Cisco Optical Specialist 3

[xenolith]

Is anyone here a Cisco Optical Specialist of either SONET or SDH?

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/learning...ning_certification_type_home_extra_level.html

What study material do you recommend?

I have found the Cisco Press books that seem related but have not purchased them yet.

http://www.ciscopress.com/title/1587050706

http://www.ciscopress.com/title/1587051052

http://www.ciscopress.com/title/1587050749

I am expecting to be sent to Global Knowledge's Boot Camp (

http://www.globalknowledge.com/trai...885&country=United+States&translation=English

) for it next year, but want to go into it knowing as much as possible.

 

[maxpablos]

I'm working also on that cert, (the sdh one) but I have the same problem that you, I don't have enough material to work with. Through PEC (

http://www.cisco.com)

you can access some courses (EOT) and a very nice book is the one of Vivek Alawkin (cisco press). If you find anything else about this, please let me know

 

[tombride]

I'm currently holding this certificate and have all the necessary literature on it, you may ask me anything
Artsiom Maksimenka

 

[xenolith]

Congratulations! I am attending Global Knowledge's training the end of next month, but have started reading Cisco's Optical Network Design book to prepare for class.

How heavily does the test deal in what/where the different SONET bytes are used for and located? Is the test more centered towards configuration and maintenance through CTC or do I need to be familiar with TL1? Aside from configuration/toplogy related questions, what other question types can I expect? What study material did you use, and what was your experience prior to taking the exam?

 

[tombride]

Hi! The most interesting thing about this exam you should know is the outline, all the questions divided into several topics, types of all questions match the outline.
Yes, there was questions about SONET bytes and ONS OAM&P.
I recommend you to find Boson's test on SONET to get familiar with its questions, my SONET skill got high after it. If you won't find it - please contact me - i'll send you this program. Then you need to order some books from Ciscopress: 1. Self-study: Building Cisco Metropolitan....(METRO) 2. Cisco Optical design smth (this book you already have).
3. ONS 15454 SONET MSPP Engineering Planning Guide (very useful in all the things). These books cover almost all the exam's topics: POS, DWDM, DPT, Sync Status Messaging in SONET (there were questions with diagrams - you'll need to solve them quickly) and others.
According to TL1 - you don't need to learn its commands - just few mainline questions about it and SNMP, CORBA (ports, architectures).
As for me - i've started with outline and Inet docs from Cisco.com (i mean without books i've mentioned earlier), prepared for two months self-study. It was hard enough to answer detailed questions like "How many STP instances/ MAC addresses etc. are supported by ONS cards", so you should pay attention to all the supported features and numbers (e.g. how many rings SNCP supported, what port is used for PGP protocol(topic POS)).
The best way is to divide all the topics and work hard with it.
Sincerely, Artsiom Maksimenka

 

[xenolith]

After spending Summer studying and taking Global Knowledge's Optical Boot Camp, I took the exam today. I passed with a 810 out of 1000. (762 required to pass). My weakest area was 15216 provisioning, operation, and troubleshooting, but that was not surprising since I do not use the equipment in my network. For anyone taking the exam, the Optical Network Design and Implementation book is essential to your success. The other area I felt I was somewhat weak in was what occurs during a protection switch. I understand it, but should have researched it a bit deeper. If you have the opportunity to take the Global Knowledge boot camp, Id recommend it strongly. I have operated a 15454 network since late in 2002, but I did not have a good handle on how SONET worked.

 

[erichoo88]

tombride / zenolith & maxpablos, thanks for your valuable info. I am following your advice but am getting a little intimidated by the amount of time you prep'ed and your backgrounds. I am workig through the 3 PEC courses and just got the Optical Design & Implementation. I am going to Boot Camp in Dec. but am mainly Optical Pre-Sales at work. Think I may be taking COS exam too lightly?

 

[xenolith]

I would read through the Optical Design book once before you go if possible. If you dont pick it all up the first time around, dont sweat it. I was lost in alot of it prior to the boot camp. As long as your class is a good one (I highly recommend the Global Knowledge camp) everything you didnt understand will be covered. Then, read through the book again. Additionally, Cisco's Engineering Planning guide is a great resource.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products...oducts_implementation_design_guides_list.html

It covers issues with STS/VT usage and timing which can be particularily tricky.

Good luck!

 

[Jsteve]

Passed today with a 905! Thanks for the Boson tip, the practice test came in handy. Now it's off to CCIE.

Also the Optical design link that was posted is a great doc. I was able to get the VT Matrix part down. Some how the cisco press books glanced over it.

 

[xenolith]

Congrats Jsteve! Not an easy test by any shape of the word, but sounds like you nailed it!