Passed -- Cisco 300-135 -- TSHOOT

Well that was a fun test.

Test Info:

• Total of 21 questions
• handful of multiple choice
• 2 mini scenarios
• 13-15 are the scenario based problems. These are based on the published topology from Cisco.

Test Studying Thoughts:

• First of I believe you need to master the scenario by practicing. You have 2 hours to knock this one out, and answer 20ish questions while trying to learn the network map is going to be a huge challenge. I used CBTNuggets course from Mr. Barker again. I didn't find much value in Jeremy's course nor the official book (sorry). This is hands on practical of what we've learned in ROUTE & SWITCH. Using and reusing the scenario from Keith should teach you some important things to remember when troubleshooting. Remember where your transition points are going from Layer 2 --> Layer 3; EIGRP --> OSPF; Inside --> Outside. Break it into smaller problems. Its hard to solve a big problem. Solve a bunch of small ones.
• Is your layer 2 good? Can you ping from client1 to DSW1?
• Is your internal EIGRP good?
• Is your OSPF to EIGRP transition clean?
• Is your OSPF good?
• Is your BGP to OSPF good?
• Is your BGP good?
• Is your inside to outside transition working?
• Know your routing show commands and what the output means
• Show ip route
• show ip protocols
• show ip route ospf
• show ip route eigrp
• show ip route bgp
• show ip ospf int
• show ip ospf neigh
• show ip eigrp int
• show ip eigrp neigh
• show ip bgp
• show ip bgp summary
• show ipv6 of the relevant items listed above
• Know your layer 2 commands
• show vlan
• show int trunk
• show port-security
• Know the scenario information
• show ip nat trans
• show access-list
• show ip access-list
• show ip dhcp bind
• show ip dhcp stat
• Know how to source your pings and traces
• Show run is your friend, but only at the end. Sifting through 10 devices worth of show run is going to take too long on 13-15 questions to finish in 120 minutes. The show run should be the last step to find the actual syntax of the mistake. The other shows should get you 95% of the way home.

Test Taking

• You are asked to find the device causing the problem, the technology in use, and the resolution to the problem.
• This was the only time I asked for a sheet of paper. Being left handed and smearing your notes suck. I usually wrote a quick note on the problem such as (C1 --> Web). Then I made notes on what wasn't working. for example, if the client couldn't ping DSW1 that's the note. When I found the device I thought had the error, I wrote its name down. I also wrote down the best guess of what I'd call the technology. Finally, on step 3 of the problem, they ask for the solution. Syntax matters. READ the possible answers. They will blur together and almost seem the same. UGH.

Good luck. My brain are tired :)