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Mobility Matters- Study Time isn’t always when your home.

Brandon Carroll — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:45:09 +0000

So I had to geek out on this for a moment. I haven’t said much about my iPad since I bought it. I do know that it will not replace my laptop any time soon. I can say, however, that the more you use the keyboard the better you get at it.

One tool I am learning to appreciate is the iSSH app. It does telnet and RDP as well. It’s about ten dollars in the app store but let’s you have multiple connections open at once and depending on the orientation of the iPad it kinda gets out of the way. Here are a few screen shots while messing around with a router.

Please add your thoughts or apps you are using to study to the comments section.

Happy labbing!

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Re-starting the R&S study

Brandon Carroll — Fri, 14 May 2010 11:53:20 +0000

Some time ago I had the hair brained idea that I was going to do the R&S in 90 days. Why not right? I mean, Tyson Scott, my fellow instructor at IPexpert, passed the Service Provider lab in 3 weeks. Well, I am no where near the level that Tyson is at but I figured that 90 days would be plenty since I had been teaching Routing and Switching for the netter part of 8 years. Well I must say that my studies never got a fair shot. At the time I was working for Ascolta and between the travel and teaching there, the family responsibilities and so on I basically hit a dead end with my studies.

Then comes IPexpert. When I came on with IPexpert I was planning on taking the lab by April. I mean, I had an all access pass to my fellow instructors, the best training material on the market, and a rack of equipment that I could use whenever I wanted. So what happened? It’s now Mid-May and I have not attempted the lab? Well, frankly, work is what happened. In the last 5 months I’ve taught a few bootcamps, which if you werent already aware of, last about 12 hours a day. I’ve recorded video solutions for ALL of IPexperts CCIE Security Volume 1 labs, Slightly over half of the Volume 2 labs, recorded the Audio-on-Demand Product, and written an 8 hour mock lab. Not to mention the time I’ve spent on OSL trying to field questions and additional time I’ve spent writing another book. Fortunately I have a few co-authors on this one that have done most of the work. So you can pretty much see what I haven’t taken a run at the lab.

Well now I’m cracking down. The R&S BLS is complete and now I think it’s time to make the boss happy and knock out #2. So the question I asked myself was, “Where do I start?” Well taking a look at the R&S BLS I found that in the Getting Started Section there was a blueprint that I could follow. I really think this is going to give structure to my studies. So where will I begin? Here is the breakdown from the list found at http://www.ipexpert.com/blsdemo/v4/rs/:

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I will begin with the VoD. This VoD is Joe Astorino taking you through and demonstrating much of the material that you would expect from a 5-day ILT class. I’m not saying the material is identical, but obviously there is going to be overlap. I personally need that.

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Next Ill move into Volume 1. I’ve worked on some of Volume 1 labs in the past. The labs are difficult, yet designed to let you experience the specific technologies. There are a total of 34 labs here. I estimate about 2 to 3 weeks to go through every one once. I’ll pick the ones that I’m not very comfortable with and work on them a few times.

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Now this section I’ll have to admit, I’ve already cheated on. This week I have been teaching a class in Amsterdam and riding the RAI (Train) to the hotel every morning. It takes about an hour to get there so I’ve been listening to the Audio-on-Demad which was recorded by Marko Milivojevic. It’s funny, because he is teaching across the hall from me right now so when I get here in the morning it’s like I’ve already been talking to him for an hour.

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After the second time around with the AoD I will start the multi-procotol labs in Volume 2. So in this workbook there are 20 labs. I have a feeling that the first time I go through these labs I’m going to get my butt kicked. I may need to do these a few times.

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Next step will be to hit one of the bootcamps with either Marko or Joe. I have a feeling that since I’m in the USA and so I Joe that I’ll be sitting this class with him. Either one of those guys would be just fine with me. In fact, Tyson could end up teaching one of them depending on what’s going on and that would be cool as well. I have the utmost respect for all three of these instructors and feel confident that any of them can help me.

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Now I know that the OEQ’s have been removed, so I’m not going to need to worry about that section, but the troubleshooting section is certainly something I’ll need to work on.

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My next step will be the OWLE, or the One Week Lab Experience. I teach one of these for Security and I know how important it is to gain a solid grasp on Time Management, How to speak with proctors and how to deal with things coming up in the actual exam. This is something I am really looking forward to!

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And of course the end result should be a pass. I’m not holding my breath on a first time pass, but I’m not counting it out either. Well, I suppose it’s time to get on with it.

Time to dive into the VoD.

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Congrats Michael Davis, CCIE #26050

Brandon Carroll — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:09:11 +0000

So I have to post here because one of my recent students has passed the CCIE Security lab. Michael attended the IPexpert OWLE and said that the Volume 2 labs, although very difficult, were what enabled him to pass on the first attempt. Well done Michael! Related posts:Congrats to Paul Stewart, CCIE 26009. Congratulations Paul [...] Related posts:

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A Quick Look at what I’m using to Study for R&S.

Brandon Carroll — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:05:08 +0000

Many of you know that I have been working on the CCIE R&S. Since I’m with IPexpert its only natural that I use their product line for my studies. In fact, before coming to IPexpert I used them anyhow, and here on the blog I have voiced my reasons why. But I wanted to take a moment to share the products that are in the R&S BLS with you. These are the products that I personally use.

I also wanted to share with you the interface of the Blended Learning Solution in a short tour that I’ve recorded. There is also a BLS for Security and Voice if you are on those tracks. This one, R&S, is the one I personally use right now. Who knows, after R&S I may move on to voice.

Enjoy!

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CCIE R&S Studies- May 27th 2009

Brandon Carroll — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:47:39 +0000

Today, as I stare at my challenge of CCIE in 90 days, I worked on IPexpert R&S Volume 1 Lab 2. I am currently only about 12 steps in but have realized that some things are just tedious. For example, one task asked to make sure all ports not in use are static access. This sounds like an easy task until you have to look at each port status. I have become fond of the command:
show interface status | in Name|Administrative Mode|Operational Mode

It’s still a lot to pick through but at least its filtered a but.

Another issue that I want to spend some time on is Etherchannel. I had an issue with one leg coming up. The fix ended up being that I had to remove the Etherchannel and create it again. Still I found a good Cisco doc on troubleshooting it.

Thats all for now….back to my studies.

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Recap of my journey CCIE Security

Brandon Carroll — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:41:54 +0000

I know most of you have heard already, but if not, I passed the CCIE Security exam in RTP on March 13th, 2009. I wanted to take a moment to recap my journey.

I have been a Cisco Instructor for 8 years now. I have been teaching the CCSP track since it’s inception, and taught various courses of the CSS-1 prior to that. Although I was a CCSP, I didn’t take the CCIE Security Written exam until March 21, 2007. I passed with an 85 on my first attempt. I used the CCBootcamp written exam guide to prepare for that, along with my existing knowledge as a CCSP/Instructor.

Studying for the lab is a whole new ball game. It’s weird because there is a total difference between knowing the book material that Cisco tests you on for the Professional level certifications, and being able to teach it, and knowing the material that is on the CCIE lab exam and being able to implement it. Don’t get me wrong, I knew the material, and the concept of why things were happening were easy to me. What was difficult is putting it all together. When you teach an ASA class, IPS class, or any other security class for that matter, it doesn’t cover how all these things work together. Thats where the CCIE will get you!

Anyhow, I know people are wondering what material I used in preparing for the lab exam. I made a video to show you, mainly because I think the spread of material is impressive. Please do not get mad at me for killing a tree. In the future I’ll use PDFs. Also, forgive me for the quality of the video. I am to cheap to buy an HD camera. I made the video at 6-am so don’t expect much.

So, assuming you watched that video and know what I used to prepare, I’ll give you the run down of the lab.

First time was in San Jose. I was overwhelmed. I had a decent understanding but no strategy. I ran out of time and had maybe 50 points.

Second time was in San Jose as well. It went better than the first but still there were some grey areas for me and even though I took the InternetworkExpert Online Bootcamp and used Brian’s strategy I still was missing something.

The Third, and Final attempt was in RTP, North Carolina. There is no particular reason I switch to RTP. It’s not closer to me by any means. I live in Seattle. But I wanted something fresh. I stayed at the Wingate hotel which was great. The bed was comfortable and the rate was fair. I flew in the night before the exam. I arrived at the hotel at 9pm, took half of a sleeping pill (Melatonin) and crashed. I woke up refreshed and ready to go.

The hotel had a continental breakfast and I didn’t eat much but forced myself to eat a little. I stopped at Starbucks on the way, and headed over to the Cisco office. Now when you get there you should know that the building will remain dark until right around 7am. There is nobody there to meet you in the lobby. Someone from Cisco was taking the lab as well and they let me in the lobby using their badge. At about 7:10 the proctor came out. He was very nice and much more chatty than Tom (nice guy) in San Jose.

We were led back to the room and from there its your standard lab exam stuff. We broke at about 11 for lunch. I say about 11 because they cater in lunch and there wasn’t a set time. You still only get 30 minutes for lunch. I ate a bit and tried to work out some issues in my head.

I finished about 45 minutes early but left 15 minutes before the Proctor called it a day. That includes my clean up and so on. I didn’t use the last 45 minutes to do any extra verifications because I didn’t want to break anything. Then I went to dinner at the Angus Barn. I had Alaskan King Crab Claws, a 24oz New York Strip and an Oatmeal Stout. Pass or fail I was going to enjoy that meal.

The wait was excruciating. I didn’t get my results until about 8:30 on Sunday night, so if you are planning on taking the lab on Friday you should be aware of that.

Now that its over I am enjoying the fact that I don’t have a deadline staring me in the face, but I still love the technology and want to learn more. I think the next track that I am going to pursue is the CCIE voice, but I have the CCVP in between that I have to get up to Instructor level on. I already have the IPexpert CCIE Voice BLS and plan on renting from Proctor Labs.

The big kicker for me was the bootcamp at ipexpert and the labs i did after that. Without the information I gained from IPexperts Jared Scrivener I dont think I would have passed. Im not going to give away all of his tricks because thats what he gets paid to do. But Seriously, Jared- You are the man!.

Also I can’t say enough about the support that I received from Ted Wagner at Ascolta. He really stood behind me even though there were other things he probably wanted me working on.

Wayne Lawson at IPexpert was another key player in my success along with Matt Brooks, Neil Apolzan, and Drew LaPla.

I can’t forget to mention Mike Down. Before Mike started pinging me online I only owned the IPexpert Volume 4.1 and the Proctor Guide, and I wasn’t really looking at using IPexpert.

One last person I have to mention is my wife. She was patient with me even though the family would take a hit from time to time while I was studying. The CCIE is not easy on a family but the accomplishment and the job security afterwards was the payoff I was looking for. I think I got it. Time will tell. At least I have her if the other stuff doesn’t pan out.

Thats about it for this rant. I’m going to keep blogging about topics that come up in my classes as well as through the contact form. When I start to study for the Voice IE I’ll try to blog it all here as well. In the mean time I am going to spend some time posting on Network World for the CCNA Wireless candidates and catching up on my sleep/socializing/theocratic activities/yard work/home improvement projects/reading/DVR/family videos/familiy photos/email/projects at work/fitness/weight loss/rss feeds/staring into space/day dreaming/playing darts with tyrel/texting my daughter/emailing my mom/calling my grandma/netflix/and enjoying whatever comes my way.

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VPN’s can really upset me.

Brandon Carroll — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:57:36 +0000

I’ve come to the conclusion that if ANYTHING gets me in the lab on Friday its going to be VPN. With so many options and piling one solution on top of another (e.g. EasyVPN plus DMVPN on the same interface) I am totally screwed. I cruised thru lab 18 all morning. had about 41 points at lunch and since then have only managed to accumulate 6 points. NHRP isnt even registering. R2 is the NHS but gives me a lovely message when you bounce the tunnel interface that there are no NHSs:

R2#debug nhrp NHRP protocol debugging is on R2#conf t Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. R2(config)#int t256 R2(config-if)#shut R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:31.291: NHRP: if_down: Tunnel256 proto IPv4 *Mar 10 22:53:31.291: NHRP: if_down: Tunnel256 proto IPv4 R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:31.295: %CRYPTO-6-ISAKMP_ON_OFF: ISAKMP is OFF R2(config-if)#no s *Mar 10 22:53:33.291: %LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Tunnel256, changed state to administratively down *Mar 10 22:53:34.291: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Tunnel256, changed state to down R2(config-if)#no shut R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:36.331: NHRP: if_up: Tunnel256 proto 0 *Mar 10 22:53:37.331: NHRP: Unable to send Registration - no NHSes configured R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Tunnel256, changed state to up *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: NHRP: if_up: Tunnel256 proto 0 *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: NHRP: Unable to send Registration - no NHSes configured R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: %CRYPTO-6-ISAKMP_ON_OFF: ISAKMP is ON *Mar 10 22:53:39.331: NHRP: Unable to send Registration - no NHSes configured *Mar 10 22:53:39.331: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Tunnel256, changed state to up R2(config-if)#

I still have sections 9 – 12 but I am so frustrated right now that I have to go clear my head. Maybe I need to watch the DVDonDemand section on VPNs again. I thought I had them down pretty good. I must be missing something. Well enough of my ranting. Time to move on.

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Tuesday, March 10th 2009

Brandon Carroll — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:35:15 +0000

Status Update: Yesterday the IPexpert CCIE Security 1-Week Lab Experience Exam Four Kicked my butt. I think I accomplished about 59 points on my own and then after checking realized that I would have missed 8 points on stupid stuff that I missed.

Today I am moving on to the IPexpert Workbook (version 4.1) Section 18 lab. I guess we’ll see how this one goes. I’ve never done this one before.

Here goes nothing….

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Monday March 9th

Brandon Carroll — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:22:37 +0000

Today I am starting an 8 hour Mock Lab. I’ll be working on IPexpert CCIE Security 1-Week Lab Experience – Exam Four. I left my phone in another room. I’ve turned off all notifiers. I’ve brought in a 5-hour energy shot for later, a cup of coffee, and I have a lab book sitting in front of me that I have never looked at. I have 3 sheets of white paper, a hand full of pencils that I don’t normally use, and ear plugs. This week I will not be updating my blog on Network World, Facebook account, or Twitter account, aside from the notification of my posts here which I will do before I start each day. I can’t even come close to explaining how I feel right now. My nerves are kicking in and I just want this to be over with.

Time to dive in.

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Finished IPexpert 1-Week Exp Lab 3

Brandon Carroll — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:28:38 +0000

Boy was that one fun. I am feeling better when it comes to VPN and my methodology of progressing through the lab. I still am concerned that some random VPN configuration is going to sneak up on me but at this point, all I can do is hope for the best. I have 6 days left until my lab. I have to travel today so I will not be able to get back on the labs until tomorrow morning.

I am now at the point where the lab is making me nervous. Still I want to get this thing out of the way so I can move on to some other projects that I have been itching to do. I guess we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow I start IPexpert CCIE Security 1-Week Experience Lab 4. I’m hoping to knock it out in 8 hours.

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