https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/thread/8262
A review covering a Beta experience of the CCIE R&S updates over at the Cisco Learning Network by
"For those who don’t know me, I’ve been a CCIE since mid-2002 and am the co-author of several CiscoPress books, including “CCIE Route/Switch Exam Certification Guide 4th edition”, “Cisco Voice Gateways and Gatekeepers”, and “CCNP Quick Reference Sheets”. I recently took the beta of the new version 4.0 CCIE R/S lab exam to offer feedback to Cisco. With their approval, I'd like to offer my impressions to those preparing for, or considering, the CCIE R/S lab exam. A big caveat – my job does not routinely involve configuration anymore, and I didn’t get a chance to study until on the flight there, so a prepared candidate’s experience will definitely vary from mine!
Overall, I was favorably impressed. It has some cool and interesting new features. The most visible difference is the computer interface. All documentation is web-based now, including the lab instructions. No more binder on the desk. The main web page has the overall diagram and links to instructions and documentation. You click on a router to open a SecureCRT console session with it. There is also a link to manage the devices (reboot one, for example.) You can access CCO documentation from a link on the main page also. You can’t search CCO, though, unfortunately.
I didn’t know what to expect from the core questions since they weren’t on the lab when I took it seven years ago, but I thought they would be trivial. They weren’t. But they also were well within what one would expect someone sitting the exam to know easily.
The two-hour troubleshooting section is new for the one-day exam and follows the core questions. There are multiple trouble tickets, all relating to the same network so you don’t have to learn a new network for each one. You can do them in any order. I felt that the questions were fairly representative of things you might run across in a production environment. If you’ve set up your own lab and done all the experimenting you should while studying, you’ve probably already made most possible mistakes anyway! Probably the best way to ace the troubleshooting section is to have a very in-depth knowledge of all the technologies covered in the lab. One thing you should know is that the computer closes the exam exactly at the end of two hours. You don’t have any wiggle room to finish things up, so keep an eye on the time. If you finish early, you can end that portion and start the configuration portion of the lab.
The configuration portion is the last 5 ½ hours. I found it easy to get used to the web interface and having the instructions on the screen rather than on paper. The monitor screens are big enough that you can have multiple windows open at once. However, it was annoying to move the windows to see the lab diagram. If the actual lab doesn’t offer a paper version of the diagram, I recommend that you draw your own. The equipment was sometimes a little slow in responding to commands, because the actual routers and switches are in San Jose and I took the exam in RTP. It was nothing to worry about, just something to be aware of. I think the equipment has been remote for a while now, so if you’ve taken the lab recently then it’s familiar to you. The equipment sat beside us when I took my lab. There are some new technologies in the blueprint, and the configuration part is two hours shorter, so one would expect that portion to be scaled back somewhat.
Studying for version 4.0 should be no different than studying for the CCIE lab has always been - know the core routing, switching, and WAN technologies cold. Practice them until you can do them in your sleep. Then tackle all the other things on the blueprint, paying attention to the odd and unusual things you can do with them. As always, having a strong understanding of as many technologies, techniques, and IOS features as possible gives you time to research the tasks you’ve never heard of.
Good luck with your exam! I'm interested to hear about your experiences with it!
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