More speed needed for SPv3 pass!

Hi guys,

I failed my SP lab back in April and have my second attempt coming up in a few weeks. I don’t think the technology is a problem as I can complete the workbook and mock labs with no problem. On my first attempt I simply ran out of time and did not complete the final section. Looking at my scores for the sections I did manage to complete I was on track for a pass. If I had 9 hours I would have been fine!

So I need to take a look at my strategy and would love to hear from people who have passed this lab.

I think two things are slowing me down:

1)    Using Notepad for everything:

I passed the RS lab a few years back and used notepad to prepare 95%+ of my config before pasting it into the device. This approach worked well for RS so I did the same on my SP lab attempt. I try to do very little ‘direct’ input on devices. Do you guys think notepad is slowing me down? Should I cut down on my notepad use during the lab and do more direct configuration? Say cut it to 50%? Or less?

2)    Order of configuration:

I like to complete tasks one by one in the order they appear. For example I would configure IPv4 BGP first, then add VPNv4, then VPNv6 then later maybe MDT. Do I need to need to take a step back at the start of the lab, work out the end-game BGP topology and configure it in one go? This seems more risky than adding things in layers, but given how much time you get I think it’s too slow.

Should I change my strategy or stick to what I know and practice practice practice to build up speed?

Thanks