IPExpert response after Scott Morris move to Internetwork Expert?!

Take a look on what I´ve found while "surfing" the internet:

You can check it by yourself at IPExpert Twitter, it seens that they´re working fast in a response! Good! As I said in my earlier post, competition is one of the best things in the industry! Keeps everybody motivated!

Well... I think we´ll have to wait till monday to see what is going to be the big surprise! :)

In the mean time I´ll take the weekend off to make some decisions that will affect my studies, and my life directly... I just wonder why it has to be so hard ?! :( and no... I´m not giving up if that´s what you thought! hahaha!

802.1Q Tunneling - IEWB Vol. 1 Version 5

Yesterday I started the IEWB Vol. 1 Version 5  Bridging & Switching section, a very nice part of it was about 802.1Q Tunnels.

I´ve saw it on theory, but never tried in real equipment. Nice, the task goal was to make R1 and R4 neighbors (when you perform a show cdp neighbors at any of those two routers they should display the other as a neighbor and not the switch directly attached!).

Some care must be taken, because the 802.1Q frame will be "double" tagged, first with the original VLAN ID information when exiting the router, and the second time when it enters the switch connected using the tunnel VLAN ID as a tag (called Metro Tag). By that, the frame will be increased in 4 bytes (802.1Q Metro Tag), and we must change the system MTU to match this new requirements in "all" switches were the frame is supposed to cross. This is accomplished with the global configuration command: system mtu 1504 in all switches in the path.

To simplify things, here follows a picture I´ve made about this particularly task:

Configuration done to perform that:

R1 interface FastEthernet0/0 no ip address duplex auto speed auto ! interface FastEthernet0/0.14 encapsulation dot1Q 14 ip address 14.0.0.1 255.255.255.0 ! interface FastEthernet0/0.41 encapsulation dot1Q 41 ip address 41.0.0.1 255.255.255.0

 

SW1 system mtu 1504 ! interface FastEthernet0/1 switchport access vlan 100 switchport mode dot1q-tunnel l2protocol-tunnel cdp no cdp enable ! interface FastEthernet0/13 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport mode trunk

 

SW2 system mtu 1504 ! interface FastEthernet0/13 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport mode trunk ! interface FastEthernet0/16 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport mode trunk

 

SW3 system mtu 1504 ! interface FastEthernet0/16 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport mode trunk ! interface FastEthernet0/19 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport mode trunk

 

SW4 system mtu 1504 ! interface FastEthernet0/4 switchport access vlan 100 switchport mode dot1q-tunnel l2protocol-tunnel cdp no cdp enable ! interface FastEthernet0/19 switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q switchport mode trunk

 

R4 interface FastEthernet0/1 no ip address duplex auto speed auto ! interface FastEthernet0/1.14 encapsulation dot1Q 14 ip address 14.0.0.4 255.255.255.0 ! interface FastEthernet0/1.41 encapsulation dot1Q 41 ip address 41.0.0.4 255.255.255.0

And off course, the result:

R1 Rack20R1#sh cdp neighbors Capability Codes: R - Router, T - Trans Bridge, B - Source Route Bridge S - Switch, H - Host, I - IGMP, r - Repeater Device ID  Local Intrfce  Holdtme   Capability  Platform  Port ID Rack20R3   Ser 0/1         131       R S I      2611XM   Ser 1/2 Rack20R4   Fas 0/0         148       R S I      2611XM   Fas 0/1 Rack20R1#ping 14.0.0.4 size 1500 df-bit Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 5, 1500-byte ICMP Echos to 14.0.0.4,timeout is 2 seconds: Packet sent with the DF bit set !!!!! Success rate is 100 percent (5/5),round-trip min/avg/max=4/6/8ms Rack20R1#ping 41.0.0.4 size 1500 df-bit Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 5, 1500-byte ICMP Echos to 41.0.0.4,timeout is 2 seconds: Packet sent with the DF bit set !!!!! Success rate is 100 percent (5/5),round-trip min/avg/max= 4/5/8ms

 

R4 Rack20R4#sh cdp neighbors Capability Codes: R - Router, T - Trans Bridge, B - Source Route Bridge S - Switch, H - Host, I - IGMP, r - Repeater Device ID  Local Intrfce  Holdtme  Capability  Platform  Port ID Rack20SW2    Fas 0/0       131      R S I      WS-C3560- Fas 0/4 Rack20R1     Fas 0/1       136      R S I      2611XM    Fas 0/0 Rack20R5     Ser 0/1       139      R S I      2611XM    Ser 0/1 Rack20R4#ping 14.0.0.1 size 1500 df-bit Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 5, 1500-byte ICMP Echos to 14.0.0.1,timeout is 2 seconds: Packet sent with the DF bit set !!!!! Success rate is 100 percent (5/5),round-trip min/avg/max=4/5/8ms Rack20R4#ping 41.0.0.1 size 1500 df-bit Type escape sequence to abort. Sending 5, 1500-byte ICMP Echos to 41.0.0.1,timeout is 2 seconds: Packet sent with the DF bit set !!!!! Success rate is 100 percent (5/5),round-trip min/avg/max= 4/4/8ms

More information can be found at Cisco´s Website.

Here you can find the path at the DocCD for this:

DocCD  -> Catalyst 3560 -> Catalyst 3560 Switches, Rel. 12.2(44)SE, January 2008 -> Catalyst 3560 Switch Software Configuration Guide, Rel. 12.2(44)SE -> Configuring IEEE 802.1Q and Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling

If you preffer, here follows the direct link to the page:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst3560/software/release/12.2_44_se/configuration/guide/swtunnel.html#wp1008908

Internetwork Expert & IPExpert

This morning, while coming to work, I was thinking about all this Internetwork Expert and IPExpert thing...

Off course Scott Morris, with all his knowledge, experience and magical power, will do a great job at Internetwork Expert, helping the Brians to keep their excellent material, and making it even better!

But, what will be of IPExpert without Scott Morris?! Well... that´s something that only time will tell us, but, in my particularly opinion, IPExpert will keep the excellent level of their materials, making their products even more better than they already are now!

Why you think of that you might be asking me... My answer is simple... Scott Morris weren´t alone at IPExpert, they do have other very knowledge engineers who were working togheter with Scott to set all their material, workbooks, audio classes, everything! I´m pretty sure those guys learned "alot" with Scott, but Scott also learned "alot" while working with those guys! Everyone always have something to teach us! Will IPExpert miss Scott?! Off course they will! He´s great! But life moves on, and that will give the oportunitty of, for example, Jared Scrivener be the next Scott Morris! This is a great thing!

In fact, there´s no magical workbook, or instructor that will make you take the test and pass only by itself! We all in this lonely road need to dedicate ourselfs, doing whatever it takes to study, at least for a few hours, every single day, it´s hard, but the "happy" end it´s even more nice!!! So doesn´t matter which vendor you use, just use it the right way, and things should be ok by the end!

I really wish that the competition between Internetwork Expert X IPExpert (not forgetting about NMC, Narbik Kocharians, etc) keeps going for a loooooooooooong time, that´s good for the companies (pushs them to create even more great material), and for the customers (who will enjoy the great material with fair prices). Competition is a good thing, always!

All the best to Internetwork Expert, IPExpert, NMC, Narbik Kocharians, and everyone who put their efforts to help us achieve our objectives!

Thank you all!

CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs (Digital Short Cut) - Part II

Well... yesterday I bought and just took a quick look into the new CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs (Digital Short Cut) book ($79.99) from Cisco Press!

It is true... I just took a really "quick" look at it, I thought that the section Ask the Proctor just had 8 or 9 questions, but in fact it doesn´t, it has 8 or 9 Q&A for each section.  It´s kind of cool to read this, the answers to the questions are nice, and I think it´s just like in a real lab situation, does anybody that already took the Lab can confirm it?! :)

Both Labs  have 7 Sections, Lan Switching, IPv4 IGP, BGP, IPv6, QoS, Security and Multicast. It´s pretty well organized, each section contains the points you should earn if you complete the task correctly, just like any other Workbook we see out there.

Lab Debrief Section  has more than 80 pages with detailed solutions for each task, with comments, correct configurations, commands used the check it, everything needed to verify your work. A really good material. At least, I liked!

Is it a worth buy?! Well... in my opinion YES, Martin J. Duggan did a very nice job,  it seens to be a really good book, and it has the big advantage of being Cisco Official! Off course, with only does two labs no one will be ready to take the real one, but we can think of it as a final preparation tool (unfortunatelly, this is too far away from me now), just as the CCIE R&S Assessor Labs!

Also... check my last post about this subject, and register a book you own at Cisco Press to receive a 35% coupon discount! ;)

And Joins Internetwork Expert

Wow! That one was fast, I just saw that Scott Morris left IPExpert, and received a mail from Internetwork Expert with the news that he has just joined their team!

Here follows the full message:

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Reno, Nevada, June 25, 2008 – Internetwork Expert, Inc., a pioneering leader in Cisco CCIE Lab Exam training, today announced that Scott Morris (CCIE #4713), a four-time CCIE, has joined the company as a CCIE Instructor.

Scott Morris has been in the Cisco networking industry for over 12 years and belongs to an elite group of engineers worldwide holding four CCIE certifications. Scott was one of the first individuals to pass the Cisco Design Specialist certification in 1998, and soon after passed the CCIE Lab Exam in Routing and Switching. He then went on to obtain CCIE certifications in ISP-Dial, Security, and Service Provider. Scott is currently preparing for the Voice CCIE, and the newly announced Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE).

Prior to joining Internetwork Expert, Scott was Vice President of Technical Training and an Instructor at IPExpert. While working at IPExpert, Scott developed and delivered CCIE classroom training, as well as initiated new product development. Scott is currently a regular columnist for the TCPMag Journal.

Scott can be reached at smorris@internetworkexpert.com.

For complete details please visit:
http://www.internetworkexpert.com/news/scott-morris-pr.htm?utm_source=ymlp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=scott

Scott Morris Leaves IPExpert

Scott Morris leaves IPExpert after five years of relationship. Here follows the official letter from Wayne Lawson (Founder & President of IPExpert) about it:

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Wayne Lawson’s Statement on the Departure of Scott Morris from IPexpert

Over the past five years, since Scott Morris joined IPexpert, we have worked together towards a common goal of making IPexpert the world's best CCIE training organization. In this time, the company has faced many successes and challenges in our journey to stay at the top of our game.

Growing from a team of just three, a short time ago, to our staff of near 20 today illustrates the continued evolution of our business model. One effect of adding new employees to a team is that their contributions and effort draw comparisons to those already on board. As we have continued to add new faces to our group of instructors, the individual roles have evolved for each of them, based on various criteria.

In order to ensure that IPexpert's business goals, product objectives and growth strategies continue to be realized, I felt that it was time for IPexpert and Scott to move in different directions. In our early years, it was easy to roll with issues that may arise during the course of business. Today, I bear the responsibility of ensuring the success of IPexpert for the benefit of a full staff and their families. My decisions, however difficult, must be governed by this broader interest and that of the customers we serve.

To be clear, I sincerely appreciate the contributions Scott has made with our company and, in the bigger picture, the CCIE community. We are all better for it, without question. I am confident that, as one of the most recognized network engineers around, Scott will find great success along the next path in his career.

Moving forward, I can guarantee that the IPexpert team will continue to develop, innovate and deliver the best possible products and courses in the CCIE training space. We are more excited than ever about the new product line recently announced for the R&S, Voice, Security and Service Provider tracks.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about this announcement, I welcome you to contact me directly. We appreciate your business and the opportunity to be a part of your success!

- Wayne Lawson II – Founder & President, IPexpert, Inc.

CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs (Digital Short Cut)

Well... good news! I was reading through cciepursuit blog (just GREAT Blog, I read it daily!) and found an article about the new CCIE Routing and Switching Practice Labs (Digital Short Cut) from Cisco Press, ok! That´s good! I do like digital editions due to two things...:

1 - Shiping to Brazil is too expensive;

2 - As far as the product is downloadable, I do not have to pay "taxes" to get it! It doesn´t goes through brazillian customs, so that´s great (believe me, taxes here are HUGE, almost 100% of the product);

Would I like better to get it in a "normal" printed book format?! Yes, off course! It would be MUCH better... But due to the facts explained, it´s my best option (for everything!).

I´ve just took a look at the chapters, it seens the topology used is the same one of Cisco´s CCIE R&S Assessor LAB, version B. It also suggest if you don´t have 6 Routers and 4 Switches, that you can use the Assessor Lab for it, loading the configs in the Appendix! Off course I´ll pay $279 for a 4 hours Rack Rental, to use it! :) I preffer to stick with my Dynamips for this one! Maybe some Rack Vendor will soon have at least one rack with this topology (or similar to it), otherwise, Dynamips!!!

I´ve also was too curious about the Ask the Proctor section in the eBook, those are cool! It has 10 Q&A for Practice Lab 1 and more 8 Q&A for Practice Lab 2. Ok, I´ve always saw posts on how to ask Proctors questions that they can either answer a simple YES or NO (like binary method, 1 or 0, hahaha), but this Ask the Proctor section give us some good examples. You may ask if those Q&A included in the eBook essential to pass the exam?! Absolutely not! It´ll only give you a few examples on questions to ask the Proctor, so you can start thinking on "how" to ask them based on the examples!

Lab Debrief section works like "Lab Breakdown" you usually see from the Workbooks. It´s pretty cool also, with explanations about the scenario, the configuration needed to achieve the task results, and some commands to check! Really good material!

In fact it seens to be a good tool for all of us preparing for the CCIE R&S Lab, but I just looked through the book really fast to kill my curiosity about it. In the next few days I´ll check it with closer attention and I´ll blog some more about!

One other thing, is if Cisco is releasing new material to the CCIE R&S Lab exam, we should not expect changes to the lab (at least not soon) like Internetwork Expert said in their CCIE Blog few days ago!

Oh yeah! An piece of advice, if you have any Cisco Press book, register it under your account to receive a 35% discount coupon code so you can use to order it, that way, instead of paying $79.99 you´ll get it for $51.99, it´s not cheap, but at least much better!

Live after a Hard Drive crash

Well... I haven´t blogged anything for a while now... Few weeks ago, while surfing on the internet, I got the "Blue Screen of Death", yeah! That´s it! Tried to reset my computer, but I lost my hard drive, and off course, many info in it also!

Well, am I a stupid for not doing a backup?! Yes I am... but I did had some files backed-up, others not, and it took me a while to finish putting everything togheter!

Now everything is fine, with my new Hard Drive, also I bought an external drive (USB) and Acronis Home Edition. I learned the hard way, those things just happens! But not to me, not again! :)

Well, during this time I´ve also performed many, many switch installations in a customer, and also took a few lessons from it, the greatest thing about working in field is that you´ll always learn something from the situation, or from someone else! I´ll post some tips latter on!

Also, Internetwork Expert is doing a great job in their CCIE Blog, not only with technical reviews, but they´re covering CiscoLive Networkers daily! It´s awson! I´m not able to attend it, but they´re giving us the fresh news from there! One of the greatest new (well, at least for me), is that the CCIE R&S Lab is not changing, at least for now! That´s just cool!

Check their blog for fresh news, about Wireless CCIE, and others! I will!

Gotta get some work done now, I´ll try to blog a while more latter!