Many folks have requested the ability to be able to log into the Proctorlabs web UI and interact with a “demo” vRack before they purchase a rack session. It would give them the ability to “test-drive” our acclaimed web UI and easy-to-use controls before they purchase. Well in response to many requests, I have setup such a vRack for access.

Starting out with Voice v3 vRacks, we now have a permanent demo vRack that can be logged into at any time using our standard web UI, giving the viewer complete simulated functionality over what would be an otherwise actual Voice vRack. Being that there is actually no hardware hanging behind this demo vRack – there are a few things that will not show up, such as “status” for any device. Of course you also will not be able to telnet to any router, or log into any CUCM Server or otherwise. However you will get a good feeling for what your actual vRack session will be like when you rent from us – and you will be able to see the changes we have made in terms of features such as “Load Lab Configs” and “PSTN MAC Address and Phone Type” configuration.

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Lab(s) 5 A/B have now been released and should be in your ipexpert.com “Members Area”. Lab 5 deals with Configuration and Troubleshooting of Advanced Call Routing Policies. This lab is not for the faint of heart! This lab not only covers advanced topics like Local Route Groups and Calling/Called Party Transformation combined with Translation Patterns, but also dives deep into Device Mobility, Unified Mobility (Single Number Reach), and Mobile Voice Access.

Please be sure to read the “pre-requisite” section as we outline some rather important changes to phones – both type and MAC address if you are using the software VPN option – and following the prerequisites will ultimately determine your success or failure when it comes to both performing the lab as well as testing it later.

You will find the Workbook and detailed Proctor Guide (solutions guide) in your “My eBook” section, and the text-based configurations in your “My Configs” section. Along with the router/switch configs, you will also find an updated “All Volume 1 Labs – Tables” PDF with some new information. As well, along with those previous documents, you should find some .reg files to assist you in a much easier setup process if you happen to be using IP Blue for softphone SCCP clients for the changes mentioned above.

We have actually gone back and made a number of changes and some improvements to previous sections as well, and in fact all sections have been updated to some degree or another. So please be sure to download those previous sections as well. Also we have made changes and improvements to the PSTN Dial Plan for Volume 1 – so don’t forget to use the “Load Lab Configs” feature every time you sign onto Proctor Labs – so that you receive the latest PSTN config, as well as the CUCM Servers, etc. For those of you using your own labs at home – please update your PSTN-WAN router files with the latest you download from your ipexpert.com account. (BTW – for Volume 1, whenever we make a change to a PSTN-WAN file – we go back and retroactively make the change for all PSTN-WAN files – so choosing any file is perfectly fine – they should all be the same. Again – only for Volume 1 will this occur).

We have also upgraded few more of our Voice vRacks to the v3 BP standard. Out of our 24 full racks of equipment for CCIE Voice – we now have 16 running the current v2 BP – and 8 running the new v3 BP – plenty for both sets of folks preparing for either version of the lab exam. Our new v3 vRacks aren’t yet at capacity – so have confidence we will have a rack for you when you need one. As soon as they begin coming close to capacity, and as we grow closer to approaching the new lab exam – we will be converting more of them.

Speaking of which – many of you may have seen this – but if not – the official “Go-Live” date for the new CCIE Voice Lab Exam is July 16, 2009.

Lab 6 and 7 are going to be finishing up here shortly, and we are already getting underway with some Multi-Protocol (Mock) Labs – so stay tuned!

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By now most studying for the new blueprint of Voice and Security CCIE, have checked their IPexpert.com Members Area and found the most recent installment of the new Volume 1 materials. Remember to check both the Members My eBook Section for your Workbooks and Proctor Guides, and also the Members My Configs Section for your text based configuration files and diagrams.

I want to take a brief moment and describe to you the new format of both of these Tracks’ Workbooks. In fact it will be a very brief moment since little description is necessary, and common sense kicks in that this, of course, is the most logical way to do it. We re-arranged our chapters quite a bit from the old format. Basically it boils down to the fact that we now have one chapter (called labs of course) for every section that Cisco has in that track’s blueprint. So since the Security 3.0 Blueprint has 8 sections to it – so does our Security Volume 1 Workbook. Since the Voice 3.0 Blueprint has 13 sections to it – so does our Voice Volume 1 Workbook. This accomplishes a number of things. One is that you know that everything in the blueprint is covered in our workbook, merely by taking a look at the table of contents structure. Two it gives CCIE candidates a great way to go back and quickly identify, then proceed to study in remediation, any specific section that you may have, God forbid, actually gotten less than say around 80% when you sat the actual Lab Exam last. The third, and I personally think maybe the most important, is it gives us the ability to break each section out, not just by configuration techniques for every technology listed, but also by troubleshooting techniques for every technology. You see, if you happened to be fortunate enough to go to Cisco Live: Networkers last year in Orlando, then surely you heard some of the various Proctors and Content Managers talking quite a bit about troubleshooting and that while it had only been a small part of the lab previous to that time, how moving forward with the advent of the new blueprints it would become a much heavier focused on and tested topic. This makes good sense seeing that we have all heard of a few (not many, but a few) candidates out there who managed to learn the commands to configure everything and pass the lab, but didn’t have a thorough enough understanding of the technology to apply it in the real world. It also helps to cut down on the possibility of the previously mentioned candidates succeeding if they had been in fact cheating by possibly memorizing any of the actual test questions. In this fashion (as in the real world) the candidate has to really know well the technology to be able to not only configure it, but also troubleshoot problems that could have been introduced by the Proctor before the candidate sat down to take the actual lab exam (Bear in mind that I am not at all suggesting that the proctors might be causing problems during your lab exam, only that there will be existing erroneous configurations introduced before you sit down to the exam, and that you would most likely be given some general technology to expect to see them appear in). So that being said – both tracks of our new workbooks have every Lab section broken down into two sub-sections, A and B to reflect configuration and troubleshooting respectively.

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Hi, I’m Glenn Champine, one of the technical support engineers for Proctor Labs / IPexpert.  I joined the team in July 2006 to provide after-hours support to Boot Camp students and customers studying on their own using our racks. I’m here to ensure prompt and accurate responses for all Tier 1 support issues and escalating Tier 2 inquiries to satisfy all of our customers in a timely manner.

I would like to post a compilation of FAQ files that pertain to common questions asked by customers utilizing the CCIE Voice Proctor Labs vRacks. I’ll follow up with FAQ for the Security, R&S and SP racks as well…

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