CCIE R&S Lab Strategy – Speed and Accuracy with Configurations

Introduction

We should all be painfully aware of just how fast we need to be manipulating our devices in the Configuration section of the CCIE R&S Lab Exam. Should you have any doubts about it, just be brave (and smart) enough to check out the IPexpert CCIE R&S One Week Lab Experience. It never fails that students are quite shocked during practice lab exams at just how fast they actually need to be. I have seen it time and time again where a student is plenty sharp enough with their awareness of the technologies to pass to the lab, but they are very laborious and slow with the configurations. Sure enough, when they try and speed up dramatically, accuracy of the configurations slip and they get even more flustered and mentally scattered. In fact, thinking way back to 2004 when I was a student of this lab, I had these very issues. “How in the world will I ever be fast and accurate enough for this monster?”

In this blog post I am going to share some tips with you on how I built that speed and accuracy (and then confidence) when it comes to the Configuration section.

This post will focus on what ended up being my favorite type of Configuration section scenario, one in which you are configuring the gear from scratch. That’s right – you have interfaces, or entire devices that do not possess a configuration whatsoever. Perhaps you have a diagram that you need to implement, and your equipment is a blank slate waiting for the picture perfect config that will gain you those points you so desperately seek. In other posts on this blog, we will provide guidance on how to handle situations that are different in the Configuration section.

The Scenario

So let us presume that you have been given a diagram that shows a Frame Relay cloud that is a classic hub and spoke. You peek ahead and realize that this cloud is to run OSPF area 10 and that it is to feature the use of NBMA mode with a little MD5 authentication for good measure. The diagrams that Cisco has provided really are not making you feel “warm and fuzzy” inside, so the first order of business for your speed and accuracy is that you decide to create your own. You take 90 seconds to sketch your masterpiece on your scratch paper and you smile as you see all of the Layer 2 and 3 addressing and notes regarding OSPF just the way you like them.

Now you turn to your best friend in the lab outside of the proctor. Yes, it is that miracle child born of Windows – Notepad. You click that familiar icon and decide you will start with the hub device configuration first in your Notepad file. You have opted for Notepad because of the glaring similarities there will be for the configuration of each interface.

Now comes another important bit. You are not just going to start haphazardly typing commands. Instead you are going to use a careful methodology to ensure you are accurate with the required configurations. Let me show you the commands with my logic for their order:

interface s0/0 ---> Duh!
shutdown ---> I do not want anything happening with this int until I say so!
encap frame ---> After the L1 shutdown; I take care of L2
ip addr 10.10.10.101 255.255.255.224 ---> After L2, I hit L3; double check the mask
ip ospf 1 area 10 ---> Yes still at layer 3
no frame inv ---> Now I tackle L2-L3 name resolution
frame map ip 10.10.10.102 202 broad ---> Having looked ahead I see need for broad.
frame map ip 10.10.10.103 203 broad
no shut ---> Now I am ready for the interface to shine!

Final Thoughts

So there are the commands and an explanation of my order for them. I call this my “cadence of configuration”, and boy, with practice could I configure it fast and accurately, never omitting the finest of details. Notice that I omit the required authentication. As part of what I call my Baby Steps, I will bring up these devices with the Frame and OSPF, see that everything is perfect, then add the authentication later. This aids me in troubleshooting anything that might have weaseled in as a problem. I will talk more about Baby Steps in the lab in a future blog post. I have also made a note on my version of the diagram that I will need to drop the appropriate neighbor commands under the OSPF process. This is another reason that I love my own diagram so much, I can make important notes on it to remind myself of key points in the configurations. We have enough Troubleshooting to worry about in this lab exam, there is no need to induce our own.

After pasting this in to the hub and ensuring the accuracy of the syntax, I doctor a copy up in Notepad for the next device, and I configure this Frame/OSPF cloud in record time.

Please be on the lookout for more critical discussions of Expert Lab Strategy here at blog.ipexpert.com. Be sure to always share your feedback and your own tips in the comments section below.

Anthony Sequeira, CCIE, CCSI
Twitter: compsolv
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/compsolv

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Tags: CCIE, ccie exam, ccie lab, CCIE R&S Lab, ccie routig & switching, exam, lab, practice, Strategy