Core Knowledge Questions Removed for CCIE R&S and Voice Lab Exams

Cisco removed the Core Knowledge Questions section from the CCIE R&S and Voice Lab exams.

This sections STILL exist on CCIE Service Provider, CCIE Security, CCIE Storage Networking and  CCIE Wireless Lab.

Please find below the official announcement and the reasons regarding this section removal from R&S and Voice lab exams:

With more than six months of exam results now available, Cisco is able to report that the troubleshooting components of the CCIE R&S v4.0 and CCIE Voice v3.0 lab exams are performing well in validating expert level networking skills.  Considering these results, Cisco has decided to eliminate the Core Knowledge questions from the current CCIE R&S v4.0 and CCIE Voice v3.0 Lab Exams.  Beginning on May 10, 2010, CCIE R&S and CCIE Voice Lab Exams, in all global locations, will no longer include the four open-ended Core Knowledge questions.  The total lab time will remain eight hours.  For the CCIE R&S Lab Exam, this means candidates will begin with the two-hour Troubleshooting section, followed by a six-hour Configuration section.  For CCIE Voice, candidates will have the full eight hours to complete the integrated exam.  At this time, only the R&S and Voice tracks will be eliminating the Core Knowledge questions.
You can read more here:

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-6484

New Service Provider Operations Track Training and Exams

The Cisco CCNA Service Provider (SP) Operations certification and the written exam for the CCIE Service Provider (SP) Operations certification are now available.
The Cisco CCNA SP Operations certification targets entry-level students with a foundation of network operations skills in SP IP NGN environments required of associate-level operations personnel. Both the Supporting Cisco Service Provider IP NGN Operations (SSPO) course and required # 640-760 exam are now available. Interested students should access the CCNA SP Operations home page for more information.

The Cisco CCIE® SP Operations certification assesses and validates core IP NGN service provider network operations expertise and broad theoretical knowledge of operations management processes, frameworks and network management systems. Registration for the for CCIE SP Operations written exam is now available. In addition, students may download the blueprint for the CCIE SP Operations practical exam from the CCIE SP Operations practical exam overview page. The practical exam for the CCIE SP Operations certification is scheduled to be made available in the third quarter of 2010.

For more info:
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccna_sp_operations
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/index.jspa?ciscoHome=true
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccie_sp_operations/practical_exam

Cisco: Use TTCP to test together with TTCPW or JPerf

In one my previous posts, I shown you how to test a connection using a hidden Cisco IOS tool called TTCP.  A few days ago I run into an issue. I had to test a TCP connection to a remote Cisco router, but I had not other router on which to initiate the TTCP connection. As explained in Testing TCP Connection post, to use TTCP you need 2 Cisco routers.

Now, I found 2 new ways to do the testing without the need of having 2 routers, but just one. Maybe you already know this methods, but for those who don’t please keep on reading.

First, there is a Windows tool called TTCPW (download here) (actually you can download also the code, and I think it’s possible to compile and run it under Linux as well). This TTCW tool have the same option like Cisco TTCP and can work together without any issue.
On Cisco router, issue the ttcp command, and keep the regular parameters (we are not interested for now in fine tuning). Below I set the Cisco router to be the receiver:

Cisco TTCP
Cisco TTCP with default settings

On PC side, you download TTCPW and use the same settings. Basically to transmit you only need to input ttcpw.exe -t or -r “ip.address” and that’s it  Of course you can tune the settings to meet your needs. Just type ttcpw.exe to see all the settings.

TTCPW
TTCPW help

The second tool that you can use with Cisco TTCP is IPerf (text mode) or JPerf (Java graphical mode). Just fill in the IP address and the port (5001 if default) and you’re ready to go:

Jperf with TTCP
Jperf with TTCP

Of course there are some limitations on JPerf to TTCP compared to JPerf to JPerf testing. One of then is that you cannot use parallel streams, if you want to stress the connection. To overcome this limitation, I do the following.
Open 2 or 3 connection to the Cisco router where TTCP will run. Start one each connection one TTCP daemon with different ports (e.g. assuming 3 connection than ports 5001, 5002 and 5003). Then on the client start 3 JPerf (Iperf) with the same IP address but different ports (you can take the one below). In this way you can stress the connection a little bit.