Chapter4.Practice Lab 4

Chapter 4. Practice Lab 4

You will now be starting Practice Lab 4. The topology and equipment are identical for Lab 4 through Lab 6 and differ from Lab 1 through Lab 3, although these labs will maintain the same challenges that you have seen so far. The main objective of the change is to ensure you practice on a variety of subjects and scenarios that covers the potential CCIE Lab Exam content. The main changes you will encounter are a fully meshed Frame Relay network for all serial connections and an additional Cisco Catalyst 3550 switch. If your equipment does not exactly match that used to produce the lab, it does not matter as long as you have the required interfaces. Having the exact equipment, however, will aid you in pasting in configuration files.

Quite often, the questions will be straightforward, so try to keep your solutions simple and avoid complicating the matter for yourself. Sometimes, you will need to pay attention to the wording because although the question might look quite simple, it could involve a "hidden" concept regarding a specific area or section in the exercise. Keep in mind that the main objective of these lab exercises is to give you challenges that will drive you through the areas you must explore to be well prepared to take the CCIE Lab Exam with successful results. The challenges are designed to thoroughly prepare you to better apply your skills in the real world.

The router and switch initial configurations, Frame Relay switch configuration, and now backbone router configurations are provided to help you in this lab. Solutions for the entire lab including configurations and common show command outputs from all the devices in the topology can be found on the accompanying CD-ROM. The "Ask the Proctor" section which will give you clues is included at the end of the lab. This section is followed by the lab debrief, which will analyze each question showing you what was required and how to achieve the desired results. Finally, you will find a list of handy references at the end of the chapter should you require additional study information.

Practice Lab 4 introduces you the new topology and it will guide you through the basic network setup, and then to challenge you on the next labs. As part of any exam preparation, the more you practice (even on the tasks you might think are basic tasks), the more comfortable you will be taking the exam.

You will now be guided through the equipment requirements and pre-lab tasks in preparation for taking Practice Lab 4.