)
- Since you have already attempted once, you know whether lab drawing really
helps or not, so decide whether you would do it again the next time. I didnt
need it.
- The last week (not more than that) before the test, you really have to get
into the 'killer mood'. You have to practise bringing up an OSPF network
consisting of 6-8 routers 3-4 areas, all with different authentication, 2-3
virtual links etc. Try to do all this in 20 mins. (yes, its more than
possible). Then move to BGP, practise only multihop sessions (because the
direct sessions are straightforward) , use only route-maps (why, because
they are lengthy) .. The idea is to 'sweat' as much in training so that you
forget the 'pain' and your mind will establish a pattern when it sees that
'lab diagram' and will immediately trigger a response and you will jump on
the routers and do the necessary. Then UNLEASH THE MADNESS, redistribute,
You must know redistribution 'dependencies', 'requirements' & 'snags' like
the back of your hand. Practise 2 way or 3way redistribution with every
routing protocol imaginable (Routopia 1 is good for this, even though the
requirement doesnt state every2every redistribution, yet do it)
- Dont do anything the last day, or atleast after midday. Take your mind off
the lab. This is just to get you into a relaxed state of mind (not to slow
you down, but rather to calm urself before you go and UNLEASH THE TERROR the
next day). See a Killer movie the night before (gone are the days of seeing
light movies before the lab). See the good guy killing all the baddies.
Have a good night sleep.
- My idea was to know every command sequence (not only commands, but their
relevance and applicability to technology) for every routing protocol, ISDN,
DLSW & IPX (not relevant anymore). This way, when I read the question, I
know what command will be used to resolve the issue. This is particularly
true of those 'corner questions' . By no way should this strategy be used in
lieu of 'not knowing the technology thoroughly' (Knowing the technology
thoroughly is the key & a prerequisite)
- Spend first 15mins to read the whole lab, to get a idea. You 'dont' have
to read slowly and understand at the first go (because your mind will be
filled with lot of stuff, you will either PSYCHE yourself out or STRESS
out). Just read enough to find out that you wont have to change your frame
relay network from non-broadcast to P2P or something stupid like that.
During this reading associate each router with what routing protocol will
run on 'Which Router' . Do the reading in accordance with the lab diagram
(you will have to twist the diagram page in a particular way to acheive this
task :) , This will form a mental association between protocol & respective
routers.
- Do the same for VLANs & switch part. Usually, the ip addressing, VLAN
association to router ports is intuitive (since you have done the actual
lab, you will realise what I am saying).
- After the first reading , read for about 2-3 mins. on each topic before
working on it. Say you begin with either VLAN assignments or FRAME relay
setup, read it fully (once again with the diagram in front) and then ATTACK
IT. Complete ip addressing etc. ping it end to end DONE. Go to the next one,
likewise in less than 20 mins or so you will be done with the L1, L2 & L3
stuff (ip addressing) .
- Then apply the same methodology with routing protocols, Read OSPF
requirements (use the diagram again) associate mentally the areas with the r
outers (remember ip addresses are already done), ATTACK once again. However
once you finish the attack, go back and re read the requirements (1min
prolly) so u havent missed anything. (This is not strictly required, because
you are leaving about 2hrs. in the end to do this same thing)
- Move onto the next TARGET. EIGRP/BGP/IPX/DLSW.
- During ur initial reading you will find 1 or 2 routers will be the ones
doing 2way or 3way redistribution. Those are the DEADLY ENEMY ZONE. Treat
them with caution, remember the rules. Once the individual routing protocols
are out of the way, you need to give urself about 20-30 mins for
redistribution. Remember if you have done groundwork during the week b4 the
exam, this should not take long. (You would know where you would need
summaries, where you would need to use distribute lists/route maps, where
you can use distance to overrule the route feedback)
- Then move onto IPX (if applicable) or DLSW.
- Just 5-10 mins. b4 lunch , do a write & reload. Go thru the unfinished
items, and find one which can come and 'haunt' you. Read it thoroughly, this
will be ur 'mate for lunch'
- Target to have IGP & atleast DLSW (or IGP & BGP) to be up and running b4
lunch. Then you will gain a big 'psychological advantage' . You will
immediately find yourself very confident. After lunch, resume the attack.
- The idea is to have 2 hrs. free atleast b4 finish time. So you can go and
check everything again and again, nail the issues, nail the points , refer
to the DOC CD etc. These 2 hrs, be ur own critic, and look real carefully
for 'misunderstood questions' etc.
I followed this 'regiment' and finished my lab in 4 hrs. (exactly at
lunchtime). I took about 8-9 months to prepare for the lab, of which the
first 3-4 months were just getting my feet wet and knowing whats fair game
in CCIE LAB (which is basically everything thats there in IOS 12.1 config.
& command reference except appletalk and lane & other topics explicitly
removed).
I sincerely hope that this does the task of motivating you to go in for the
BIG KILL ..
rgds
Nick S.
CCIE # 10474
----- Original Message -----
From: Cassidy D. Smith <csmith@plannetconsulting.com>
To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2002 9:12 AM
Subject: Test taking strategy, organization and time management?
> I have read numerous posts that have discussed preparation, but not a lot
of
> folks talk about actual test taking style and organization.
>
> In my first attempt I spent a lot of time reading the lab and re-drawing
the
> lab diagrams. I got disorganized, and then ran out of time.
>
> Can anybody give some test taking pointers? What should you do to
organize
> yourself.. I have seen posts about creating check lists, if this is the
way
> to go can anyone give an example of what a checklist should look like?
>
> I am looking for ways to be fast yet thorough and maximize points.
>
> Thanks for all of your help!
>
> Casey
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________
> PlanNet
> C o n s u l t i n g
> information technology and telecommunications consulting
>
> Cassidy D. Smith
> Principal
> Network Architecture
>
>
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