How Did You Do?

With the aid of the answers section and full configurations and routing tables on the CD, you should now have an accurate evaluation of your lab. If you scored more than 80 points within the timeframe, you should congratulate yourself; you are well on the way to becoming a CCIE. You have demonstrated the ability to think linearly and shown an impressive knowledge of your subject. If you scored less than 80, do not worry; this will improve as you progress throughout the book and learn how to analyze each question and improve your core skills.

Did you spot the landmines in the lab? The classics in Lab 4 were to give you, under a new topology, the basic setup for OSPF, RIP V2, EIGRP, and BGP that are big "candidates" to being in the real lab exam. Also an important thing to keep in mind is the feature each area has. You need to explore these going through Cisco documentation.

In Lab 5 and Lab 6, you will be required to demonstrate your knowledge in more complex tasks, environment, and behaviors and be able to solve the issues. The real one-day lab exam does not have the troubleshooting section anymore, but, on the other hand, during the exam you can find yourself in a "troubleshooting" situation if you do not have a solid knowledge of what you are configuring. Keep in mind that you will need to perform some "basic" troubleshooting during the exam. The hands-on experience will give you the confidence that you need.

You might feel that some questions were too vague or did not have sufficient time to complete the lab, but this is intentionally made to force you to study and research. You will find on the real CCIE lab exam similar challenges, and your ability to spot landmines, ask the right questions, and increase your configuration speed will improve as you tackle each practice lab.

For each question that you did not answer correctly, take the time to research the subject thoroughly and turn your weaknesses into your strengths. Research and plenty of practice will ultimately lead you to gain a passing score.