Not this time

So here I sit in Sydney airport (in a bar with a beer), reflecting on what happened today, and the headline is that I know already, before the proctor looks at my lab, that it’ll be take two in Brussels in the next couple of months. How do I know ? Well as can happen, I hit an issue – mgcp was it’s name and a reload of the router was the solution – I knew my configuration was good – but I didn’t think to try that until it was much much too late. I’m sure there are plenty out there who can relate.

Now how to describe the experience within the bounds of the NDA. Sydney is a relaxed lab with a great view out of the lunch window (or the lab window if you are not doing voice). The proctor is from Russia – and is very pleasant. There was one other candidate today – doing Service Provider (the last time that version of the lab will be sat!) – he was from Taiwan having his second attempt. 8am start is more of a guideline than a fixed time. I’d be there at 8, but not be concerned if you don’t start exactly on the clock.

Why so confident that I didn’t make the grade – well after I hit my snag, it sapped time and energy for the other sections as I knew I’d not have enough to make it, and there were a few other bits and bobs that had me stumped.

Was it a fair test – hell yes. Should I have passed –maybe – it was the kind of exam I had hoped for, and on initial inspection thought I had a good chance. I now understand the mentality needed to pass and I don’t think I’m far away (although the score report will say otherwise – I know where the problems were and more importantly how to fix them)

I have already debriefed myself into my ever growing list of notes on how to pass the CCIE – that was over a Tea in Starbucks – after a beer round the corner from the exam centre.

Time now to enjoy my holiday. Not worry about CCIE things for 3 weeks, then look to book another attempt when I get back to the UK.

Thanks for all the messages of support, they are greatly appreciated. I’ll do better in Brussels. I am not beaten and I don’t believe in #fail !

T-1 day and counting. Now it feels real!

This time tomorrow I’ll be head down, tail up, feeling either very happy or very distressed. It’s 1:20pm and I’m on a Virgin Blue flight to Sydney. I’ve said goodbye to the family, see you tomorrow night (about midnight). This CCIE exam thing now feels very real.

How’s my preparation been ? Well the five day self-managed boot camp peaked on day two and was a right off by three hours into day five. If the exam I get is like the lab I did on day two (Sunday), I’m in with a good chance (it was a three CUCM site lab with MGCP gateways). Then there was the enforced break – flying to Australia takes it time and its toll. I managed to skip jetlag in similar fashion to San Jose, by staying awake all day on the first day (hard given we landed at 6:55am, and I hadn’t slept since somewhere over the India many hours earlier). I did do three hours on the racks yesterday, just to strip off the rust induced by boat trips and family gatherings (many more to come after the exam!). My tee time is 12:40 on Friday, I may be a CCIE by then who knows!

So for the rest of the day, it’s land, then up to the hotel in St Leonards just around the corner from Cisco. Think I’ll pop in and say hi, just to make sure I’m at the right place. Then off to do some tourist stuff, and dinner. Read over my notes from Vik’s boot camp, then bed, early of course (But not too early as I don’t want to wake up at 4am!). Up tomorrow at 6am, breakfast at 6:30, walk down to be at Cisco for 7:45 – 8am is crunch time. There’s only one voice seat in Sydney and it has my name on it – lets hope that by 5:30 it has my number on it too!

More vRack Thoughts–INE v IPExpert

So for the last three (well more like 2 and a bit) days I’ve had to use alternate labs to the usual IPExpert labs that I have been using up to now (scheduling problems and my exam being now only a week away forced the change). So I thought I’d compare and contrast the two vRacks (and as a bonus, provide a quick how-to on setting up the INE PSTN router as the IPExpert one).

Lucky for me INE had a promotion on this weekend for Buy-one-get-one-free on rack time this weekend. So I signed up for three day’s worth (and thus now have some to spare – hopefully!). First there are a couple of obvious differences:

• INE are cheaper on a per hour basis,
• INE are more flexible in the slots you can have, shorter slots (5.5hrs vs. 7.5hrs) or longer slots (combine two 5.5hrs to get 11.5hrs!)

Then from a technology point of view:

• INE has more connectivity options, including both SSL VPN and Cisco VPN, and even a VPN-less option (although this means no audio).
• INE has the Variphy remote control application which allows the use of in rack phones – 7961s not 7960s! And it just works after a simple association to the correct user(for CUCM phones)
• IPExpert did run a promotion with UnifiedFX for a free copy of their remote control software, which I took advantage of (post coming) and it worked after a little bit of fiddling, and also controlled Skinny CME phones too!
• INE has a utility PC with RTMT, CUPC and other bits, kind of like the utility side of UCCX server for IPExpert

So how does the challenge of having one set of workbooks play out on the competitor’s racks?

Well it takes a bit of setting up, but not too much – just change the PSTN router to match – and remember that any referenced IP addresses will need to be changed (there’s a table below for what is needed). The troubleshooting pieces of the IPExpert labs obviously can’t be done – but I had no trouble doing any of the Volume 2 Workbook labs (well none that I wouldn’t have had on the IPExpert labs!).

The one thing I have found though, is that the extra time you have on the INE rack, removes one of the things that I like about the IPExpert racks – and that is time pressure – you don’t have 11 hours in the “Real” Lab – you have about 8, just like on IPExpert, so you can work in real time and the extra pressure that brings. Of the five days back to back that I’ve done – my best was the 2nd day on IPExpert. It could have been the lab I chose, but I think it was also the focus that was required. As odd as it sounds, I found having too much time available allowed me to wander away more easily (and we all know how hard it is to study in the first place).

So would I recommend the INE racks ? Well, yes. But I’d also recommend the IPExpert labs – but I have IPExpert lab material – if I had INE material, I’d stay on INE!

Here’s a table for converting the PSTN router configuration from set of racks to the other. I hope you find this useful.

IPExpert	Interface	INE
T1 0/3/0	HQ Voice	T1 0/0
T1 0/3/1	BR1 Voice	T1 0/4
E1 0/2/0	BR2 Voice	E1 0/2
10.10.100.2 (F0/0)	HQ Ethernet	177.1.19.1(f0/1)
10.10.200.3	HQ RTR Voice	177.1.11.1
10.10.110.1	HQ RTR Loopback	177.1.254.254