Re: Retreat hell! I just got here!

NR, excellent post man

Good luck next time.

Santiago E

On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 6:26 AM, Nathan Richie <nathanr_at_boice.net> wrote:

> I took the V4 lab yesterday in RTP. Licking my wounds today but not
> discouraged. Howard said he was not aware of anyone passing yet. He also
> said
> that the R&S CCIE numbers were on back order and they would not be issuing
> any
> out until November :).
>
> So here are some thoughts in regards to the exam:
>
>
> 7 New format is OK but get used to everything being on the monitor
> and
> not printed. As someone previously mentioned, you are unable to minimize
> some
> windows. What I did was just place them at the bottom of the screen with
> only
> the title bar showing - a manual minimizing. There were 3 of us taking R&S
> and I don't think there were any real problems. I had some minor issues
> but
> Howard was able to resolve very quickly.
>
>
> 7 If it is on the blueprint, know it! Everything is fair game.
>
>
> 7 OEQ's - enough has been said about these. I really think it is
> the
> luck of the draw.
>
>
> 7 Troubleshooting - yes you can move on if you get done with this
> early, but with 2 hours and 10-12 tickets, you have to be smoking (in my
> opinion). I spent a few minutes reviewing the diagrams and quickly read
> through the tickets. I then had approximately 10 minutes to spend on each
> ticket. One of the things I found challenging was just trying to quickly
> find
> where in the network the ticket was referring to. As has been stated
> before,
> you can have a large number of routers. As well, all tickets seemed to be
> independent. I did find a problem that was listed on a trouble ticket. It
> was an easy fix, so I fixed it anyways. I was on my 2nd to last trouble
> ticket when time ran out. HOWEVER - at this point I was really encouraged.
> Although I was sure I did not pass this section, I did feel like it was
> completely doable.
>
>
> 7 Configuration - (I will tread lightly here as I am not sure what
> all
> is published by Cisco and I want to respect the NDA). This was the beast
> for
> me (and I am guessing everybody). Five & = hours is not a lot of time.
> This
> was my first lab attempt, so I cannot compare it to anything other than
> practice labs I have had. But as has been stated before, 25+/- tasks, you
> gotta be spot on and rolling. If you take 30 minutes to read through the
> task
> list, review the diagram, & verify configurations, that would leave you 15
> minutes per task with no time at the end of the lab to verify. So as you
> can
> see, it does not leave much room for a weak area or many trips to the Doc
> CD.
>
> I think this is accomplishing what Cisco wants it to. It has taken the
> difficulty up (at least for a while) and the number of people passing down.
> I
> would like to see them drop the OEQ's now that they have added the
> Troubleshooting section, but then as Scott Morris often says, "Cisco didn't
> check with me on that one". :)
>
> Overall, yesterday was a great experience. I definitely know what to
> expect
> now going into my next lab. Now I am going back home today to prepare my
> remedial training plan and subsequent lab attempt. I will continue to be
> on
> GS and will hopefully be posting more questions/answers as I move forward
> to
> master some other areas of the blueprint.
>
> I think that it is going to take mastering each section in terms of
> knowledge
> but also in terms of configuring them as quickly as possible. As I learned
> in
> the Marine Corps, the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war!
>
> Cisco - I don't plan on bleeding next time!
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Nathan
>
>
> Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
>
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>
>
>
>
>
>

-- 
-----------------------------
Santiago Enciso
CCNA/CCDA/CCNP
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net