Re: Study Advice

Marc,

It's always hard to start preparing for the second attempt, as you
keep getting that Deja-Vu feeling all the time.
If you have to take both the written test and the lab exam, I would
recommed you focusing on one topic at time.
First take the written test, and then start preparing for the lab
exam. Back in days it made total sense as the
written test and the practical exam had different set of topics.
Nowaday it looks like they brought both tests
in sync, but I believe the "separation" method should work as well.

Personally, i always found it very refreshing to go over the
theoretical topics after spending a lot of time practicing,
like you did. You always find a lot of new connections and insights in
the dull topics :) I think it would take you
about a month or two (depending on the available time) to prepare for
the written test. Dont spend much time
on this, as taking more time have bad effect on your memory, where you
start forgetting things that you learned
before. But remember that the new written test should be different
from the old exams, as there are supposed
to be new simulation-based tasks.

For the new lab exam, the two things you have to worry about are
probably the new Troubleshooting section and
the addition of MPLS VPNs. However, there are good news here as well -
the configuration section will obviously
become shorter and simpler. As for MPLS VPNs, they are not going to
test all the advanced stuff found in SP
track. Mostly likely you will be tested just for VRF lite, basic L3
VPNs with PE-CE routing and route filtering
techniques. Oh yes, Maurilio seems to always mention EIGRPv6. Dont
think it's going to be a big issue though :)

As for troubleshooting - nothing can help you here more than regular
practice. Troubleshooting is mostly about
systematic approach and careful information collection. You should
already have all technical background
for troubleshooting, and thus you should only be worried about keeping
yourself under control during this part.
And the good news is that trouble tickets in the new section will not
be dependent, so you can always skip one
or two you find hard to resolve. This is about the importance of
time-management :)

As for other "scary" topics that appear in the new blueprint - don't
worry much about the OER, ZFW, IPS etc.
Like they said during the Ask The Expert session, those are going to
be really basic. So just make sure you
are familiar with the fundametals of each and can locate the examples
in the DocCD quickly.

Finally, if you are interested in learning more about INE's product
updates pertaining to CCIE RS v4.0, please contact
me directly.

-- 
Petr Lapukhov, petr_at_INE.com
CCIE #16379 (R&S/Security/SP/Voice)
Internetwork Expert, Inc.
http://www.INE.com
Toll Free: 877-224-8987
Outside US: 775-826-4344
2009/6/5 Marc La Porte <marc.a.laporte_at_gmail.com>:
> Hi guys,
>
> I am looking for some good advice for approaching attempt #2 for R&S. I
> failed my first attempt back in September 2008 and due to personal
> situations I haven't been able to pick up my studies again, which means that
> I won't be able to comply to Cisco's policy to do the second attempt within
> a year after the first attempt. Thus, I will have to redo my theory as well.
> Not so much a problem (considering the QEQ), but not fun nonetheless.
>
> I have decided to go for version 4 (both theory and lab), and so I need to
> get up to speed on the new topics, work on my weaknesses (security, qos,
> multicast, ip services) and keep the rest up to speed as well...
>
> Here are my questions:
> 1. Is it wise to combine theory and lab study? Or should I do theory first?
> 2. How do I make sure I don't "overdo" the theory study (i.e. spend too much
> time on it)?
> 3. How do I best prepare for the new topics in v4?
>
> BTW, I am using Internetwork Expert solely (Volume 1,2,3, and CoD for both
> R&S and SP).
>
> Looking forward hearing from you.
>
> I really want to nail it the second time, and put my name on my own site
> (CCIE Hall of Fame), but do not look forward to the new topics and the
> troubleshooting ;-)
>
> Sincerely,
> Marc
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
> http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net