From: C Chan (cch.ccie@gmail.com)
Date: Sun Jun 08 2008 - 07:56:01 ART
Hi friends,
I got my CCIE# three weeks ago. I would like to contribute my story to
those beginner, in-the-middle and get-ready friends.
I started my lab preparation since Oct 2007 and worked 25 hour/ week on
average. Though I was almost ready to take the first attempt with 50% chance
to pass in Mar, I turned out to defer my first attempt to two months later.
My logic is that if I fail the first attempt, I usually take another 2
months before second attempt. Why not I do better preparation and increase
my confidence level (say, to 80%)? It does not only save my $$, but also
avoid to suffer from the struggle of failure. The result proved that my
proposition is correct.
I followed the similar practice as most of GS friends by choosing one full
lab WB out of three vendors (IEWB, IPExpert, NMC) in the first few months. I
do not rush to finish each task of the full lab in first practice. I never
chose to read the suggested solution directly if I do not know the answers.
I was doing my own research and study on docCD carefully. If I still cannot
find any hints, then I will try to search answer from cisco.com and repeat
any test I thought. After finishing the whole lab, I read through the
solution and compare with my own solution and review the comments posted in
vendor's forum. The first full-lab practice experience gave me a very good
chance to expand my horizon of technology and tried different ways to tackle
the same problem. You should NOT mind how long you have to take for a full
lab exercise. Sometimes, it took me 20-30 hours to fully digest a lab. But,
it is worth to do so.
I re-thought the 2-months study plan after deciding to defer my lab exam at
Mar. I had three options in my mind.
1. Re-do the same set of full lab WB
2. Purchase Accessor Lab / Mock Lab of another vendor
3. Purchase another set of WB from another vendor and start the practice
again
Finally, I chose option 3 in term of price and performance. The price of two
Mock labs is nearly equal to a full set WB (20-25 scenarios) of another
vendor. Even though I cannot complete all scenarios of new WB in two months,
I can still able to practice at least 10 more different scenarios which are
asking differently than my first-set WB. I also understood the importance of
timing and practice under pressure. So, I intended to count my work hour of
each section in detail for this new WB practice. Basically, I will divide
them into several major sections (eg topology drawings, L2/WAN, IGP, BGP,
v6, multicast, other IOS features). I had my work hour blueprint for each
section. I usually took 7-10 hours to finish a full lab during this
intensive practice. I understood my speed is still below standard. The norm
of completion hour of real lab is around 6 hours. I had to rethink and
improve my exam strategy, which is the key for my success. I have outlined
some exam strategy for your reference.
Exam strategy
1. Practice and build the TCL script and switch macro within 5 mins. TCL
script and macro are very useful when you perform quick verification
repeatedly especially during afternoon session. Practice to use "Ctrl-H" of
notepad when converting TCL script to switch macro.
2. Practice to use "send *" command under term server
3. Shorter the alias commands. Practice and build them ASAP by using
"send *". Here are a few examples
- alias exec r sh ip route
alias exec c conf t
alias exec sr sh runn
alias exec sri sh runn | inclu
alias exec srb sh runn | begin
alias exec srr sh runn | begin ^router
alias exec o sh ip ospf
alias exec e sh ip eigrp
alias exec b sh ip bgp
alias exec r6 sh ipv6 route
alias exec srr6 sh runn | begin ^ipv6 router
alias exec a sh ip access-list
alias exec sac sh arch conf diff
- alias exec siibe sh ip int bri | e una
- alias exec o6 sh ipv6 os
- alias exec mr sh ip mroute
- alias exec pi sh ip pim
4. Practice to use "sh arch conf diff" natively, which is useful
during troubleshooting
5. Save your configuration only if you have *verified* IP reachability of
each device. If there is any abnormal in the afternoon session, use "sac" to
discover the problem of newly added configuration quickly. That's why you
shouldn't save your config frequently in the afternoon session.
6. Learn to use different verification steps for the same task from
different angle as quick as possible
7. Though we get use to prove the network behavior to work in right way
(or as expected), think about how to prove the network behavior is
*NOT*working
*wrong*. Sometimes, you cannot spot out how to prove it right. But, you
can use reverse logic to prove it "NOT wrong"
8. Do not always trust the Proctor's interpretation. He/ she might not
give you a right direction and make you more confuse. Though you might feel
some contradiction among questions, you can discover that they does not
contradict if you read them carefully from a high level. Be confidence and
trust your technical knowledge and interpretation.
9. You should not under-estimate the difficulty of real lab. But, most
importantly, you should* NOT over-estimate* the difficulty. It is just
about.
10. Do not insist to complete all L2 and IGP tasks before going to BGP
and rest of sections. Time control is very important in the exam. The bottom
line is to ensure the IP reachability before going to next task.
11. Practice to draw all L2/ L3/ redistribution diagrams with your
always-use color-code and glance through the whole question set within the
first 45 mins.
12. Think and practice a way to discover the pingable addresses of BB
routes. "Trial and error" is not a good way in real lab.
Moreover, I glanced through each chapter one by one of some key technology
books (eg IPv6, multicast, security) of DocCD in final two weeks. I had
performed some own lab tests that didn't cover in the WB. I had to make sure
that I knew some key command/ keywords of unfamiliar technology before real
exam. It would definitely speed up the search time in case of facing some
stranger question in the real lab.
I worked behind my plan schedule before lunch in real exam. I nearly
finished the IGP part only before lunch. But, I caught up to complete the
rest of sections and ran ahead of my plan schedule after lunch. It turned me
to finish the whole lab in 6.5 hours, which was faster than my self
practice. This lesson taught me that I can win back if I do not lose
confidence and refine the strategy by using the lunch break.
Best wishes for every fighter in the battle. Keep your momentum and
fine-tune your real-exam strategy.
Good luck!
Best Regards,
CH
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