Congrats Dan! Very interesting read, thanks!
Pawel On 6 January 2014 00:39, Manny Fernandez <ma...@mannygfernandez.com> wrote: > Congratulation Dan, > > Very good information. > > Manny > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On Jan 5, 2014, at 4:59 PM, Dan Gericke <d...@syssec.biz> wrote: > > > > Hey All, > > I finally passed my CCIE Security exam on Dec 13 on my second try. I > wanted to share some of my experiences and answers to the major questions I > had about the lab exam. > > > > I passed the written in early July 2013, so it took me about 5 months of > studying to get ready for the CCIE Security lab exam. I started out using > the IPExpert workbooks and then moved over to the INE workbooks. More on > that later, but if you watch both of these companies forums, you might see > this post twice, since they both contributed to my success. > > > > When I started using the IPExpert workbooks there were some major > hardware issues with the proctorlabs equipment. On top of that, they > didn’t have after hours support for a while either, so when I did have > issues(which I did), I couldn’t get any help. Needless to say, I wasted a > ton of time waiting on things and having to cancel my lab time due to > issues that couldn’t be resolved. I had purchased the bundle that included > the 2 week online bootcamp, workbooks, and videos, so I didn’t want to give > up the bootcamp and videos due to my issues. I ended up purchasing the INE > workbooks so I could actually get some studying in and waited for the > online bootcamp and Proctorlabs to fix the issues. > > > > Here are my thoughts on the workbooks and lab environment between > Proctorlabs and INE. I used both extensively. > > > > INE’s workbooks weren’t fully developed when I started using them. > Actually, they barely got them fully updated a couple of weeks ago, the > last update came a day or two before my second attempt. What I do like > about INE’s workbooks is that they are online and broken up in a way that > makes different exercises easy to access. I also like that you can pretty > much start anywhere in a section, because their workbooks were written in a > way to allow that. The modularity, however, makes it difficult to build > upon earlier exercises like IPexpert’s workbooks do. INE also doesn’t have > ANY mock labs available for the CCIE Security lab yet. Mock labs are where > I gained the most knowledge. You need to do these to figure out how things > interact and how to allow different things through the various firewalls. > So in the end, INE’s workbooks are great for working on one specific piece > of technology, but they aren’t good for learning how to make them work in > more complex topologies. > > > > > > I only used the IPExpert workbooks up to the ISE section, which I think > is Section 4(out of 10). When I got to the ISE section, I ran into the > issues with the proctorlabs equipment I mentioned previously. Which is why > I had to switch to INE. I find that the IPExperts workbooks I did go > through were very in depth. They definitely taught you everything about > each technology, and applied them in decently complex topology where you > had to configure multiple ‘middle’ items to make things work(just like the > real exam). What I found overwhelming about the workbooks is their > length. Some of them would take you 10-20hrs to go through the first time, > and since there isn’t an easy way to restart in the middle, you have to try > to commit larger chunks of time. I found it difficult to do 4 hours one > day, then start back up the next day for another 4 hour session. The only > way I could figure out to do this was to manually save all the configs > myself, then re-apply them the next time. This is also a bit of a pain > since the configs require a bit of massaging(like adding no shuts) to get > back in properly. Also, if you are doing something like ISE, that becomes > impossible, and you have to go back in through the GUI and redo everything > again. > > > > As far as the Rack Rental dashboards and scheduling for INE and > Proctorlabs, I preferred INE’s set up much more. > > INE now allows you to schedule lab time in pretty much any increment you > want, at any time. So, I can schedule 1 hour tonight, or 6 hours. Their > interface also adjusts to my timezone(which is in Asia), which makes > scheduling easy. Proctorlabs still has 4 hour timeslots, and shows me > everything in Eastern time, so I have to do all the calculators myself. > Once Daylight Savings Time his in the states, my study time had to be > adjusted by an hour, which was frustrating. > > > > Overall, the INE rack dashboard is also much better than proctorlabs’. > I don’t need to VPN in(like proctorlabs) to access the VMs, as they are > available through a web plugin version of VNC. Loading configs takes about > 12 minutes, while proctorlabs I have experiences of it taking more then 20. > Sometimes, on proctorlabs things don’t reload, or get configured, and I > typically waste 30 mins to an hour making sure a rack on proctorlabs is > fully set up. I never had that problem on INE racks. The dashboard on INE > is just way more intuitive. > > > > The most valuable part of my training was the IPExpert online boot camp > with Piotr Kaluzny. The first week is all theory via powerpoint with > explanations and demonstrations. The second week, the most valuable week > in my opinion, is the mock lab week. You literally spend all day working > on labs much harder than the real one. When you get stuck, Piotr can help > you out and troubleshoot your issues, which is exactly how you learn. Lab 3 > from the class, specifically, had pretty much every technology I > encountered on the real exam, plus many more. After the 2 week boot camp, > I used my weekdays to study smaller pieces of technologies, and used my > weekends to do 1 to 2 mock labs(usually Lab 3), until I knew it like the > back of my hand. These mock labs were hands down the most important part of > my training as they teach time management, complex topology, and technology > interaction. > > > > Now, about the lab exam itself. > > The lab is much less in depth than the mock labs I did, which was > definitely a relief. On my first try in Hong Kong, I ran into several > problems that I couldn’t figure out and caused me to waste a lot of time, > and inevitably fail. My major issue, was actually a lab issue with a > windows firewall. When I was asking the proctor about my problems, he kept > telling me it was a switch issue, in the last hour of the exam after coming > back to those issues I finally discovered the windows firewall was on on > the test pc, luckily they had wireshark on there or else I would never have > noticed I was receiving the packets by not replying. The proctor told me > the windows firewall was not supposed to be on, but mine was, and it caused > a bunch of issues. He did give me a few extra minutes, but I had wasted too > much time by then for that to matter. Something for everyone to check > before you start I suppose. > > > > When I pictured the lab environment in my head, I was picturing a cold > server room with some desks where you could actually see the equipment. It > turns out that in both San Jose and Hong Kong you take the test in a room > full of cubicles or desks, and all the equipment is somewhere else. That > part is actually better, since there is less noise, and I didn’t need the > sweater Cisco told me to bring. It’s good to bring snacks and some water > or drink of choice though. I found a couple of bananas and a granola bar > really helped me recharge a bit during small breaks I took. The computer > only had putty(tab-less), which meant that you had to open 1 window per > device, which is a serious pain in the butt. You should practice managing > putty windows in the mock lab, as you need to make sure the firewalls are > visible to see any blocks. The topology, questions, VM RDP and doc-cd are > all on the same computer. There is no printed topology, and there aren’t > any dual monitors. You have you really flip through a lot of windows > during the lab, and this can become a bit confusing. It’s something to be > mentally prepared for. If you study with printed materials, then you might > want to try your last few sessions only using 1 monitor with all the info > and questions. I also found that the menu environment(where the questions > are and access to passwords, etc) was different between Hong Kong and San > Jose. I couldn’t for the life of me find the password for the RDP session > in San Jose, the Proctor would not help me, and kept telling me to read the > lab guidelines, she was kind of short with people. Needless to say, the > lab guidelines didn’t say anything about passwords. I finally found them > in one of the submenus, as things are broken up in San Jose between menus, > and they were all on 1 long page in Hong Kong. The Doc-CD was accessible > via a link on the desktop. It is fully searchable with Ctrl+F, which makes > it easier to find key words inside the various documents. You can also > load the PDFs for each major topic if you choose,and search through that > way. I had access to all the documents I needed, and access was pretty > fast. The VMs for the lab were also fast for me in both locations, and I > had no issues with ISE speed or anything else. I found the lab environment > to be very stable. > > > > I really struggled in Hong Kong, but I did get the same or very similar > lab when I tried again in San Jose, which I guess was lucky. During my > second attempt I felt much more at ease, and found myself going through and > masking off tasks quickly. I did still use the entire time, but I was on > my third run-through of the questions when time expired. These extra run > throughs are important, as I found a few minor, but important, mistakes > that probably could have cost me points on those run-throughs. Before the > test finished I ensured that all my logging that I turned on was turned off > and that my debugs were disabled. In San Jose the day was broken up into 3 > hour and 5 hour pieces, separated by lunch. At first I thought that I > wasn’t making good time, since I didn’t have that many tasks done by lunch, > but then I realized I still had 5 hours to go. This is why it’s important > to have a snack, because you tend to get hungry again later. I rebooted my > equipment twice to ensure things still worked afterward. They generally > give you show command outputs to test your solutions against, so it’s > important you pay very close attention and match those outputs. > > > > To those of you still studying, I wish you good luck. There’s plenty of > material out there, but I think if you are currently only using INE, you > might have a hard time on the exam until they come out with a complex mock > lab. If anyone has any questions, you can send them my way if you’d like. > Remember, if you fail the first time, use it as an opportunity to regroup, > drill down a bit more on key technologies, and try again. > > > > Good luck everyone. > > -Dan > > CCIE #41750 - Security > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Free CCIE R&S, Collaboration, Data Center, Wireless & Security Videos :: > > > > iPexpert on YouTube: www.youtube.com/ipexpertinc > _______________________________________________ > Free CCIE R&S, Collaboration, Data Center, Wireless & Security Videos :: > > iPexpert on YouTube: www.youtube.com/ipexpertinc >
_______________________________________________ Free CCIE R&S, Collaboration, Data Center, Wireless & Security Videos :: iPexpert on YouTube: www.youtube.com/ipexpertinc
