So I got a number of off-list questions based on this email, and I compiled those questions and answers into the following:
*Was this your first attempt?* No, my first lab attempt was in July. I passed TS on that attempt but was far too slow and poorly organized for the config section. This was my second attempt. After taking about 2 months easy after my first attempt I got back to serious prep for this attempt in mid-October. *How did you feel going into the lab. Did you know that you knew how to configure everything or were there still questions in your mind about it? * Not *everything,* no. I knew there were topics that I was weaker on and topics I was stronger on. I had tried to make sure I'd configured just about every feature I'd seen in any workbook at least once, and recently I'd gotten much more familiar with the DocCD so I could start finding things quickly, even if I hadn't seen them before. *What was your process of labbing? Tech labs then full labs or did you hit the full labs first and go back and practice on what you got stuck on the full lab?* Before my first attempt, I had been doing most of the tech labs and was focusing just on trying to do as many full labs as possible in the weeks leading up to my lab date. This time, I had been revisiting certain specific features and working largely on core topic speed and then in Feb I switched to full labs. Still, just a few days before my lab date, I realized I was doing well on core topics, but that losing LOTS of time and points on services and security. So I made a last-minute course correction and went back to Volume 1 for those areas and hit them hard for 3 days before the lab. I finally did one last full lab 2 days before the exam and did very well on it so that gave me a huge confidence boost. On the day before the exam I make sure to lab up about a half-dozen topics that I knew I had a good chance to run into (PPPoE, MST, etc) and also re-labbing all the topics I'd struggled with on my first lab. *On the exam. Does each test have a IGP highlighted diagram like the Ipexpert and 360 practice labs give? Or are you not allowed to say?* You're given all the documentation you need, and for the most part it is pretty clear. Don't be afraid to press the proctor for some clarification if a diagram seems incomplete. I did that in one case on this attempt and the proctor's assurance that the diagram was "not missing anything" made me choose a specific course of action that I think was pretty insightful. I'd love to expound, but I cannot. *What practice labs did you use to study? IPexpert/INE/360?* I used a multi-vendor approach. Not saying that was the best, but I felt I got a well-rounded preparation. I will explain more when I blog all this stuff. *Would GNS3 with two 3550s and two 3560s do for CCIE lab preparation? * 95% of my labbing was done on my hybrid rack which is primarily Dynamips routers and real switches. I eventually settled my lab out with 3x3560 and 1x3550 but I think you could do just fine with 2 of each. I did add 3 1841's to my lab to act as R1, R7, and R8 in IPExpert's topology so that I had a couple real routers to use for things like BFD that can't be done on Dynamips routers. The 1841's weren't critical but were a nice addition. Also, I strongly recommend using 7200 models in Dynamips rather than 3700s. I had many more emulation-related problems with the 3700s, like funky multicast, stalled serial interfaces, LSA corruption, etc. *What worked for you in terms of time/point management for both TS and Config?* TS: Fly. Just fly. 10-12 minutes for a fast read through and note-taking pass. Then I would look back over the tickets and mark on my score sheet the order I wanted to do the first 4-5 in based on the ones that looked like easy wins. That put me in a good rhythm and helped me build a time advantage. I found in practice and the real labs that once I solved about half the tickets, the rest started to fall into place as I got a feel for that topology and the kinds of issues I was hitting. My goal was that by 20 minutes into TS, I'd completed my read-through, prioritization, and solved my first ticket. Any longer than that and in my opinion I was behind. For config, the thing that saved me this time was a technique I'd been working on in practice labs of doing my read through and marking tasks that I didn't have a *very* good idea of how to *completely* do as a candidate for skipping either for later, or completely. Also, tasks that are absolutely critical for connectivity, I marked as well so I'd know that if I couldn't get them working within a tight timeframe I'd have to "cheat" them and just make them work regardless of task requirements so I could move on. In this particular case, my lab had a heavy component for a feature that I had not studied in great detail for some reasons I don't want to mention because it would "give it away," but the important thing is when I saw that I had a good chunk of points related to that topic I *immediately* decided to write those tasks of completely and spend all the time allocated for those tasks making sure I was kicking the rest of the lab's ass. I knew that if I was very nearly perfect on the rest of the lab I could afford to write those tasks off. That's what I did, and it worked. Not sure I'd recommend that path for everyone, but the important point there is that I knew my limitation, I knew what a waste of time it would be just "messing around" trying to get one of those tasks working, and I made a tactical decision based on what it would take to pass the section with the hand I was dealt. You do not have time to "play around" trying to get something working if you don't have a VERY good idea of exactly what you need to do. *How many Vol 2 labs did you do? People suggest to focus more on vol 1.* I actually did none of IPExpert's Vol 2. I did all of Vol 1 and most of Vol 3. I did use a multi-vendor approach so I did other lab work that focused on specific skills. *What made the difference for you, this time compared to your previous x attempts?* (1) Experience of going to the lab. Looking around the waiting area and seeing the candidates who were clearly there for their first attempt, I realized just how bad the nerves can be. (2) More technical development and more, more, more lab time. 7 months of additional study, and by my tally well over 250 hours of additional lab time since July. (3) Better strategy and tactical plan for attacking the lab and focusing on how to *pass* Config, not how to *do every task* on Config. I hope this Q&A is helpful to other list members! Thanks to those who posed the Q's! On Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 11:20 AM, Bob McCouch <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > Just wanted to drop a note to let you all know that I passed the CCIE R&S > lab in RTP on Thursday to earn CCIE #38296. Total elapsed time from setting > off on study for the written was about 28 months. That was after 9 years of > industry experience while holding CCNP and CCDP. > > I'm working on writing up some thoughts on my experiences, training > materials, lab setup, etc., and will post links when they're up somewhere, > but I wanted to offer thanks to participants of this list for both > answering my questions and posing some very interesting ones that kept me > thinking over the past couple of years. > > If anyone has any questions about the lab experience, etc., feel free to > post back to the list and I'll answer to the best of my ability within the > guidelines of the NDA. To keep the list SNR high, anyone offering congrats, > please reply directly to me. > > Thank you all! > > Best Regards, > Bob > CCIE #38296, Routing & Switching > _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com Are you a CCNP or CCIE and looking for a job? 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