A Sneak Peek at the CCIE R/S Lab

The recently announced changes to the CCIE R/S written and lab exams took effect this week. I recently had the chance to take the R/S lab again, as part of the Beta testing – so I decided to save up some observations and post them around the time the new exam has come out. Today I’ll look at a variety of things about the lab exam, and make another post next week concentrating on the biggest change: The 2-hour troubleshooting section.

You know, the strange thing is that many times over the years, I’ve wondered if they’d let me take the CCIE R/S Lab again – and not take away my CCIE number if I failed. It has certainly changed a lot since I took it back in 1995. I’ve always had the itch to try for another CCIE, but I think I’ve had a cumulative 3-4 weeks in the last 5 years without a book to work on (that’s definitely not a complaint), and it obviously takes more than casual effort to prep for another CCIE lab. And getting a CCIE in your spare time pretty much changes your life until you get it done, and I’ve never wanted another CCIE bad enough to make that sacrifice. But, I just always thought it’d be interesting to sit the lab again. And then Maurilio asked a few of us Cisco Press CCIE authors, plus others I’m sure, to sit the lab and give it a test. And it was fun.

OK, on to stuff you folks might care more about. I came to the exam with several specific items to keep an eye out for – things like the impact of adding a 2-hour troubleshooting section, how the config section would be different now that it’s 5.5 hours instead of 7.5, and the supposedly-dreaded open-ended questions. But the biggest surprise was obvious from the first few minutes of lab time – they changed the user interface of what you see to access the lab, and as a result, there’s no printed lab exercise book. The only paper for the lab is the note paper they give you to write on.

In the old days, you got a lab booklet that you couldn’t write on, but you could do the natural thing and pick up the book to look at the various lab requirements. I believe it’s true that the book had some lab diagrams as well. Now you get a GUI interface from which you can pull up the many different lab diagrams, read the various lab exercises. My gut reaction was that I didn’t like not having a book. After experiencing it, I thought the replacement GUI would have been reasonable if I had had time to practice with it.

The good part of the GUI was that once I was used to it, I could navigate to the next topic for both troubleshooting and config easily. The GUI essentially indexed the main lab exercise tasks, which may be a bit more convenient than flipping pages in a booklet. Once I got used to it (20 minutes maybe), I stopped to ask myself if the user interface itself would slow me down compared to the paper booklet, and I decided that if the small bugs were removed (e.g., no back button on the browser to get to the docs), AND if I had a chance to practice before the lab (so that 20 minute learning curve wasn’t part of the timed test), that it wouldn’t have hurt. Otherwise, call it a 20 minute hit for the day, wild unscientific guess. (I did ask, and as of now, there is no tutorial available before the exam; if it’s your first lab with this interface, you’ll get to learn it concurrent with doing the troubleshooting. I’d suggest asking as many questions as you can about the user interface before starting the timer.)

There were negatives to the GUI, but of course GUIs often have to do with personal preference. In this case, a few of my author friends and I were allowed to discuss amongst ourselves our impressions, and we all agreed that the navigation in the GUI was a bit of a problem. EG, to view a figure, you click, and a window pops, which is fine. However, you can’t minimize the window so that the bigger window behind it, where you access the console windows, is hidden. You can re-size, and move, but not minimize. To see another figure, the figure shows up in the same window, so to view both – like a cabling reference and a different VLAN reference – you have to toggle back and forth, and never see both at once. Then, to see the console term emulator windows, you have to move the figure window to the side, and then drag it back to see it again. No minimize/pop-open toggle like with Windows. Each figure required a different window size/shape to see the whole figure, and all the figures showed up in this one window, so there was no ability to make it the right size and find a good place on the screen for it.

Sorry for the ramble, but I wanted enough detail out to make a point: If I were taking it again to pass, I’d consider drawing a few of the figures for the config section, particularly the LAN layer 2 figure – both cabling and VLANs – on paper before even beginning to configure. (I would do this for the config section, but not for the t’shooting section.)

Next, let me give you some idea on the whole "is it too much" issue.

Most CCIE lab candidates that pass seem to do so with at least a little time to spare, and those that fail often run out of time, or don’t have time to review. So, I came to the test asking myself "if I were truly prepared for the lab, could I have finished on time enough to review my work?" This question has a new twist, now that it’s 3-part: open ended questions, then 2 hours of t’shooting, and then 5.5 hours config. (FYI, I didn’t study except on the flight to Raleigh, and I don’t stay current on everything so I could go fast enough to pass – so I estimated what "well prepared" meant.) The short answer is that I think that the troubleshooting section was attainable for a well-prepared candidate, and maybe a little too much (maybe shave 10% of the tasks to be fair), but the config section was too much by at least 20%. (My buddies co-authors thought roughly the same on config, and maybe that the t’shooting needed to be shaved more than my 10% guesstimate.)

Sitting back contemplating the whole "is it too much" thing, I came to two conclusions:

  • 1) It was a Beta, and Cisco needs some experience with specific lab exams to figure out how much is too much. I’m sure they didn’t write all new lab exams, so the trick is to figure out how to compress the former 7.5 hour lab into 5.5 hours. They want you to pass if you know your stuff, and fail if you don’t. They don’t want you to fail if you truly know your stuff but they just gave youtoo much . From a systematic perspective, I think they’ll get the right mix. (Granted, I’m sure some of you have contradictory experiences on this point!)
  • 2) I wonder if Cisco considered that the shrinkage from 7.5 to 5.5 hours on the build section was like removing the final 2 hours – the hours in which you are most familiar with the lab – rather than removing the first two hours. By the end 3rd hour of the build section, I needed the figures less and less. From a sheer mechanics perspective, I worked faster. Call it 3 hours in the config section before I was somewhat comfortable with the topology. With a 5.5 hour build, that splits the unfamiliar/familiar time as 3/2.5 hours. The old 7.5 hours would have given a 3 /4.5 hour split, so it felt like I was losing 2 hours of very productive time.

The next thing I was particularly curious about was the open-ended question section. Frankly, I’m a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde on this one. Wendell the cert guy looked at my open ended questions, and asked himself: "If I was truly prepared for the lab, would these questions be a problem?" Absolutely not. As a guy who has an interest in seeing Cisco certs thrive, I see the open-ended questions for what Cisco claims them to be – a cheating prevention tool. However, Wendell the imaginary CCIE R/S lab candidate says that the whole idea scares me to death, and may be too unfair to use as a cheating prevention tool. If I had been taking the lab on my nickel for real, rather than just kicking the tires, I would’ve been pysched out by the open-ended questions. You could get an unlucky draw of questions and get sent home. For real CCIE R/S candidates, I think this means that you don’t get ready for 70% of the topics, and go take the lab to experience it – you may not get past the questions. However, from what I saw, and from other discussions, I think if you’re ready for all aspects of the lab, you’ll be ready for the open-ended stuff. It’s just a little scary.

Last thing for today: general difficulty. I tried to imagine myself as a well-prepared candidate, but not over the top – you know, if I took the classes, did labs from a few lab books, read Doyle/Halabi/etc, practiced a lot for speed, then the lab I got was not too difficult. In fact, I did not see a single item that I viewed as a "trick" – no wording that made me do function X using methods no one in their right mind would try. Everything I saw was detailed – it required mastery of a lot of topics – but it was all stuff that you might come across as something you’d really use in the real world. Really. That was a nice surprise. The difficulty level comes from seeing the requirements, mentally putting it all together, deciding what to configure, configuring, t’shooting to make sure it works, and doing that 5X faster than you would have to do in real life. But it was refreshing to not see anything that looked like tricks just to make sure you knew how to make one parm on one command do its thing.

One more note on the difficulty level: I think if you prepared with the traditional tools – books, classes,  lab books, lots of hands-on practice, and understood it, that the difficulty level was very fair and reasonable.

OK, that’ it for today. Next time, I’ll look at the Troubleshooting section in particular.

From: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/46561 By Wendell

Cisco Revising CCIE R&S Certification (V4.0 351-001)

The upcoming Version 4.0 of Cisco CCIE® Routing and Switching certification will test hands-on troubleshooting, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and VPN networking

To reflect the growth of the network as a service platform, Cisco is revising the certification requirements for CCIE Routing & Switching (CCIE R&S)–the expert level certification for network engineers. The new requirements were developed with assistance from Cisco enterprise customers and reflect the expectations of employers across industries.

The competencies required for CCIE R&S v4.0 certification were released on May 5, 2009, and are available on the Cisco Learning Network under the CCIE R&S v4.0 Written Exam topics and CCIE R&S v4.0 Lab Exam topics. Exams based on the new requirements are scheduled for release on October 18, 2009, and will immediately replace the currently available v3.0 exams. Candidates who plan to take their exams on October 18, 2009, or later should prepare usingthe new v4.0 exam topics.

Both the written and lab exams will be refreshed with new questions and will cover MPLS and VPN networking. The written exam will add scenario-based questions to the multiple choice questions, and the lab will now require hands-on troubleshooting of preconfigured networks, in addition to configuration. Exam duration and pricing will remain the same, with the two-hour written exam at USD$350 and the eight-hour lab at USD$1400.

A beta version of the new CCIE R&S v4.0 written exam (351-001) will be available to all customers in the July–August 2009 timeframe at a discounted price of USD$50. An announcement will be made when scheduling begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

1  -  Q: What exactly is being changed on the CCIE R&S written exam?

A: The CCIE R&S v4.0 written exam will be refreshed with new questions to reflect the current job role expectations of employers. Scenario-based questions will be added to the multiple choice questions. New topics include the skills associated with planning and evaluating network changes, implementing MPLS, Layer 3 VPN, IPv6, EIGRP and multicast; and configuring performance-basedrouting.  More information is available on the CCIE Written Exam Overview page.

2  -  Q: What exactly is being changed on the CCIE R&S lab exam?

A: The CCIE R&S v4.0 lab exam will be refreshed with new questions to reflect the current job role expectations of employers. The equipment in the testing lab will be updated with Cisco 1800 and 3800 Series Integrated Services Routers running Cisco IOS® Software Version 12.4(T) and Cisco Catalyst® 3560 Series Switches running Cisco IOS Version 12.2 Advanced IP Services. The biggest change will be the testing of hands-on troubleshooting for the first two hoursof the eight-hour exam. Candidates will be presented with a series of trouble tickets for preconfigured networks, and they will need to diagnose and resolve the network fault or faults—a realistic and challenging job task. Candidates who finish the troubleshooting section early can move on to the configuration section, but they will not be allowed to go back to the troubleshooting section, since their equipment will need to be reinitialized for the configuration portionof the exam.

To make time for new material, CCIE R&S v4.0 exams will put less emphasis on equipment operation and concepts generally understood at the professional level. These skills are still assumed, but will not be the sole objective of CCIE test questions. Go to the Lab Exam Study/Learn section for more information.

3  -  Q: Now that the CCIE R&S v4.0 has been announced, can I still take the CCIE R&S v3.0 exam? How long will it be valid?

A: The CCIE R&S v3.0 written exam will be available through October 17, 2009, at all Pearson VUE testing centers. Passing the v3.0 written exam qualifies a candidate to take any available version of the CCIE R&S lab exam. As with all CCIE written exams, a passing score on v3.0 written exam will remain valid for three years, as long as the candidate attempts the lab exam once within the first 18 months. If the lab is not attempted, thewritten exam becomes invalid and the candidate will have to retest using whatever written exam is available at that time.

4  -  Q: If I take the CCIE R&S written beta test in July or August 2009, will I still be able to schedule the CCIE R&S v3.0 lab exam?

A: Scores on CCIE written beta tests are not available until 4 to 6 weeks after the close of the beta period. At this time, there is no guarantee the CCIE R&S v3.0 lab exam will still be available when a beta test candidate receives his or her score. Beta testers should plan on taking the CCIE R&S v4.0 lab test to achieve certification.

5  -  Q: If I don’t pass the CCIE R&S v4.0 written beta exam, can I take it again in five days?

A: No, a candidate can only take a CCIE written beta test once during the beta testing period.

6  -  Q: Will there be any changes to the recently-added Core Knowledge portion of the exam, the part with the short-answer questions?

A: The questions in the Core Knowledge section of the lab exam may cover any area on the CCIE R&S v4.0 Lab Exam topics.

7  -  Q: What can a candidate expect in the troubleshooting portion of the lab exam?

A: Troubleshooting is allotted two of the eight hours required for the CCIE lab exam. Candidates will be presented with a series of trouble tickets for preconfigured networks and will need to diagnose and resolve the fault or faults. As with previous CCIE labs, the network will need to be up and running for the candidate to receive credit.  Candidates who finish the troubleshooting section early can move on to the configuration section, but they will not be allowed to go back to the troubleshooting section.

8  -  Q: Does a candidate have to pass both the troubleshooting and configuration sections in order to pass the entire CCIE R&S v4.0 lab exam and earn a CCIE?

A: Candidates will receive a single pass/fail grade on the entire exam, including both configuration and troubleshooting. Failing score reports will give an indication of where the candidate scored lower, to help the candidate prepare for another attempt.

9  -  Q: Will the CCIE R&S mobile lab exam also be updated?

A: Yes, CCIE R&S mobile labs use the same lab version as Cisco office locations, and they will switch to the v4.0 lab exam on October 18, 2009 as well.

10  -  Q: Which exam will be used for recertification?

A: As of October 18, 2009, CCIEs who take the CCIE R&S written exam for recertification will be given the v4.0 exam and should prepare using the exam topics found on the Cisco Learning Network.

11  -  Q: Are the previous Cisco 360 components applicable to the CCIE R&S v4.0 exams? Should candidates studying for CCIE R&S v4.0 exams wait forthe new Cisco 360 materials to begin work?

A: The learning components available at first launch of Cisco 360 are still relevant to candidates studying for the CCIE R&S v4.0 certification exams. No Cisco 360 Learning Program components are being retired.  There is no need for candidates to wait for revised Cisco 360 material to begin their study and practice. The subscription model ensures that Cisco 360 customers can take advantage of all new content as it is released and do not need to wait.

CCIE Routing and Switching Book List

ccie_routeswitch_large This page lists books on topics appearing on the CCIE exam blueprints. These books are not required study resources, however, they can be used to build knowledge in certain areas.

Cisco Press Titles

  • CCIE Practical Studies Volume I (Solie, ISBN# 1587200023)
  • CCIE Practical Studies Volume II (CCIE Self-Study) (Solie, Lynch, ISBN# 1587050722)
  • CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Quick Reference Sheets: Exam 350-001 v3.0 (Sequeira, ISBN #1-58705-337-3)
  • CCIE Routing and Switching Flash Cards (Sequeira and Wallace, ISBN# 1587201291)
  • CCIE Routing and Switching Practical Labs (Duggan, Gorito, ISBN# 1587051478)
  • Cisco BGP-4 Command and Configuration Handbook (Parkhurst, ISBN# 158705017X)
  • Cisco Catalyst QoS: Quality of Service in Campus Networks (Flannagan, Froom, Turek: Cisco Press)
  • Cisco Frame Relay Solutions Guide (Chin: Cisco Press, ISBN# 1587051168)
  • Cisco LAN Switching (Clark, Hamilton, ISBN# 1578700949)
  • Cisco OSPF Command and Configuration Handbook (Parkhurst, ISBN# 1587050714)
  • Developing IP Multicast Networks, Volume I (Beau Williamson, ISBN # 1578700776
  • Implementing Cisco IPv6 Networks (IPv6) (Regis Desmeules, ISBN# 1587050862)
  • Inside Cisco IOS Software Architecture (Bollapragada, Murphy, White, ISBN# 1578701813)
  • Internet Routing Architectures, Second Edition (Sam Halabi, ISBN# 15787050862)
  • MPLS and VPN Architectures (Guichard, Pepelnjak, ISBN# 1587050021)
  • MPLS and VPN Architectures, Volume II (Apcar, Guichard, Pepelnjak, ISBN# 1587051125)
  • Routing TCP/IP, Volume I, Second Edition (Carroll, Doyle, ISBN# 1587052024)
  • Routing TCP/IP, Volume II (CCIE Professional Development) (Doyle, DeHaven Carroll, ISBN# 1578700892)
  • Troubleshooting IP Routing Protocols (CCIE Professional Development Series) (Aziz, Liu, Martey, Shamim, ISBN# 1587050196)
  • Troubleshooting Remote Access Networks (CCIE Professional Development) (Nedeltchev, ISBN# 1587050765)
  • CCIE Routing and Switching Exam Certification Guide, 3rd Edition (Odom, Healy, Mehta, ISBN# 1587201968)

Other Publications

  • Cisco Documentation
  • Configuring IPv6 for Cisco IOS (Edgar Parenti, Jr., Eric Knnip, Brian Browne, Syngress, ISBN# 1928994849)
  • Interconnections: Bridges & Routers, Second Edition (Perlman, Addison Wesley, ISBN# 0201634481)
  • “Internetworking Technology Overview” Available through Cisco Store under doc # DOC-785777
  • Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol.1: Principles, Protocols, and Architecture (4th Edition)
    (Comer, Prentice Hall, ISBN# 0130183806)
  • IPv6: Theory, Protocol, and Practice, 2nd Edition (Pete Loshin, Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN# 1558608109)
  • LAN Protocol Handbook (Miller, M&T Press, ISBN# 1558510990 )
  • Routing In the Internet (2nd Edition) (Huitema, Prentice Hall, ISBN# 0130226475) 
  • TCP/IP Illustrated: Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (Stevens/Wright, Addison Wesley, ISBN# 0201633469, 020163354X, 0201634953)

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