From: Kaiping Ma (kpma@cisco.com)
Date: Fri Mar 16 2007 - 13:59:02 ART
Speaking of slowness, here is the time breakout of my passing lab
attempt.
First 75 minutes - read lab (only up to BGP) and drew my topo
Before lunch - finished RIP and just started OSPF
2 hours left - finished BGP
45 minutes left - finished 1st round with 2 questions unanswered
At this point, I decided to tackled the 2 unanswered questions
instead of verifying already answered questions. My blood pressure
was probably above 90/160 at the moment.
30 minutes left - decided to give up one of the 2 questions
<10 minutes left - solved the last question. Decided not to try
anything else in order to avoid further damage.
English is my 2nd language and my typing is terrible.
Kaiping
#16975
On Fri, 16 Mar 2007, anthony.sequeira@thomson.com wrote:
> As slow as I am (in more ways than one) here was the overall time
> breakout for me on my passing version of the lab:
>
>
>
> 15 minutes until I started configuring
>
> Config, Test, Troubleshoot
>
> 45 minutes for error checking at end of day
>
>
>
> The 45 minutes of checking at the end may have indeed passed me -
> because I did catch some issues.
>
>
>
> I have heard stories of people passing and they finished just after
> lunch - including error checking. I have also heard that there might be
> alien life forms walking amongst us. If A is true, then I think B might
> also be true.
>
>
>
> Anthony J. Sequeira
>
> #15626
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Sean.Zimmerman@clubcorp.com [mailto:Sean.Zimmerman@clubcorp.com]
> Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 11:15 AM
> To: Sequeira, Anthony (NETg)
> Cc: ccielab@groupstudy.com; darbyweaver@yahoo.com
> Subject: RE: Lab Strategy - Please Comment
>
>
>
>
> It seems to me that you could either fly through the exam as fast as
> possible, then go back and correct, or take Anthony's approach of slow
> deliberate config and back check tasks such as ACL's that could affect
> previous tasks. I type very fast, but I noticed that my mistake rate
> goes up significantly when I rush.
>
>
>
> <anthony.sequeira@thomson.com>
>
> 03/14/2007 07:20 PM
>
> To
>
> <darbyweaver@yahoo.com>, <Sean.Zimmerman@clubcorp.com>,
> <ccielab@groupstudy.com>
>
> cc
>
>
>
> Subject
>
> RE: Lab Strategy - Please Comment
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> This looks like a pretty solid Checklist. And it is unique to many I
> have seen which makes sense because everyone seems to have their own
> strategy approach.
>
> I just want to point out that because I am so slow and deliberate at
> configurations - and my typing is terrible - I would never have been
> able to pass if I did everything PRIOR to configurations that you
> describe here.
>
> Here is what I learned to do prior to starting and it worked perfectly
> for me:
>
> 1. Read very closely the overall Lab Requirements.
>
> 2. Skim all of the Lab Tasks.
> a. I am looking for major issues that later tasks can cause for earlier
> tasks.
> b. I am getting a feel for what I am going to need to do in each
> section.
> c. I am getting a nice picture of the overall network design and
> functionality - or lack thereof!
>
> 3. Start configuring and re-diagramming (if necessary) Layer 2.
>
> Notice that I am configuring after about 10 minutes. If there are issues
> with equipment of any kind - I am running to the proctor about it - and
> that will still be early in the day because I will touch all devices
> early enough in my configurations of core lab tasks.
>
> I am smiling thinking about one of my dual-CCIE mentors who passed both
> the R/S and the Security on first tries! He re-diagrams the entire lab
> as he carefully studies each task. After this time intensive task - he
> then begins configuring off of his new diagram. As you might guess - he
> is one of the fastest and most accurate at configurations I have ever
> seen.
>
> To each his own sometimes I guess.
>
> Anthony J. Sequeira
> #15626
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Darby Weaver [mailto:darbyweaver@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 7:50 PM
> To: Sequeira, Anthony (NETg); Sean.Zimmerman@clubcorp.com;
> ccielab@groupstudy.com
> Subject: Lab Strategy - Please Comment
>
> Here's some of the techniques I've picked up so far,
> mostly from Bruce Caslow, Bob Sinclair, Scott Morris,
> and from Brian Dennis, however I might have a few
> other tricks sprinkled in that I just like a bit.
>
>
> 1. Read the Lab - Yes the Whole Lab. - Now just
> reading it is great, since we are excited and all but
> what are we looking for?
>
> - Diagrams
> - IP Addressing
> - Physical Loops
> - Logical Loops
> - Issues with Split-Horizon
>
> 2. Read the Lab again - Yes I know the clock is
> ticking. But I can promise you'll find something you
> didn't see before and besides the more familair you
> are with the layout the better your performance will
> be later when you have that headache, yours eyes are
> sore, and you are wondering what you came for...
>
> - Again look closely
> - Draw your diagrams
> - Switch Layout VLANS/TRUNKS
> - Spanning-Tree Topology
> - Physical Diagram (Link-to-Link and IP's)
> - Watch those IP Addresses - Anything wrong?
> - Frame Relay Map - P2P, P2M, Phy.
> - IGP Diagram per-IGP (note where they meet i.e
> Redistribution (Y/N))
> - BGP Fiagram
> - Mcast Diagram
> - Make a Diagram for your points/section
>
> Task Points Y N ?
> ===========================
> 1.1
> 1.2
> 1.3
> 1.4
> 2.1
> 2.2
> 2.3
> 3.1
> 3.2
> 3.3
>
>
> OK, So you spent about 20 minutes on item number 1 and
> another 25-30 minutes on the items in number 2. You
> still have not touched your pod.
>
> 3. Setup your icons. Now I'm kinda weird here, I work
> off of Notepads and I label each one per Device, ie.
> R1, R2, R3, S1, S2, S3, etc. I also prefer to work on
> one session and only use other sessions when I need
> them for testing. However you may like 1 session or
> tab per device. You decide.
>
> As you are setting up your icons, you should log into
> each device. For a few reasons:
>
> - To be sure you can.
> - To do a sh ver - Check the ver AND config-registers
> or if on a switch - look for env_vars and in any case
> look for other configs that may be there - you don't
> need them and they could hurt you.
> - To do a sh cdp neigh
> - To do a sh ip int brief
> - To setup housekeeping commands and/or aliases
> - TO VERIFY WHAT IS ON YOUR WORKBOOK IS WHAT IS ON
> YOUR RACK - If I yelled it any louder the glass would
> break.
> - Oh yes, and a quick sh run might be valuable to
> determine if any extra configuration is present or
> not.
> - Sometimes, I may also check anything that is
> pre-configured for me. If there are vlans, I might do
> a sh vlan, or if there are trunks, I might do a sh int
> trunk. If there were pre-configured etherchannels,
> I'd perform a cursory sh channel-group command, etc.
>
> What I am really doing is carefully inpsecting
> anything that they gave me... Not that I do not trust
> the proctors, but hey...
>
> - config cdp on eveything - even frame, especially
> frame - I like visibility.
> - turn on multicast and IPv6 where required -
> afterthought but it helps and besides - you did script
> it right?
>
> 4. Work on your layer 2 configuration and as you do so
> - verify link layer connectivity on a per-Link basis.
> Here I do things like config my VTP, Trunks,
> EtherChannel, assign ports to trunks, config my frame
> relay, bridging, fallback bridging, virtual-templates
> etc.
>
> Here are the tips for this section.
>
> - Shut down interfaces before configuring things like:
> trunks, frame interfaces followed by no fram inv,
> interfaces used for etherchannels, etc.
>
> - Create vlans before assigning ports.
>
> - Verify L2 etherchannel, before moving to L3
> Etherchannel which we verify as well.
>
> - Verify connectivity to the Backbone. - We may have
> to filter here one way or the other. But we need
> connectivity first. Hah!
>
>
> debug is our friend here for anything that even think
> it looks out of place.
>
> 5. Start configuring my IGP AS's one at a time, and
> verify connectivity per AS. router-id's (yes, I use
> them for eigrp and ospf).
>
> 6. Now configure Redistribution if and where required.
>
> 7. OK - Time for a TCL Script.
>
> sh ip alias, notepad, and copy/paste are the tools of
> the trade.
>
> Verify connectivity - should not have problems. And
> if you do you would fix them here and now.
>
> Run the Switch Macro too...
>
> 8. Repeat steps for IPv6 if required.
>
> - Intermission - Might as well reboot - Ensure things
> are going great. Ping script.
>
> Note: Some people say before lunch - I say after IGPs.
> Just me - I like to make sure things are the way I
> want them and I tend to watch the order of the boot as
> well and watch for things that are not like I might
> like and then I fix them.
>
> 9. Quickly complete BGP Connectivity (bgp router-id,
> no auto, no sync or not)
>
> 10. Quickly enable PIM interfaces.
>
> 11. Quickly perform any authentication on a per-link
> bassis, adhere to order of operations and then verify
> on a per-link and per-AS basis.
>
> 13. Ping scripts are working? Right? Try again. Fix
> any discrepancies.
>
> 14. Pick off easy tasks, SPAN/RSPAN, AUTOINSTALL, NTP,
> SYSLOG, RMON, FTP, SSH, CRASHDUMP, NAT/PAT, DHCP,
> VRRP, IRDP, GLBP, HSRP, MENU, BANNERS, etc. The fun
> and misc stuff.
>
> 15. Get Multicast working and testing.
>
> 16. Get BGP Advanced Tasks working
>
> 17. Get QoS Tasks working - would anything even
> remotely filter or break anything - Check anyway. The
> Scripts were working before they work now. Only takes
> a few minutes.
>
> 18. Security - Let's get these guys in place.
>
> 19. I know you may have questions. You have
> everything you know how to work working. So take a
> step back and breathe. Look at your work. Run the
> Scripts - BTW some labs may not require full
> reachability.
>
> Tunnels, DHCP, NAT, or FHRP may be done earlier if you
> think you need them to work.
>
> Ask the proctor any mind-numbing questions.
> Go back and work any sections you found difficult or
> you skipped or that were ambiguius.
>
>
> Anyway - I had a few random minutes so I thought I
> would jot this down for RouterGirl2003 and anyone else
> who might find it handy...
>
>
> I may have missed something, but not too much I hope.
>
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