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Saving $ By Planning

This post is in the Written section because I'm still studying for the Security Written at this point. However, I'm thinking ahead and trying to save money/time without short-sheeting myself. Granted, I'm not skipping meals to pay for Rack Rentals, but I'm not fond of wasting money either.

I'm finding that (for me) the combination of reading and the INE Videos [Advanced Technologies] seems to be working to prepare me for the Written Exam. However, the Advanced Technologies videos are what you are supposed to watch while working through the Security Technologies Workbook for Lab prep. So in a way, I'm saving time by using those videos to study for the Written.

I was fortunate enough to remember the year-end holiday specials at INE and scored with grabbing 2000 rack tokens at half price! There are other workbook and All-Access-Pass bundles discounted too - so if you don't have everything you need yet, you may want to plan / save to jump on this at the end of the year.

Admit it - it takes a lot of energy to overcome the inertia and plow through this. If you are not eating, drinking and breathing this goal, you are poking at it on an occasional basis [aka "as time permits"]. For this certification, there is no "try" - there is only "do"... And until you reach that point, keep poking at it. Everything you learn will eventually help. So while you're poking at it and wishing and dreaming - save what you need ($) so that when you do step into "the zone" where you are ready and willing to give it all you got, you will be ABLE to do so (with the proper materials).

So now that I have my books, videos and rack tokens - I'm jumping in with both feet and doing the "total immersion" method of studying. I've been here before - passing the CCIE R/S three times over the last few years. And I have taken the R/S lab - so I have seen the difference between what is actually on the test and how INE practice labs match up for preparation. I have to admit that if I had gone through all those practice labs thoroughly, I am sure I would have passed.

So why did I schedule the lab when I knew I wasn't fully prepared? There were two reasons. The first reason was basically just to see/experience it for myself. I had gotten to the point where the only way I would know how/what to prepare - was to see it myself. It was an expensive lesson, but I felt it necessary. The largest benefit is that I am no longer intimidated by the enormity of the exam. It is "doable" if you put in the time and effort (and $).

The other reason is that you are _required_ to schedule a lab within 18 months of passing the Written Exam. Once you make that initial attempt (pass or fail), you can schedule another attempt (or two or three) up to three years from the date of passing that Written Exam. If you do not attempt a lab within 18 months, or if you do not pass the lab within three years, you have to retake the Written Exam.

I have to tell you - that is the FASTEST 18 months of your life. You blink and suddenly you realize that you're up against a time crunch. So realize that when you're stepping into the testing center for the Written Exam, you are making an appointment to start that clock. It's not a goal in itself that you can rest after completing - it's the beginning of your dedication to the Lab.

So with that in mind, I am watching the videos and preparing for the workbook exercises. But like I said, I don't like to waste money. And I'm not sure how long those tokens will last. The Security Racks are 8 tokens/hour! Granted, that's much less expensive than buying all this equipment and setting it up in my home. But I would like to conserve my resources as much as possible.

From my R/S lab prep I have learned a few things. I have already tried GNS3 for a rack time substitute. It doesn't work well for me. The first limitation (which is important in R/S) is that the switches are not robust. This may also affect the Security track - since one of the things you will want to check in the _real_ lab are the switch port configurations for your connections. You don't want to get in the habit of not checking that! It is likely that the initial setup of your lab includes logical connections that "physically" connect to a switch. And it is also likely that the initial setup of your lab has those switch ports in the wrong VLAN. That is part of the exam. So you want to practice (and get in good habits) the way you would perform in the actual exam (and real life).

The other issue I have with GNS3 is that it takes a lot of time. You have to set up the entire environment and manually load starting configurations for the exercises/practice labs. It is likely that you will spend a lot of time troubleshooting your setup - when you should be spending that time working on the exercise for that technology. And to move to the next section, you have to manually load the next section's configurations on all the devices (and perhaps modify the scenario). The automated loading of the rack rental configurations helps to focus your efforts on the task at hand. It only takes minutes to load the next section (aka grab another coffee time) and keep configuring.

Another way that other people conserve resources is by using text based configurations. I have met people that basically use the text configuration to prepare for the lab. Yeah, it's pretty hard core. But it gets you used to configuring, finding and fixing mistakes by just looking at the configuration. Granted, the person that said they used this method was studying for the R/S track. I'm not sure that would work for the Security track since it involves more than just routers and switches. But it did give me an idea...

How do we do this stuff at work? Well, anyone who has worked in an enterprise environment has dealt with "Change Control" and maintenance windows. One minute in a maintenance window is worth at least 5 hours outside of the window. Hey, that sounds familiar. When we have a task to complete, we review what we're going to do and script it out in Notepad. I also have a tendency to add in notes and verification commands. That way during the maintenance (or during the rack time) you can focus on implementing and troubleshooting (if needed). I think the "work" of _learning_ will be a combination of the preparation (outside of rack time) and troubleshooting (during the rack time).

Now, this will only work for the Technologies section - where you learn each technology and practice implementing it. But if you can save some rack time while sharpening your skills, it leaves more tokens for your practice labs. And I think the "preparation" is going to lead you to review the relevant documentation. You will definitely need to know the documentation and its layout (search is disabled) for the lab. You may know how to configure X, but you may need to know where to go to find the "default" values or some very specific subcommand of a subcommand during the lab. You can't memorize it all - and you don't have to for the exam. Just know where to find the finer details of each technology in the documentation. Once you practice the technologies and are familiar with where they are documented, putting it all together in the practice labs will be much easier. And you will be prepared for the _real_ lab exam - and work.

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