CCIE

I've been labbing quite a bit lately, working on Narbik's R&S workbooks, and I've been rebooting my rack after nearly every lab to clear things out. Well, I was perusing the Interwebs and a forum post reminded me of the config replace command. Sheesh! I wish I would have remembered that a few hundred reboots ago...

Even though I knew about this command, and have even included it in a blog post or two in the past, I had forgotten about it since I wasn't using it all that often. So, just in case someone else out there has forgotten about it, I figured I'd do a quick write up demonstrating the command in action and hopefully jostle some memories (or just help me remember if I forget it again).

Here is a 1841 router that used to be R5, but I changed it's hostname to Testing and did a no shutdown on all it's interfaces. Follow the config below for the usage:

I've been interested in technology for as long as I can remember. From my early beginnings of learning how to navigate the DOS command line interface on my dad's computer while he was off at work, to building my first PC (with 8Mb of RAM!). I've always had an interest and a knack for this stuff.

Over the past decade, my interest in networking technology has grown significantly. In 2001, I earned my CCNA while working at Cisco (on contract) and a few years later installed my first 6509 in a global financial company. Several certifications followed down the road including the CCNP and CCAI. I now teach Cisco curriculum part time while working as a Senior Network Engineer for a mid-size enterprise. My drive to learn has never stopped, in fact it just keeps growing the more I am exposed to this stuff.

The time has come to take it to the next level.

Several months ago I made the decision, after some serious research and discussions with my wife, to begin studying for the CCIE Routing & Switching Exam. I started by researching and reading everything I could find regarding the exam - Cisco's official exam page, other blogs that detail how they approached the exam, podcasts talking about the exam, etc. I spent a good month reviewing my options before I finally made the decision that absolutely, without a doubt I am going to go for it - no matter what it takes.

I've written this blog post to share my experience so far and hopefully help others in a similar situation to make the go-no-go decision.

I recently purchased an APC 9211 MasterSwitch PDU for my home lab. I wanted the ability to remotely power up and power down devices so I can lab while on the go and not have equipment running 24/7. This specific device was acquired from a liquidator on ebay for less than $100 USD, which compared to the newer Smart PDUs on the market is a fraction of the cost.

This device has been discontinued by APC for quite some time, however these things are rock solid and so far this unit has been performing quite well. However, there was one problem when I tried to manage it... the previous owner didn't clear the password and I was locked out.

Today I attended the IPv6 for CCIE R&S session presented by Johnny Bass, CCIE #6458 and Cisco 360 master instructor. Totally awesome presentation! I jotted some notes and figured I’d post them here to share.

All the content in the session (BRKCCIE-9592) is regarding the R&S 4.0 version blueprint. “If it’s not in the blueprint, it’s not in this session”

Different Addressing Types

• 2000::/3 – Global Unicast
• FC00::/7 – Unique Local Unicast
• FE80::/10 – Link Local Unicast
• FF00::/8 – Multicast

Note: The interface ID can be either EUI-64, use Privacy Extensions (RFC 3041), or locally configured.

Cisco's CCIE Wireless exam is scheduled for a refresh later this year. Beginning November 18, 2011, the Version 2.0 blueprint will go into effect ushering in a new era of wireless exam topics. 

The new written exam topics are much more in depth and spelled out than they used to be. The old exam outlines seemed to be high level bullets, whereas the new exam topics are very detailed and specific. The most notable update can be summarized in one word: Troubleshooting.  The word troubleshoot shows up over 40 times in the new Lab objectives whereas there are only 5 occurrences of the word in the old objectives. Not exactly subtle...

Cisco has added virtual switches to their CCIE Lab exam. Previously, only routers were simulated in the troubleshooting section, but now layer 2 switches have been added. And if you are saying to yourself right now, "I thought there was real equipment in the CCIE Lab" - you thought right and there is. However, the exam is made up of two sections, the 2 hour troubleshooting part (on virtual equipment) and the 6 hour configuration part (on real equipment). 

The team over at Internetwork Experts (INE) has assembled a great set of free training videos that cover a wide range of topics, available via this link:

http://www.ine.com/free-ccie-vseminar.htm

Their latest and greatest will cover LDAP Synchronization and Authentication in Unified Communications and will be broadcast on Dec 14. Sign up if you want to watch it when it's first broadcast, or if you wait, it will probably be posted on that page like the others.

Also, if you haven't given it a try yet, check out the free 60 minute login over at CBT Nuggets:

https://secure.cbtnuggets.com/trial