Sunday, August 31, 2008

Free Labs

Looks like a new site is up by Mohamed Ouamer. I'll run through a few of his labs and post my thoughts afterward. It actually could be a good find as I am spending the day running through RIP, and he has several RIP labs up.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Skipping the CCNP, and straight to the CCIE?

Yep! I have decided not to pursue the CCNP. (I actually earned the CCNP and CCDP in 2001-02). I will instead start preparing for the CCIE Written and then the lab. There are some arguments as to why you should skip the CCNP, but I am skipping it simply to bypass the rehashing. I have a full lab setup, though not as fancy as most, but enough to get 85-90% of the topics done. I can rent rack time after that.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

BSCI Study/Practice Exams

Have you tried the BSCI practice exams from Cisco or some of their
interactive games? Maybe not as tough as the real exam, but pretty
entertaining. Click here to try!

Then click on Study/Learn or Practice.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

10 TIPS FOR TAKING THE LAB EXAM

STUDY TIPS

Assessing Strengths
Using the content blueprint, determine your experience and knowledge in the major topic areas. For areas of strength, practicing for speed should be your focus. For weak areas, you may need training or book study in addition to practice.

Study Materials
Choose lab materials that provide configuration examples and take a hands-on approach. Look for materials that are approved or provided by Cisco and its Learning Partners.

Hands-On Practice
Build and practice lab scenarios on a per topic basis. Go beyond the basics and practice additional features. Learn the show and debug commands along with each topic. If a protocol has multiple ways of configuring a feature, practice all of them.

Cisco Documentation CD
Make sure you can navigate the Cisco documentation CD with confidence because this is the only resource you will be allowed during the lab. Make the CD part of your regular study; if you are familiar with it, you can save time during the exam. As of March 2006, the documentation can only be navigated using the index; the search function has been disabled.

Home Labs
Although acquiring a personal home lab is ideal, it can be costly to gather all the equipment you will need. For the hardware devices that are costly to obtain, you may be able to rent the equipment online at a more reasonable cost.

TEN TIPS FOR TAKING THE LAB EXAM

Read the entire exam first and check for addressing issues. Do not skip any details or sections.

Manage your time. Make a plan to cover all the sections in the time provided. Work out how much time you will spend on each section, keeping in mind the point value of the questions. Don’t forget to allow time at the end to verify your solutions.

Clarify the requirements of each question. Don’t assume requirements that aren’t mentioned in the question. During the lab, if you are in any doubt, verify your understanding of the question with the proctor.

Do each question as a unit. Configure and verify before moving to the next question. You may want to redraw the topology with all the details available. This will help you visualize and map the network.

Troubleshoot. You must know how to troubleshoot using the tools available. Although troubleshooting is important, don’t lose too much time working on a 2- or 3-point question. If you’re caught off-guard by an unfamiliar topic, don’t let it absorb too much time. Work on the things you are more comfortable with and go back to difficult items later.

Keep a list. During the exam, make notes on configurations and settings as you move through the exam. Make a separate list for items you have not been able to address or where you have not achieved the desired result which you’ll need to revisit.

Test your work. Never rely on a configuration done in the early hours of the exam. There is a possibility that an item you configured a few sections earlier can become broken and non-functional. Keep in mind that points are awarded for working configuration only.

Save your configurations often.

Don’t make any drastic changes in the last half hour of the exam.

Speed is vital on the exam. Review and practice core material the week before the exam to ensure you can move quickly through the less challenging questions.

About Me

I am a Network Engineer for a major ISP. I originally obtained the CCNA/CCNP/CCDA/CCDP in 2000-01. I let them expire when I returned to NCSU, where I completed my BA in Communication in June of 2006. I completed a MBA in Management from Strayer University in September of 2009 and am now working toward the MSIS. Currently, I hold the CCNA (yep, took it again and renewed it a couple of time via the Written), and the JNCIA-Junos. I passed CCIE Written in 2013. However, for a few reasons, I am completing the last class of my MSIS prior to attempting a v5 lab. and am now preparing for the CCIE Lab.

I wrote the instructions for the IP330 Olive.

The 1U Olive @ Techexams.
The 1U Olive @ Mr.Configure.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Cisco Doc CD + Tutorial

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/home/home.htm

When I run into trouble on my labs, I use the DOC CD, which I am getting better at using, thanks to the Internetwork Experts tutorial:

http://www.internetworkexpert.com/resources/using_the_doccd/index.html

How's that for an endorsement... j/k

Links for the BSCI

First Post

Greetings-

This is more or less a personal blog that will allow me to post things related to routing, switching, and convergence technologies that I may need to quickly access without sifting through the stacks of printed paper I have, or worse, creating more stacks of printed paper. (wow, that was a long sentence).

Seraphus