Re: Anyone Going for v4 lab in october?

Hi Nathan,

  Just pasting the content for your kind reference

For those who dont know me, Ive been a CCIE since mid-2002 and am the
co-author of several CiscoPress books, including CCIE Route/Switch Exam
Certification Guide 4th edition, Cisco Voice Gateways and Gatekeepers,
and CCNP Quick Reference Sheets. I recently took the beta of the new
version 4.0 CCIE R/S lab exam to offer feedback to Cisco. With their
approval, I'd like to offer my impressions to those preparing for, or
considering, the CCIE R/S lab exam. A big caveat  my job does not
routinely involve configuration anymore, and I didnt get a chance to study
until on the flight there, so a prepared candidates experience will
definitely vary from mine!

Overall, I was favorably impressed. It has some cool and interesting new
features. The most visible difference is the computer interface. All
documentation is web-based now, including the lab instructions. No more
binder on the desk. The main web page has the overall diagram and links to
instructions and documentation. You click on a router to open a SecureCRT
console session with it. There is also a link to manage the devices (reboot
one, for example.) You can access CCO documentation from a link on the main
page also. You cant search CCO, though, unfortunately.

I didnt know what to expect from the core questions since they werent on
the lab when I took it seven years ago, but I thought they would be trivial.
They werent. But they also were well within what one would expect someone
sitting the exam to know easily.

The two-hour troubleshooting section is new for the one-day exam and follows
the core questions. There are multiple trouble tickets, all relating to the
same network so you dont have to learn a new network for each one. You can
do them in any order. I felt that the questions were fairly representative
of things you might run across in a production environment. If youve set
up your own lab and done all the experimenting you should while studying,
youve probably already made most possible mistakes anyway! Probably the
best way to ace the troubleshooting section is to have a very in-depth
knowledge of all the technologies covered in the lab. One thing you should
know is that the computer closes the exam exactly at the end of two hours.
You
dont have any wiggle room to finish things up, so keep an eye on the time.
If you finish early, you can end that portion and start the configuration
portion of the lab.

The configuration portion is the last 5 = hours. I found it easy to get
used to the web interface and having the instructions on the screen rather
than on paper. The monitor screens are big enough that you can have
multiple windows open at once. However, it was annoying to move the windows
to see the lab diagram. If the actual lab doesnt offer a paper version of
the diagram, I recommend that you draw your own. The equipment was sometimes
a little slow in responding to commands, because the actual routers and
switches are in San Jose and I took the exam in RTP. It was nothing to
worry about, just something to be aware of. I think the equipment has been
remote for a while now, so if youve taken the lab recently then its
familiar to you. The equipment sat beside us when I took my lab. There are
some new technologies in the blueprint, and the configuration part is two
hours shorter, so one would expect that portion to be scaled back somewhat.

Studying for version 4.0 should be no different than studying for the CCIE
lab has always been - know the core routing, switching, and WAN technologies
cold. Practice them until you can do them in your sleep. Then tackle all
the other things on the blueprint, paying attention to the odd and unusual
things you can do with them. As always, having a strong understanding of as
many technologies, techniques, and IOS features as possible gives you time
to research the tasks youve never heard of.

Good luck with your exam! I'm interested to hear about your experiences
with it!

Regards

Anantha Subramanian Natarajan

On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Nathan Richie <nathanr_at_boice.net> wrote:

> When I click on the link, I get the following message:
>
> "The Cisco Learning Network site is currently unavailable due to scheduled
> Maintenance."
>
> I can see where having the CLN down on the day that the R&S Lab version
> changes would be a great idea :)
>
> Can anybody give some indication as to what the article said?
>
> Regards,
>
> Nathan Richie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobody_at_groupstudy.com [mailto:nobody_at_groupstudy.com] On Behalf Of
> Divin Mathew John
> Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 6:17 AM
> To: Iwan Hoogendoorn
> Cc: Cisco certification
> Subject: Re: Anyone Going for v4 lab in october?
>
> anyone read this ? Review of the V4 beta Examiew of CCIE v4 Beta Lab Exam
> https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/thread/8262
>
> On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 3:04 PM, Divin Mathew John
> <divinjohn_at_gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > i am planning to give in dec 2009
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 1:52 PM, Iwan Hoogendoorn <iwan_at_ipexpert.com
> >wrote:
> >
> >> Did you make it Mathew?'
> >> I believe you did your exam on the 4th correct?
> >>
> >> --
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Iwan Hoogendoorn
> >> CCIE #13084 (R&S / Security / SP)
> >> Sr. Support Engineer IPexpert, Inc.
> >> URL: http://www.IPexpert.com
> >>
> >> On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 6:34 PM, Divin Mathew John <divinjohn_at_gmail.com
> >
> >> wrote:
> >> > Anyone Going for CCIE RS v4 lab in october?
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > W. Somerset Maugham <http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/40259.html>
> -
> >> "I
> >> > always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things
> I
> >> > don't."
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
> >> >
> >> >
> _______________________________________________________________________
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> >> > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/CCIELab.html
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> > Sent from Karnataka, India
> > Oscar Wilde <http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/1171.html> - "I love
> > acting. It is so much more real than life."
> >
>
>
>
> --
>
> Sent from Karnataka, India
> W. Somerset Maugham <http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/40259.html> - "I
> always find it more difficult to say the things I mean than the things I
> don't."
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Subscription information may be found at:
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>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
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Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Mon Oct 19 2009 - 10:13:55 ART