Yeah, Google does some pretty great stuff.  I wish they’d update the maps a little quicker, but it’s still the map app I use.

Btw, good work on your studying & stuff, keep it up!  Additionally, you may appreciate this link: https://www.j-central.net/  They’ll send you a copy of “JunOS Enterprise Routing” completely free, no shipping charge even.  Mine finally came in the mail yesterday, it’s great!

hey you have to tell me what you used foryou posts? I mean what do yu use to make them up? what program you dont just use the one given wordpress do you??? and what do you use to make your topologies and your command line code snippets???? and you use Arial font like size 12 or 14? thanks
let me know dude please this is the 3rd time I have asked you turkey please let me know i want to make my posts as nice as yours thanks l;)
itdaddy

In a way the feeling of guilt is a motivation in itself, and Im sure u will use the guilt to do whatever you can to progress your studies.

You can do this!

Keep pressing on.  It’s all downhill after the BSCI.

Robert (itdaddy)

If you like MRTG, be sure and check out cacti (http://www.cacti.net/).  It does pretty much the same things as MRTG, but it’s much easier to set up and configure (completely web-based).

Good luck on your continued studies,
Jeremy

Bruce: I appreciate the link. I’ve actually been visiting that site for quite a while now. I assume you’re into Cisco, or at least networking. Keep checking back every now and then. I should have more updates later on what I think about dynataz/slitaz.

Justin: Thanks bro!
About the GNS3, I’ll check it out. I’ve been meaning to for a while but right now I’m so entrenched on using Dynagen that I’m a bit reluctant to switch. Although everything I’ve read about it so far has been better that what Dynagen seem to be able to do. I’ll find out this week because I’m planning on attending a local Cisco Users group on Thur night and someone is supposed to be presenting on GNS3.

If you haven’t already, check out GNS3. (http://www.gns3.net/)  It’s a graphical front-end for Dynampis. =)

Thanks for stopping and good luck with the CCIE. I”ve added you to my RSS reader so I’ll be following your journey.

PS Too bad you won’t be at the USC game. I hope it’s not a scorcher, it’s been hot lately.

I can understand the frustration with Nagios, I tried a home install a ways back (read before I knew what I was doing) that didn’t go so well; however, we’re successfully using it (across multiple servers) to monitor something like 15,000 nodes (no one ever gives me an accurate count).  We don’t get too tricky with it, just ping and SNMP; however, if all you’re looking for is up down, including interface status, with notifications it’ll definitely get you squared away.  There’s even a quick install guide, or something along those lines, on their site.

Oh, and congrats on the 100th post!

My boss tried installing nagios two years ago but it didn’t work. I think he was trying to get too complicated before even getting to the basic installation first. So in turn, that kinda scared me off of nagios. Plus, my understanding was nagios was really designed better for monitoring services on host computers and servers (I don’t know). But it’s certainly worth a try.

http://www.cacti.net/

For your bandwidth / traffic monitoring.  We use it, and it’s pretty slick.  If you’re thinking about getting some network monitoring setup, and wanting to go the FOSS route, I’d look into Nagios.

http://www.nagios.org/

Great work on everything else, keep it up!

Otherwise, what do the EdgeMarc Advanced->IKE-Proposal settings look like (i.e. 3DES-SHA1-MODP1024)?  Not sure how late/long you were working on this, but are you certain both sides match?

HTH,
B-

ne ways good luck …

regards
rakesh

G/l figuring it out!

Suffah: Hehe.. It wasn’t that bad really. At that moment I really wanted to jump at the opportunity and I was so focused that the whole day all I did was troubleshoot and configure. And each time I got closer I felt more and more motivated.
As far as how I stand, he hasn’t really said anything to me. Yesterday he was acting like nothing ever transpired. But then again he was also extremely busy because our CEO was in town. I’m sure he’s cool about everything and he’ll surely give me some props later. Maybe

It always amazes me when I sneak in a “oh, well you missed that” on our engineers, it’s amazing what extra eyes can do.

Good work, keep it up!

Maybe one day we can play ball somewhere. Recently I’ve been playing in the Diamond Bar City league with some long time church friends. We’ve played in Ontario city leagues as well , and other bball leagues around north Orange County (e.g. Anaheim, Yorba Linda, etc.)

Carl: I appreciate the link. I did find that article a while back (in fact I wrote about it on another post ) But I appreciate you lookin’ out.

It’s kind of a bummer though that I might not get to implement it after all. My boss keeps changing his mind. We used to have it configured for our routers and I was fortunate enough to see the configuration and analyzed it. I did learn a pretty good amount - although it’s nothing close to mastery or even familiarity. I think I can recognize the configuration though if I see it again.  When time permits, I definitely want to lab it up especially that it has piqued my interest ten fold when I first thought that I would get to help implement it.

http://blog.internetworkexpert.com/2008/08/02/dmvpn-explained/

Wow, when you said you were in SoCal I didn’t realize you were out in the Inland Empire area.  I was actually going to ask where do you play b-ball.  As for me, I live up in the Stevenson Ranch area, work in Burbank, and play ball everywhere (i.e. Santa Monica, West Covina, Calabasas, etc.).  I have a client out your way though so if and when they require my physical presence, I’ll be sure to hit you up when I’m in your neck of the woods.

Suffah: Yeah, I’m really glad that this opportunity landed on my lap. You’re right, it is an extra motivation to keep studying. And the great thing is that the studying is very interactive in that what I’m actually studying is something I’m able to apply in the real world right away. Sure, I’ve put some of my BSCI studies on the side in favor of learning about VPNs. But I still am using a lot of what I’ve been learning about routing and general IOS concepts.

Funny thing is, for the past 6 months I’ve been trying to find a way to “get things moving in the right direction” as you put it. I’ve been at my present company for 2 years and the most challenging thing I’ve done so far is change the toner on our laser printers - a little bit of a hyperbole but you get the point. I’ve seriously considered finding a job that pays much less if it meant I would get the opportunity to work on any part of a network. This opportunity couldn’t have come in a better time.

And yeah, you need to update!

Does your internal ‘routing device’ behind the firewall know how to get back to your client vpn pool?

I’m actually in the exact opposite situation at work now and I have taken some drastic actions to get things moving in the right direction.  I really need to update the blog!

However, the way ours is setup is that the router is connected to the outside world and traffic is passed to the Pix and the pix is connected to a Catalyst 4500 where the rest of the local network reside.

I’ll try to get a diagram so you get a better picture of the scenario

w/b

@CCIE Journey: I can’t believe you got a free XBox 360 from IE. I hear ya about getting rid of that thing. It sure is a good way to derail you from your studying. As we speak I have completed the CoD4 and working my way through Battlefield. Geez! I would’ve done me good if I’ve actually gone through InternetworkExpert’s COD rather than the other CoD (Call of Duty)

@Steve: Hey Steve! We actually planned on spending some time in the Gas Lamp district but since this vacation was a time to just relax and be lazy, we were too lazy to go. So we ended up lounging around the hotel and eating a lot. It was a more preferable alternative than fighting through traffic and worrying about parking and walking around. We have a year pass to Sea World and we’ve been there twice in the last six months so we decided to forgo that trip and go to legoland instead.

my 2.3 cents worth

see you at the top G!
Robert;)

I don’t handwrite my notes. First I read a section of the book. Then I go back again and start taking notes on what I just read. Usually I let a day or two go by after the first pass before going back and re-read and take notes. My notes pretty much rehashes the materials I just read. Sometimes I reword everything and sometimes I just copy exactly what’s written on the pages. But I write them in a layout different from how the book has it. You will notice most of notes are in outline formats. I’ve found it useful before when studying for CCNA. I printed out all my write-ups and was very useful for review.

The goal really is to go through the book slow enough to get a better understanding. Writing it down forces me to slow down the learning process. Oftentimes I find myself having read an entire chapter without remembering what I just read.

So does it take a lot of time? You betcha! It’s a very slow process. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re under a deadline. This post alone took a good days work. The screenshots you see above are from my own lab set up I created. So part of my reading/note-taking process is to lab-up some scenarios and take some screenshots of some output. I haven’t mastered image manipulation so that alone takes time.

But if you and others find it “highly valuable”, its worth all the effort. Not to mention some knowledge I gain here and there

I’m trying to get a feel on the best way to go about note taking.

-True

I haven’t decided if I will post the whole schedule all at once or post up week by week schedule. So far I have a set schedule until the end of this week. I’m going to have to re-do the rest after I’m done with this weeks material.

I’ll try to post up this weeks’ schedule between today and tomorrow. Please come by often and let me know how you’re doing in your studies.

Isn’t it funny? I kinda get the same effect. Even though I read the stuff and write notes on them myself, reading other people talk/write about the same concept somehow help hammer in the information. It doesn’t matter if what other people wrote is exactly the same concept I just wrote/read about. It’s strange that way I guess.

@suffah: You’re somewhat right in that I’m very pre-occupied with work. Actually I’m learning all about IPsec/GRE VPNs at the moment, while still trying to keep up with my BSCI studies. The cool things is that learning about the VPN stuff is easier because I actually have a real world scenario against which I can compare and test what I’m learning. I also get to apply what I’m learning about routing, specifically OSPF - that’s what we use at work.

As with your promotion, that would be wicked cool handling WAN and VPN for multiple sites. Throw in VOIP too. Two or three years doing that and you’ll look back and laugh at how easy things seem from when you were just starting - at least I think so. You must be excited. I would be. Crossing my fingers that you get your promotion sooner than later

@Michael: I hope you didn’t misunderstand. I don’t mean to imply that I am losing steam towards my goals. I’m still very motivated. In fact too motivated to press on that, like you, I tend to jump to other subjects because I’m just too excited to learn everything at once.

You’re right about the unreasonable expectation of mastering something within a limited amount of time. With the time frame I’ve given myself, there’s no way I can really master the subject. But I believe that there’s a point where you can get yourself just familiar enough with the subject that you can pass a test as well as perform a job competently, without actually being a master of it, and still feel good about not short-changing myself. So I think I’m starting to feel a resolve that that might be what I have to do. I have plenty of time to master the subject long after I’ve attained a CCNP, or even a CCIE.

@Carl: Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a profound quote. I was thinking about it the other night you left the comment while I was up at 1:30am still pluggin away on a simple EIGRP lab I think it’s very telling of how we, as professional, toil all day at work, take care of our families, and yet still plow through mountains of learning materials just to set ourselves apart from the average and mediocre. Yeah, someday I’d like to reach that height that Henry Wadsworth is speaking of.

@Deon: Hey Deon Botha, my brotha from another motha and fatha. Haha! Sorry couldn’t resist.

I have to be honest with you, sometimes I do feel that I’m trying to compete with others when trying to complete my cert. It’s one of those things that come and go. And you try to tell yourself that you shouldn’t think about how fast others are attaining their certs. But sometimes you question yourself how in the world these guys are able to finish their certs in such a quick manner. You get curious and want to know how they did it, what books they read, how many hours a day they studied. I guess it’s just human nature. But for the most part I’ve done pretty well managing those doubts and questions and not to let them get to me.

The upside of it is that, a little competition can be healthy in that it forces you to keep up. It’s never good to feel too comfortable with your methods otherwise things become bland. The proverbial carrot on a stick (pun aside!) keeps your feet moving and keeps you motivated.

Something I try and keep in mind, somewhat successfully and unsuccessfully at times is that certifications and me getting certified isn’t a race with anyone.

Sometimes life and work just takes priority for a while and then its back to the grind stone and the books after things are sorted out again.

Best of luck bud and go get em. Last year about this time I had to configure CME from scratch and I had no clue where to start.

Let me share you one of my favorite quote:

“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

   I had false expectation thinking I’ll master this in a certain time which only let the air out after I read a few chapters of Cisco Authorized study guide for BSCI. I had to go back to what I’m familiar with, an instructor type teaching along with his reading material. Thats where Chris Bryant and his line of CCNP level training came in. I bought his ultimate study guide which takes you what you need to learn for the exam and for real world practice. Now in no way am I promoting his website or material but I know what works for me and reading chapters and chapters of CISCO material bores me, I need to see it and then read what I need to know to get back in the game. I refuse to read a book that goes so deep into OSPF that after you read it you look up with that deer in the headlight look and you’re back at ground zero all over again. So with that said, you’re a smart guy take your time and dont try to be the master of this, like chris says, take each part and understand it then go on, we dont have a time table to figure this out so with this said I’ll be scheduling my exam when I’m ready…

  take care friend and I’m sure you’ll find the answer to what you’re looking for…

Gonna be taking my S+ sometime in the next little while, so hopefully I can start really plugging away with my CCIP from there.

The CCNA covers a much broader spectrum, and tries to fit in as much as possible in those two (or one ^.^) tests; whereas, the CCNP/IP/whatever flavor you prefer, seems to take the time to be certain to get the point across, and verify that you have a fairly thorough understanding of the topics at hand.  As such, the studying is more intense, the going can be slower, etc.  Just keep hangin in there, you’re definitely on your way!

Regarding #5:  Very cool man, glad to hear that.  I’m actually supposed to be getting a promotion sometime in the near future myself, to Network Engineer…handling the WAN & VPNs for 5-15 companies could be kinda fun.  I’ve been told I’ll be able to get extremely hands on with VoIP as well, which is a big boon.  I’m sure you’ll do very well with your prospect, and will be a tunnel building machine!

As far as setup that I can suggest, I may not be the best person to ask. But I can tell you that with equipment you have you may be able to lab out this practice lab I did with dynamips, but using your own equipment.

With the 4 a/s that you have, and the 4 WICs on the 1700s, I’m assuming you’re referring to a NM-4A/S and WIC-1Ts. If that’s the case, you can definitely create a nice hub-and-spoke topology with that and should be good for frame relay (can anyone reading this confirm that?) Come to think of it, I should drop dynamips for a few nights and implement that with my real lab at home. I bought them, might as well put them to more use

Joey: I feel better now that you mentioned your co-workers. I guess as long as you know what you mean even though you say something else that would be ok… i think :-\

I work with a few guys that are CCIE capable (they hold some odd, bitter grudge against Cisco) and still get the these terms wrong or mixed up.

To be honest, I’ve thought about cutting down on my note taking and focus a little bit more on speeding up my studying (it does drag down the process a bit). But I figured, this is my style and I’ve heard from others that it helped them in terms of being able to have access to a quick review guide.

I guess we can consider that as my little contribution to the Cisco/networking world. “Cause Lord knows other bloggers had the same effect on me in terms of helping motivate me.

Anyway congrats on passing and come by often and let us know your progress.

I’ve been following your blog for the last couple of months and today I finally sat and passed my CCENT exam! huzzah for me!! Got an 844 which im very happy with, anyway I just wanted to say thanks to you for putting your time into the blog and for helping me stay focused enough to begin the CC** exam route, which I’ve been putting off for years now (literally).

Keep up the good work, alot of people are following behind you trying to catch up!

Your work is very much appreciated even if people dont say it often!

By applying variance 2 command on RouterE, the path through router E meets the feasibility conditions.

I think you meant “router B meets the feasibility conditions.”

Thanks,
Hom

Lets not forget Route my world in the list!

Keep well m8

I’m definitely going to be modifying it a lot. I haven’t even done any of the labs because I’m already behind my readings. The only consolation, if you can call it that, is that I know how much I have to catch up on just to stay within my schedule.

However, I’m putting more emphasis on getting a solid understanding of the materials over following my schedule - that’s why I’m behind. I don’t plan to stay strictly on my schedule just for the sake of being on schedule. I use it to give me a clear direction and if I stray a little bit, it’s OK for me. I’m just trying to make sure, though, that I don’t give myself too much excuses and never moving on.