I was not sure how much work I would get done over Christmas so I just scheduleed a few chapters of reading over the week and no lab time. Turns out I was able to read about double what I expected which I was happy with. I think the key that helped me stay on track over the past week while I was out of town was to first set a realistic expectation of what I could do. For me I was at my in-laws and out of town so I knew I time would be limited that I could go off by myself and focus. Because of that I kept the plan realisitic and even slightly underestimated what I could get done. The second key was to have a real plan. I did not just say “we’ll see what I get done” but had a wrtitten plan of what I knew I had to get done. I know of some who got multiple labs in but that was just not going to happen for me. Now I am back at it full swing and trying to plan out the next 3 months exactly what I am going to to studying on what days.
First rental with Proctor Labs
So today was my first vRack rental with ProctorLabs.com and I thought I would write up a quick post of this so others would know what to expect. My lab started at 7am local time so I had setup my work area before I went to bed to get a little extra sleep. I use a Mac but had to decided to train for the CCIE on Windows using SecureCRT to closely resemble the actual lab. I downloaded a trail of v6 but will buy it soon. I just hope that by the time I take they lab they are running v6. I also printed out a couple sets of the diagrams and task lists for the sections I was planning on doing. I planned on completing just Vol 1 section 1&2 which is estimated 5 hours. I would use the rest of the time to get used to the interface and whatever else came up that I did not expect.
Just before 7am I logged into to proctorlabs.com, opened up notepad and launched SecureCRT. As soon as 7am hit I clicked on the time slot under “Connect to vRack” and the interface launched. It was a simple layout and was easy to see where to load configs, how to power cycle routers and connect to the terminal server. I connected to the terminal server opened a tab for each router/switch which of course was something very familiar to me since I am logged int rotuers and switches all day long. When I first connected I was not sure what username/password it was asking for. I tried cisco and ipexpert but was my actual ProctorLabs.com login. That really was the only stumbling block. From there on out it was just like working on any other router. It was nice that the routers are 2800/3800′s since they are pretty fast (especially with nothing on them.) After that I just worked my way though Vol1 Section 1. This is a very simple lab and really should be nothing new. I felt this was really helpful to get an understanding of the layout of the lab and how everything is connected. They only thing that did catch me off guard was using a ? in a password, never tried that before so did not know how to do that. I did work a little slow just to make sure I was understanding the topology and trying to determine the process that works best for me. I spent about 2 hours start to finish on this, it was estimated at 1.5 hours and since it was my first rental session I thought it went well, I was not trying for speed. I did go on and complete section 2 also, that was more challenging.
To sum up the experience it was very easy and smooth. You will need no training the vRack at all as long as you are used to connecting to routers/switches via terminal server. My advice is just get your setup laid out ahead of time and you know what works best for you so do what your comfortable with. I would make your goal to complete Vol 1 Sections 1&2 on your first rental. Don’t rush, make sure your understanding the questions. I would also have a separate web browser open to the DocCD. All in all it was a simple enjoyable experience. My next vRack rental is tomorrow so I am off to review the weaknesses I found today before that starts in less then 24 hours!
Mini-Review: MPLS & VPN Architecures by Ivan Ivan Pepelnjak
This is not a new book but I wanted to improve my service provider side knowledge of MPLS and since the book is the on the CCIE list I picked it. I got it used off eBay for $20 I think so buying older books has some advanteages. I also read it to prep for the CCIE wrtiten test. I am going with the study for the lab then when almost ready take the written. Well MPLS is not in the R&S lab (yet) so this did not apply to that but since I work with routers attached to an MPLS network everyday I felt this would also apply to work as well. Now on to the review!
First let me get this out of the way, this is a slightly older book (2002) so some details have changed but the fundamentals are there. This is also the CCIP edition but its for an older 640-xxx test, not the current 642 test. The age was just a minor issue as this book will give you the fundamentals on MPLS VPN’s that most corperate networks are using now.
As for reading this book I felt it was very well laid out. It started out first with the basic and slowly built on that until you where running a full service provider MPLS network with multiple VPN customers. Though out the reading of this book I never got lost or wondered what was going on, the authors where very clear in taking you step by step though the process. The only area I could see people getting lost is with MP-iBGP. This book is heavy on iBGP and if you don’t have good understanding of it you might get lost as this goes into MP-BGP in great detail in explaining the how routes are propagated around between VRF’s. I found this discussion to be very clear and helpful.
Bottom line is liked this book, slightly dated but well worth a read today if your looking to improve your knowledge on MPLS and VRF’s.
http://www.ciscopress.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=1587050811
IPExpert
So I went ahead and bought IPExpert’s Blended Learning Solution for CCIE:R&S before the price jumped. I got it this week and its pretty nice. I don’t quite have the time to start study as I am going to get my CCDA/CCDP and may CCIP before the end of the year. As soon as that happens then I start going at hard. I have not develeped a timeline plan for takning the lab as I am still not sure how much time I will have to dedicate to this. Also have been very happy with the service from IPExpert, they rock. Anyway as time goes on I will update the blog with my progress.
I have decided to blog again
Its been years but I think this time I have something to say…but maybe not, either way will find out soon enough. I will be blogging about Cisco, Arsenal and anything else random that is happening in my life.
I deleted the old content just to clean the site up, if your looking for something email me but it really was not worth saving.