Re: memorizing commands

The first thing is that there is no substitution for learning the
technologies. Don't think of the CCIE as a memorization exam, because it is
not a memorization exam. When you learn the technologies and master them,
the commands come easier because you actually understand what you are
doing. On the other hand, it would be foolish to say you don't have to
memorize commands. Even if you know the technology, you still obviously
need to remember what to type.

With that being said, what helped me out a lot was something I called my
"configuration templates" I always said you need to know how to configure
every single technology on the blueprint at least enough to get it up and
running off the top of your head. You have to get SO good and SO fast with
these basic configurations that they are second nature. The way you develop
that kind of raw speed and accuracy is repetition. The more you do it, the
faster you will be. My configuration templates were based on this idea.

Essentially, I took every technology and I typed out in a document how I
would configure that technology. Not all the bells and whistles and
optional commands, just the baseline out of the box templated
configuration. Then I had a little reference guide. The other thing I did
was I would randomly pick topics off the blueprint and see if I could write
a raw base configuration for that topic. Sit down on your lunch or whatever
and pick one...if you can't write a base configuration off the top of your
head you are not ready.

Example: If I was looking at frame-relay I would have a base configuration
template that looked something like this

P2P
-----

int s0/0
 encap frame
 no frame inv
 no ip address
 no shut
!
int s0/0.101 point-to-point
 frame-relay interface-dlci 101
 ip address x.x.x.x y.y.y.y

-- 
Regards,
Joe Astorino
CCIE #24347
Blog: http://astorinonetworks.com
"He not busy being born is busy dying" - Dylan
Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net