Internetwork Expert Graded Mock Lab 2: First Impressions

I took Internetwork Expert’s Graded Mock Lab #2 yesterday.  I knew going into this lab that I was not going to be on top of my game.  That said, I think I did okay.  I doubt that I made 80 points as I left 17 points on the board. 

The exam was a degree more difficult than Mock Lab #1 (difficulty level 7 versus 6) and I felt it.  I only skipped one task in the “core” section [a backup scenario that I couldn’t get my head around and decided that fucking it up would cost me way more than the 3 points I would gain for getting it right].  I did about half of the first Multicast task and then just skipped that entire section (7 points).  I need to dedicate more time to Multicast as I cannot continue to sacrifice these points.

The QoS section was fairly long (5 tasks – 11 points).  This is usually one of my strengths, but I did not complete 2 task (4 points) in that section.  I did complete one of the two Security tasks (a minor miracle for me).  The System Management and IP Services section (8 points together) were dead easy, so I did catch a break there.

There doesn’t seem to be a grading script for this lab so I will need to wait until the proctor grades my exam for my grade.  I would guess that I scored in the low 70’s. 

I didn’t rush through this lab.  My pacing was comfortable and I finished with about an hour left.  BUT I have to take into account that there were 17 points that I did not complete/attempt so my pacing was probably pretty slow.  If I had completed those sections, I would have been right up on the 8 hour limit when I finished.  I’m not sure how to increase my speed at this point.  I’ve never finished a lab in 6 hours (that seems to be the goal in the actual lab).  I type fairly fast and I’m usually not mining the COD for points.  My initial read through of the lab only took me 15 minutes.

I track start and end times for each task. The two largest chunks of time were spent on task 1.1 (setting up your basic layer 2 network) and on IGP redistribution.  The first task took me 48 minutes.  That includes creating a layer 2 map, but this is way too slow.  I did run into some confusion in that task which would have been cleared up by the proctor pretty quickly.  On IGP redistribution I honestly don’t know where the time went.  I burned 1.5 hours on that task.  During that time I did go back and fix an OSPF issue, plus I created my scripts and ran ping tests as well as mentally chewed on the next (uncompleted task) but that’s still way to much time.  Especially for a very easy redistribution scenario.

I felt the absence of a proctor on this lab more than the last one.  There were also a couple of really cool “gotchas” that IE threw my way.  I nailed one of them, but completely flubbed another.

Anyhoo…although I won’t know my final score for a couple of days, I think that I took a small step backwards on this lab.  It’s pretty obvious that I need to start working harder on the second half topics.  I can’t continue to leave points on the board.