Short update

Its been a long time since my last update. I apologise for this. It wasnt my intention, it just sort of happened. In the meantime I have tried the CCIE SP lab and didnt pass it, so I am still studying for my next attempt which is comming up shortly.
Read more...

ISIS csnp-interval

The CSNP on multiaccess networks The CSNP (Complete Sequence Number PDU) on multi-access networks is being sent out on behalf of the DIS (Designated Intermediate System), which acts as the pseudonode representing the multi-access network. Its being used as ISIS’s way of making sure everybody on the multi-access network is up to date.
Read more...

First take on SDN

I have been very quiet when it comes to the topic of SDN (Software Defined Networking). However, these days you can hardly go through your day without spotting an article about it. The reason I have been quiet is pretty simple.
Read more...

Becomming Zen'ish?

Wow. The other day, someone posted a link to [zenhabits.net]. and I was hooked right away. The entire idea around being “Zen’ish” really appeals to me on a fundamental level. I like the idea behind it, i like what it entails, i like the discipline and i like the calmness.
Read more...

Cisco to sell Linksys to Belkin.

Yesterday it was announced that Belkin intends to purchase the Linksys division of Cisco’s hands. I for one, am very happy to see this happen. I think that for Cisco to be really great, it needs to focus on its core competencies, which does not include home networking equipment.
Read more...

Time to put the beans to rest

Yesterday brought with it another Java security breach. It is security breach that doesnt yet have a fix for it (0-day), so short of disabling Java on your computer, you are out of luck. Im continually amazed that we keep running this piece of software, but I guess I shouldnt be, given people’s track record of running insecure software (think older Internet Explorer browsers on windows).
Read more...

Done with volume 1 labs.

I have now finished the Narbik Volume 1 labs. It took about 2,5 weeks to do. Im planning on spending a bit more time on the Volume 2 labs. Maybe about 3-4 weeks. I want to make sure i got all the foundational stuff down before advancing to some more complex labs.
Read more...

Frame-Relay PVC bundle

In this short piece i would like to show how Frame-Relay PVC bundles work. A PVC bundle is exactly what the name says. Its a bundle of PVC’s, with each PVC handling a certain Precedence, MPLS EXP or DSCP. A requirement for the PVC bundle is that all IP Precedence or DSCP values will be handled by one of the PVC’s, so you need to set the “default” PVC unless
Read more...

Recertified & Plan

I have recertified by doing the SP written exam. Took me a while, but now its done. My plan is to hit the labs, starting with Narbik’s SP workbook, working my way through that one. That should keep me occupied for quite a while.
Read more...

The saga will continue

Sorry for the lack of contents lately. I am dealing with some personal issues that put a bit of a pause to my studies. As soon as I’m fit for it I will put up some stuff related to the SP space.
Read more...

Why setting goals does matter.

Today I came across a blog post from a guy which I respect deeply. However, I disagree wholeheartedly with the content in the post. The title says: “That Setting Yourself Goals is Practising Failure” and the entire post can be found here.
Read more...

Gold Nugget's, courtesy of Arista

I think the video below is worth going through for a couple of reasons. First off, it explains one networking company’s strategy towards SDN (Software Defined Networking). Its a great academic concept with lots of potential. However there’s no real push for it from customers (at least the customer base of Arista).
Read more...

Service Provider emulation of a frame-relay network using MPLS.

One of the cool things about MPLS is its versatility. In this post i will show how its possible for a service provider to support legacy frame-relay installations without actually having any frame-relay switches. I will establish an MPLS core and show how a customer with three sites, one hub site and two spoke sites, will never even know that the core is running MPLS and not end-to-end frame-relay.
Read more...

1st Batch of books.

I have ordered the first batch of books for the CCIE SP track. They are: Traffic Engineering with MPLS Cisco IOS-XR Fundamentals MPLS-Enabled Applications: Emerging Developments and New Technologies MPLS Configuration on Cisco IOS Software I was hoping that you could get them all as eBooks, but as it turns out, i can get some of them as eBooks through Kindle and some through Cisco Press PDF’s and others i could only get as hard copies.
Read more...

Week on the wire – Week 10.

I think one of the most important things this to happen this week, was a public announcement from the boss of TeliaSonera. He announced that they would in the near future, start to charge people for any VoIP calls they would make through their broadband services.
Read more...

Week on the wire – Week 7.

A couple of things i have found interesting this week. The first one is that Intel is still in the game for making NIC’s. Even though they are doing some good ones in the server space, this batch seems to be targeted at the entry-level.
Read more...

Redundancy for small sites.

We are working with alot of customers having lots of small “sites”, meaning that each site range from having 1 to 20 devices. The devices can be a user workstation or it can be some sort of automatic equipment having a VPN tunnel back to the main headquarter.
Read more...

Cloud enabled task management.

Finally. I have been using Things as my task management program for about 5-6 months. Its been better than not using anything at all, but what has really annoyed me quite heavily is its inability to do “Cloud” synchronization. The only form of synchronization from Things is through your wireless network.
Read more...