CCIE Study Notes

For the lab exam, you need to quickly get a handle on the Layer 2 setup and get your Layer 2 configurations and initial Layer 3 configurations in place. The quicker you can wrap your head around whatever scenario they have given you, the better off you will be on the test.

If you look at the Cisco Learning Network site, you will find a document outlining the R/S Lab Equipment and IOS Versions - which doesn't really tell you as much as you would hope to see.

However, think about all the practice labs and scenarios that you've seen and practiced. What really did they entail? What are we trying to accomplish on the exam? What we're trying to do is "model" a network. You're trying to use these devices to demonstrate a much larger concept. Take a look at INE's practice labs. They use one physical topology and can create numerous logical topologies from the same set of physical equipment. And look at the way the equipment is connected. It is very orderly. Why would you lay it out in any other way?

So let's start with the switches. You need at least 3 and ideally 4 switches to demonstrate all the items listed in the lab blueprint. So if you have 4 switches, how would you lay them out with respect to Layer 1? Well, you would take the first switch and connect it to the second switch. Then you would take the first switch and connect it to the third switch; and lastly to the fourth switch. You would probably use multiple cables - so that you can show connections such as port channels - and you may want to show a trunk versus an access link between the two. So, like INE, let's grant that there are 3 connections. You would make these consecutive, because that's the logical thing to do - although if you really wanted to, they could be anywhere on the switch. However, regardless of what you did with those 4 switches, the only way really to connect them is shown in the diagram below.

Now, you could have -less- links than those shown, or you could have more cables for each connection, or they could be in different ports, but all-in-all, it comes down to that diagram. Remember that. It's a pretty easy diagram to remember. Four switches at the corner of an envelope.

For every practice lab that you do, make this diagram first. Put the 4 switches in their 4 corners. Then look at each switch and see what is actually connected between these switches on which port in which manner and begin to fill in the lines between the switches. Look at the scenario and see what they want configured for Layer 2. Are they telling you to configure a trunk between Switch 1 and Switch 4? Are they telling you to configure a port channel between any of these switches? Are there any special VLANs that need to go in a special direction or "shouldn't transit" a specific switch? What switch is required to be the root for which VLANs? Do you have vtp servers and clients? As you practice, you learn what you need to put and what you can leave off. Make this diagram on a clean piece of scratch paper - don't try to squeeze it on the corner of the one you've been using for the Troubleshooting section. This will be your MAIN diagram to help you through the lab.

Tip > If you look at the diagram and you have a VLAN nightmare similar to the one below, remember that you are not graded until the end of the lab (or after you click submit). If you create this configuration right from the start, you may later forget how this is laid out and might miss propagating a VLAN somewhere. There's no reason to make your test more difficult - configure the switches in VTP server mode (yes, all of them) and make a LARGE note on your scratch paper to go back and "fix" it at the end of the lab. The proctor is grading your final result, not the logged keystrokes of your session.

Once you have the switch interconnections completed and documented, go to the routers and draw them into the diagram. Make sure that you use the logical diagram to help you, along with the show commands necessary to confirm that the router you think is attached to Switch 2 is ACTUALLY connected to Switch 2. Remember - Cisco will be giving you a logical diagram. You are creating the physical diagram from that diagram and the information you have gathered. The logical and the physical may not be the same.

Again, for the most part, these are going to be in some kind of logical order. They don't have to be - and if they aren't, it will stick out and be a glaring sore spot if you're used to having them ordered logically. Note - in your physical diagram you may have the same router drawn twice. Do it that way rather than trying to draw one router and overlapping connections. It will be cleaner and easier that way.

As you're documenting the router connections, check the IP address and VLAN for the port. As everyone says - if something is preconfigured for you, expect that there is an error inserted in the configuration that you will need to correct. If there is a difference between what is configured and what the CISCO Logical diagram shows - the diagram rules.

The practice labs at INE will get you into the proper habit or expectation regarding router connections. It's the logical way to connect the devices and just like with the switches - you can portray multiple scenarios just by configuring things a certain way or disabling connections. But for the most part, the first connection (fa 0/0) on the odd-numbered routers will connect to Switch 1. The second connection (fa 0/1) on the odd-numbered routers will connect to Switch 3. For the even-numbered routers, the first connection goes to Switch 2 and the second connection goes to Switch 4. If you have a LAN connection to BB1, it will be on Switch 1, along with BB2 on Switch 2 and BB3 on Switch 3. Regardless of which switch, the port number will match the router number. If Router 3 has two active connections, Fa0/0 will be on Switch 1 in port 3 and Fa0/1 will be on Switch 3 in port 3.

This may sound confusing when you first hear it. If what I said above is confusing to you, you aren't ready for the lab exam yet. If you nodded your head and said yeah, yeah, yeah and rolled your eyes because you have seen this in practice lab after practice lab after practice lab...well, you know what I'm talking about already.

Below is an example of what I would draw out for an example practice lab. The boxes don't have to be exactly straight and the circles don't have to be perfectly round. This should be drawn out by hand and sketched very quickly. At the lab you have a cup full of colored pencils at your disposal. Use the various colors to help you visualize whatever you need to see or remember.

Notice that I did not include everything on that diagram. I don't need to put IP addresses on here. Those are already on the logical diagram. I didn't put every VLAN on the diagram, either. I configured those when I checked each router, so they should be all set. However, I did note one VLAN - 245. Take a look at the example Logical diagram to the left. What switch does VLAN 245 represent? Well, really it doesn't represent any switch - it represents SW1 connected to R5, SW2 connected to BB2 AND whatever is in between those two switches. [Your switch connectivity may be different and might require going through Switch 3 to get from SW1 to SW2.] That is my reminder that I need to pay close attention to the connections between Switch1 and Switch 2. It may or may not be an issue or something that I need to pay attention to, but it's one less thing to trip over.

If the logical diagram had R6 instead of R5, then VLAN 245 would have been contained on the same switch and would have less of an opportunity to present a problem. In that case, I would not have included it in the diagram. Notice that I only put the things I need to draw my attention to - rather than everything. This is so the important stuff pops out. If I put all the VLANs on the diagram, the discontinuity between R5 and BB2 might be overlooked.

At this point, you're pretty much set and can move forward again. Before you do, take one last check through the Layer 2 portion of the exam and see if you've gotten everything. Remember that you need to 'fix' the vtp server-client-transparent part. But before you do so, take a glance through the rest of the exam scenarios. Some of the later tweaks may require the addition of a VLAN (like Remote Monitoring). See if you can work that VLAN into the initial part of your configuration and note it on your diagram. This way you can move forward and not forget to fix the vtp stuff and you won't trip on it later.

At this point, you have all the LAN connections tied up - but you still haven't completed ALL the Layer 2 configurations. Yes, you will probably need to draw some Frame Relay puffy clouds. But save that for a new diagram (and I will cover that in a Frame Relay post). Use both sides of each sheet of paper. And once you get completely done with Layer 2, you still won't be done making diagrams. So get comfortable with drawing boxes and circles. You will be making a lot of them. And they will help you put the right configuration in the right place on the right device. You may also want to come up with your own conventions to help YOU see what you need to visualize. Perhaps all your trunks are red and non-trunks are black. Or perhaps you want to use colors for each VLAN. Whatever helps you is right - for you.