Doing 642.642 at end of the month.

[NettableWalker]

I'm ramping up to do the QoS exam at the end of this month. I was studying BGP then got sidetracked by work/life so started the CCIP again on QoS.(it's much easier i reckon) I'm reading the Wendell Odom Book cover to cover.

Has anyone else done the QoS?
What's it like?
any other good resources?

 

[lerdalt]

I took the QoS exam last October. Thought it was probably the easiest test I've taken so far. But had done a lot of QoS work over the last year.

Wendell's book is awesome. Probably the best source other than some live work.

 

[DallasBPF]

I also liked reviewing with the CBT Nuggets QoS Video, but the test was pretty easy. Good luck!

------------------------------------
Dallas, Texas
Telecommunications Tech
CCVP, CCNA, Net+

CCNP in the works

 

[NettableWalker]

I have heard that LAN QOS has largely been taken out of the syllabus, is this the case?

 

[DallasBPF]

It's not a huge thing since they now have AutoQoS, but it is still there. Plus, it is just good to know. One of the things I did like about the CBT Nuggets QoS was that they saved AutoQoS for one of the last videos.

------------------------------------
Dallas, Texas
Telecommunications Tech
CCVP, CCNA, Net+

CCNP in the works

 

[Belushi]

The Wendell Odom book was very good and is spot on for most of the stuff you will see in that exam. It has been over a year now since I took it, but I do remember it being the easiest of the 4 CCIP exams I took. Probably helped by the fact that I had so much QoS experience over the years.

I hate the fact that Auto QoS was tested on my exam. In my opinion it's a garbage subject. You should check and see if it is still in the exam topics. One of the difficult things with QoS is that especially for switches, there can be different styles of administering QoS and different queueing structures and capabilities. For my test, all you had to know was the 2950. It may be different now.

Good luck, it wasn't hard as I've stated but like all Cisco professional level tests, you really got know exactly how everything works, what the applicable show commands are, and how to configure it on the actual equipment.

Pay particular attention to shaping and policing if you ever wish to continue your studies beyond CCIP.

 

[NettableWalker]

All good advice. I do intend to keep going with the studies to CCIE, so the CCIP seems a very good use of my time as the subjects seem to feature largely in the CCIE.

I've been reading the Odom book, it's a good read. Previously i was doing BGP and reading that book became tortuous really quickly

How do you find out the current list of exam objectives? Do you have a link?

As for the rest of the CCIP, if i had a chance to do either the MPLS course or the BGP course (with my own money) which of the 2 would be the better investment compared to trying to muddle through with the books?

 

[lerdalt]

You can see all of the test objectives from Cisco's website:

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le37/le8/learning_certification_type_home.html

Also check out the new Cisco learning center:

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1483187&page=1

As for picking out which course to go through, I think it would depend on which one you feel the least comfortable with. I have far less experience/understanding of MPLS so I wish I could take the MPLS course. I had the opportunity through work to sit in on the online BGP course. It was pretty good, but I think I have a better understanding from some of the books I read more than the class. Plus I had a little experience with BGP already to help get me started.

MPLS on the other hand has been a totally different animal for me. Self Study on it has been hard for some reason.

 

[Belushi]

Here is the link that shows the current exam topics.

https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/community/certifications/ccip/qos?view=overview

As for the 2 courses you mentioned. Personally, I did BGP on my own and then took the MPLS class. I did not pay for the class, nor do I any of them because my company flips the bill but if I had too, I would have done it the same way. I'm not saying that is the best way, but it was the best for me because of my experience with BGP. I thought it was little easier to pickup than MPLS was. One thing is for certain, whichever way you go, it would be best if you did BGP frst before MPLS. In MPLS, you are required to have a strong fundamental knowledge of BGP since VPNs in MPLS require MP-IBGP which is a BGP variant.

When you get to the CCIE, you'll be thankful that you did BGP and QOS. MPLS is currently only on the written portion of the exam and it wasn't difficult in my opinion.