Congratulations and thanks for the tips! --
RFC 1149 Compliant. Get in my head: http://sar.dynu.com ""Andrew Cook"" wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > I was able to get a free lab at the recent CPN Ops symposium in San Jose > last week, and I passed! Thanks to all on the list - I'm sure I got many > points from the tips I found here. > I signed up for the CPN event, and part of the registration asked if I'd > like to try for one of 20 free labs. Why not? Cisco replied that I > couldn't take the lab without passing a qualification exam. My written from > 2000 had expired without ever taking the lab. I was going to take the > written at the CPN event, but decided that getting a lab would be much > better! I quickly went out and retook the written. My seat in the free lab > was confirmed on Feb. 18th with a lab date of Sunday, March 17th. Not much > time! > My goal had been to pass the CCIE by the end of 2002, so even though I had > been studying for the lab, I really thought this would only be for > familiarization. I had recently reread both Doyle TCP/IP books and Halabi, > so I decided that I really needed to work on practice labs to get my time > under control. > Fortunately, I had the resources at work to put together everything I needed > except a 3900 series, but I got a few hours hands-on a 3920 from another > Sprint location. Rather than waste time with the corporate red-tape trying > to get approval for expensive lab scenarios, I just bought the Karl Solie > CCIE Prep vol. 1. > I can honestly say that the labs at the end of the book were excellent - > even though vol. 1 doesn't cover IPX or BGP, the included labs do. I > personally thought the book went into too much detail on many topics and > they could easily have condensed and added BGP and IPX - I think if you have > passed the written and are studying for the practical, certain assumptions > about base-level knowledge can be made. Even so, it was a very helpful > tool. > My only other study tool was a partner who wasn't even studying for the lab. > I gave a friend at work a visio of my physical lab setup and asked him to > make a few speed drills for me - simple scenarios of OSPF/IGRP/EIGRP/RIP/BGP > layouts with some redistribution that I would configure as quickly as > possible. Granted, there were no 'solutions', but I was just looking for > speed, and having fresh layouts to work with kept me from gaining > familiarity rather than real speed. He made 6 variations for me. This > *really* helped my speed, and I would recommend it to anyone. The faster > you can get IGP configured the more time you have for everything that rides > on top. If you don't have the colleagues, I'm sure the list would be glad > to help! > Lastly, I restricted myself to working only with the Cisco CDs and Hyperterm > during my scenarios. Don't get too used to special functions in TeraTerm or > anything else, and learn how to navigate the CD! I had at least two items > that I had absolutely no idea how to do until I found the info on the CD. > It would be very easy to blow an hour or more just searching for info, so > find stuff and remember what you did to get there. Especially if you know > your weak points (and I hope you do!) > Got my good news the next day - #8965!!! So here's my feedback: > Don't get hung up on any task! If you think something will be troublesome > at first glance, move on and come back to it. If future tasks rely on this > earlier task, this may not be possible. > Use the proctor! Cathy was sick, so my lab was proctored by Bill Parkhurst. > He clarified some ambiguous questions. There was also a mismatch between > some of my interface netmasks as configured and as printed on the layout and > he got me straightened out. > Take breaks! Hey, free sodas and coffee. > Check status often! Many times what was working fine will break or be > modified when you move to the next few tasks. Make sure that at the end of > the day, everything that was asked for still works. > Use the time! I 'finished' the lab with about 1.5 hours to go. I used that > time to double-check everything - every route, every BGP entry, topology > tables, cam tables, telnet-and-ping, IPX ping, DLSw peers, etc. There were > at least two people who finished earlier and left - I personally think that > you should use every minute they give you! > If the lab was cheaper, I'd end by suggesting you take it sooner rather than > later. However, I understand that no one wants to drop $1250 unless they > truly feel prepared. If you're lucky enough to be designated as a Cisco > Powered Network, there are supposed to be more opportunities for free labs > in the future. Just make sure you've got a valid written! > > Good luck to all, > > Andrew Cook Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=39503&t=39498 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
