Wednesday Update

Update: I now realized that S0/1/0.1 was indeed specified - in the physical/logic topology diagram. Damn, I am just not used to that. So now I know to look at BOTH the instructions, and the diagrams.

Wow, I need to get this post off and get the hell off of here. I logged in to make a quick post, and got distracted looking and INE/IPExpert blogs as well as other CCIE candidates blogs. Hey, at least it was still CCIE related, but none the less, it was taking away from my actually studying.

Monday I took the IP Expert mock lab (which was free by the way - thanks IP Expert!). Overall, I was happy with the mock. The material was good and I didn't feel that any areas were too difficult. From what I hear, this lab compares favorably to the actually CCIE Lab (Workbook 3 lab 1). Are you ready for my score?

40.

Yup, 40. And I'm still feeling pretty good. You know way? Their automatic script grader kinda sucked. One item screwed up my entire grade. Want to know what screwed it up?

S0/1/0.567

Yup. Thats it. See, their script looks for S0/1/0.1 and S0/1/0.1 only. Thus anything that depended on that interface (nat, ipv6, ip multicast, frame relay, etc) was marked as failing. So oh well, no big deal. It would be nice if they told you that at some point. Would have made the grade more realistic and add more value to their product. Beyond that, I did miss some silly points. Somethings didn't work and I didn't want to do a reboot due to time constraints. A reboot most likely would have fixed those items (namely ipv6, multicast and nat). There were also a few silly things I missed, mostly due to not reading and re-reading the entire task. I will be sure not to make these mistakes in the lab. My time to complete the lab was great, even though their mock labs are shortened due to the time to grade (you are only given 7.5 hours).

After the mock lab, I decided to read portions of my BSCI book, study with INE's Core Knowledge Sim and re-do some of Narbik's labs in those areas that I am a little weak in. This includes advanced OSPF filter, BGP Aggregation/Filter, IPV6, NAT, IP Services and Multicast. So far, I am making good time. I am spending about 10 -11 hours a day studying/reading and doing lab. I plan to do another mock lab this Friday using INE Dynamips workbook lab 1. I will be sure to post how that goes. After the mock lab on Friday, I plan to do some reading and watching some videos on Saturday. I am not going to do anything too intense on Saturday. If I am not prepared by Saturday, it will show on Monday.

In closing, I just wanted to post some notes on what I've been doing for the week. Hopefully typing these in here reinforces them into my mind.

• 'sh ip interface' shows split horizon behavior
• 'access-list 0' with offset-list in rip means all networks.
• ONLY 'area filter-list' filters LSAs
• Use 'point-to-multipoint' with database filter all out. Nonbroadcast keyword not needed.
• non-broadcast next-hop is originating router.
• broadcast next hop is originating router.
• point-to-point next hop is advertising router.
• point-to-multipoint treats each connection like a PtP. PtM also creates a host route, with next-hop being the advertising router.
• Only reason to use PtM non-broadcast is to assign cost to the neighbors.
• BGP INJECT MAP requires prefix-lists. Must match on route-source and aggregate route (again, with prefix lists). THEN you can SET the injected route (also, prefix lists!)
• Local Preference and Weight are set inbound (why do I always want to set these outbound?)

That's all for now. Stay tuned....

T minus 1 week

Well, I know I haven't posted in a while. I just haven't felt the need to, but here I sit with exactly one week to go. I re-attended Narbik's bootcamp last week. I have to say I am feeling pretty good after the bootcamp. First, I realized that I am farther along than some in their CCIE quest. As Narbik went over the material, I was almost playing the exact scenarios in my head and coming to the same conclusions. Second, anything that I was weak on, or had been forgotten has now been fortified.

To start off the week, I am going to begin with an IPExpert graded mock lab. I don't expect to learn anything from it. Instead, I want to see what they can throw at me, and how it will compare to the actual lab. For the rest of the week, I plan to re-read some of my books, play with the IE Core Knowledge simulator, go over some of Narbik's labs again, and take another mock lab or two. I will wrap up Friday at about 5pm and stop. I don't plan to do any studying after Friday. If I am not ready by Friday - what is two more days going to get me?

I am flying out Sunday morning to RTP, NC. Once I arrive, I plan to just relax, watch a little TV, have a good dinner and head to bed. The big day comes the following morning. I may post little tid bits here throughout the week, but hopefully by this time next week, I will have good news.