GlobalConfig.net » Rants

Learning about VMware vSphere: Mindless Rant

Brandon Carroll — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:43:48 +0000

I decided to learn a little about VMware vSphere since i’ve been seeing post after post on CCIETalk.com. Here is what I know so far:

VMware says vSphere is the industries first cloud “operating system.”
They say that it makes the Infrastructure very simple- but you still have complete control.
50% reduction in capital cost and 60% reduction in operational costs is what the claim.
You can be a 100% virtualized infrastructure
There are application services with SLA capabilities.

So, after learning all that, and watching their almost 4 minute video I still feel like I know nothing about it. Oh well, not that I have to learn about it. But it would have been nice to spend my 4 minutes seeing something that is worthwhile. Why is this even posted on CCIETalk.com? I’m not sure what this has to do with anything unless you’re in sales and want to learn how to confuse the masses.

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Beginning to like Cisco AnyConnect for Full Tunnel

Brandon Carroll — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:53:04 +0000

I’ve sorta been an opposer of the Cisco Anyconnect, and SSL VPN for that matter for some time. Mostly because I have this image in my head of how crappy the WebVPN used to be. I remember it back on the VPN 3000′s and the IOS. This week however I’ve been in San Jose spending time with Anyconnect and Clientless SSL VPN for the ASA. I am really impressed with its capabilities. Another thing I’m liking about it is that you can actually get an essentials license for just about nothing that gives you the equivalent to the IPSec client capabilities plus the support for 64-bit OS’s and multiple OS Vendors.

Anyhow, I think I’ve changed my tune. I’m not going to have to post some cool configs for SSL VPN in the near future.

Learning about VMware vSphere: Mindless Rant I decided to learn a little about VMware vSphere since...

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Are Laker Fans the New Raider Fans?

Brandon Carroll — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 05:09:57 +0000

I can’t help but say this. In the past I used to have an issue with Raider Fans because even when the team won there seemed to be some kind of riot. Now, I see the Lakers win and I hear about riots, and on the news I see them tipping over cars and stuff. I have to wonder if the people that I despised for so long were not Raider fans, but rather the residents of Los Angeles. I mean, c’mon people! Why would you trash your own town? Aren’t you better than that?

Oh well, I guess I’ll get over it and just watch soccer like the rest of the world!

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Un-Productive

Brandon Carroll — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:57:37 +0000

For the last few weeks I have been using Windows 7. Now don’t get me wrong, Windows 7 is really pretty (Like a guy is even supposed to use that word). My Issue is that I feel Less productive than when I was using a Mac full time. I think its time to make a change so I can get back to work. My thought is that I want an iMac for my desktop at home. The only catch there is that I do a great deal of development these days with Camtasia. Why can’t the Mac version be as good as the Windows version? I suppose the same is true with Microsoft office, but we all know the answer to that one.

At any rate, my plan over the next few months…iMac, MacBook Pro, iPad.

Maybe I should take up stocks in Apple!

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Update on my progress.

Brandon Carroll — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:58:08 +0000

It’s been a few days since I’ve had a real post, although I have added some comments into the link posts that I’ve added. If you haven’t noticed I just installed a new toolbar on the bottom of the site for your reading enjoyment. If you find something you like you can easly share it now.

As for me, it has been crazy. At one point in time I had 13 people in my house. Now that all the visitors are gone and things are settled down I am getting back into the swing of things. I’ve done some light studies for R&S and it looks like the CCIE in 90 days is not going to work out. That’s ok with me, I wouldn’t feel like it was quality study time anyhow and going to take the lab would be like throwing 1400 bucks away. I’m going to slow things up a bit. Not because I want to, but because I have to.

The work front is interesting. I have been at home since Cisco Live and don’t have travel scheduled until the last week of August. I’ve been asked to pick up some of the voice classes, which brings me back to the issue I had before about whether I should work on the Voice or the R&S CCIE. The R&S classes that I teach keep coming up, QOS next week and BGP in a few weeks, but at the same time I have to focus some of my learning time on what my job requires which is Voice. So I am working in the CIPT1 course and getting certified to teach it. It’s mostly all CUCM so it’s not too bad to study but it’s different when you are learning how to teach something versus how the technology works to impliment it. It also cuts into my R&S study time. Who knows if I will ever find the right balance. In the mean time I will jump back and forth between R&S and Voice Studies. I have the IPexpert BLS for both and plan on getting both of those CCIE Certifications someday.

Also, since everyone talked so highly of it, my wife and I have started P90x. 1-week down and I’m feeling pretty good.

Well thats if for now. I hope to have some more technology focused posts in the near future. Until then…study hard!

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Complaint! Starbucks failed me this morning!

Brandon Carroll — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:12:15 +0000

It’s a beautiful day in Glendale, Ca. I’m here at the Ascolta Office in the Wells Fargo building on Brand Avenue. I’m looking forward to kicking off this class in the next few minutes but I have to say, I had THE WORST Americano from Starbucks this morning. And trust me, I have had many Americanos and this was horrible. I mean, I live in Seattle, home of Starbucks. This one was Bad.
I think it was because the machine was totally automated. The Barista just held a cup under the machine and it spit out the shots. Usually they put the shot in the cup so they can measure it out then pour it into the cup. Or, maybe it was because she put the shots directly into the paper cup, then poured water in. I’m not sure. Oh well. Of course, now that I am down the street and in my 5th floor office and have students coming in there is no way I can take it back, and there was no way for me to taste it since the sheer heat of their coffee hen they serve it to you could kill all microscopic organisms known to man, including swine flu (probably). But what a way to start the day. Bad Coffee! Yuck!

Well, Time to kick off the class. Name Tents…Check, Student Kits…..Check, Coffee….DOH!

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Recap of my journey CCIE Security

Brandon Carroll — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 23:41:54 +0000

I know most of you have heard already, but if not, I passed the CCIE Security exam in RTP on March 13th, 2009. I wanted to take a moment to recap my journey.

I have been a Cisco Instructor for 8 years now. I have been teaching the CCSP track since it’s inception, and taught various courses of the CSS-1 prior to that. Although I was a CCSP, I didn’t take the CCIE Security Written exam until March 21, 2007. I passed with an 85 on my first attempt. I used the CCBootcamp written exam guide to prepare for that, along with my existing knowledge as a CCSP/Instructor.

Studying for the lab is a whole new ball game. It’s weird because there is a total difference between knowing the book material that Cisco tests you on for the Professional level certifications, and being able to teach it, and knowing the material that is on the CCIE lab exam and being able to implement it. Don’t get me wrong, I knew the material, and the concept of why things were happening were easy to me. What was difficult is putting it all together. When you teach an ASA class, IPS class, or any other security class for that matter, it doesn’t cover how all these things work together. Thats where the CCIE will get you!

Anyhow, I know people are wondering what material I used in preparing for the lab exam. I made a video to show you, mainly because I think the spread of material is impressive. Please do not get mad at me for killing a tree. In the future I’ll use PDFs. Also, forgive me for the quality of the video. I am to cheap to buy an HD camera. I made the video at 6-am so don’t expect much.

So, assuming you watched that video and know what I used to prepare, I’ll give you the run down of the lab.

First time was in San Jose. I was overwhelmed. I had a decent understanding but no strategy. I ran out of time and had maybe 50 points.

Second time was in San Jose as well. It went better than the first but still there were some grey areas for me and even though I took the InternetworkExpert Online Bootcamp and used Brian’s strategy I still was missing something.

The Third, and Final attempt was in RTP, North Carolina. There is no particular reason I switch to RTP. It’s not closer to me by any means. I live in Seattle. But I wanted something fresh. I stayed at the Wingate hotel which was great. The bed was comfortable and the rate was fair. I flew in the night before the exam. I arrived at the hotel at 9pm, took half of a sleeping pill (Melatonin) and crashed. I woke up refreshed and ready to go.

The hotel had a continental breakfast and I didn’t eat much but forced myself to eat a little. I stopped at Starbucks on the way, and headed over to the Cisco office. Now when you get there you should know that the building will remain dark until right around 7am. There is nobody there to meet you in the lobby. Someone from Cisco was taking the lab as well and they let me in the lobby using their badge. At about 7:10 the proctor came out. He was very nice and much more chatty than Tom (nice guy) in San Jose.

We were led back to the room and from there its your standard lab exam stuff. We broke at about 11 for lunch. I say about 11 because they cater in lunch and there wasn’t a set time. You still only get 30 minutes for lunch. I ate a bit and tried to work out some issues in my head.

I finished about 45 minutes early but left 15 minutes before the Proctor called it a day. That includes my clean up and so on. I didn’t use the last 45 minutes to do any extra verifications because I didn’t want to break anything. Then I went to dinner at the Angus Barn. I had Alaskan King Crab Claws, a 24oz New York Strip and an Oatmeal Stout. Pass or fail I was going to enjoy that meal.

The wait was excruciating. I didn’t get my results until about 8:30 on Sunday night, so if you are planning on taking the lab on Friday you should be aware of that.

Now that its over I am enjoying the fact that I don’t have a deadline staring me in the face, but I still love the technology and want to learn more. I think the next track that I am going to pursue is the CCIE voice, but I have the CCVP in between that I have to get up to Instructor level on. I already have the IPexpert CCIE Voice BLS and plan on renting from Proctor Labs.

The big kicker for me was the bootcamp at ipexpert and the labs i did after that. Without the information I gained from IPexperts Jared Scrivener I dont think I would have passed. Im not going to give away all of his tricks because thats what he gets paid to do. But Seriously, Jared- You are the man!.

Also I can’t say enough about the support that I received from Ted Wagner at Ascolta. He really stood behind me even though there were other things he probably wanted me working on.

Wayne Lawson at IPexpert was another key player in my success along with Matt Brooks, Neil Apolzan, and Drew LaPla.

I can’t forget to mention Mike Down. Before Mike started pinging me online I only owned the IPexpert Volume 4.1 and the Proctor Guide, and I wasn’t really looking at using IPexpert.

One last person I have to mention is my wife. She was patient with me even though the family would take a hit from time to time while I was studying. The CCIE is not easy on a family but the accomplishment and the job security afterwards was the payoff I was looking for. I think I got it. Time will tell. At least I have her if the other stuff doesn’t pan out.

Thats about it for this rant. I’m going to keep blogging about topics that come up in my classes as well as through the contact form. When I start to study for the Voice IE I’ll try to blog it all here as well. In the mean time I am going to spend some time posting on Network World for the CCNA Wireless candidates and catching up on my sleep/socializing/theocratic activities/yard work/home improvement projects/reading/DVR/family videos/familiy photos/email/projects at work/fitness/weight loss/rss feeds/staring into space/day dreaming/playing darts with tyrel/texting my daughter/emailing my mom/calling my grandma/netflix/and enjoying whatever comes my way.

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VPN’s can really upset me.

Brandon Carroll — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:57:36 +0000

I’ve come to the conclusion that if ANYTHING gets me in the lab on Friday its going to be VPN. With so many options and piling one solution on top of another (e.g. EasyVPN plus DMVPN on the same interface) I am totally screwed. I cruised thru lab 18 all morning. had about 41 points at lunch and since then have only managed to accumulate 6 points. NHRP isnt even registering. R2 is the NHS but gives me a lovely message when you bounce the tunnel interface that there are no NHSs:

R2#debug nhrp NHRP protocol debugging is on R2#conf t Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. R2(config)#int t256 R2(config-if)#shut R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:31.291: NHRP: if_down: Tunnel256 proto IPv4 *Mar 10 22:53:31.291: NHRP: if_down: Tunnel256 proto IPv4 R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:31.295: %CRYPTO-6-ISAKMP_ON_OFF: ISAKMP is OFF R2(config-if)#no s *Mar 10 22:53:33.291: %LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Tunnel256, changed state to administratively down *Mar 10 22:53:34.291: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Tunnel256, changed state to down R2(config-if)#no shut R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:36.331: NHRP: if_up: Tunnel256 proto 0 *Mar 10 22:53:37.331: NHRP: Unable to send Registration - no NHSes configured R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: %LINK-3-UPDOWN: Interface Tunnel256, changed state to up *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: NHRP: if_up: Tunnel256 proto 0 *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: NHRP: Unable to send Registration - no NHSes configured R2(config-if)# *Mar 10 22:53:38.331: %CRYPTO-6-ISAKMP_ON_OFF: ISAKMP is ON *Mar 10 22:53:39.331: NHRP: Unable to send Registration - no NHSes configured *Mar 10 22:53:39.331: %LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Tunnel256, changed state to up R2(config-if)#

I still have sections 9 – 12 but I am so frustrated right now that I have to go clear my head. Maybe I need to watch the DVDonDemand section on VPNs again. I thought I had them down pretty good. I must be missing something. Well enough of my ranting. Time to move on.

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The need for speed

Brandon Carroll — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:33:32 +0000

I just tested my new cable connection. It was installed while I was in Minnesota last week. All I can say is….Sweet!

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Delicios Bookmarking and Facebook

Brandon Carroll — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 07:24:20 +0000

Is anyone else using Delicious for sharing bookmarks? I’m interested in your thoughts on the service as well as whether you bookmark your own posts or only bookmark sites you find useful.

I am also interested to hear your thoughts on Facebook. Recently I have become more active on Facebook as I can see its power in communicating with people on multiple levels. I can say that I dont plan on being logged into numerous systems (twitter, facebook, etc..) but I have installed the Facebook toolbar for Firefox and have gotten twitter integrated with facebook. How about you?

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