Blessay: My Life of Study – Planning, Tips and Thoughts

I was asked how I organise myself to study, and how do I make time. It not really easy to write it out because I make choices that suit my life, but if someone wants my recommendations or suggestions, here they are.

More Racks From InternetExpert – Better Time Slots

Internetwork Expert has announced more lab racks coming online in November. Most important is the new time slots which recognise that not every customer lives in America and will suit more customers globally.

Blog:Considering CCIE Security Training Material

I am seriously considering whether to undertake my second CCIE exam by doing the CCIE Security. Since the credit crunch has created a downturn in the market it is the best time to study. I am reviewing the training resources available and deciding which products might be worth purchasing.

Blessay: IT Training Lessons From the Olympics

While the current Olympics is about as interesting as reviewing firewall rules, the current success of first world nations shows that money CAN buy you success. I’m hoping IT Managers can learn training lessons from this.

On Passing My CCIE Exam in 2001 – Day Two

So its the second day, I haven’t slept much. I am stressed. I ring the family to check that everything is fine, and get ready to go for the second round.

On My CCIE Lab Exam in 2001 – Day One

When I passed my CCIE in 2001, I remember both the jubilation and exhaustion of the moment. Also the loneliness, after all, my wife and children had been without a functional partner and father for more than year, and they were not there with me at the final moment.

Let me explain.

What Is a CCIE ?

Originally published at Techtarget when I sent it to them for fun. Reproduced here because I wrote it, and it still seems funny today. Note it is derivative from some joke that was around at the time.

Interestingly, much of the puns on CCIE study topics are forgotten technology as modern CCIE’s no longer study Token Ring, DLSW, Appletalk and other fine technologies.

IOS: Reverse SSH Console Access

I recently needed to secure the reverse console access using Cisco IOS router. Now for many years, we have been doing this over telnet and the configuration has been straightforward. But configuring it to support SSH instead of telnet is a little bit different, awkward in fact.

Single Internet Connection but HA Infrastructure – Using Bridging Instead of Routing

The customer had decided to build a hosting platform, but could only arrange for a single internet connection to that site due to location. However, all other hardware was duplicated for high availability. After considering the options the following diagram was prepared showing the first pass at the design. This was the Internet Connection (100Mb Ethernet) connected to the router, then connected to a switch, which was interconnected by trunk to a second switch. The first layer of firewalls is then connected.

Reserved IP Address Range for Testing – RFC 2544

I have been looking at a multi host data centre and am using MPLS to securely share certain resources and considering what architecture considerations for Network Management. Lets define the problem. Network Management is software and servers that collect data from my network equipment and presents it to me in some useful form. Add to [...]