My First Lab… (personal, not exam!)
An additional approach I’m using to study for the CCIE is to create my own labs for each step of the process. I expect there will be fewer labs at first, greatly increasing in numbers as I reach into Layer 3.
One of my philosophies behind this effort is that it’s the CCIE: Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert. If they describe the certification as “Expert” level, I plan on treating it that way. Part of being an expert in any given field involves notes and study. In a scientific field this would include labs which, at an advanced level, would be created by the student. I realize there are already products out there, but if I start with a knowledge of how I think it should work before I perform the lab I will have 10 times the benefit of simply performing someone else’s lab. (This will also give me the added benefit of unique content… which I’m planning on publishing on Lulu to offset CCIE costs).
Technical Details Below
Let me give you the specifics. This lab is very simple, operating at the physical layer… Two routers are connected via FastEthernet (in my case, a pair of 2FE-2W cards). Speed and duplex settings are fiddled with in various ways, and the reactions recorded and analyzed. In performing this lab, I learned that the router dislikes a manual duplex setting with an automatic speed setting. Not only does this allow me to update the lab (for eventual publishing), but I’ve also learned something I wouldn’t otherwise have known.