From: Peasah, Richard Kwame (rpeasah@ku.edu)
Date: Thu Aug 05 2004 - 22:19:42 GMT-3
Great post David. Now here's what I did which may or may not work for
others but it worked for me b'cos that's my learning style.
I don't do well at repetitive tasks. I get bored and loose my focus very
quickly leading to sloppiness, etc. Hence, the repetitive typing of
similar ios commands after commands, something you need to do with the
commercial labs environment, is a bit much for me. So, here's what I did
after failing 5 times. I bought a commercial lab (yes I bought another
commercial lab) and instead of rushing to the rack and spewing out
commands I grabbed a pencil and paper and began solving the issues,
technology after technology as suggested by David. This is similar to
writing pseudocode. In this way I took my time and thought through the
issues to figure out the exact requirements, no more no less. Remember,
figuring out what the scenario is asking for is the KEY to passing. You
will be amazed how tough it is to do this but what you gain is
immeasurable. Writing out your logical thinking as to how you will solve
a complex BGP traffic engineering scenario without typing out any meds,
as-path prepending, local-preferences, etc, can be quite daunting and
challenging and for some people, boring or silly. However I found it to
be quite useful and exactly what I needed to do in order to discern the
exact requirements. This enabled me to really mobilize all the amassed
knowledge and experience accumulated to engage in an analytical process
of deciphering and solving the issues presented. Afterall that's what
the lab is about. Right? Solving problems. I used this approach for like
75% of this commercial lab. Next I signed up for some mocks. Went back
to the paper and pencil approach to fill the gaps, then went for the
real deal and bingo! Success at last. For me it was just a matter of
understanding the requirements and that is the KEY. Repeat this to
yourself every time you tackle a scenario! Understanding the
requirements is the KEY! I'm assuming here that as a Lab candidate you
already have a solid understanding, familiarity and experience with the
IOS code. If you don't then no strategy is going to you at this stage (I
could be wrong though, but highly unlikely). There're no short cuts.
-----Original Message-----
From: nobody@groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody@groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
David Duncon
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2004 7:27 PM
To: ccie2be@nyc.rr.com; ccielab@groupstudy.com
Subject: Re: Strategy to tackle this beast :-)
Sound like a plan , Tim. Well said.
Thanks for your time.
David.
>From: "ccie2be" <ccie2be@nyc.rr.com>
>To: "David Duncon" <david_ccie@hotmail.com>, <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
>Subject: Re: Strategy to tackle this beast :-)
>Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 11:05:15 -0400
>
>David,
>
>I agree with you that it's important to have a strategy and a good
solid
>preparation plan. That will get you far.
>
>That said, I think it would be prudent of you to purchase a practice
labs
>workbook. I'm using Internetwork Expert's workbook and Solution Guide
>which
>I feel is fantastic. Now, even though each lab covers a broad range of
>technologies, you don't have to do a complete lab before going on to
the
>next lab. If you want and I think this is a good idea, you can focus
on
>one
>particular technology at a time. For example, you can do just the ATM
>portion of all 20 labs and thereby become very proficient in
configuring
>ATM. As a side benefit, you also will get a sense of the level of
>difficulty and the scope of what's expected as far as ATM is concerned.
>Then, after you're very proficient with one technology, you can do the
same
>with each of the other technologies.
>
>If you take this approach, there is one caution I have for you. Don't
get
>the false impression that if something isn't covered in any practice
lab,
>then you don't need to be concerned with knowing it. As you probably
know,
>Cisco says that anything that can be done in IOS is fair game for the
lab.
>So, for example, although so far I haven't seen any QoS over ATM stuff
on
>any practice labs, knowing how to configure the various ATM traffic
>parameters and knowing where to find the details on the Doc CD would
>probably be a wise move. But, on the other hand, you can probably
safely
>assume, that if something isn't covered in any practice lab, it
probably
>isn't something that will kill your chances of success in the real lab.
>So,
>continuing with the ATM QoS line of thought, if you don't know how to
>configure this, you'll either lose a couple of points or precious time
>trying to figure it out if it's on the lab, but not knowing this won't
make
>your IGP's not work. In other words, you can consider this topic a
>non-core
>topic.
>
>By focusing intently on one technology at a time, you'll become much
faster
>at configuring that technology plus you'll also learn where to find
things
>on the Doc-CD which is also important to your success in the lab.
You'll
>also learn some things that aren't explicitly covered in any labs. For
>example, if you have to configure alot of vlans on a 3550, there are a
>couple of ways accomplish that. You can first create each vlan, then
go
>back and assign ports or you can just assign a port to a vlan and let
the
>3550 automatically create the vlan if it doesn't already exist.
However,
>there are scenarios when this method can't be used. But, by focuses
>intently on 3550 technology, you'll learn this stuff so well that when
you
>take the lab, you won't need to spend any time thinking about these
>things.
>And, you'll also learn quick ways to verify config's.
>
>Now, there's something you said which I have to disagree with.
Personally,
>I think 2 1/2 hours to complete all the L2 tasks is too long by about
an
>hour. I suppose it's possible to take 2 1/2 hours to complete the L2
stuff
>and still pass the lab, but I also think it's highly unlikely unless
the
>lab
>has 30 or more points on L2 stuff.
>
>A while ago I would have also recommended taking the lab for the first
time
>before you were 100% confident you could pass it. This was so you
could
>get
>a feel for what to expect. Now, a number of firms offer a simulated
lab
>which is far less expensive than the real lab and will also give you a
good
>sense of what to expect but with the added benefit that you'll get some
>detailed feedback which can help you identify areas of weakness.
>
>My last recommendation is to read the postings on this forum. There
are a
>bunch of truly great and knowledgable guys that participate on this
forum
>and you can learn a great deal from what they have to say. Since you
>already mentioned some of these guys, it appears you're already on the
>right
>track.
>
>HTH and good luck in your preparations. Tim
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "David Duncon" <david_ccie@hotmail.com>
>To: <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
>Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2004 2:17 AM
>Subject: Strategy to tackle this beast :-)
>
>
> > Hi Folks,
> >
> > As I am in the process of designing the required strategy towards my
1st
>lab
> > attempt which is happening in the next 6 months, just want to
capture
> > thoughts of numbered people out here. Being a passive listener since
>last
> > few weeks, I have noted few success as well as failure stories. To
my
>mind
>,
> > any body who came this far and willing to subject to this long and
>demanding
> > (both from time as well as monitory point of view) path , are
diligent
>and
> > capable people. From the offset what appears to me is, to tackle
this
>beast
> > , we need to have a strategy in place , besides willingness to work
hard
>and
> > invest required funds.
> >
> > This is what I am currently put in my head and appreciate if you add
>your
> > valuable input which can help any new comers like myself.
> >
> > 1) Lower the pressure on my self from very beginning by preparing to
go
>as
> > far as 3 attempts (or even further if I am not good enough even at
my
>3rd
> > attempt) to get my number. That will immediately leave me out as
>"favorite
> > to take the number home on my first attempt". So I am not feeling
any
> > pressure from now on and I will try NOT to panic during my first
> > attempt/exam as well. With this school of thinking , I hoping to
>exercise
> > realistic expectations on myself.
> >
> > 2) Secondly as I said above, strategy is what makes the difference
>between
> > success stories and failure stories. So my strategy is to have a
>"building
> > block" approach. That is with out getting intimidated with the vast
>nature
> > of this exam blue print and also to certain extent by other CCIEs
>around,
> > for example like in this Study group forum where some lower numbered
> > member's posts are very in depth and very intimidating for a new
comer.
>But
> > that is OK.Because as Howard once said in his post, all CCIEs are
NOT
> > Surgeons , some are just Doctors. And you got to work hard even
further
>even
> > after you become a CCIE. To become Surgeons like people such as
Scott ,
> > Brian's , Bob , Andrew, Howard , Mark and Chuck ..etc , all new
CCIEs
>need
> > to continue their "quest" for knowledge as long as they are in Comms
>arena.
> >
> > So now my aim is to become a Doctor/i.e... CCIE to begin with and
there
> > fore I am not trying to fathom the whole Internetworking
technologies to
>the
> > extent of Surgeon.
> >
> > 3) Instead focus the exam blue print . And even then Not to get
carried
>away
> > with continuous research with out giving or delaying the exam. For
>example
> > like the other day, some one asked the question of "how far to study
the
> > ATM" or "how far to study the IPSec" or for that matter this
morning I
>was
> > thinking about how far to study Bridging ?
> >
> > Since *time factor* is critical here , I am planning to be very
clinical
>and
> > deliberate in my approach. For example , there is no need to try and
>invest
> > time to understand how the RIF in Token ring builds or for that
matter
>how
> > the translational bridging work. Instead worry only about Ethernet
>Bridging
> > and that is what will be tested in the exam. On you way if you pick
up
> > broader understanding on various Bridging technologies , then that
is
>fine.
> > But because if you do not have time to digest RIF or MPLS (just for
an
> > example), then do not worry.
> >
> > The reason why I am saying this because , most of us who are working
in
>the
> > industry already must be exposing ourselves to various technologies.
For
> > example besides my bread and better Routing and Switching operations
,
>since
> > last few months I am also involved in few Security (reasonably
>familiar
> > with VPN 3k ,PIX & CPNG ) and Voice ( VoFR, Voice Gateways.
Transcoders
>,
> > CMsetc) projects. But the bottom line is , from exam point of view
as
>far
> > as Voice is concerned, I only need to go as far as configuring FXS
voice
> > ports, configuring pots and Voip peers , Digit manipulation and MLS
Qos
>on
> > Voice vlans ..etc. Nothing more , at least for this R & S exam and
do
>not
> > worry about on how SRTS works or how to build complex Translational
> > rulesetc.
> >
> > But knowing that well in advance is a welcome step to me. That way
my
>target
> > is not a * moving target* or ever expanding target.
> >
> > 4) Coming to my strategy again, in my first attempt itself, I am
aiming
>to
> > pick up full allotted marks on L 2 technologies like
3550s,Dlsw+,Frame
>Relay
> > and ISDN. Because I think it will be pretty disappointed after all
this
> > effort , you can not even bring up the L2 in a decent time in the
exam.
>I
>am
> > aiming to clock around 2 to 2 1/2 hours to bring up L2 in my lab
>practice
>as
> > well. And then I will really be aiming to pocket marks on multi
services
>as
> > well such as Qos , Multicast , DLsw + and Security and IP Services
>..etc.
> >
> > That will give me 50 % of the marks already , I reckon. And I will
be
>happy
> > if I score that much in my first attempt. And I will also aim to
score
>as
> > many points as possible in the other 50% which occupies the meaty
>portion
>of
> > L3 stuff.
> >
> > 5) As far as L 3 is concerned , that 50 % of the marks are unknown
and
>you
> > can get bamboozled on any single protocol. Correct if I am wrong ,
even
> > though you know how independently configure every single L3
protocol,
>and
>if
> > you screw up the *Redistribution*, then basically you lost the game
and
>you
> > can not ping all interfaces and you can not see the appropriate
Route
>tables
> > on all devices.
> >
> > Having realized this from beginning , at worst case scenario, I will
be
> > aiming to score as many full marks as possible on independent L 3
>protocols.
> >
> > 6) Redistribution being one of my weakest areas besides Multicast &
>Dlsw+
>,
> > I am planning to sort out that guy in my second or 3rd attempt as I
am
> > thinking it may be helpful for me to participate a physical or an
online
> > boot camp with any of these top vendors out here. And that way I can
>develop
> > that sort of logical to get my redistribution on my 2nd or 3rd
attempts.
> >
> > I feel already lot better on this building block approach , in the
sense
>I
> > will not become terribly upset (neither about 6k to k odd investment
nor
> > about 3 or 4 attempts) about next 12 month road in front of me. And
also
>by
> > being this positive , realistic & methodical , I am not making the
lives
>of
> > my wife and kids miserable every time I reach home with a depressed
out
>look
> > of life :-) After all this is just an exam where 14k people have
already
> > passed , so that this is by no means an "Impossible task". May be it
is
> > different/difficult than all the Uni exams we all have went
through.
> >
> > That factor of "difference" in the exam is precisely what is making
me
> > exited because that different path of preparation is what making me
a
>better
> > engineer from yesterday to today. And I am sure after 12 month of
study
>and
> > after 3 or 4 times of failure, I can even get better and hopefully
>become
>a
> > Doctor by then in Howard words :-)
> >
> > Your input is much appreciated.
> >
> > David.
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > 10,000 children need sponsors change a life:
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