Show Run - A Networking Blog

CCIE R&S Number Decreased by 1000+ in 10 months..

2011-06-08T01:46:00.038+08:00

Triple CCIE #8171 R&S, Security, SP - Himawan Nugroho has provided with the most recent "unofficial" worldwide CCIE count as of February 17, 2011.

Dual CCIE #18532 R&S, Security - George Morton then compared Nugroho's "unofficial" count to Cisco's last officially published count on April 30, 2010.

As George Morton has shown above, in just a mere ten month time period the CCIE R&S count dropped by a staggering -1,052, CCIE Storage dropped by -8 and the total worldwide CCIE count dropped by -584.

Troubleshooting section in R&S lab exam was introduced in May 2010. Could it be the reason for the number drop?

Cisco Shinjuku Tokyo office & CCIE Lab will be closed for approximately 3 weeks

2011-03-14T10:14:00.000+08:00

Due to the current situation in Japan, the Cisco Shinjuku Tokyo office including the CCIE Lab (located in the same building) will be closed for approximately 3 weeks. Expected re-opening of the office/lab is first week of April 2011.

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-11232

Too bad for those who had scheduled, air fare and accommodation and stuffs even though i believe Cisco would provide reschedule for them. I wonder what is the fate of the candidates who were on the lab exam on the earthquake day..

This Blog Has Moved

2011-02-01T15:45:00.000+08:00

I have moved my blog to a new domain name show-run.net. This is my first time getting my own domain name and still trying to find out what i can do with this. Even though i'm still a noobie with all these dns, web hosting and stuff, i could still manage to port over my blog to my domain somehow.

More things to come in coming days.

Cisco to add L2 Questions in Troubleshooting Section

2011-01-14T12:02:00.000+08:00

Cisco is going to add switching questions in Troubleshooting section of R&S LAB exam to better align with the exam requirements.

Original announcement can be found here : https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-10859

What's Next...

2010-12-06T01:47:00.000+08:00

Let's see.. First of all, I'm gonna have to change my blog title to something else since it's no longer the hunt for second CCIE.

Second, I'm moving to new job next year which has more to do with Data Center stuffs which is quite exciting.

Third, Since the new job role requires me to take care a bunch of firewalls and F5 LBs, I'm gonna read up some security stuffs and BIG-IP for now...

The Hunt Is Completed

2010-11-22T23:59:00.001+08:00

PASSED!!!

Roller coaster ride with Cisco

2010-11-04T01:41:00.000+08:00

Last week, Cisco surprised me with an email the moment that i woke up. It mentioned "Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Mobile Lab in Singapore for November 2010 has been postponed.".. and they were still trying to find new dates for Singapore and stuffs. And asked me if i would like to take at another date and location. Since i have arranged for 2 weeks off from work, I quickly searched available lab dates and found on 16th Nov at Bangalore. Replied their email and even called them up to see if they can confirm me the Bangalore date faster. But, i was told that i needed to wait for 1-2 working days.

Then today, i receive a surprised email from Cisco again that the new lab date for Singapore is 22nd Nov and they have reserved a seat for me.(Eh.. OK....Whatever..)

So, basically my lab date was push back a week further. I spent time on worrying for the troubles of traveling, arranging for accommodations and stuffs and I had even applied for Indian visa which is totally not so understandably expensive upto 100$+. Wasted time and money..

SP Exam Equipment and Software Version List.

2010-10-23T04:17:00.000+08:00

Lab Equipment
• Cisco XR12000 Series Routers

• Cisco 7200/7600 Series equivalent Routers (Using Simulator)

• Cisco ME3400E Series Switches

Software Versions
• XR12000 routers running IOS-XR Software Version 3.9.1

• 7200/7600 routers running IOS Software Version 12.2-33 SR

• ME3400E switches running IOS Software Version 12.2-54 SE

Reference : http://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-10121

CCIE SP Exam Got Refreshed...

2010-10-21T01:38:00.000+08:00

Cisco came up with CCIE SP Version 3 yesterday. A few interesting new topics there such as VPLS and Carrier Ethernet, GRE L2 VPN, and SONET??? I wonder why there is nothing about IPV6.. anyway, you can find out the complete list here

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-9991

It is still not clear about what routers will be used, 7600??? How about software versions, IOS-XR???

30 Days to Go..

2010-10-16T03:33:00.000+08:00

Just to update that i'm still alive and kicking :) I won't be spending much on the blog this time but, more time on labbing, troubleshooting, white papers, features and stuffs - mostly theory and configuration examples from Cisco website. It helped a lot last time. Had been doing labs over the weekends and planned for 2 weeks off from work as last time for isolation.

Only one month left until the exam and strange that there is still no instruction from Cisco about it like where the exam location, time and stuffs. Btw, I'm sitting the mobile lab this time in Singapore.

Cheers for now..

No More OEQ For Me.. How Good Is That...

2010-05-07T01:44:00.000+08:00

Latest update from Cisco "CCIE RS and Voice exams will no longer have OEQ (Open Ended Questions) starting Monday, May 10th". Cisco introduced the OEQ section in CCIE RS exam last year February (if i remember correctly) to prevent some inconsistency in the exams until they can come up with another solution (which is troubleshooting section) and Now Cisco has finally taken out the OEQ section from the exam as they promised after a year.

I wonder how would those people who purchased 360 program (if any) to avoid OEQ feel...

Anyway, even though i don't like the OEQ section, i still think that studying for that is really helpful to fully understand the technologies.

It's not so bad after all...

2010-04-28T02:16:00.000+08:00

After losing the study steam for past few months.. I just realized that I could managed to get myself onto track slowly. It's not so bad after all. I have been studying lately and doing some Volume 1 labs of IPX for past few weekends... done half of volume1 till Lab17..

Just like i always do, read theory, do lab.. read theory. do lab.. Hope i can finish till QOS part this weekend.. Let's see how..

CCIE R&S Exam Checklist from Cisco

2010-03-29T02:51:00.005+08:00

Yesterday, Cisco posted CCIE Routing and Switching Lab Exam Checklist (Version 17) on Cisco Learning Network. This time Cisco went in deeper and more detailed which i would say useful for a lot of people. It's always better to elaborate what kind of technologies we can expect in the exam instead of just topic overviews.

The following notes are IPExpert take on the Checklist

Notes for CCIE R&S Topics

PPP over Frame Relay is explicitly mentioned
Regular and smart macros for switches are explicitly mentioned
Redistribution between OSPF and RIP isn’t mentioned, but we shouldn’t ignore it
BGP peer groups are mentioned, but not templates
There is no mention on OER/PfR!
Bidirectional PIM is mentioned
Dense-mode PIM is mentioned
Bootstrap ROuter (BSR) is not mentioned
Multicast Routing Monitor isn’t mentioned
Zone Based Firewall with deep packet inspection is mentioned
Policy-based NAT is mentioned
TCP intercept is mentioned
“Old” QoS reappears – CQ, PQ, CAR and FRTS
WRR is mentioned, but this must be SRR with typo

Enjoy Learning....

It has been 4 months..It's time.

2010-02-27T17:23:00.000+08:00

It has already been like 4 months without studying anything.. I'd just joined the new Company last week and now i'm forced to study as a job requirement which is a good thing. But, things don't go in CCIE blueprint sequence.. (of course :0 ) .I need to start with GRE, mGRE, IPSec, DMVPN, IOS Firewall and things like that.

I have not seen those GRE/IPSec things since my ISCW and almost forgot about those. When it comes to Enterprise networks, technologies in ISCW comes pretty handy. I wonder why Cisco had to take away all those stuffs from CCNP.

I guess i'm going to be pretty busy for next few weeks catching up new things.. exciting though...

Gotta get that!!

2010-01-26T14:50:00.001+08:00

It has been like 3 months that i almost didn't do anything about my CCIE studies.. I was kind of mentally disturbed (i'm not going crazy by the way) by the IE new version, trying to change my job, being away from my gf, gone on a vacation and some other things...

Now, things are more or less stable.. Ppl are starting to pass the new version, had a deal with a Cisco gold partner to do project implementations and my gf is back.. Things are looking good.. And Cisco has just announced CCNP newer version with TSHOOT (who cares about new CCIE SPO?) and i'm hoping to see a study material for that which might be able to help me prepare for my CCIE TSHOOT section :)

Anyway.. gotta get that.. gotta get back on the track..

INE vs IPX

2009-10-29T14:22:00.000+08:00

There is a interesting thread going on here at IEOC.

For me, during my SP study, INE labs always seems to be quite straight forward and ask me to configure the tasks directly. IPX labs always ask about the result and need to think what you can do to get to the final result and you how to know how to configure it too. Maybe i'd also try INE switching lab first to see if they're better in R&S.

IPX Vol 1 Lab 2 and Lab 3

2009-10-29T13:03:00.000+08:00

Last night, i managed to finish IPX Vol 1, Lab2 and Lab3. I was thinking i could finish until lab4 but, since i needed to wake up and go to work, i went to bed after 2 labs.

Like always from IPX, they make it difficult even for the focused labs. And some strange features that i didn't know even existed. Anyway, i will try to finish Lab4 and Lab 5 by this weekend to tick my switching checklist.

Switching.. Switching.. Switching..

2009-10-27T00:19:00.000+08:00

I'm almost done with re-reading switching concepts and i hope i could start to do switching focused lab from IPX tomorrow night.. Anyway, there is one thing good about CCIE V4 blueprint from Cisco Learning Site. Nothing special but guess what..The blueprint comes with a checklist and i think it helps me a lot to keep track of my progress.

Time for lab again.. countdown will be starting soon.

2009-10-21T01:55:00.000+08:00

Passed my written last week on the last day of R&S v3 and now CCIE v4 is officially kicking ass. I have not decided on my lab date yet(not even the month), but, i will be starting technologies focused labs in this week. My strategy is to Read Theory, do lab.. read theory, do lab.. read theory, do lab.. read theory, do lab.. until all the technologies covered in IPX VOL is finished. or should i do it together with INE Vol 1?

Any advice on IPX Vol 1 vs INE Vol 1?

CCNP goes Troubleshooting

2009-10-16T03:05:00.000+08:00

Looks like, now, Cisco wants the candidates to be prepared before the CCIE lab for troubleshooting section. Starting from end for 2010, BSCI and BCMSN will be having new names. ISCW and ONT will be taken away and new Troubleshooting module will be added.

You can find out more details on this ongoing post : https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/message/37163?tstart=0

Notes from Official Update: CCIE Routing and Switching Web Seminar

2009-10-11T16:05:00.000+08:00

I attened the Official Update: CCIE Routing and Switching Web Seminar last week. Surprisingly, i was the only attendance while i was expecting a lot of people would be interested to join and listen. The following is the note that i wrote down that night from Maurilio Gorito explanations, Product Manager of CCIE RS. Luckly, Brad Ellis, CEO of CCBootcamp help to ask a lot of question during Q&A section to dig out some more details.

isr running iso 12.4(T)
catalyst switches running IOS 12.2 Adv IP service
Scenario-based question added written exam
lab less emphasis on professional level task (more pre configuration)

New skills/ topics added.
planning and evaluating network change
performance routing, OER, EIGRPv6
IPv6 Multicast
MPLS and Layer 3 VPN

Short answer (up to 30min) - can be one word answer
Troubleshooting : up to 2 hours - Layer 3, Layer 2 (only WAN), routers only
Configuration ; at least 5 1/2 hours

New troubleshooting section
-multiple scenarios described on 'trouble tickets'
-diagnose and resolve fault(s) on preconfigured topology
-Network must be operationl to receive credit
-8 to 12 trouble tickets (doesn't mean that 8-12 topologies)
-may issue multiple diagrams for each topology (ospf, ipv6, etc..)
-totally on virtual environment (cisco version of dynamips)

Configuration Section
-More partially preconfigured solutions
-MPLS VPN is for layer 3 vpn only (e.g. 2xPE 2xCE)

You can use the link below to view the recording of the event:
https://ciscosales.webex.com/ciscosales/lsr.php?AT=pb&SP=EC&rID=40520377&rKey=4a695ccb75726703

Multicast and QOS done.. v3 Written on the last day?

2009-10-10T03:39:00.000+08:00

Even though SP track covers lots for QOS and Multicast, they still sweat me a bit as always. Anyway, think i have pretty much cover the v3 written blueprint and I want to try it before they change it to version 4. I think I'll just go ahead and book for 16th Oct, which is the last day that we can take the version 3 exam in Singapore (17th is a public holiday). If i can clear it by then, i can already start working on my lab books.

My Plan is to go through CCIE Routing and Switching Quick Rreference Sheet starting from tomorrow and to take 2 days leave from work before the exam date.

Done with MPLS.. Time for Multicast

2009-09-24T23:04:00.003+08:00

MPLS seems like an easy topic for me since it was SP focused. Anyway, i took me a while to do revision since i was moving house last for past few days.. Multicast is always a challenging topic for me. I am not sure if i need to study DVMRP since it is not in the blueprint.. :S

BGP done.. MPLS starts tomorrow..

2009-09-15T02:24:00.000+08:00

I feel that I'm going with a very slow pace.. Even thought i have done this topic several times, It took me a while to read (cuz i was a bit lazy these days). Ok. time to get up and run again..

Route Controls Done...

2009-09-05T02:23:00.000+08:00

Redistribution, AD, Summarization, static&default routes, distribute-list, route-map, policy routing, prefix-list.. quite a lot of information. They always look like very unimportant topics in the book, but, it's a lot easy for things to go wrong if we are not be careful about them.. Next stop, BGP..