CCIE Assessor Lab V1.6 - 58%

A complete disaster!!!!

Well....to be honest it wasn't so bad as it looks. I got 29 out of 50 points but :

1) I lost 1 question (2 points), because i jumped over it (it was only 1 line) while reading the exam!!!
2) I lost 4 questions (2+2+3+2=9 points), because i didn't read the whole question carefully enough and because the AutoVerify system of the Lab expects a very specific config.
3) I lost 3 questions (3+2+1=6 points), because i didn't know what to do in a minor subtask (although i had done correctly all major subtasks).
4) I lost 1 question (2 points), because it depended on one of the questions of No3 (although i had done it correctly).
5) I lost 1 question (2 points), because i messed up (i used 7 bits instead of 8) the dec to bin conversion!!!!

If i had reviewed my whole exam after finishing, i'm sure i would have earned at least 13 more points, which means 29+13 = 42 out of 50 (=84%!).

Once again, silly mistakes was the major fact i didn't have enough free time to review my whole exam. I forgot to apply a simple multicast config under an interface and i spend around 30 mins trying to find out why multicast wasn't working as expected. I had enabled all kinds of multicast debugs on 4 routers and i was looking at the debug logs for any mysterious/hidden problems. After 30 mins, i found out how fool i was!!! So i finished correctly the multicast section, but my time had run over.

This is the biggest problem in the CCIE Assessor Lab. You have two 4h sessions (if you take both A & B labs) and both of them include a core part (L2/L3 switching/routing). I'm usually slow on the core part, because i like to test everything twice. On a normal lab, i usually spent 50-60% time on the core part, 30-40% on the secondaries (everything besides QoS in usually easy) and 0-10% on a review. So when i have 2 core parts in a 8h (2x4h) session, i don't have enough free time to do the secondaries or run a review. Imho, Cisco should increase each session by 30 mins.

Generally, i'm happy because i didn't meet any major unknown features. As long as i have in my mind to keep things as simple as possible, everything will be ok.

Next Mock Lab coming on Saturday....