long journey to SP IE
Dear friends
I'd love to share my experience of how I become an SP IE.It's a long,sweet and sweat journey.
I passed my R&S on my third attempt on Feb 19th,2003.I did't study much until I joined Telecom New Zealand on Jan 31st,2005.
My initial goal was to pass Voice lab.SP lab was supposed to be a by-product.It turned out that I fell in love with SP/large network design as I've been working too hard on studying for it.Voice Lab? No,it's not on my schedule any more.haha.
A. how many attempts have i taken to pass SP?
oh no! I don't want to tell you. I passed SP lab on my sixth attempt !
I took the lab on Aug 26th,Sept 29th,Nov 11th,Dec 13th,Jan 13th,and finally Feb 13th.almost one attempt per month till i passed.
As I passed R&S 3 years ago,i underestimated SP.I thought it should be a piece of cake for me.I expected to spend 3 months maximum on lab practice and pass it on the second or the third attempt.
I didn't realize it is an IE lab,just like any other IE track,until i took it the third time.
when i took it at my third attempt,cisco didn't prepare it well and i waited for 3 hours to start,finished at 7:45pm.i misunderstood some questions and failed.
my fourth attempt was a nightmare.Just like R&S,forget guessing what they won't test.cisco tests whatever on the lab blueprint.if you don't know sth,you bet they will test it.
that's the reason I listed 24 books!Better read all of them,many times.
at my fifth attempt,cisco downloaded the wrong scenarios onto the rack.lots of interfaces,subinterfaces,dlci,ip addresses were preconfigured incorrectly.both the proctor and i removed some but i didn't get any extra time.i was pretty sure that i could pass as i tested everything carefully.when i got the result(FAILED),i was shocked.i didn't get any credit re backbone-related quesions.the only posibility was that the proctor corrected the misconfigurations of backbone devices but didn't save them.when they graded me,my configurations didn't work on the wrong lab scenario.
i asked for a reread.they told me the result was the same.it's no use to argue with them.don't give it a second thought.focus on your study.
once i got the reread result,i booked the next attemp immediately.
well,i still believe that i could pass on my fifth attempt.
last monday(feb 13th),i took my sixth attempt.this time,the proctor printed out the lab scenarios right before we started(yes printed out,they are not in folders as you expected).lots of mistakes on the printouts.the figures didn't show the hostnames of the routers,the dlci no.,etc.in some critical questions the site no. were wrong.you have to figure out what should be correct.
cisco really made it hard fot sp candidates.i believe it's the most difficult exam.
no matter how hard it was,i passed!i believe i passed with almost 100%.
B.the equipments and IOS I used for my lab:
Cisco2611XM x1 12.3(12) c2600-jk9o3s-mz.123-12.bin
Cisco3620 x1 12.2(27) c3620-jk9o3s-mz.122-27.bin
Cisco3640 x1 12.2(27c3640-jk9o3s-mz.122-27.bin
Cisco2621XM x2 12.3(12)c2600-jk9o3s-mz.123-12.bin
the above are used as PE/P routers.
Cisco3640 x1 12.2(15)T16 c3640-i-mz.122-15.T16.bin
Cisco2503 x1 12.0(23)c2500-ins-l.120-23.bin
the above two are used as CE routers.
Cisco WS-C3550-48 x1 12.2(25)SE c3550-i5q3l2-mz.122-25.SE.bin
Idealy you'd like to use 5 MPLS-enabled routers as you have to practise inter-AS and CsC.
C.reading list
there are 24 books on my reading list.please re my post "the reading list for SP lab".
i focused on the followings.I read them from cover to cover and read many times:
MPLS VPN architecture Vol II
MPLS Configuration on Cisco IOS Software(2005)
MPLS VPN Security(2005)
Optimal Routing Design(2005)
CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs
Cisco--ISIS
Cisco--Multicast
D.pay extremely attention to Multicast
below are some good books on multicast,inter AS multicast:
Routing TCP/IP Vol II(multicast,intre AS multicast)
BGP Design and Implementation( inter AS multicast)
MPLS VPN architecture Vol II(Multicast)
MPLS Configuration on Cisco IOS Software(Case study)
E.QoS study
For QoS,Cisco End-to-End Qos should be fine but i haven't read it.I read the followings:
IP Quality of Service(Cisco 2001),Practical Study Vol II
CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs
Cisco 3550/3750 QoS configuration guide
Well,that's pretty much of the story.
Any questions please let me know.I will be honoured if i could be of assistance.
Have fun! Happy SPing !
Jun
I'd love to share my experience of how I become an SP IE.It's a long,sweet and sweat journey.
I passed my R&S on my third attempt on Feb 19th,2003.I did't study much until I joined Telecom New Zealand on Jan 31st,2005.
My initial goal was to pass Voice lab.SP lab was supposed to be a by-product.It turned out that I fell in love with SP/large network design as I've been working too hard on studying for it.Voice Lab? No,it's not on my schedule any more.haha.
A. how many attempts have i taken to pass SP?
oh no! I don't want to tell you. I passed SP lab on my sixth attempt !
I took the lab on Aug 26th,Sept 29th,Nov 11th,Dec 13th,Jan 13th,and finally Feb 13th.almost one attempt per month till i passed.
As I passed R&S 3 years ago,i underestimated SP.I thought it should be a piece of cake for me.I expected to spend 3 months maximum on lab practice and pass it on the second or the third attempt.
I didn't realize it is an IE lab,just like any other IE track,until i took it the third time.
when i took it at my third attempt,cisco didn't prepare it well and i waited for 3 hours to start,finished at 7:45pm.i misunderstood some questions and failed.
my fourth attempt was a nightmare.Just like R&S,forget guessing what they won't test.cisco tests whatever on the lab blueprint.if you don't know sth,you bet they will test it.
that's the reason I listed 24 books!Better read all of them,many times.
at my fifth attempt,cisco downloaded the wrong scenarios onto the rack.lots of interfaces,subinterfaces,dlci,ip addresses were preconfigured incorrectly.both the proctor and i removed some but i didn't get any extra time.i was pretty sure that i could pass as i tested everything carefully.when i got the result(FAILED),i was shocked.i didn't get any credit re backbone-related quesions.the only posibility was that the proctor corrected the misconfigurations of backbone devices but didn't save them.when they graded me,my configurations didn't work on the wrong lab scenario.
i asked for a reread.they told me the result was the same.it's no use to argue with them.don't give it a second thought.focus on your study.
once i got the reread result,i booked the next attemp immediately.
well,i still believe that i could pass on my fifth attempt.
last monday(feb 13th),i took my sixth attempt.this time,the proctor printed out the lab scenarios right before we started(yes printed out,they are not in folders as you expected).lots of mistakes on the printouts.the figures didn't show the hostnames of the routers,the dlci no.,etc.in some critical questions the site no. were wrong.you have to figure out what should be correct.
cisco really made it hard fot sp candidates.i believe it's the most difficult exam.
no matter how hard it was,i passed!i believe i passed with almost 100%.
B.the equipments and IOS I used for my lab:
Cisco2611XM x1 12.3(12) c2600-jk9o3s-mz.123-12.bin
Cisco3620 x1 12.2(27) c3620-jk9o3s-mz.122-27.bin
Cisco3640 x1 12.2(27c3640-jk9o3s-mz.122-27.bin
Cisco2621XM x2 12.3(12)c2600-jk9o3s-mz.123-12.bin
the above are used as PE/P routers.
Cisco3640 x1 12.2(15)T16 c3640-i-mz.122-15.T16.bin
Cisco2503 x1 12.0(23)c2500-ins-l.120-23.bin
the above two are used as CE routers.
Cisco WS-C3550-48 x1 12.2(25)SE c3550-i5q3l2-mz.122-25.SE.bin
Idealy you'd like to use 5 MPLS-enabled routers as you have to practise inter-AS and CsC.
C.reading list
there are 24 books on my reading list.please re my post "the reading list for SP lab".
i focused on the followings.I read them from cover to cover and read many times:
MPLS VPN architecture Vol II
MPLS Configuration on Cisco IOS Software(2005)
MPLS VPN Security(2005)
Optimal Routing Design(2005)
CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs
Cisco--ISIS
Cisco--Multicast
D.pay extremely attention to Multicast
below are some good books on multicast,inter AS multicast:
Routing TCP/IP Vol II(multicast,intre AS multicast)
BGP Design and Implementation( inter AS multicast)
MPLS VPN architecture Vol II(Multicast)
MPLS Configuration on Cisco IOS Software(Case study)
E.QoS study
For QoS,Cisco End-to-End Qos should be fine but i haven't read it.I read the followings:
IP Quality of Service(Cisco 2001),Practical Study Vol II
CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs
Cisco 3550/3750 QoS configuration guide
Well,that's pretty much of the story.
Any questions please let me know.I will be honoured if i could be of assistance.
Have fun! Happy SPing !
Jun
posted by Jun Wen at 10:01 PM
2 Comments:
thanks.
I am preparing the SP, hope can get help from you later
Thanks for the heads up and advice regarding the SP lab. I am also preparing for the same. My only limitation us in Africa especially my location we rarely have LAB rentals. So we read more than we practice. Please if you have any Topologies that can be of help while we prepare for the same, please share. Any Lab scenarios and setup etc. Kind regards...Maina Noah.
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