IPSec VPN’s – Part 2

So today I have read a couple of more chapters about IPSec and GRE (Generic Routing Encapsulation). I have also watched quite alot of CBT on IPSec VPN’s, which really helped clarify somethings. But I also really think its a hard topic to get to grips with, especially since you only get “half of the story”.
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IPSec VPN's.

Im studying IPSec VPN’s at the moment. There’s alot of terms, protocols and exchanges taking place, and they all use names thats really hard to tie together with what they are doing 🙂 Isakmp for example, what does that do? well, it stands for Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol.
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ISCW started

So I just started work toward the ISCW. The lab book for this is huge, so I think its going to be alot of lab work, and alot of lookups on Cisco’s doc site for further information. My reason for this thinking is the lack of a self-study guide for the ISCW exam.
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Passed BCMSN

Thankfully I passed BCMSN. Thank god. It was driving me nuts. Passed with an 864, which im satisfied with. I am thinking about my study technique for the ISCW. I need to see if I can structure it somewhat better than BCMSN, where I ended up reading some topics over and over again.
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Trying some reading.

I am trying to get some reading done, even though its extremely hard when im still sick. However, I only got about 5 chapters left in the examination guide. hopefully I can finish them soon, and do some of the last case studies in the lab book.
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Sick at the moment.

Sorry for the non-posts. I am quite sick at the moment. Some stomach issues that apparently takes its time to settle. I was hospitalized 10 days ago, but got out the next day. Since then, I have not been to work or been doing anything at all actually.
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Lack of the right equipment.

Lately I have been in the need of the right equipment for quite a few labs. What I really need is some equipment that is able to do both Dynamic Arp Inspection (DAI) and IP Source Guard (IPSG). The dynamic arp part is supported on 3550’s as far as I can see, but IPSG is not.
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L2 security…

Been reading the study guide about L2 security. You can really mess up a whole network very simply, and you can basically take down the whole thing pretty easily if your switches are not configured correctly. There was also alot of things about IP spoofing and ARP spoofing.
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Gateway Redundancy.. Awesome

So im studying redundancy features, especially gateway redundancy features. I think this is some impressing technology. Basically there are three versions, HSRP (cisco proprietary), VRRP (IEEE Standard) and GLBP (cisco proprietary). HSRP was introduced in 1994, and VRRP in 1999, GLBP is alot newer, introduced in 2005.
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CEF – A topic in disguise

Been reading about CEF yesterday. It doesnt take up much of the exam blueprint, nor CBT nuggets coverage of it. However, it seems that theres more to this than what meets the eye. I also need to figure out what CEF is doing in routers.
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Inter-Vlan connectivity and enhancing switch features.

Today I have spent about 2,5 hours studying different features that enhances the switched network. This includes labbing up BPDU guard, Loop guard, UDLD Aggressive mode, BPDU filtering. Also I find the automatic error recovery feature very interesting. You can set certain causes to put an interface into the errdisabled state.
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Spanning-tree issues.

I have been working my a** off trying to understand STP just fairly well. Its a hard topic, especially with Rapid STP. I have struggled with the synchronisation/proposal/agreement thing. It has helped seeing it on the equipment though. An alternate port can be switched to immediately.
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(3) EIGRP – Labs

So yesterday, I started with all the lab exercises that has to do with EIGRP. I did the one in the self-study guide, and one (2.7.1) in the lab portfolio. I also started on 2.7.2. So far, the labs in the labportfolio are far better written than the ones in the self-study guide.
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(3) EIGRP – Note taking

Alright, I am done with reading about EIGRP. I am now skimming through the chapter, and taking notes. I have an okay understanding of how EIGRP works, and I am looking forward to the labs to nail out unknowns. I am not 100% convinced about taking notes, or rather doing it in the order im doing (reading first, then skimming and taking notes, then going to the lab).
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(3) EIGRP Reading

Chapter 3, EIGRP. Started reading about the inner workings of EIGRP today. EIGRP is an improved distance vector protocol provided by Cisco themselves. It is an improved distance vector protocol, because it passes updates directly to its neighbours. It is more advanced than traditional distance vector protocols, because it supports VLSM and it does not use periodic updates.
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What a smock!

I read on Slashdot today, that a “Jack Thompson“, walked out of court, apparently because he was being disbarred for 10 years. I couldnt quite remember who he was, but then it dawned upon me, he’s the smock thats been trying to ban what he thinks are violent games, because he’s of the opinion they are bad for society.
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Learning – Howto?

Since starting my now almost infamous Cisco course, I have become very interested in ways to learn new material. How do you plan out a semester, how do you organize a study schedule, where do you study? what kind of tools do you use to get you through it all?
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Republicans owning the election so far

This is another great strategic move by the republican party. Let the two democrats fight against each other all they can, while taking focus of John McCain. Then when the real election cycle begins, they can put credibility behind a claim that the democratic candidates are focusing more on getting elected than the real issues, and they dont have a clear focus on solving the problems that the United States faces.
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iPhone + dent

I watched an iPhone get a dent yesterday. Not a pretty sight. It was my girlfriends iPhone. She dropped it on the floor, and unfortunally it landed on the edge of a doorstep, causing it to get a dent. Nothing wrong with the glass surface or function of the phone at all.
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Trip to China cut short.

Trip to China cut short. For some reason I fell sick in Amsterdam and had to go back to Denmark. Im out sick until friday where I will get to see my doctor. Im quite convinced that what I experienced was a panic attack that just wouldnt go away for some reason.
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Going on a trip.

I will be leaving for China tomorrow. Will be going with my favorite coworker, along with my boss, his boss and bookkeeping guy. We will travel from Billund to Amsterdam, and then from Amsterdam to Shanghai. Alot of flying. I will be back friday night.
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