Today was my day. It sucked, primarily because I didn't pass.
The OEQs are what you have come to know. The troubleshooting section is more or less how Wendell described it. I can't really add much to it. The Lab configuration part - also, less of the same so to speak. I think that it was a good mix of stuff doable in about 6 hours. Problem is you only have 5.5 officially. Overall my thoughts are for the test I had; If I had known a couple of the newer techs as well as I know say OSPF or EIGRP, I would have finished most if not all the tasks. I don't think I would have had much if any extra time from it though. There is probably 'just' enough time to do what they give you. The lab config part, well I think that in some respects it may be easier but still - 5.5 hours is just not much time. Task points were summarized more, instead of a few here and there for each task - it was points for the section. I don't really know what this means as far as grading is concerned. The biggest problem I had was the new GUI interface. It's interesting, has good points but for the most part I hate it compared to the v3 delivery. Let me repeat. I hate it. One of our proctors was Maurillio, I told him at lunch that I didn't like it. I didn't say I hated it though but the more I think about it the more I do. If we had two monitors things I think would be better. Still, the monitors they have are 24 freakin inches - you would think that would be big enough but it isn't. The primary diagram takes most of it up. When you open the 'questions' pop up which describes what you are supposed to do it covers up the diagram. Both windows are too big to be seen on a 24" monitor at the same time. So you have to play with the windows the entire freaking lab so that you can refer to the documentation, the questions and your secure CRT sessions. Seriously, I spent more time moving windows around in the first 2 hours that I finally just drew out my diagrams and was done with it. If you're going for your lab any time soon, prepare for the suck. There are 2 ways to solve this problem. Go back to the old delivery or give the candidates more monitor real estate. It is just ridiculous that the GUI is so problematic. The easiest fix I think is to provide 2 monitors (and a free attempt for me to make up for my significant frustration). -Mike
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