I hope everyone had a good holiday season.  I actually was able to enjoy a little bit myself surprisingly.  But now it is time to get back to work… right :)

So the Security version 3.0 announcement has been out now for about 2 and a half months now.  This change can become a big stumbling block for many that are stuck in the middle of whether they are going to make it for the old version or the new 3.0 version of the test.  If you don’t feel that you will make it for the old version of the test… do you wait around for our new material to be released or continue to study?  Well, I think there is a clear direction that should be followed and I want to outline some of my recommendations to you below so you don’t get caught in the doldrums of preparation time.

In a perfect world we would be able to offer you the complete 6th edition of our CCIE-Security study material, The Blended Learning Solution (BLS) version 3.0. It would be a clean and simple solution that would suit everyone. However I believe the current workbook and proctor guide can continue to provide you, as a student, the necessary tools to prepare for the newer version of the test and will provide you a building block to the new material as we release it.

So what do I mean by this?  Well, let’s go over what was on the test previously that will no longer be on the new version and briefly what is going to be introduced on the newer version of the test that was not previously there.

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So finally, after months of waiting and endless debates and conversations, the updated CCIE Voice Blueprint is finally upon us. Cisco made the announcement this morning (https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/docs/DOC-3641). The changes are effective mid-July 2009.

I must admit that when I first took a look at the refreshed Lab equipment and IOS my first reaction was “Phew- no CatOS, no ATA and no VG248”. These three items took a disproportionate amount of time to configure in the 8 hour lab exam and I can honestly tell you that I for one will not shed too may tears over their impending departure. As a bonus we can say good riddance to FXS/FXO interfaces and finally focus on T1/E1 PRI and CAS gateways (although seeing CAS remaining on the blueprint was somewhat mindboggling).

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Thought I would drop everyone a note letting you know that I just finished the final draft of a BOM and sent it off to Cisco to procure all new hardware we will need for v3 of the new CCIE Security Blueprint. All 16 of ProctorLabs’ Security vRacks are due to receive new IPS 4240s and 3560s. We have already been running ISRs in all of our vRacks for many years now – so your experience doing a ‘wr’ or a ’sh run’ or a ‘reload’ has always and will continue to be a fast one, as well as up to date for what the new lab will test on. 

Some of you I have already talked to recently have stated that you are at the beginning of your studies for the lab and are therefore choosing to focus solely on the new v3 blueprint. For those of you in this category, you of course not only need the new hardware, but also need the ISR routers upgraded to 12.4(xx)T, your ASAs upgraded to v8.x, the ACS server upgraded to v4.1, and new VPN clients on the XP workstation. Stay tuned as we will very shortly (possibly as soon as next week) be announcing a clever way to dynamically upgrade your vRack’s software for this new blueprint based on what you tell us you are studying for.

So stay tuned!

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