My Network Stories

CCIE R&S v4.0 - Here I come

2009-11-10T15:42:00.003Z

I just noticed in VUE tracking database the following entry:It appears that my 3-day-study attempt at R&S v4.0 written was a success :-). Next thing is ~$1.400 crocodile steak at NH hotel in Brussels.Shall we say February/March time-frame?

New Responsibilities

2009-11-01T12:03:00.004Z

By now it has become public what was in the making in the past few weeks. Starting November 1st, I have joined IPexpert, Inc. as full-time content developer and technical instructor. I will be able to devote more of my time to doing stuff I really enjoy - exploring and learning new things, writing about them and passing this to others. I will be teaching classes in the parts of the world that are

Mass Change on Routers

2009-09-30T17:09:00.007Z

I suppose I should post something here, since I haven't been blogging in a month.There was, many times repeated, question on GroupStudy today. How do I deploy my changes on many routers? Are there any tools that do that?The answer to that question is - sure there are. Many of them. Some cost money, some are free, some offer good change control, rollback, etc. What is common with all of them is

OT Post

2009-09-01T18:52:00.001Z

She said yes. :-)

Quick Post: GNS3/Dynagen

2009-08-22T00:45:00.006Z

I often find myself opening Dynagen/GNS3 to try new things or play with technologies that I can't be bothered to wire in the real lab. I'm pretty certain that I'm not the only one out there who does that. Do you, like me, find yourself wasting hours making new topologies over and over again? Well, probably not, since you have done what I pushed myself to do few days ago. I made "standard" layout

Quick Thought on OSPF

2009-08-20T01:11:00.007Z

Where I work, we use a lovely tool called RANCID to track changes made to our routers. We get config diffs for most of our routers every 30 minutes. It makes a great sanity check to be able to see changes like that. I'm now sitting at work, having a very long week dealing with software upgrades in the backbone, dealing with bugs and all 3 Cisco's TAC locations. Naturally, it involves a lot of

Introduction to Interprovider MPLS L3 VPN's

2009-08-19T12:45:00.004Z

This post is about the technology that has somewhat limited use in real life - at least most interesting (complex) parts of it.There are many reasons why these technologies are not widely used it and I will touch on some of them in appropriate sections, but major reasons are (in)security and relative complexity. Since these technologies are in their nature oriented towards network service

IPv6 in Carrier Networks

2009-08-09T21:15:00.013Z

There is a lot of buzz on the Internet about IP addresses running out. It has been like that for years, but voices are even louder these days. RIPE NCC has even opened informational web site called IPv6 Act Now. There is a lot of information out there how to deploy IPv6, how to connect to the Internet using it, so on and so forth.As it is usually the case, those of us working with service

New CCIE Logos

2009-01-19T13:36:00.005Z

Cisco announced new official CCIE logos, effective January 12th. The one I got is on the picture below.Personally, I prefer the old logo for many reasons. Since there have not been "cease and desist" about the old logo yet, I think I will keep on using it. At least until my eyes get used to the new look.I should not forget to mention that other Cisco certification logos have changed. They are

It's Not Me...

2009-01-05T15:15:00.001Z

This time, it's official.I just received letter from Vue (handwritten address, alright) and I'm not the mysterious #20080002.That being said, this is my last post on this subject. It's time to move on to different things and possibly prepare for another go. One thing is certain, I'm not spending money on February 11th attempt.Sorry everyone for bothering you with this.

The Human Network

2009-01-05T11:14:00.006Z

I finally got what it means. Allow me to explain.Last year, Cisco launched new campaign under the name of Human Network. At first, I thought it had something to do with Web 2.0, collaboration and all other 2008 buzzwords. Nope, I was wrong. Let me tell you a little story. The subject is, of course, CCDE :-).Sometime in 2007, Cisco started their invitation-only CCDE beta program. They tried new

CCDE Result is (not) In!

2009-01-02T09:06:00.004Z

Woohoo! The result is in. Sort of...Please, refer to my previous post about 2008.Still waiting for #2, I'm afraid :-(.UPDATE: Neverending story! It appears that at least one of the two people who got "pass" scores in letters are also seeing "fail" score in the cert tracking system. I have not received my letter still, so the game is open, once again.I want this CCDE nightmare to end.UPDATE 2: Now

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:21:00.004Z

This post has pretty much nothing to do with networks. I'm allowed one of those from time to time, am I not?2008 has been a year that left me with mixed feelings. I'm sure that I don't have to talk about all the bad things, like economies going into deep recession. 2008 was also a year in which She moved in with me and that I travelled a little bit more than usual. Those are all nice things.

CCDE Results

2008-12-30T20:02:00.004Z

Status quo as far as I'm concerned. With Cisco being "in shutdown" this week, not even certification support is of any use. Icelandic post office is on hiatus, as well. Joy of life!Identity of CCDE #20080002 is still a mystery, but there are some interesting movements in our small CCDE wannabe community. We got ourselves a Hall of Fame! It's a short and incomplete list, but I'm sure we'll

Am I CCDE #2?

2008-12-29T17:01:00.007Z

That still remains an open question!I just heard the news about CCDE #20080003. Since the person in question did not post results in public, I will not reveal the name, yet.The pressure is definitely on! My anxiety is hitting all-time highs and there is nothing I can do about it. All my hopes are in the hands of Islandspostur now :-).She has also noticed my frustration and God bless her, she does

Am I CCDE?

2008-12-27T22:41:00.004Z

Now, that's a question!The results have started trickling in. There are reports on several fora from people who got them. So far, it's almost as we expected - a lot of people who didn't make it and one, so far, who did.Apparently, Ryan Hicks is a CCDE #20080001. Yup, another "it appears so". We have new number format compared to the numbering scheme in CCIE tracks. Personally, I prefer CCIE

New Nicknames

2008-11-25T15:07:00.003Z

It's been a while since I got a new nickname. At least one that I'm aware of, that is. Now I have two new ones!Apparently, a community of people who were part of CCDE beta have been calling me both "Early Warning System" and "Barometer". It appears that I'm the most restless of us all to get the results :-). To be fully honest, I like my new nicknames and to be even more honest... I hope not to

On Death of Networks

2008-11-03T17:49:00.005Z

There is something sad about networks being decommissioned. Especially so for ones that have served faithfully and well during many years of production.Last Saturday I removed the last live connection from the first ever Metro Ethernet network in Iceland - "IP Borgarnet". It has been put in production in late 1999 and it served faithfully until Saturday. It has gone through few upgrades here and

Peering With an Unknown Autonomous System

2008-10-08T00:00:00.012Z

Per popular request, this post has the purpose to explain the solution of the problem of BGP peering with an an unknown AS. I would like to start by stating the obvious.This is a solution in a search of a problem. Popular as it may be with CCIE workbook vendors and rumor has it with CCIE exam authors, real life has almost no use of this. When faced with a log message that you will read about in

Very Long Break... and a CCDE Story

2008-10-06T23:31:00.006Z

I know. I have not written any blogs for exactly 70 days. A lot of water passed under the bridge since then and even more things happened. I will refrain myself from writing about economy and even more so about the people running this lovely country I live in. Nevertheless, I digress. If you are here, you obviously don't care about all that.I finished CCDE studies. I went for CCDE exam. I am now

To Study or not to Study?

2008-07-28T11:32:00.003Z

No, that's not a question, just a state of mind. Not a permanent, rather temporary one. Yesterday was my birthday and the day before was the party. Of course, I had to take a short study break... 3 days into the venture. I took longer break from blogging than I did from learning, really.I finished ORD and started reading "Comparing, Designing, and Deploying VPNs" (CDaDV). Conveniently, there is a

ORD Almost Finished

2008-07-25T23:59:00.004Z

That's right, I'm almost done with "Optimal Routing Design". To be honest, I was skimming over some configuration details and case studies, focusing on the design bits more. I'm already certified implementator... There are some things to note. I should've read this book before. I really like it.I feel a bit more comfortable about EIGRP after today. I managed to squeeze a little bit of "Routing

Study Day Two

2008-07-24T23:59:00.001Z

I still dislike EIGRP, but I am determined to understand it. I fully expected yesterday to write all about it here, but no, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to spend time writing about something else. Something else is a book. A book called "Optimal Routing Design".Now, like my profile says, I'm a bit of a routing geek. I like to read good books about networking and learn from them. It has

New Quest and New Blog

2008-07-23T23:59:00.006Z

This post is supposed to be the equivalent of "Hello World". I've never really blogged before, mostly for two reasons. My writing is bad and I had no real purpose to blog. Some things have changed.Today is July 23rd. Today is exactly 68 days until first beta batch testing for CCDE practical goes live in Chicago. Today was also the official start day of my studies for it.My intention is to keep