Amp's CCIE Quest On a quest for the digits…

2010 it’s time to win…

Ok I know the title is cliché and a bit corny, but hey I couldn't think of anything else to say. Well first let me say congrats to two good buddies of mine that have tackled and passed their CCIE lab exams.

James Key passed his CCIE Voice and Brian Luers passed his CCIE R&S. Brian and I started at WorldCom at the same time in the same group and have motivated each other for the past 9 or so years to go hard or go home. Both of these guys are not only outstanding engineers but they are two of the most standup guys you could meet.

Now, what's been up with me? A whole lot. I spent a good 2 or 3 months working on Juniper certifications for my company and that took a good bit of studying time away from CCIE Voice prep. I have until June to at least sit for the exam or I will have to retake the written and I REFUSE to do that. My lab date is set for April 16, 2010. I am scheduled to take the 2-week bootcamp with IPExpert from March 15 - 26, I am sure I will learn a whole heck of a lot there with Vik.

I have some other stuff going on that I am not at liberty to discuss in an open forum like this, just stay tuned for the HUGE announcement that is on the way.

Well back to my VOD boys and girls....

IPexpert v3.0 Workbook and Proctor Guide

After much anticipation I received access to the new and updated IPexpert v3.0 Voice Workbooks and Proctor Guides. From what I can tell so far, these updated workbooks are on point and a must have. Thanks to Wayne, Mark, Matt, Vik, and all the other folks over at IPexpert for making getting us these updates so quick.

Tonight I will dive into the first section and let you all know how it goes...

Amp

Week 2 Update

Where do I begin...

Last week was a complete and total waste as far as studying goes. I just couldn't get things together. I felt like a child lost in the woods surrounded by lions, tigers and bears that are ready to pounce on me because I am looking like a deer caught in headlights. James Key who blogs over at Blindhog shot me a very encouraging email that helped me out tremendously. After getting back on my grind I ran into a buddy that told me about the Cisco Aset Program for Cisco Partners. The Aset Labs Program basically gives you 72 hours per month of remote access to Cisco remote labs and scenarios if you have passed your written, have a lab date in sight, and are a Cisco Partner.

Well I had my first 5-hour block of lab time today and officially got my behind kicked. I don't mean I made a few mistakes here and there, no I was absolutely completely beat like an out-of-tune drum. The most challenging part is that you do not have any solutions to verify your work or to see where you went wrong. Don't get me wrong, that's not completely a bad thing, but it is challenging for someone like me just starting out on this journey.

Here are a few things that I know for certain:

1. I need access to a lab, even the smallest of labs, so I can practice the basics. I am a little rusty right now.
2. It is going to be imperative that I remain on a very focused schedule for my studies.
3. In order to be ready by October I am going to have to eat, sleep, drink, and have sex with CCIE Voice.
4. I have committed to staying at least 1-hour after work EVERY workday so I can steal an extra hour of studying.
5. I am going to read, re-read, and re-read what I re-read, from every book on the Voice Book List and the SRNDs, Case Studies, and Tech Notes.
6. Post questions on IPexperts mailing list OnlineStudyList like I am getting paid to do it. (So no rumors get started, I AM NOT and WILL NOT, be getting paid to post questions on that list. I am just saying I am going to be posting on the list as if I were getting paid.)
7. I am going to engage in physical exercise everyday. The stronger my body becomes, I will be better able to manage stress, and operate with an invigorated mind.
8. One of the most important things that I know for certain is that I must, scratch that, I WILL have fun along this journey.

So to my readers, please drop me an email or comment with your thoughts, your method to this madness, your encouraging or discouraging words (both are appreciated). Tell me what it was like for you guys when you started on your IE journey and how you all overcame these same obstacles that I am now facing. I believe that we are all family in this fight. I love how when one person passes we all feel a since of pride, and when one person fails we all feel anguish and a tinge of fear for our attempt. Talk to me family, I need to hear from you guys.

Amp

1.01 VLAN

I. Implement and Troubleshoot Campus Infrastructure and Services

• VLAN

What is a VLAN?

The actual name is short for Virtual LAN. In simple terms a VLAN is a switched network that is segmented, in a logical sense, by function, department, or application. The VLAN is also independent of the actual physical LAN. Meaning all of the users on the VLAN do not have to be on the same physical LAN, but they do have to be in the same IP subnet. As an example, CompanyA can have their Marketing Department physically located on 3 different floors in the building, but from a switch standpoint they are all together.

If the Marketing and HR departments wanted to communicate with each other then traffic between their respective VLANs would need to be routed via Switch Virtual Interface or (SVI). Creating  SVI seems to be pretty simple and straight forward, you give the interface a L3 address. One thing to keep in mind about a SVI is that it does not become active until it is associated with a physical port.

There are two types of VLAN ports that are of importance here; Access and Voice.

The Voice VLAN basically allows an access port to carry IP voice traffic from an IP phone. The Voice VLAN config is not supported on trunk ports. How is this done? An 802.1Q header is added to the Ethernet frame indicating the VLAN ID. The switch checks to see if the VLAN ID in the header matches what is configured on the interface, if so, the traffic is permitted.

Here's an example of how to configure:

Switch# configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
Switch(config)# interface gigabitethernet1/0/1.640
Switch(config-if)# mls qos trust cos
Switch(config-if)# switchport voice vlan 640
Switch(config-if)# ip address 10.10.10.122 255.255.255.0
Switch(config-if)# end

The Voice VLAN will not show as UP until "voice vlan" has been assigned to the interfaces that the IP Phones are connected to.

Let me also note that I may be asked or told in the lab  to ensure that my switch ports bypass the blocking, listening, and learning states which means that I will have to configure "spantree portfast" on the interface.

I am sure that I may have left something important out regarding VLAN, if so just drop me a quick reminder. Afterall, this is supposed to be a learning process right? ;-D

Blueprint Section 1.00

Today I will focus on Section 1.00 Implement and Troubleshoot Campus Infrastructure and Services.

1.01 VLAN

1.02 DHCP

1.03 TFTP

1.04 NTP

Read the Cisco 3750 12.2 Configuration Guide, CUCM 7.x SRND, and I'm going to see if there's much information in my books.

I hope to be reading today by 2:00 pm; we'll see how it goes.