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January 2009

Free CCNA "Book"

Thu, 2009-01-01 09:55

I ran across this "book" while randomly surfing the net. I REALLY like the concept - it's a CCNA study book...sort of...with step-by-step labs and so on. If someone were interested in CCNA study materials (just exam focused), I don't think I'd recommend this...it's too much material and a little dated (IGRP, IPX, etc...)...but if someone were wanting to get into networking & technology - what great material to do so! You end up learning a little about everything by time it's said and done (I stopped skimming somewhere around Knoppix).

Here's the link to the site: http://www.lulu.com/content/815026

Solarwinds Takes Over Kiwi!

Tue, 2009-01-06 06:19

Noooooooooo!
I just received the email that Solarwinds has purchased Kiwi (producer of the Syslog and CatTools products). I'm a huge fan of Kiwi because they are low cost (free, in some cases) and just kind of "scrappy." Fun products to use. Hopefully Solarwinds does not disband these small-business products in favor of the mother-of-all Orion product (great product, way too expensive for smaller companies).

Cisco Updates Certification Logos

Thu, 2009-01-08 07:32

Cisco apparently has refaced the look of all the certification logos for use on resumes, business cards, etc... for certified individuals. I'm anxious to see them, but completely forgot my logon information (you need your CSCO number...) for the Cisco Certification website. Here's the scoop direct from Cisco:

An Interview with Me: CCNA Voice

Thu, 2009-01-15 12:07

InformIT just posted an interview with me from the last Cisco Live! event (why'd they rename it from Cisco Networkers anyway? I liked that better) about the CCNA Voice certification. Here's the links, if you're interested; I'm keeping them here for my own reference. It's not every day you get to meet someone like Jeff Doyle!
CCNA Voice Interview, Part 1
CCNA Voice Interview, Part 2
***Disclaimer - these interviews were recorded before the CCNA Voice was announced by Cisco. Up until that point, they informed me that the only pre-req. for the CCNA Voice would be a CCENT certification (which still makes more sense in my mind) rather than the CCNA.

CCIE Update: Essay Questions on CCIE Lab?

Tue, 2009-01-20 05:18

Just came across this from Cisco. The CCIE is being updated to include 4-5 "open ended questions" about the various technologies being configured. Is this another method to catch braindumpers? I wouldn't think it'd be possible to braindump an entire CCIE...but who knows?
...No new topics are being added. The exams are not been increased in difficulty and the well-prepared candidate should have no trouble answering the questions. The length of the exam will remain eight hours. Candidates will need to achieve a passing score on both the open-ended questions and the lab portion in order to pass the lab and become certified....
Here's the link to the full article: https://cisco.hosted.jivesoftware.com/docs/DOC-3834

IP SLA Sample Configuration for Voice

Mon, 2009-01-26 11:08

IP SLA has the ability to measure "real-time" WAN connection quality. You can then use the results of the measurement for routing decisions (such as choosing an alternate path). This is especially effective for VoIP connections. The following sample configuration can be used to create a IP SLA Jitter/Packet Loss monitor for use with VoIP deployments:

IP SLA Source

Source(config)#ip sla 100  !Some IOS versions use ip sla monitor
Source(config-ip-sla)#udp-jitter 172.16.1.2 65424 codec g729a
Source(config-ip-sla-jitter)#tos 176 !Marks packets with DSCP EF (IP Precedence 5)
Source(config-ip-sla-jitter)#exit
Source(config)#ip sla schedule 100 recurring start-time now
Source(config)#interface s0/1/0
Source(config-if)#ip address 172.16.1.1 255.255.255.0

CiscoBlog Forums...

Fri, 2009-01-30 12:56

What I was worried about finally happened. My CiscoBlog Forums were finally destroyed by spammers... This was completely my fault since all I did was install a forum engine and close my eyes hoping they would maintain themselves. Perhaps someday (when I have more time) I can bring them back. For now, CiscoBlog will return back to my personal Cisco journal :o).



Dr. Radut