CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Lab 3—The VPN Lab

The Written, as well as the Lab exam training and also the exam topics, have been refreshed from version 4.0 to version 5.0. The new exam curriculum would be organizing the topics into six main large domains of knowledge. The entire exam topic from the domains version 4.0 curriculums were restructured and reorganized into six new domains. This is to improve the logical constitution of the overall topics, as well as improve the alignment between the curriculum, the score report sections, and the exam sections. Exam topics are listed under each main domain. These topics are general guidelines for the content which is likely to be included on the exam. However, other related topics that might also appear on any detailed delivery of the exam. Some topics or tasks might appear on both the written exam and Lab exam

A new domain which covered for the Network Principles has been added. CCIE Routing and Switching is an important topic of  CCIE learning.It includes the foundational topics that will be covered only on the written exam.  It is going to assess the expert level knowledge of these essential topics. The Layer 2 Technologies domain predominately covers WAN circuit technologies and LAN switching. The Layer 3 Technologies domain is considered as the principal domain of the curriculum and that is going to cover interior as well as the exterior routing protocols like the RIP, EIGRP, ISIS, OSPF, and BGP as well as addressing, Layer 3 multicast, common across routing protocols and that are fundamental routing concepts.

As the industry migrates towards IPv6, the new exam revision focuses becomes more heavily on dual-stack Layer 3 technologies, and it treats equally treats in all corresponding routing topics. There are no longer going to be a dedicated section for IPv6. All the routing protocols cover both IPv4 and IPv6. The old Multicast Technologies introduces domain from another version i.e.  Version 4.0 which now includes in both of the Layers, Layer 2 and Layer 3 Technology domains. The VPN Technologies is a new and stand-alone domain, which also includes the Encryption and Tunneling sub-domains. The sub-domain of the Tunneling includes the MPLS’s L2 and L3 VPNs as well as DMVPN and IPv6 Tunneling techniques. The Encryption sub-domain includes IPSec with a pre-shared key for the Written as well as Lab exam and GETVPN for the written exam only.

The domain of Infrastructure Security includes the Device Security and Network Security both which would be focusing on the features supported on Catalyst 3K switches and ISR routers. It is going to exclude any topic that would be relying on the dynamic crypto (PKI) or on any remote servers. The Infrastructure Services domain includes the System Management, Network Services, Network Optimization and Quality of Services (QoS). Layer 2 QoS topics are going to be included in the going to be the written exam only, supporting the Lab exam to focus on platform independent concepts. Another remarkable change to the exam topics is that the inclusion of weighting factors for each of the six major domains that are going to represent the relative amount of subject knowledge and focus that could be expected in each area for either the Written or the Lab exam. The main focus of the exam is going to be laid certainly on the Layer 3 technologies, covering 40% of the curriculum

Practice Lab 3—the VPN Lab

The CCIE exam commences with 2 hours of troubleshooting section followed by 5 and half hours of configuration and a final 30 minutes of additional questions. This lab has been timed to last for about 8 hours of self-troubleshooting and configuration, so aim to complete the lab within this period.

Then either you could score yourself at this point or continue until you when feel you have met all the objectives. You now are going to be guided through the requirements of the equipment and pre-lab tasks in preparation for taking this practice lab.

 If you don’t own six routers and four switches, considering the usage of the equipment available and additional lab exercises and training facilities that can be found within the CCIE R&S 360 program.