UPDATE FOR ALL VPNs – PLEASE READ IF YOU USE Proctor Labs vRacks

Four things have been changed to give everyone a much better experience when renting Voice vRacks from Proctor Labs. I’ll list each of them briefly here, and then go into more detail on each one of them regarding what each enhancement means for you as well as what you need to do to take advantage of the new changes.

1. There is only ONE vpn group that is still functional.
2. You can now connect your VPN (Hardware or Software) over TCP port 80 or 443.
3. Network Extension Mode (NEM) is now supported for every Voice vRack.
4. ASA5505 Users VPN’s *should* now work.

Details:

1) There is only ONE vpn group that is still functional

Everyone that connects to Proctor Labs Voice vRacks and thus our VPNs, should by now, have downloaded the latest VPN configuration file (either hardware or software) from your Voice vRack VPN webpage. This is the page you come to after you login to ProctorLabs.com, and before you get to your actual vRack webpage (the page where you Load Lab Configs, Telnet to routers, Link to CUCM servers, etc).

This configuration file hasn’t changed for a long number of months now – but just to be sure – you might want to check it.

This does two things for our clients:

• Gives you a much simpler configuration. There is only 1 VPN configuration file that you will ever need to connect to our Voice vRacks – regardless of which Pod you are assigned from session to session.
• This gives every client of ours peace of mine that when they rent a vRack session from us, that they not only will they be guaranteed to connect to the correct Pod#, but there is no chance that someone else could possibly also connect to your pod and accidentally overwrite your configuration. We do this by checking each login UserID against the timeslot and pod# rented, and then place you dynamically in the proper VRF where traffic from another vRack Pod can never route to yours.

Most of you (99%) will still be able to connect to VPN just fine – as you always have. However, if for some reason you cannot connect to your VPN session, take 2 minutes to simply check the “VPN Group Authentication Name” in your Software client to make sure the name and password are exactly as follows (respectively):

vpodgroup

proctorvoice

For you hardware VPN users – I have provided the configuration below:

crypto ipsec client ezvpn IPx-Voice-vRack

group vpodgroup key proctorvoice

2) You can now connect your VPN (Hardware or Software) over TCP port 80 or 443.

Many people have reported not being able to connect their software or hardware client VPN to Proctor Labs. This most normally occurs due to a over-restrictive corporate or hotel firewall that stands in their way, not allowing UDP 500 or UDP 4500 to pass through.

We have fixed this issue from our side and have now allowed users with Software (or Hardware) VPN clients to “Tunnel” all traffic (both the IKE Phase 1 and the ESP Phase 2) over You can now connect to your Voice vRack VPN using TCP port 80 or TCP port 443 – either of these ports should allow you to connect with us.

For software VPN users, see somewhere about 3/4 of the way down on this page for a screenshot of “Tunneling” your VPN connection over TCP Port 80 or 443.

(This link shows TCP port 10001. Just change that to 80 or 443. Almost all firewalls allow web traffic – so unless they are doing DPI – you should connect).

http://tinyurl.com/VPN-Port-80-443

For hardware IOS VPN users, make the following change:

crypto ipsec client ezvpn IPx-Voice-vRack

ctcp port 80

3) Network Extension Mode (NEM) is now supported for every Voice vRack.

I have now enabled (and tested thoroughly today) NEM for those of you using hardware-based VPN to connect your hardware IP phones to our Proctor Labs Voice vRacks. This will not work with software based VPNs.

This means that none of your traffic will have to NAT or PAT any longer to reach us – and all of these issues with phones not registering correctly, or registering and then when a call is made – potentially unregistering the phone from the cluster.

For hardware VPN users, make the following change:

crypto ipsec client ezvpn IPx-Voice-vRack

mode network-extension

In order to use the Network Extension Mode, and also not to override any of the internal subnets for the Voice vRack Pod you are on, I have enabled a small set of subnets that you may use for your *inside* interface on your IOS Router or ASA.

They are:

192.168.X.0/24   Where X can equal any number 0 – 16.

so 192.168.0.0 , 192.168.1.0 , you get the picture.

Any other network on your inside – and we don’t redistribute it through the vRack (i.e. – No route back to you :)

If anyone “needs” any other networks – email support and let us know about them.

4) ASA5505 Users VPN’s *should* now work.

After having troubleshot people’s ASA 5505 connection problems multiple times – we always came back to the issue being a bug – since it was the ASA that was failing to PAT the traffic – since the ASA packet tracer would always tell us it was at that step that the ASA would drop the traffic. However with the previous announcement that NEM is supported, this means no more NATing/PATing! Thus it *should* work fine with NEM enabled. (Read the “NOTE ABOUT SUBNETS FOR INSIDE INTERFACES” above!)

We say *should* because we don’t have an ASA5505 to test out the client side with. (anyone care to donate one?)

Also – every hardware VPN user – PLEASE CHECK your config to make sure that this line is in there:

crypto ipsec client ezvpn IPx-Voice-vRack

connect manual

If you don’t have “connect manual” in there, then your router constantly tries to connect its VPN with us – but will always fail because its not always your time to rent a rack, and in effect, performs a sort of mild DoS on our router.

As soon as we notice that type of repetitive traffic over a long period of time (not one or two or three failures when you are testing) – we have no choice but to block your source IP.

So all together – hardware IOS VPN users should have this config:

crypto ipsec client ezvpn IPx-Voice-vRack

connect manual

ctcp port 80

group vpodgroup key proctorvoice

mode network-extension

peer 74.126.20.247

xauth userid mode interactive

So all together – hardware ASA5505 VPN users should have this config:

vpnclient enable

vpnclient ipsec-over-tcp port 80

vpnclient mode network-extension-mode

vpnclient server 74.126.20.247

vpnclient vpodgroup password proctorvoice

In the (slightly modified) words of Napolean Dynamite:

I hope your wildest [CCIE studying] dreams come true,

Mark Snow

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So now that this seminar is over – this blog post has morphed into a permanent update and archive of what was confirmed here at the CCIE Voice Techtorial at Cisco Networkers.

Without further ado, below is a quick bullet list of things that are now officially confirmed from the Cisco CCIE Voice Content Manager, Ben Ng, for the new CCIE Voice v3.0 Lab Exam.

The format that will follow below is this: Each bullet point will first contain the new piece of information regarding the v3.0 blueprint CCIE Voice Lab Exam that is now confirmed from Cisco and Ben Ng here at Cisco Live! (Networkers), and then will have this character “—>”  and then our Proctor Labs response regarding our preparedness to this announcement about a particular given new piece of information.

• All IP Phones will be 7965′s —> Proctor Labs vRacks updated our IP Phones to 7962′s sometime back. Only thing 7964 & 7965 can do that 7962′s can’t is GigEthernet and Color displays – neither of which have any bearing for the Cisco CCIE Voice Lab. Ben’s reason for 7965′s then? Simply more of these type of hardware available to them when they were developing the lab.
• CUCM and CUCME versions confirmed: 7.0(1) (bugs and all)  —> This is the versions we are running in all of our Proctor Labs vRacks.
• All servers (CUCM, UC, CUPS, UCCX) are running on VMWare —> We are running our Proctor Labs vRacks on VMWare ESX – looks like we are in good company.
• “Possible” that AD/DNS Server introduced down the road, but not Day 1. This means VPIM cannot be tested Day 1 either, since UC requires DNS to function (CUE can use IP addresses, but UC cannot). DNS Server cannot be run on UCCX (only Windows box), so again – will not be tested right away. I would imagine 6-12 months down the road.  —> We have an AD/DNS server ready at Proctor Labs vRacks, and will introduce it into our Mock Labs around that timeframe (expect 4-6 months).
• To reiterate: It is confirmed that Native DC Directory will be what is tested Day 1 and for a little while until they “run out” of content to add.
• Two Windows devices in Lab: UCCX Server and Test PC – both will be used for running CUPC for testing Presence and Device Mobility. RDP into UCCX, VNC into Test PC.  —> Proctor Labs vRacks have CUPC installed on UCCX and will have the candidate install CUPC on his/her Mac/PC (it runs on both) to test this. This way we maintain more physical CPU/Mem (Power) on VMWare Host machine (unlike Cisco has been known for in this lab in the past :-0  ).
• 3 site topology preserved. CUCM at HQ, BR1 remote CUCM site, BR2 is CUCME  —> We are, of course, good here.
• IOS on 3 site routers: 12.4(22)T —> This is the version we are running on our Proctor Labs vRacks.
• Confirmed: NO Video Endpoints in new v3.0 Lab —> Figured as much, but had VTA endpoints ready if we needed to add.
• E1-R2 and T1-CAS are testable topics, however – MANY features require ISDN technology-based features – so expect that ISDN (T1 & E1) PRIs will be much more heavily tested  —> We allow testing of BOTH, and have a ridiculously easy-to-use web interface that requires all of a push of a button to change the PSTN T1/E1 format (CCS/CAS) at Proctor Labs vRacks.
• Some of the new features in CUCM 7.0 that specifically require ISDN (and require a 7961 or better IP Phone) are +Dialing Support, Call Globalization, Localization, and Mapping the Globalized Variant to a Localized Route Pattern. —> As we have mentioned, Proctor Labs vRacks has newer 7962 IP Phones, as well you will see quite an intense international dial plan lab surrounding these CUCM Features coming out here in the next couple of weeks as Volume 2, Mock Lab 2.
• All CCIE test pods will have same IP addressing scheme and PSTN numbering scheme. No more “YY=pod#” for IP or Dialplan numbering schemes
• All CCIE test pods will have same IP addressing scheme – no more “YY=pod#”. However, PSTN and Dial Plan numbering scheme WILL change from lab to lab! —> We made the decision long ago to work tirelessly to provide EXACTLY this feature using Proctor Labs vRacks! Simple press of a button on our web UI pre-loads your PSTN Dialplan (as well as many other pre-configurations)! NO OTHER PROVIDER CAN DO THIS!! (Some claim that they can – but rent a single rack session from them and you will quickly see that their definition of pre-loading configuration means simply a wipe back to a single base clean config – nothing more).
• “Very Likely” that UCCX and VM Ports will be integrated beforehand
• New update to UCCX integration: UCCX Integration WILL BE DONE for you, however be prepared to Troubleshoot the integration.
• New update to Unity Connection integration: UC will be pre-configured with “base” integration info, however you will still be required to know and create Subscribers, Call Handlers, etc. Both of these previous two announcements are very nice timesavers indeed for the candidate. —> As stated above, Proctor Labs vRacks does custom, per-lab, pre-loading of configurations to every device including servers, this means that all future Mock Labs in Volume 2 and Instructor-Led Courses, we will have UCCX/UC ports pre-integrated.
• CUPS Server will NOT be pre-integrated with CUCM (this keeps in line with the blueprint). Also there are 3 types of Presence clients used in exam: IPPM (IP Phone Messenger – basically IM on the IP Phone), CUPC-control of 7965, and CUPC standalone softphone-mode. —> Proctor Labs vRacks has all three of these our labs today.
• IP Phones “Do not have VLANs assigned”, but that does not preclude them from being pre-configured in CUCM(E), just definitely not registered when candidate sits down  —> See our above note for how we can and do test both (or any scenario for that matter really).
• IP Phone Firmware changes are definitely testable topics at both CUCM and CUCME sites (study this well folks or else it could cost you a LOT of time!!) —> We test it!
• @ Dialplan (predicated upon a given country’s national numbering plan), and so therefore also Route Filters – has not ever previously been a testable topic. At this point it will still not be tested, however in the future Ben stated that they reserve the right to leave it open as a future testable topic, although it probably won’t be anything that happens in the near future. —> Again, we are on top of it and plan to  incorporate it into later Volume 2 Mock Labs.
• 4 Open-Ended Questions (OEQ’s) focusing on “Core Knowledge” will be tested from Day 1 (July 16)  —> For this and the next few topics regarding these OEQ’s: We will be releasing our CCIE OEQ Prep Quizzer tomorrow (Monday, June 29th).
• RE:4 Open-Ended Q’s: Will have 30 mins to answer 4 questions, answers will be 5 words or less, if you finish early you can proceed onto Lab Configuration
• RE:4 Open-Ended Q’s: Must answer 3/4 correctly, if you do answer EITHER 3 or 4 of the 4 Q’s correctly – both result in award of 21pts, then you need 59 points from Lab Config portion of exam, so in essence – you need ~75% to pass the CCIE Voice Lab
• RE:4 Open-Ended Q’s: Purpose is specifically designed to “Preserve Integrity and stop [people from] passing who just memorize lab [tasks from cheat websites]“
• RE:4 Open-Ended Q’s:  During these 4 questions you will NOT have access to any resources (Cisco Documentation Website or 4 SRND PDFs on desktop). Restated: You have no resources other than your brain during the 4 OEQ’s.
• Voice Lab Exam testing centers to include Dubai, Bejing, and Bangalore. More seats “should” mean more availability. We hope.
• All CCIE Voice grading is still being done by hand by the Proctors at the moment. May integrate automated grading at a later date.
• Configuration of Dial Plan is not checked. Grading is based on results: (i.e. test calls are made, primary gateways shutdown, test calls are made again to test backup gateways, etc).
• If a gateway is not registered you will score 0 on dial plan.

So as clearly stated next to each update, we starting planning ahead more than a year ago for this change, and all of these updates confirm that we were dead-on track for 100% of these changes. We have ALL (repeat 100%) of these things in our Instructor-Led Training courses and our Workbooks: TODAY!

Cheers,

Mark and Vik

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The format is still being worked out, but will closely resemble something like: “Respond to an RFP (or come up with some sort of design) and then defend it technologically, economically, and politically within your organization before a panel of Cisco Engineers (possibly a Cisco Distinguished Engineer).

Possibly more importantly is the statement that soon the CCDE will be a requirement for some Cisco Partners …. now how soon? for which partners? for which specializations? Those are all questions to be sorted. But for the time, certainly interesting to know that is most probably coming down the pike at some point.

More updates from Cisco Networkers to come – stay tuned!

Cheers,

Mark Snow

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As promised, the new Volume 1 Workbook and Proctor Guide are now available (if you’re an existing client, check your member’s area).  Our website will be updated Monday to reflect the new description and product.  If this updated content should be in your member’s area – and isn’t – please contact support@ipexpert.com w/ the request to investigate.  The Table of Contents is as follows:

Section 1A: Implementing Campus Infrastructure and Services

• Configuring VLANs
• Configuring DHCP
• Configuring NTP
• Configuring Basic CUCM Phone Registration
• Configuring Basic CUCM System Configuration
• Configuring Basic CUCME Phone Registration
• Configuring Basic CUCME System Configuration

Section 1B: Troubleshooting Campus Infrastructure and Services

• Troubleshooting VLANs
• Troubleshooting DHCP
• Troubleshooting Basic CUCM Phone Registration
• Troubleshooting Basic CUCM System Configuration
• Troubleshooting Basic CUCME Phone Registration
• Troubleshooting Basic CUCME System Configuration

Section 2A: Implementing CUCM Endpoints

• Configuring CUCM SCCP Phone Registration
• Configuring CUCM SIP Phone Registration
• Configuring Calling between SCCP and SIP Endpoints
• Configuring SIP DialPlans

Section 2B: Troubleshooting CUCM Endpoints

• Troubleshooting CUCM SCCP Phone Registration
• Troubleshooting CUCM SIP Phone Registration
• Troubleshooting Calling between SCCP and SIP Endpoints
• Troubleshooting SIP DialPlans

Section 3A: Implementing CUCME Endpoints

• Configuring CUCME SCCP Phone Registration
• Configuring CUCME SIP Phone Registration
• Configuring Calling between SCCP and SIP Endpoints
• Configuring SIP DialPlans

Section 3B: Troubleshooting CUCME Endpoints

• Troubleshooting CUCME SCCP Phone Registration
• Troubleshooting CUCME SIP Phone Registration
• Troubleshooting Calling between SCCP and SIP Endpoints
• Troubleshooting SIP DialPlans

Section 4A: Implementing Voice Gateways

• Configuring H323 Gateways in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring MGCP Gateways in CUCM and IOS
• Configuring SIP Trunks in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring H323 Gatekeepers in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Basic Call Routing in CUCM, CUCME and IOS

Section 4B: Troubleshooting Voice Gateways

• Troubleshooting H323 Gateways in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting MGCP Gateways in CUCM and IOS
• Troubleshooting SIP Trunks in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting H323 Gatekeepers in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Basic Call Routing in CUCM, CUCME and IOS

Section 5A: Implementing Call Routing Policies

• Configuring Class of Service in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Route Patterns in CUCM
• Configuring Dial Peers in CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Digit Manipulation in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Calling Party Transformations in CUCM
• Configuring Called Party Transformations in CUCM
• Configuring Translation Patterns in CUCM
• Configuring Route Selection Preference in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Route Selection Redundancy in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Local Route Groups in CUCM
• Configuring SCCP and SIP Hunt Groups in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Device Mobility in CUCM
• Configuring Unified Mobility in CUCM
• Configuring Mobile Voice Access in CUCM

Section 5B: Troubleshooting Call Routing Policies

• Troubleshooting Class of Service in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Route Patterns in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Dial Peers in CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Digit Manipulation in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Calling Party Transformations in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Called Party Transformations in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Translation Patterns in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Route Selection Preference in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Route Selection Redundancy in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Local Route Groups in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Hunt Groups in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Troubleshooting Device Mobility in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Unified Mobility in CUCM
• Troubleshooting Mobile Voice Access in CUCM

Section 5C: A New Dial Plan with Gatekeeper

• Configuring Route Patterns in CUCM
• Configuring Dial Peers in CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Digit Manipulation in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Calling Party Transformations in CUCM
• Configuring Called Party Transformations in CUCM
• Configuring Translation Patterns in CUCM
• Configuring Route Selection Preference in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Route Selection Redundancy in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Local Route Groups in CUCM
• Configuring Hunt Groups in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Device Mobility in CUCM
• Configuring Unified Mobility in CUCM
• Configuring Mobile Voice Access in CUCM

Section 6A: Implementing High Availability Features

• Configuring SCCP Fallback for SRST Mode
• Configuring SIP Fallback for SRST Mode
• Configuring MGCP Fallback for SRST Mode
• Configuring SCCP Features in SRST Mode
• Configuring SIP Features in SRST Mode
• Configuring SCCP Fallback for CME as SRST Mode
• Configuring SIP Fallback for CME as SRST Mode
• Configuring MGCP Fallback for CME as SRST Mode
• Configuring SCCP Features in CME as SRST Mode
• Configuring SIP Features in CME as SRST Mode

Section 7A: Implementing Media Resources

• Configuring CODEC Selection and Flexibility in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Conference Bridges in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Transcoders in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Annunciator in CUCM
• Configuring MTP in CUCM and IOS
• Configuring Unicast Music on Hold in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Multicast Music on Hold in CUCM, CUCME and IOS
• Configuring Media Resource Preference and Redundancy in CUCM

Section 8A: Implementing Supplementary Services

• Configuring Call Park in CUCM
• Configuring Directed Call Park in CUCM
• Configuring Busy Lamp Speed Dials for Call Park
• Configuring Call Pickup in CUCM
• Configuring Group Pickup in CUCM
• Configuring Other Pickup in CUCM
• Configuring Directed Call Pickup in CUCM
• Configuring Busy Lamp Speed Dials for Call Pickup
• Configuring Barge in CUCM and CUCME
• Configuring Conference Barge in CUCM and CUCME
• Configuring CallBack in CUCM and CUCME
• Configuring DND in CUCM and CUCME

Section 9A: Implementing Other CUCM Voice Applications

• Configuring IPMA in CUCM
• Configuring Intercom in CUCM
• Configuring Extension Mobility in CUCM and CUCME
• Configuring B-ACD in CUCME
• Configuring B-ACD Drop Through in CUCME
• Configuring Voice Hunt Groups in CUCME

Section 10A: Implementing QoS and CAC

• Configuring L2/L3 Traffic Classification and Marking in IOS
• Configuring L2/L3 Queueing Mechanisms in IOS
• Configuring L2 Link Fragmentation and Interleave Mechanisms in IOS
• Configuring RSVP Agent in CUCM and IOS
• Configuring Call Admission Control in CUCM, CUCME and Gatekeeper

Section 11A: Implementing Messaging

• Configuring Unity Connection for CUCM
• Configuring Unity Connections Subscribers
• Configuring Unity Connections Call Handlers
• Configuring Unity Connections Advanced Features
• Configuring Unity Express Subscribers Mailboxes
• Configuring Unity Express Queuing
• Configuring Unity Express Advanced Features

Section 12A: Implementing Cisco Unified Contact Center Express

• Configuring Basic Integration of UCCX into CUCM
• Configuring CSQ Setup in UCCX
• Configuring Skills Based Routing in UCCX
• Configuring Agent Based Routing in UCCX
• Configuring Advanced Scripting in UCCX

Section 13A: Implementing Cisco Unified Presence

• Configuring Basic Integration of Presence into CUCM
• Configuring SIP Trunk Setup from CUCM to CUP
• Configuring Gateways in Presence
• Configuring Routing in Presence
• Configuring Number Expansion in Presence
• Configuring Voicemail Servers in Presence
• Configuring CUPC in Presence
• Configuring Deskphone Control Settings in Presence
• Configuring IP Phone Messenger Control in Presence
• Configuring User Contacts in Presence

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If any of you follow the Cisco NetPro forum, you know that Maurilio Gorito had a live forum session earlier this month, and that Yusuf Bhaiji has a live forum session that is going on right now through July 2 where you can ask questions and get quick answers from the man who directs the CCIE Security Track himself.

While these are a few great places to get information on these two tracks – there seems always to be a lot more to learn at Cisco Networkers CCIE Techtorials. Also there hasn’t been a live forum session on NetPro for the CCIE Voice track yet – so be sure to be watching our posts for realtime updates on that important track that so many of you are after.

Here is a link to our previous post detailing our media updating method for Sunday, June 28th and Monday, June 29th.

Cheers,

Mark Snow

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Approximately 1 year ago when we began internal preparation meetings for what we knew would become the new v3 Voice blueprint, we knew that the older 7960 phone models wouldn’t do. In fact, they are largely incapable of performing (and thus testing) approximately 25-30% of the newer functions listed in the blueprint for the v3 Voice Lab Exam (Even much more so on the SIP side of phones, but SCCP has quite a few large features as well that can’t be tested without newer model phones) (For only a partial list, take a look at the CUCM SRND pg 819). 30% is an overall huge percentage of things for you to not be able to study and test for, before reaching your actual lab exam. It’s much more than a failing percentage. So it quickly becomes obvious that this is simply an unacceptable amount of testable content for us not to cover. We would be much more than remiss in not providing you with a test platform for such testable topics, we would be dreadfully in violation of our duties to fully prepare you for the CCIE Voice 3.0 Exam. It should be noted that to date (as of this penning), none of the other vendors claiming to teach or develop for the new v3.0 Voice Lab Exam has anything except 7960 phones in their online racks and in their classrooms. We simply don’t understand how they are claiming to prepare people. The simple fact is that they are leaving out this 25-30% in their self-study workbooks and in their classroom instruction.

To that end, we decided upon, and procured long ago, newer 7962 model phones for our classrooms. We decided on 7962′s vs 7961′s simply for the fact that they can perform one additional feature that the 7961 models could not, and could be tested.

All of that brings me to this statement, for all future development IPexpert does, and all future workbooks or labs to be released (including the remainder of Volume 1 next week!!), we will focus all of our labs and testing around the 7962 phone primarily. This allows us as developers to test everything in hardware instead of software, ensuring that 100% like-functionality will occur from our labs and solutions to your actual experience sitting the CCIE Voice Lab Exam.

So the good news is two-fold:

So for item #1: IPBlue now (in this next week actually) supports the 7962 phone type! However, while that is great news, they only supports the SCCP protocol, and from the blueprint we easily see at the top that we will need to know and be able to test both the SCCP and SIP protocols for both the CUCM and CUCME cluster types.

So our layout for the 5 phones that you will need to own either in hardware or in softphone fashion to test our self-study products with are:

• (Qty 1) Cisco 7960 IP Phone (or any other model above a 7960 for that matter) running the SCCP protocol load is needed for your PSTN site. An IPBlue VTGO-Lite softphone will suffice in the case that you don’t have a hardware phone available to you.
• (Qty 1) Cisco 7962 IP Phone running the SIP protocol load is needed for your HQ site Phone 2 (Phone 1 is physically located back at our Proctor Labs Data Center). A Cisco CIPC softphone will suffice in the case that you don’t have a hardware phone available to you.
• (Qty 2) Cisco 7962 IP Phones running the SCCP protocol load are needed for your BR1 site Phone 2, and BR2 site Phone 3 (BR1 Phone 1 and BR2 Phone 1 & 2 are all physically located back at our Proctor Labs Data Center. IPBlue VTGO-Lite softphones will suffice in the case that you don’t have hardware phones available to you.
• (Qty 1) Cisco 7960 IP Phone (or any other model above a 7960 for that matter) running the SIP protocol load is needed for your BR2 site Phone 4. A Couterpath X-Lite softphone will suffice in the case that you don’t have a hardware phone available to you.
• By the way, if you can’t procure hardware 7962 phone models, 7961′s should suffice quite well. The only thing they can’t test is the G722 protocol – which shouldn’t be too big of a problem. They do support all of the other needed features necessary to prepare you for the actual lab exam.

For item #2: Here are simple directions on how you can easily use Cisco Hardware IP Phones with your Cisco Software IPSec VPN Client:

1. When you have a rack session (or if you simply want to test your VPN – you can use our Demo Voice vRack), using your Cisco IPSec VPN Soft Client – connect to Proctor Labs via your wireless network interface, and simply ensure that VPN works properly (that you have it setup properly – btw we give you a PCF file to import when you log into any vRack including the demo vRack), and that you can ping what you should be able to ping.
2. Setup ICS so that your Ethernet shares your WiFi connection. Your WiFi NIC will be the one connected to the internet and thus where your Cisco VPN Client will connect to Proctor Labs through. Your Ethernet will attach either to a 802.3af powered switch which has connected to it all of your hardware phones (all in one VLAN for ease of setup); or else if you don’t have a 802.3af switch then you can connect one of the phones’ “Switch” ethernet ports directly to your laptop/desktop Ethernet port, and then daisy-chain all of the other hardware phones that you have together – making sure that phone 2′s “Switch” port connects to phone 1′s ”PC” port, and so on and so on. These can all be straight-through ethernet cables that you use. Then you will need to power all 5 phones with individual power cubes, bearing in mind that any 7960 phones (PSTN and BR2 Phone 2) only need 6.3W of juice, but that the 7962 phones will need 15.4W, so your power cube size may vary.  (Link to setup ICS on a Mac running 10.5) (Link to setup ICS on Windows Vista) (Link to setup ICS on Windows XP)
3. From the Settings Button: Set all of your phones to Static IP Addressing, making sure that they are all on the same IP Subnet as your Mac/PC Ethernet port is statically set to, set your Default Gateway to the IP Address statically assigned to your Mac/PC Ethernet port, and then statically point TFTP to the following addresses (you do not need to turn on “Alternate TFTP” since that is only when you are running DHCP, and here you are not): Regardless of vRack (Pod) that you rent from Proctor Labs – For the 2 phones (HQ Ph2 & BR1 Ph2) pointed to the CUCM Cluster: TFTP = 10.10.210.10 ; For the 2 phones (BR2 Ph3 & BR2 Ph4) pointed to the CUCME Cluster: TFTP = 10.10.110.3 ; For the 1 phone (7960 PSTN) pointed to the PSTN Cluster: TFTP = 10.10.100.2.

That should be it. When you have your vRack session, and you have connected your Cisco VPN Client to the Proctor Labs vRack, and you have taken care of any necessary infrastructure configuration/troubleshooting steps, as well as phone configuration/MAC address changes/TFTP/CCM Services activated and running – all pointed out to you by your Lab scenario, you will now be able to register those hardware phones to your CUCM, CUCME, and PSTN CUCME respectively – no switch needed!

We hope that this blog post has been informative, and certainly welcome any comments related to either of these two topics!

Cheers,

Mark

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Stay tuned to this blog or our study list, we will make an announcement once these preparation tools are available.

Cheers,

Mark

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Well, below are some screenshots taken of what appears to be a slip on the part of the web developers for the Cisco Learning Network Portal site, which by the time you read this and click on it – may very well have been taken off. But I am sure the first hundred or so folks that read this blog and click on it will be able to verify that it was there. UPDATE: Link Taken Down!! That didn’t take long (like within 5 minutes of my posting this). Something is afoot!

(Forgive the break in the picture – I had to scroll down to get the whole site to show it was actually the real site :))

Of particular curiosity is this “Expert” section:

And when we click on it? – Well of course:

Stay tuned to this blog where we will be blogging and tweeting live from Cisco Live! – Networkers.

Gentlemen (and Ladies), let the rumor mill begin!

Cheers!

-Mark

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We will cover a wide range of topics and posts, but our main focus will be to get you any specific information we learn of regarding changes that are coming to 3.0 Voice and 4.0 R&S Lab Exams, and all specific information regarding changes that have already occurred to the 3.0 Security Lab Exam.

In order to deliver the information to you “live” and up-to-the-minute, while at the same time not to overwhelming our IPexpert Blog or OSL readers with a million little posts (slight exaggeration possibly), we will use the following format to update our various media outlets:

• We will post every newsworthy update live to three twitter accounts, one for each CCIE Track and Technical Seminar. This way if you want live coverage, you can watch one of those feeds for the track you are studying for, while not receiving unnecessary ancillary information about a CCIE Track you may have no interest in.
• We will then every couple of hours update both our official IPexpert Blog, and make a email post out to OnlineStudyList with a summation of what we have learned thus far.
• If you wish to discuss any of the information posted to any of these forums, please post your comments to the respective OnlineStudyList mailing list for that track, and we will respond with replies. Also, if you have any questions for the Presenter, please ask them through OnlineStudyList, and we will be sure to ask them by-proxy. (You DO need to be subscribed to the particular OnlineStudyList mailing list before posting to that email alias)

So the links to where all of the information will be posted is as follows:

CCIE Voice Track Technical Seminar:

• Live Twitter Feed
• IPexpert Blog
• OnlineStudyList Mailing List (if you aren’t already subscribed)

So fire up your Twhirl, your Twitterrific, your PocketTweet, or whatever your favorite mobile or desktop client is, and start following these tweets now so you’re ready come Sunday the 28th!

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Before I even get into the main announcement, I thought I should bring something else small to your attention. We just made a large investment in our server farm infrastructure, and have increased server performance by a factor of almost 6 times! For instance, the CUCM CallManager Service Parameter’s web page used to take around 60 seconds to load.

It now takes 10.

Now, I’m really not trying to brag about our new capabilities, but this announcement is really exciting and extremely unmatched, so please be sure you read this thoroughly! ;-)

Quite frankly, after checking out the competitor’s offerings first hand, I can tell you that we are the only CCIE training vendor that can bring you any of the new features that I’m about to announce.

First off, one of our avid OSL_Voice posters, Jonathan Charles, made this comment and proceeded to ask this question over the weekend:

OK, the V3 Lab Blueprint has this statement:

The blueprint is a detailed outline of the topics likely to appear on
the lab exam. This blueprint introduces pre-configurations of basic
tasks (such as phone registration, basic application integration,
basic dial plan, etc.), in order to devote additional focus on expert
level skills (advanced configuration and troubleshooting) assessments.
As usual, knowledge of troubleshooting is an important skill and
candidates are expected to diagnose and solve issues as part of the
CCIE lab exam. The topics listed are guidelines and other relevant or
related topics may also appear.

The statement, “This blueprint introduces pre-configurations of basic
tasks (such as phone registration, basic application integration,
basic dial plan, etc.), in order to devote additional focus on expert
level skills” seems to indicate that the phone will be preconfigured
and registered and the dial plan may already be built…

Am I understanding this correctly?

Yes Jonathan, you are reading that correctly.

So what does it all mean? Well, quite simply put it means that depending on which lab you receive when you sit down to your actual CCIE Voice Lab Exam, you may have some phones that are pre-registered but not necessarily fully configured, you may have some basic app integration (e.g. Presence or UCCX might be integrated, maybe Unity Connections), maybe there is a basic Dial Plan in place (e.g. Basic CSS/PT infrastructure and/or basic Route Patterns configured). But look what is also contained in that statement, and also what follows directly afterward on Cisco’s v3 Blueprint webpage:

..in order to devote additional focus on expert level skills (advanced configuration and troubleshooting)

and then:

… As usual, knowledge of troubleshooting is an important skill and candidates are expected to diagnose and solve issues as part of the CCIE lab exam.

If you take the pre-configuration statement, along with the fact that not only in the above preface on statement about troubleshooting on the Cisco v3 blueprint page, but also the fact that every single one of the 13 sections contain the heading “Implement and Troubleshoot“, I’d say it is fairly clear that Cisco is going to have errors introduced into pre-configuration of your lab exam, before you sit down, that you are going to need to troubleshoot and correct (of course they will point you in a general direction to find the errors, and not simply leave you guessing as to what they are). Well if that is the case, then how are you going to practice those types of troubleshooting skills, if the errors are not already pre-loaded into your practice labs? Same thing with the advanced configurations – how are you going to be able to focus more on the advanced sections, leaving time to still finish your entire lab in a timely 8 hours, if your practice labs don’t already have those pre-configurations in them? I suppose you could put everything in yourself, but that takes a bit of your very valuable (and very limited) practice time, not to mention that, even if someone else wrote the practice lab, if you are forced to introduce the errors into your starting configuration yourself, they are going to be fairly easy to troubleshoot – don’t you think? – and thus not giving you even near adequate preparation for what you will face in the real CCIE Lab Exam.

So all of this, along with our experience in building, maintaining, renting, and getting user feedback and feature requests on our virtual Voice vRacks over the past 4 years is what formed the very impetus behind our long struggle to provide and perfect what we have come to offer on our v3 blueprint Voice vRacks: namely Proctor Labs Load Lab Configs feature.

Proctor Labs vRack: Load Lab Configs

Let’s dive into what is new about this feature. As we have mentioned before, this feature allows us as developers to not only pre-configure all router and switch devices with basic configs and errors for troubleshooting, but also allows us to have all of this pre-configured for you in every server used in any practice lab that we offer. NOTE: This does NOT mean that we have a “wiped clean CUCM server” (as some competitors have told me they are doing and that they think somehow compares to what we are doing – it’s not even close). This means that your CUCM Pub, Sub, CUPS, CUC and UCCX – ALL have DIFFERENT pre-configurations and DIFFERENT specific errors loaded onto them for EACH lab, before you begin said practice lab! So you may be working on a particular Mock Lab, let’s call it Mock Lab A, and maybe there are 5 errors for troubleshooting (few in QoS, few in DialPlan, etc), and some phones and gateways registered. Then later you may be working on, say Mock Lab B, and there are NEW errors pre-configured for you for this lab (maybe a few in CSS/PT, some problems with your GWs registering or sending calls to the PSTN, and maybe some basic CSS/PT/RPs are already there for you to use).

Loading these pre-configurations used to take around an hour for us to do, and admittedly, sometimes there were errors (hey – this is still CUCM, and it’s not exactly perfect in DB functions when hitting it hard in a lab environment). I mention that in case there are those that read this, that used this new feature on our vRacks as early adopters, and decided not to continue using it due to the long wait.

Well the wait is over.

They now load, error free, in under 3 minutes.

That’s everything, servers, routers, switches. New pre-configs, errors, everything, with proper DB replication working on CUCM Pub/Sub. Under 3 minutes.

On top of that – we did away with the “Show Status” button. We thought it too cumbersome to have to go back to another webpage to view the status of your routers and servers loading their basic configs. So we decided to put that status directly next to the device on the main vRack webpage. And of course in the screenshot below note that we offer not only T1/E1 PRI, but also T1/E1 CAS in the PSTN config, as well as the ability to enable SRST Mode for BR1 Router – all with simply the press of a button. One more new thing is that if you click on the Server name or IP Address, servers that should be HTTP’d into will launch a web page to that IP Address, while servers that should be RDP’d into (UCCX) will launch the RDP window.

Proctor Labs vRack: Router and Switch Status

One last thing, we previously mentioned that you were able to use your own hardware phones, not only for all of your practice labs, but also as your PSTN phone. However we limited this to only the Cisco 7960 model.

Limit removed. Use a 7960, 61, 62 or 65 model if you like. Simply choose the model before entering your MAC address and click Submit.

Proctor Labs vRack: PSTN Phone Type and MAC Address

So that’s it!

• 6X faster servers
• New PSTN Phone support
• New status directly on main vRack page
• … and most exciting, Load Lab Configs, that work everytime, in under 3 minutes!
• On all twenty-four of our new v3 Voice vRacks

Don’t you just love technology? Even if you don’t have a rack session at the moment, feel free to login to Proctor Labs using our demo account, and play around with the new features. We’re sure you’ll agree, there is nothing like this anywhere.

Happy labbing folks,

Mark

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