Status Update

It's been two weeks since I attempted the CCIE R&S Version 4.0 Lab in Sydney (I have just returned from a vacation in Europe which started right after my lab attempt).  I found the lab pretty tough but doable.  For me by the time lunch time came around I was pretty sure that by the middle of the day, I was doing the famous expensive lunch (which at the Sydney campus was not bad to be honest)  My technique for troubleshooting just let me down - I have no excuses in this area, my speed and technique did not do me any favours here.  It was difficult to keep going once that section closed down with a number of outstanding tickets.  The configuration section was a different story, I found it relatively straight forward - a few variations of things I didn't necessarily expect but the experience gained using training materials from IPexpert and Narbik did arm me with the capability to deal with them and with the config section I achieved a pass.

I guess a little distance between reporting the status here allows the emotions to settle, and the time away from the routers and mailing lists are able to let me have a little break to regroup, re-energise and know that this is definitely something I can pass and that I intend to face the lab again in the next couple of months.  I intend to mainly focus on my increasing TS capability to be much faster in problem diagrnose and repair (but not ignoring the config portions) as to when I set my next date it will depend on when I believe I am ready and my workload (returning from a long vacation may mean I have a lot of catch up there)

For those interested in what the lab is like, the lab exam demo is very much on the money and may be helpful.