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 time-frame you should congratulate yourself. You are well on the way to becoming a CCIE, you have demonstrated the ability to think laterally 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 5 were to give you, under a new IP IGP topology, the basic setup for OSPF, RIP V2, EIGRP, BGP, as well as IS-IS. These are the big "candidates" for 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. You need to explore on each section of the documentation especially the features that are available.

In Practice Lab 6, you'll be required to demonstrate your knowledge in more complex tasks, environments, and behaviors, and be able to resolve these more complex 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. Always be careful when configuring network masks and pay attention as to which router you are working on.

You might feel that the some questions were too vague or you did not have sufficient time to complete the lab. 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.