Re: OER/PfR at lab exam?

Since PfR/OER is relatively new to the lab exam it's not covered as much
as a topic like OSPF, MPLS VPNs, etc in most products. That being said
I currently spend at least one full day covering it in my 10 Day R&S
bootcamps and I cover it in-depth as getting 5 or 6 points on it in the
lab exam can be the difference between passing or failing. I start from
the basics (i.e. load balancing, PfR static & BGP route manipulation,
etc ) and work into the more advanced configurations (i.e. link groups,
fast mode, jitter probes, delay, PBR based upon DSCP, using PfR for sink
holing traffic, etc).

To be honest there are a ton of strange, for lack of a better term,
quirks with PfR that can cause trouble when someone is just starting out
learning PfR. So although it may seem like a good idea for me to just
throwing you the labs from my bootcamp, that isn't going to be what you
really need to truly understand it. It would be like saying to me "Hey
Brian I want to learn MPLS VPNs" and I say "Here are a couple labs. Good
luck!". Think that will work? No.

Here is just a few example of quirks with PfR: An access-list used with
a learn list can not match IP addresses but an access-list with a
oer-map should match IP addresses. When using fast mode with a learn
list you need to use a prefix list when also matching with an
access-list. Or how to configure PfR to do PBR unconditionally without
any OOP condition, etc, etc, etc.

As I mentioned there are a lot of pitfalls with learning PfR due to the
fact it's a newer technology and went through a lot of changes in IOS
12.4T. PfR is an awesome technology and I personally love it but it can
be complicated to learn for anyone starting out. I would venture to say
that is it one of the most complicated of any technology currently
covered in the lab exam. The documentation is 33% bigger than the OSPF
documentation and it's only getting larger with QoS being added and PfR
domains in future releases.

I started a blog series on it (http://goo.gl/yH0ip) but have since
decided to just write a whole document covering PfR as the topic is just
too big to cover in a few blog posts. I currently have over 100 pages
and I'm hoping to release it around the end of the month. If anyone
would like a copy, free of charge of course, just let me know.

Lastly if anyone wants to come see me cover PfR in person free of charge
just contact INE sales and ask to audit one day of my bootcamp. It's
normally covered on the 8th day of my bootcamp. I'm in Dubai this week
and covered PfR yesterday and have a private bootcamp next week but
after that I'm teaching in Washington, DC and Seattle next so feel free
to stop by.

-- 
Brian Dennis, CCIEx5 #2210 (R&S/ISP-Dial/Security/SP/Voice)
bdennis_at_ine.com
Internetwork Expert, Inc.
http://www.INE.com
On 04/11/2012 02:35 AM, Ivan Hrvatska wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I just purchased ciscopress ccie r&s exam cert guide 4th edition,
> since I had 3rd in which there was nothing about OER and PfR. I must
> say that the quality of that subject in new edition of the book is
> really poor. One config example without any explanations and without
> any topology diagrams. Nothing that can help someone to understand the
> topic.
> So, my question is how deep this subject goes in potential task at
> exam? How much time should I spend on it since it can be very complex
> feature? The book says:
> "As you will see as you explore PfR more deeply, it is remarkably
> powerful. As you would expect, it also has many configuration options.
> For the CCIE R&S qualifying exam, you should understand the concepts
> of PfR and how it operates and its core functionality."
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> 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