tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60093523231338768052024-03-05T21:51:23.947-06:00Shawn Moore's IT TrekA personal detailed view of a journey of acquiring IT certifications and career progression.Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.comBlogger248125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-53125527197368743172022-03-12T18:24:00.003-06:002022-03-13T13:20:41.587-05:00The Cloud Resume Challenge<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> I haven't posted in many years but I'm still very much involved in tech. Lots of things have changed over the years, especially tech roles. When I first started this blog, Cisco and network engineering was the hottest thing around (<i>hence the name</i>). But now many IT roles are merging into one. With most having some form of automation, cloud, coding, or combination of the three as a rule.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm still continuing my education including deep-diving into coding, cloud, and automation. After hundreds of hours and dollars spent, I knew that I needed a way to showcase my latest skillsets. Doing a quick search I came across a challenge that would do just that, the <a href="https://cloudresumechallenge.dev/" target="_blank">Cloud Resume Challenge</a>.</span></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Completed design for <a href="https://shawnmooreresume.com">shawnmooreresume.com</a></span></span></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6lRpVxgXVqyI0oEMgR_w76tl_HAl0KMUHVgtOhXxJHDLYQc_XjxtytXYiEBcl7AfWWhCItyEXY8NxhIwFXss3aytqIMgw7PPn1OQmJINg_Zd_x35acN_PU_OA062rKR2DjMEjquYdOTlsyCAvBRKa6GF4SvU4z6_zUsLq4-tEKfSH5z1h5-gwJ9Ka=s1792" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1792" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6lRpVxgXVqyI0oEMgR_w76tl_HAl0KMUHVgtOhXxJHDLYQc_XjxtytXYiEBcl7AfWWhCItyEXY8NxhIwFXss3aytqIMgw7PPn1OQmJINg_Zd_x35acN_PU_OA062rKR2DjMEjquYdOTlsyCAvBRKa6GF4SvU4z6_zUsLq4-tEKfSH5z1h5-gwJ9Ka=w568-h338" title="Final AWS Cloud Resume Design" width="568" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">To preface, the Cloud Resume Challenge touches upon many skills a cloud or DevOps engineer will come across. Yet, some areas of the challenge dig deeper into the skill set than others. For example, creating parts of the Front End takes a shorter amount of time than some of the back-end steps. So even after the challenge is completed, it's the tip of the iceberg for some of the tech you'll touch compared to others. It's a great way to showcase your cloud skills along with your resume of work as well.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Designing the Front End</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The first part of the challenge is essentially to map out how you're going to tackle it and which order. Including which cloud provider you're going to target, I chose AWS. Since I work with Azure daily, I typically go out of my way to experiment with AWS to keep my multi-cloud toolset sharp. There are 16 tasks and after you read through them, it makes sense to complete certain tasks before others. Other times it makes sense to attempt to start tasks simultaneously. For me, I completed the majority of the challenges in order in 3 multi-part sections.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The first set of tasks was to create the front-end, which was more of a creative exercise than anything. This consisted of buying a domain name (<a href="https://shawnmooreresume.com">shawnmooreresume.com</a>). Uploading your HTML and CSS code to S3. Then finally deploy your code to CloudFront for all to see. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The trickiest part for me was CloudFront, due to needing an SSL certificate installed with the right format. I had to scrap my CloudFront distributions multiple times before realizing that my Route53 DNS config was still pointing at my S3 bucket during my testing and not CloudFront. The second hardest part for me was getting a visitor counter working with Javascript. This is due to me not knowing Javascript code, so it was trial and error.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIWAGJWPa0UboMUkBAnAwTEFTF8X73G54Y0XNbd0yRH4NqUgi0Hmwn2SLsfOC9-00NzBmXfZhJ7qWm1uFTFBdR-ndekQF0QaiUupxbWyUY_W4MNxdJQ0SHguUcwhnJb6fjP9MP0fh8cRUpfgyKBTHwD7EBanfAAo2ij0BXKvMjPdFFavAAkDAqo6Ow=s3088" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2056" data-original-width="3088" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIWAGJWPa0UboMUkBAnAwTEFTF8X73G54Y0XNbd0yRH4NqUgi0Hmwn2SLsfOC9-00NzBmXfZhJ7qWm1uFTFBdR-ndekQF0QaiUupxbWyUY_W4MNxdJQ0SHguUcwhnJb6fjP9MP0fh8cRUpfgyKBTHwD7EBanfAAo2ij0BXKvMjPdFFavAAkDAqo6Ow=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Designing the Back End</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It took me a week to knock out the front-end part of the challenge. Once finished, it was time to dive into the meat of the challenge, the back-end design. This involves getting 4 of the challenge tasks (<i>Tasks 7-10</i>) to work together in harmony. You're essentially getting the front-end to talk to the far back-end database and vice versa. The hardest part for me was gluing the two together.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I started with task 8, building the DynamoDB database since it can be completed standalone. The database is a small two-row table that handles storing the visitor counter. It took a few tries to get the partition key and visitor item sorted in the right format. Rather than looking at the table items left to right format, it made more sense when I thought of the table in top-down format.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I then circled back to step 7 and tested incrementing the visitor counter using JavaScript. My method was getting the counter working on its own, without the use of any database. Instead, JavaScript used the user device's local storage cache to keep track of their visits to the site. Once this was sorted, it was now time to get the glue between the JavaScript and DynamoDB working.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I split the glue between two tasks. First I needed to get Lambda configured to invoke a response back from DynamoDB. Most of my time was spent here coding Python. After many tests and failures, I learned that the code needed was simpler than I initially made it out to be. All that's needed is some sort of counter loop that increments on each initiation to DynamoDB. With the use of the Boto3 module, it was straightforward to get a return response back that could be sent to JavaScript.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Once Lambda to DynamoDB was sorted, the last piece was to connect JavaScript to Lambda. With the use of an API, we can simply accomplish this request. The AWS API Gateway is a Wizard-ish-like service that allows you to create the API needed. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">After testing API to Lambda, then Lambda to DynamoDB, the last step is to update our JavaScript to invoke the API rather than the user's local device to get and update the visitor counter. I had the most trouble getting the counter display on my webpage to show the right key value. After many hours of trial-and-error, I nailed this down and my website was working as designed.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9aP6uBvmQRS6ui2aBDTBzCr2OnHe9-7paiSl1FWAOvr6lVs9s2jlOlyjcjYLOfrZRqqC1AAEMyWd4OvpgB6-K36uHNe7QSse4C4Z5zO1YTfbnP9I26gOoQQ2cW-gwrAs1E8j5uItEh7wRYsDe_tzHcGz10IofpwFIgJGOb2ju7Co6SRaV778UBXAf=s5404" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3603" data-original-width="5404" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9aP6uBvmQRS6ui2aBDTBzCr2OnHe9-7paiSl1FWAOvr6lVs9s2jlOlyjcjYLOfrZRqqC1AAEMyWd4OvpgB6-K36uHNe7QSse4C4Z5zO1YTfbnP9I26gOoQQ2cW-gwrAs1E8j5uItEh7wRYsDe_tzHcGz10IofpwFIgJGOb2ju7Co6SRaV778UBXAf=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Completing the Final Steps</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">With a fully functioning serverless resume website, it can be very tempting to skip the last handful of steps. But there's a lot of value in at least investigating and researching the topics at hand. I'll be honest, code testing is where I have the most trouble. I understand the many methods of testing (<i>unit, integration, etc</i>) and even create sample tests, but I have difficulty applying them to my environment. At some point, I'll come back and focus on cleaning up the Smoke Tests environment.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Automation is the goal of the final few steps, including turning your architecture into repeatable and deployable code (<i>IaaS</i>). I'm guilty of not finishing this part yet either. The IaaS portion calls for using AWS SAM templates. However, I've been picking up Terraform in my spare time and will go this route. If you check my <a href="https://github.com/mooreatx">GitHub</a>, you'll see that I've built out an Apache web server front-end and back-end template with Terraform.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Setting up the GitHub repository and GitHub Actions was a straightforward process. There are many examples out there on how to set up a runner to deploy your config to AWS with less than 30 lines of code. The idea is to <b><u><span style="color: red;">NOT</span></u></b> store your secrets or access keys directly in code. Instead you'll want to use environment variables and take advantage of GitHub's ability to store these credentials.</span></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Summary</span></h4><div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Check out my resume website <a href="https://shawnmooreresume.com">shawnmooreresume.com</a> to see the final results. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9); white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Note the visitor counter at the bottom of the web page. The visitor counter displays the latest hit count stored in the DynamoDB table.</span></span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The final step is what you're reading now, create a blog post! Blogging has always helped me recap what I learned along with confirming my understanding of the material. I recommend you do the same as well if time permits, it's surprising how much you can recall once you start typing it out into a post. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I hope this overview was helpful to you as it was to me, let me know if you're thinking about taking the </span><a href="https://cloudresumechallenge.dev/" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Cloud Resume Challenge</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> as well below in the comments. Until next time.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-50083705685559775852018-05-01T06:36:00.000-05:002018-05-01T06:36:01.435-05:00Cert Passed - AWS Solutions Architect AssociateI was able to get through my first AWS certification yesterday with a successful pass. The test experience was quite a bit different from a Cisco or even Juniper certification. Typically when I sit for a test, the testing software has a bit of lag due to the low spec computers test centers use. This wasn't the case with the exam, it was very intuitive and no scary moments where I thought hitting the next button would cause the entire PC to melt down. Also unlike Cisco exams we have the ability to flag questions and go back to them to review, Juniper provides this same feature as well.<br />
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Overall the exam was fair but it is without a doubt a mile wide and an inch deep (maybe two). Also this exam is a recently released new version which focuses more on scenario based questions rather than true/false questions, etc. The biggest difficulty for me was answering questions around topics I was not familiar with due to my study process or technologies I wasn't uncomfortable enough around. Such as API security features within AWS.<br />
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If I had once piece of advise, it would be to take a look at the <a href="https://acloud.guru/" target="_blank">acloudguru</a> course. That covered 80% of the material needed even for this new test version. My plans now are to focus time on family and my career for the remainder of 2018. Next year I'm going to take a hard look at continuing my college education. More specifically a Bachelor's in Cyber Security of some form.<br />
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With that said, what are your certification/education goals for this yeat?Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-53090819201083838292018-01-22T13:45:00.000-06:002018-02-01T16:06:14.130-06:00What is AWS Direct Connect?As I study for the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1119138558/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1119138558&linkCode=am2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=fb238b0d067fbed84dbafe302086609a" target="_blank">AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1119138558" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, one service that stood out to me was AWS Direct Connect. I didn't completely understand how it differed from a VPN connection or its use case. Here are a few high points about this service:<br />
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<li>Provides a direct connection between your internal network and AWS environment.</li>
<li>The connection is made using either 1Gb or 10Gb Ethernet Fiber.</li>
<li>Uses both 802.1Q VLANs and BGP routing protocol</li>
<li>Supports IPv4 and IPv6 addressing. However the maximum MTU size supported is 1522 bytes (<i>14 bytes ethernet header + 4 bytes VLAN tag + 1500 bytes IP datagram + 4 bytes FCS</i>).</li>
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Interesting, it seems as if this direct connection is some type of VRF connection between the on-premise environment and AWS. You essentially have your router directly connect to an AWS router in a specific region via Fiber. This seems to come with a lot of caveats as you can probably see. How do you go about running fiber from your router to an AWS router? Well one requirement is that your network is collocated with an AWS Direct Connect location. You can use this link for current Direct Connect locations:</div>
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<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/directconnect/details/" target="_blank">AWS Direct Connect Geographic Locations</a></h4>
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There's a good chance you're probably not collocated with AWS, so does that mean you're out of luck? Not at all, the easier solution is to use a 3rd party AWS partner that offers this service. Partners can provide additional flexibility such as cabling and location Independence for direct connect. Along with even offering lower speeds at a lower cost such as 100Mbps, 500Mbps, etc. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbOEdi7knKCEkn8yaEE472vgJBdCxn-7IwzAKa3S_1_djT0ExOMwbs0XDbVxgAzjibrmmHjQzCsJNJ-F6tfFDIX9DLBJR_CEHotkZ2Rv6OEbN6q7s1yIzbouP9AWTcHl-RD6KKHH3g4s/s1600/direct_connect_overview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="817" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAbOEdi7knKCEkn8yaEE472vgJBdCxn-7IwzAKa3S_1_djT0ExOMwbs0XDbVxgAzjibrmmHjQzCsJNJ-F6tfFDIX9DLBJR_CEHotkZ2Rv6OEbN6q7s1yIzbouP9AWTcHl-RD6KKHH3g4s/s400/direct_connect_overview.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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However if you're needing to traverse a Partner just to use Direct Connect, it may make more sense to use the many VPN options AWS offers. Direct Connect is a great solution for real-time data such as video and voice along with working with huge amounts of data between your network and AWS. It may be worth testing rather or not real-time data works sufficiently with AWS VPN as internet bandwidth is cheap now days.</div>
Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-75595356342351368492018-01-15T07:00:00.000-06:002018-02-01T16:04:03.120-06:00How to Pass an IT Certification on your First TryI've studied and passed multiple IT certifications from multiple vendors over the last 10 years. As time progressed, I've become more efficient on gathering the tools needed to pass an exam on the first try. This isn't to say that haven't failed or come close to failing an exam a few times along the way. As a matter of fact I seemed to learn the most when I failed exam. Today's quick topic I will discuss the process I use to study for an entry level to professional exam. I won't include the Expert level certification in this group as they're whole different beasts. Yes I'm talking to you <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1587144727/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144727&linkCode=am2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=3bfff81e3d8362b3fb6b7ec487b523c4" target="_blank">CCIE</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144727" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and F5-CSE!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHAT DO I NEED TO LEARN?</span></b><br />
For starters lets begin with what the exam objectives will cover. This is something I see quite a few colleagues skip over when they begin studying for a certification. Knowing what the objectives are will allow you to set goals that you can follow along the way before exam date. For example when you've touched on every objective and topic in the exam at least once, this is a goal you can use to assess how ready you are for the test. Every vendor typically has a page that lines out the objectives and topics you need to know before even picking up your first book.<br />
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For example Amazon has a PDF that lists what you need to know and the percentage each topic holds on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1119138558/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1119138558&linkCode=am2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=2921507b158c3dbe5345eef6a516cb34" target="_blank">Solutions Architect</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1119138558" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> the test:<br />
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<a href="https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-sa-assoc/AWS_certified_solutions_architect_associate_blueprint.pdf" target="_blank">Amazon Web Services Solutions Architect - Associate Blueprint</a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHERE DO I FIND STUDY MATERIAL?</span></b><br />
Now that you know what you need to study, next we'll need to find study resources for the exam. This is where using forums such as <a href="http://www.techexams.net/">www.techexams.net</a> or Reddit comes in handy. I usually spend a few days researching methods others used along with tools available to me. I'm lucky enough to have CBT Nuggets for videos and <a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-8513372-12207280" target="_blank">SafariBooks</a> for cert books at my disposable, but even then that's sometimes not enough. You'll want to add labs and flashcards (<a href="https://apps.ankiweb.net/" target="_blank">Anki</a>) to the mix as well. Vendors often times have free material as well. For example I was able to study for my Juniper certs using nothing but their free books and practice tests they offered, all in it only cost me $50 bucks to take their certification!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">HOW DO I STUDY FOR THE EXAM?</span></b><br />
Now that you have your blueprint and resources, the next and longest step is how to study for the certification. This really comes down for personal preference, but for me this is where my secret sauce comes into play. I use the following 3-step method when I study for a certification:<br />
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1. Start with the most high-level material, usually videos such as CBTNuggets. Take notes as you watch the videos, these will be placed into <a href="https://apps.ankiweb.net/" target="_blank">Anki</a> flashcards once finished.<br />
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2. Once videos are finished, create initial flash cards then pop your head into the reading material. Hopefully the vendor has some type of official certification book, otherwise boring Whitepapers it is! Again take notes as you progress through the material. As you finish each chapter, this is where your labs come into place. Either attempt to recreate the examples listed in the chapter or even better, come up with your own scenarios and get the environment working as expected.<br />
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Along with labs add your notes to Flashcards at the end of each chapter. I should also mention that you should be studying flashcards EVERY SINGLE DAY until your exam date. Reading is a slog and rightfully so. That's where I really start to hone in and pick up most of my knowledge about the objectives at hand. I usually can't wait to take the exam because the repetition on the same topics start to get old at about this point. I consider this a good sign that it's about time to sit for the certification.<br />
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3. While I'm still studying flashcards EVERY SINGLE DAY, I go back to any high-level material I can find. I'll look for YouTube how-to videos, exam caveats, and any additional lab examples I can find on the interwebs. At the same time I'm also locking down and scheduling the exam date, usually 2-4 weeks away. During this crunch time window I usually feel overly prepared and actually slow down my studying a few days before the exam. The only thing I'm doing at this point is studying flashcards EVERY SINGLE DAY!<br />
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There you have it folks. For the very last step I walk into my nearest Pearson-Vue location on game day, ace the exam, and walk out calm and collected. As I head back home I put any thoughts of certification out of my mind for at least two months (<i>otherwise my family would kill me</i>).<br />
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So this was my method, how do you typically study for a certification? Let me know in the comments below!<br />
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<br />Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-69602238736492517582018-01-08T07:00:00.000-06:002018-01-08T07:00:57.084-06:00The New Age Old Question, Will the Cloud Replace IT Workers? This is one of the more controversial topics. As businesses look more towards the cloud to get rid of aging IT infrastructure, what happens to the workers who used to manage this infrastructure? As shown in the graphic below, company budgets for cloud services are increasing each year:<br />
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Now my personal opinion, I don't think us IT professionals will feel too much of a difference over the next 5-10 years. What I see happening is that we're no longer dealing with the heartaches of installing and racking physical hardware. Which can literally take hours per device depending on what you're needing to install. More lower skilled jobs such as rack & stacking may shrink but even the Amazon and Googles of the world still needs to install hardware in their data centers for their software.<br />
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I see cloud as a great opportunity for just about everyone in the IT field, rather you're on the database team, helpdesk, or network engineer. What cloud is doing is making your job more efficient, to focus on higher up tasks. Instead of me spending 3 days spinning up switches, VLAN's, etc.; this time used for more important duties such as design and documentation. No longer do you need to deal with a late night emergency change to increasing bandwidth to a SQL server for the DB team. Spend a few hours scripting your cloud environment to scale the database infrastructure and un-scale as needed. That's it, you're done, hand over the keys to the database manager!<br />
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Even as we start to automate server and network provisioning, rather in the cloud or on-premise; we still need techies to manage this. Jumping ahead of the game and learning how powerful and affordable these new tools are will set you a part for the years to come. How much longer can IT folk hide in their cubicles manually change Guest Wireless passwords or downloading and installing OVA's on VM hosts? I bet at least half of the tasks we do everyday could be eliminated or at the very least automated. It's up to us to keep pushing technology forward to make our day jobs easier and not being scared on loosing touch of the tech past.<br />
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Do you agree, disagree, not sure? Comment below, I would love to hear from my fellow IT folk and continue the discussion!</div>
Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-19411050712902086772017-12-31T07:00:00.000-06:002018-02-01T16:05:13.115-06:002017 Recap<div style="text-align: center;">
The year has come to a close, below is a recap of the 2017 goals I've completed for 2017:</div>
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<ol><ul>
<li><b>Completed the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158714462X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=158714462X&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=35e3c82f922e8eaa8f92d23f1f2621c4" target="_blank">CCDP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=158714462X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> exam:</b> This was a big one for me as my <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9332559643/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9332559643&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=020adbe9f9d69f30c27bb82cc026ac44" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=9332559643" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> was set to expire this year. The difficulty studying for this certification was at the same level as the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9332559643/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9332559643&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=020adbe9f9d69f30c27bb82cc026ac44" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=9332559643" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> but for different reasons. While the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9332559643/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=9332559643&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=020adbe9f9d69f30c27bb82cc026ac44" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=9332559643" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> requires hours of labs and deep diving into CLI configuration, the design exams are on the opposite end of the spectrum. It requires hours of tedious reading of the most obscure white papers and videos. What got me through this exam by far had to be the note taking and Anki flash cards I practiced every day.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol><ul>
<li><b>Implemented Wireless Solution from Scratch:</b> I've always been listed as the SME for our wireless solution for the few companies I worked for by happen stance. I never had the opportunity to build out a wireless controller from scratch, survey and deploy AP's, and configure the wireless network. I had my chance a few months ago with Aruba and it was a good experience. If nothing else it gives me the confidence to deploy wireless on a larger scale which is the plan for next year.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol><ul>
<li><b>Created useful <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593276036/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1593276036&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=00bc1b561ce319237d3fc54885025bd6" target="_blank">Python</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1593276036" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> scripts:</b> If you look to the right menu, you'll see my meager attempts <a href="https://github.com/stlsmoore" target="_blank">here</a>. While these tools are far from optimized they help get my job done when needed. After finishing up the AWS Solutions Architect cert, I plan on digging deeper in Python scripting.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol><ul>
<li><b>Finally began Amazon Web Services learning:</b> For the past year I felt like I was falling behind current technology trends. There's only so much OSPF and Spanning-Tree you can learn and provide value to a business. If you look at the latest IT business trends, the shift from on-premise to cloud is a huge thing. I honestly do not know of a decent sized business that's not at least looking at cloud infrastructure. To get a head of the curve, I've jumped head first into Amazon's cloud services.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol><ul>
<li> No better way to do this than by studying for a certification to help track your learning progress. I expect to have the AWS Solutions Architect Certification completed in early 2018. I'm currently studying the following book (<i>which is awesome</i>), click the image if you want a copy:</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119138558/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1119138558&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=fbf4b8fd0d77172ae6243ada5dd24673" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=1119138558&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&tag=mooreblogs-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1119138558" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />
</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ol><ul>
<li><b>Committed more time to blogging:</b> This wasn't on my initial list of 2017 goals honestly. But earlier this month, I realized that I've neglected a very useful tool that's helpful not only for my certification studying, but also for my career. It's been a good December getting all of my thoughts and notes on digital paper. I plan on keeping this momentum going throughout 2018.</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Well that's it, not too long of a list. I have even more goals for 2018, don't worry I'll be sharing them in the near future. Let me know what your 2017 were and if you completed your all of your goals below!</div>
</div>
Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-56670934291403491072017-12-25T07:00:00.000-06:002017-12-25T07:00:04.343-06:00AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Progress Report and NotesAt this time, I've finished the second part of my study plan for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam. As you may remember, I wanted to knock out CBT Nugget videos before digging into <a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-8513372-12528077" target="_blank">SafariBooks</a> to read the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119138558/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1119138558&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=3a723c92f7922b063fc880d5a46aac79" target="_blank">AWS Certified Solutions Architect official study guide</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1119138558" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
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<a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/newquest-coffee-hands-3oriO7A7bt1wsEP4cw"></a><br />
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<br />
Now it's time to collect my notes from CBT and move on to the reading portion. Below are some high level notes I've taken:<br />
<br />
<b>AWS Infrastructure:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Uses regions with availability zones, zones are redundant</li>
<li>Edge Locations are cached Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Foundation Services:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Compute: EC2, LAMDA, Auto-Scaling (Regions)</li>
<li>Networking: Load-balancing, Route53, VPC (Availability Zones)</li>
<li>Storage: S3, Block Storage, Glacer, EFS (Edge Locations)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Platform Services:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Databases: DynamoDB, RDS, Redshift</li>
<li>Analytics: Kinesis, EMR, Data Pipeline</li>
<li>Deployment: Elastic Beanstalk, CodeDeploy</li>
<li>Mobile: Cognito, SNS</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Storage Options:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Instance Store Backed: Physical storage connects directly to instance. Ephemeral so it is not in a permanent location.</li>
<li>EBS Backed (recommended): Persistent storage using EBS.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Simple Storage Service (S3):</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Account uses bucketes (max 100 buckets)</li>
<li>Objects are files within buckets (virtually limitless storage)</li>
<li>Can host static web pages with S3</li>
<li>Buckets are globally unique names created in a region</li>
<li>Cannot nest buckets, they can only be Top-level containers</li>
<li>Objects can be up to 5TB in size</li>
<li>Bucket+Object+Version maps to unique URL</li>
<li>Access control can be done at bucket or object level</li>
<li>Not meant as primary storage for services (i.e. Instances)</li>
<li>Region specific & supports REST & SOAP</li>
<li>Server side encryption of data at rest</li>
<li>Three access controls: IAM, Bucket, and ACLs. You can combine all three methods.</li>
</ul>
<b>S3 Storage Classes:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Standard: most expensive</li>
<li>Infrequent Access</li>
<li>Glacier: least expensive</li>
<li>Reduced Redundancy</li>
</ul>
<b>Elastic Block Store (EBS):</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Storage sizes between 1GB - 16TB (1TB for magnetic)</li>
<li>Can take snapshots into S3 at anytime</li>
<li>Use for DB's, Applications, & root volumes</li>
<li>Backups are incremental</li>
<li>Good for ephemeral temporary storage, is shared between instances</li>
<li>Similar to a SAN</li>
</ul>
<b>VPC:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Security groups police traffic at instance level</li>
<li>Network ACLs police traffic at subnet level</li>
<li>Route tables are similar to VRF's</li>
<li>Default VPC use subnet 172.31.0.0/16 and IPv6 disabled</li>
<li>Use NAT Gateway or NAT instance for private to public routing</li>
</ul>
<b>Identitiy and Access Management (IAM):</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Policies are not cumulative, entities give up old permissions when assuming a role</li>
<li>Three types of policies (Managed, Custom, & Inline)</li>
</ul>
<b>Non-Relational DB:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Top-level organized into 'Tables'</li>
<li>Tables contain 'Items'</li>
<li>Items contain 'Attributes'</li>
</ul>
<b>Auto-Scaling:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Involves Elastic LB, Cloudwatch (provides info to AS), & Auto Scaling (manages group)</li>
<li>Auto-Scaling invludes the following:</li>
</ul>
<ol>
<li> Launch Config: Config of EC2 instances to be scaled</li>
<li>Auto-Scaling group: Defines how much to scale and un-scale</li>
<li>Scaling life cycle: Defines when to scale out or in, along with hooking events</li>
</ol>
<div>
<b>Elastic Load Balancing (ELB):</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Can load balance across availability zones</li>
<li>Cross zone load balancing: Allows you to distribute traffic evenly across all zones</li>
<li>Can be internet facing or internal only</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b>Cloudwatch:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Has metrics for most AWS products and services</li>
<li>Can push metrics via REST or CLI</li>
<li>Can use SNS or Auto-Scaling</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<b>CloudFormation:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Method to create or manage a collection of resources</li>
<li>Built with JSON or CloudFormer</li>
<li>Infrastructure as code</li>
<li>Uses the components called "Resources" and "Parameters"</li>
<li>GIT is recommended for version control</li>
<li>Stack will rollback if there's a problem with its config</li>
<li>Resources are deleted when the stack is deleted</li>
<li>"WaitCondition" is used to ensure no 'order of operations' issues</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-74853339427096510712017-12-18T07:00:00.000-06:002018-02-01T16:05:35.475-06:00How to Trick your VPC into Acting Like a Service ProviderSo how do you solve the issue of routing traffic through a remote VPC to reach another remote network?<br />
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Picture the following example, you have your VPC and you have a business partner with their own VPC. You successfully have a VPC peering configured, bidirectional communication, and life is good:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgLbqyUYvEIfb72o9ZWgUNXyqhzfyoKAEq1hh73VhqhU-3rnxfqv5wqCUo9vJcCZ4uY25omAjivVS9LqNIiJTmqcUbcEd_MLuD1KdtPnLBSiDBWNcbmnTKEDpe4pRtrPPn92X8XnmP8c/s1600/peering-intro-diagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="451" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgLbqyUYvEIfb72o9ZWgUNXyqhzfyoKAEq1hh73VhqhU-3rnxfqv5wqCUo9vJcCZ4uY25omAjivVS9LqNIiJTmqcUbcEd_MLuD1KdtPnLBSiDBWNcbmnTKEDpe4pRtrPPn92X8XnmP8c/s320/peering-intro-diagram.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Now what if behind their VPC they had an on-premise network not hosted with AWS that you need to reach as well? Simple right, just have your VPC traffic route to their VPC, and have their VPC route your traffic to their on-premise network via a few static routes:<br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
This is where you'll run into an issue, by default Amazon does not allow traffic not originated from within a VPC to be routed out of its own network. Essentially you're not allowed to use a VPC as transit network (i.e. routing traffic through a BGP AS). Which is understandable as the last thing Amazon need is customers causing routing loops within their cloud environment. To get around this issue, you'll want to use what's called a <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/aws-solution-transit-vpc/" target="_blank">Transit VPC</a>.</div>
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This VPC functions as a hub for both VPC's and outside networks to route traffic to and from each other. Two Cisco ISR's (1000v) function as the back bone for this VPC. These two virtual routers are used for VPN termination, routing, and high availability. From what I understand these Cisco routers have most of the traditional Cisco IOS XE feature set. So maybe you can get creative with using DMVPN, FlexVPN, etc. for additionally dynamic capabilities.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLflsHpGPHt8Xyr1_UdjSmNFDA28_DRDEl8XG0X7afjTfbn7b5OdWswRFB-1mG5M5kMu_glZwoawD4ZjRdIBHXYYtnaw89Yda2V_ocekf852PCOZCy8jmU5t6Br2PTy45kYEl9LOx2Y4/s1600/transit-vpc-overview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="473" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLflsHpGPHt8Xyr1_UdjSmNFDA28_DRDEl8XG0X7afjTfbn7b5OdWswRFB-1mG5M5kMu_glZwoawD4ZjRdIBHXYYtnaw89Yda2V_ocekf852PCOZCy8jmU5t6Br2PTy45kYEl9LOx2Y4/s320/transit-vpc-overview.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Like anything Cisco though, you do have to pay a premium for this service. However it appears that this is not only the best choice but probably the easiest to implement.<br />
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Have you ran into crazy routing scenarios you've had to get around in a cloud or hybrid environment? Would love to hear your war stories and solutions in the comments below:<br />
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<br />Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-419362917024329662017-12-10T18:33:00.000-06:002017-12-10T18:33:24.852-06:00AWS Shared ResponsibilityWhile AWS is great for quickly provisioning servers and networks without worrying about the back end hardware, there are a few caveats to be aware of. A big one is who's responsible for what in Amazon's Cloud environment? Not really meant to be loaded question, it's important to understand that Amazon can not be held liable for your everything in your custom cloud architecture.<br />
<br />
Below are some items you are responsible for within their infrastructure:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Network access to and from your AWS instances</li>
<li>Logging</li>
<li>Patching</li>
<li>Backups</li>
<li>Virus Protection of instances</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Amazon is responsible for items such as:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Physical security</li>
<li>Physical servers, storage, and networking components</li>
<li>Disk destruction</li>
<li>Security audites</li>
<li>DDOS protection (<i>Free Kindle AWS White Paper Below</i>) </li>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mooreblogs-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B01MCVX3FV&asins=B01MCVX3FV&linkId=2e2a8f3fac8b1e483ea06582229355cd&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066C0&bg_color=FFFFFF" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div>
Neither list above is comprehensive but does give you an idea on what you the customer will need to protect on your own. Even something such as login access to your instances is your responsibility. If you happen to loose your private key to an instance, there's not much Amazon can do for you as an example (easy to resolve that problem I know). For the most part if it's anything that's physical or layer 2, you can probably bet that Amazon handles that portion of the cloud.</div>
<div>
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<div>
Hopes this helps, anything else I should add to the list above? Let me know in the comment section below!</div>
Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-45172745150665768742017-12-08T07:51:00.002-06:002017-12-08T07:52:16.866-06:00Initial Strides with Amazon Web Services (AWS)I've finished my work provided LMS video series last week and now I'm powering through CBT Nuggets at a fairly fast clip. I estimate that within two weeks I'll be complete with the Nuggets training as well. What's great about learning Cloud is how quick you can ramp up a lab environment as mentioned in my last post. It's really supercharging the time it usually takes to pick up a new technical skill.<br />
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<br />
To be honest, I'm most excited about the Udemy course as I hear it's very hands on and closely relates to the exam itself. That's also the main reason that I'm saving that piece for last. But using books on Safari always allows me to deep dive into the technology at hand which is why it's included in my study plan.<br />
<br />
This is all perfect timing as I'm getting thrown into a few interesting AWS projects. One is how to get around some of the AWS networking limitations. We're needing to communicate between potentially dozens if not hundreds of VPC's due to our engineering testing. How do we accomplish this at scale? How do we limit the time for deployment? How can we make it simple to implement along with using our own proprietary instances? There's a lot of questions to be solved for and this isn't including business aspect of things such as cost (of course) and personnel resource requirements.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>VPC Example:</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonVPC/latest/UserGuide/images/default-vpc-diagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="574" height="268" src="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonVPC/latest/UserGuide/images/default-vpc-diagram.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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I would love to hear other opinions on rather you think the "Cloud" is hear to stay? If you think so, what are you doing to prepare for it? Talk to you all soonShawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-13969273056724075322017-11-28T07:00:00.007-06:002017-12-10T18:51:27.593-06:00Beginning AWS StudiesAs our company begins to swiftly move services to the cloud, specifically AWS I'm now in a great position to pick up this technology. This will require a paradigm shift on my part, not just on learning the tech but also how I learn and study this info as well.<br />
<br />
Before with traditional networking, you could pick up a book or 3, setup a small scale lab if necessary, and be on your way. Since Cloud technology moves so quickly, reading books that are only 2 years old can be out of date already! Not only that but there's so much to cloud services you need a very good grasp on what tools are available to you. The best way is to of course setup your own account with the cloud service and play around with everything available. This is a nice change as in the past with labs, it took dozens of hours planning, purchasing, and setting up hardware before you could even begin labbing.<br />
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My AWS study plans will focus on the <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/" target="_blank">AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate cert</a>. This seems to be the initial starting point everyone recommends. I'm not sure how deep I need to go yet with this material but it's for sure a mile wide the material that I need to learn. Once this cert is completed, I'm most likely going to take a look at the AWS Certified Advanced Networking specialty exam as it makes the most sense to me. For the first exam I plan on using the current studying plan in this order:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Internal company LMS (Learning Management System) web learning for the AWS course:</b> This will provide me with a very high level overview, I'll begin basic labs as well</li>
<li><b>CBTNuggets AWS Associate videos:</b> I'll begin taking notes at this point before moving on. Still debating on older 2013 videos that they have, may be very outdated at this point.</li>
<li><b>Safari Books - </b><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119138558/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1119138558&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=f96c3559ebac342f7bafd40473a27300" target="_blank">AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide: Associate Exam</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1119138558" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></i>: This will perform as my deep dive (<i>hopefully</i>) into the AWS material. I will continue note taking along as implementing flashcards using Anki at this point</li>
<li><b>Udemy (CloudGuru) course:</b> I'll then prep for the exam itself by going through this course if affordable and available to finish up any lingering topics. I'll also deep dive into labs during this time.</li>
</ul>
Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-75249136878557620872017-09-24T10:37:00.004-05:002017-09-24T10:37:41.462-05:00Looking into the future...CloudFor the past year our family have experienced a lot of new things, challenges, and overall growth. We have a new addition and now we're a family of three! You really do learn to survive on less hours of sleep, very rarely do I sleep for my than 6 hours a day now, less for my wife unfortunately. Even with that considered we wouldn't have it any other way.<br />
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I'm still at it here and there with Python scripting but my big focus for the last year was completing the Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP). This exam was absolutely tough and I barely squeaked by but I made it through. Even though I'm not playing much with Cisco at the moment, the concepts hold true for many other vendors as well. The most difficult topics were new tech that I just don't get to play with along with security. Be sure you understand Cisco ACI at a high level and Cisco security IDS best practice designs at a low level.<br />
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Next up for me is most likely Sec+ but I've also been taking a hard look at cloud infrastrucure. Our enterprise is heavily focused on moving as much as we can to cloud or at the very least, a hybrid infrastructure. Not much as landed in our Networking team's laps but it's coming down the line fast. Most likely I'll dive into AWS to get a good sense on what it's all about. Because I'll be honest physically racking less equipment is not anything I'll ever complain about!<br />
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Stay tuned for further updates and don't forget to check out my Github to the right -->Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-24482225370894518642016-12-25T13:35:00.001-06:002017-12-11T06:54:07.068-06:002016 RecapA lot has happened this year, including a employer change, new family addition, and new certifications. The employer I work for now has a huge Juniper presense which allowed me to grow my CLI skills with a different vendor besides just Cisco. In order to take full advantage of this change, I went ahead and knocked out a few of Juniper's lower level certifications. I took and passed both the JNCIA and JNCIS-ENT this past summer to help vet my new learned skillset.<br />
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<b>Book I used for the JNCIA and JNCIS-ENT Exam:</b></div>
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Along with Juniper we're also rolling out our own NGFW's that rivals many competitors such as Palo Alto. Not only have I had an opportunity to get more hands on experience with our firewalls, I have the chance to administer Juniper SRX's and Palo Alto's which has been very challenging but engaging.<br />
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In my past roles I never had much of a chance to deal with network load balancers which always bugged me. While I played around with Cisco ACE's (now extinct) I didn't find them very intuitive with a weird learning curve. This year I've had the chance to deploy and implement virtual F5's using their LTM and GSLB modules. I only touched the GSLB (DNS Load Balancing) very lightly but I did get some great experience with LTM (De-facto Server Load Balancing).<br />
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To end the year off, our first little one arrived, which meant that I didn't want to dig to deep into the certification world right now. Instead I'm now diving into Python so that I can script some of the repeatable stuff I do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. I'm very noobish but with a help of a fellow colleague, we're starting to make some useful stuff.<br />
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Check out my <a href="https://github.com/stlsmoore">github link</a> to the right ---> I'll be keeping this updated as time goes on and my skill level increases. Hope everyone has a happy holidays, I'm excited for what the next year will bring!Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-42557524082973424952015-11-05T13:54:00.005-06:002017-12-11T07:08:47.377-06:00Digging into IP Packets<br />
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For the next 6 to 12 months I'm going to take a departure from focusing solely on certifications. I want to gain a better understanding of the underlying protocols that encompass my career daily. This will mean deep diving into the TCP/IP protocol suite. Not only do I want to understand what a general IPv4/IPv6 looks like, I want to learn how to correlate trends based on the IP packets that traverse my network.<br />
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<i>Alcantel-lucent Ocean Fiber Cable Run</i></div>
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This will help immensely in troubleshooting security and general network connectivity issues. Not only that, but it can be used to stop certain teams from automatically blaming particular incidents on the network. Through the use of packet capture tools that show exactly what's happening between two hosts. There can be no if, and, or buts about whose fault it is for a particular problem using concrete logs.<br />
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Not that a packet capture will be used for every incident but it's good to have "big guns" that you can pull out of your arsenal every now and again. With that said, pulling out a "big gun" is no use if you have no clue on how to operate the weapon. Hence why I've been culling over multiple WireShark and huge TCP/IP books to help get me started. Having a strong foundation is important for just about any goal in life. We all know fundamental learning can become boring and repetitive quickly because typically it's not the cool bleeding edge stuff but it's VERY important. Mastery comes from making tasks second nature which requires constant repetition.<br />
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Just like a race car driver has to learn how to drive a fast car slow first, the same can be said with networking. We must learn how to configure and design small elements of a particular portion of a network first before moving on to deploying networks that can properly scale along with become resilient.<br />
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">Practical Packet Analysis</span></h1>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">Wireshark Network Analysis (Second Edition)</span></h1>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">Routing TCP/IP, Volume 1 (2nd Edition)</span></h1>
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<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mooreblogs-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1587052024&asins=1587052024&linkId=e38e36598f7be771c21de09159ae545b&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
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Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-70433616298651365442015-09-15T14:21:00.002-05:002017-12-11T07:11:44.569-06:00Cisco CCDA Passed!I just left the test center with a passing score for the Cisco CCDA exam. Overall the exam was a lot more fair than what was described on the many internet forums I attend. There were a handful of questions that def. wasn't mentioned in the FLG\OCG.<br />
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I think part of the reason is that the FLG\OCG books are a little long in the tooth. For example Cisco NAC is mentioned all over the CCDA books, but nothing is mentioned about Cisco ISE. The same thing for the Cisco SONA framework, good stuff to know; at least at a high-level.<br />
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I'm taking a break from certs for a while. I want to do some independent research on the TCP/IP stack and deep dive into packet inspection. After that I'll most likely read through some CCIE material for a refresher on all of those routing protocols.
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<h1 class="a-spacing-none" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">
<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">CCDA 200-310 Official Cert Guide</span></h1>
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=tf_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=mooreblogs-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1587144549&asins=1587144549&linkId=0f3520e1e3e5ecff010c615cca5b4c2b&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=false&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-27082027722776936012015-09-10T15:00:00.002-05:002017-12-12T07:18:43.126-06:00CCDA Test ScheduledAfter a deep dive review of all <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144549&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=6e00fbd5101221fc1e45b5f9c0f450f7" target="_blank">CCDA</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144549" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />topics, I finally scheduled the test for next week. As part of the review I completely read through the <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Campus/HA_campus_DG/hacampusdg.html">Campus Network for High Availability</a> design guide along with skimming through the <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Security/SAFE_RG/SAFE_rg.html">Cisco SAFE</a> reference guide. Looking up a few <a href="http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/UK/solutions/ent/sona/networking_solutions_market_segment_solutions_home.html">Cisco SONA</a> white papers didn't hurt either.<br />
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By far my weakest topic is security, it always has been for me. But I feel a lot more confident about my network security knowledge at a high level than ever before. Going in to this exam I didn't expect to gain as much design knowledge as I did considering that this is supposed to be an Associate level cert. I was surprised by how I view my own networking projects with my employer compared to this time next year.<br />
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Once I get through this cert, I plan on taking a break from Cisco centric certification for at least a few months. I'm plan to deep dive into <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893939944/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1893939944&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=5a9a5d7472b1c99a41d5612be71658be" target="_blank">WireShark</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1893939944" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> along with reading a book or two on specifically the TCP protocol. My goal is to be well rounded with the fundamentals before deep diving into a specific area of networking. This will allow me to be more versatile and more open to what possibilities are out their with network implementation, design and configuration.Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-76794622829456563962015-08-17T11:28:00.002-05:002017-12-12T07:20:02.689-06:00Almost Ready for the CCDA Test....I thinkThe <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144549&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=9107f47ceda910913a91574d5cb55c06">CCDA OCG</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144549" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> book was polished off a few weeks ago. I haven't been able to schedule the exam yet due to projects and work travel. I hear that this test is a beast so I went well beyond just the Cisco press books. The design certs isn't about just knowing the technical aspects within the CLI. In fact I only recall a few sections that even mentions or references a CLI command. It's meant to show you how to gather business requirements, plan, implement, and operate within the business constraints given. At least on a very high level; the knowledge I've learned over the last 8 months has already helped me with many of the projects I'm a part of.Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-1120383440836340422015-05-18T13:24:00.000-05:002017-12-12T07:21:36.940-06:00CCDA DESGN OCG ProgressTypical world of IT to make everything an acronym. So many that there are multiple acronyms that are the same but mean something different depending on what you're referring to (i.e. RFC).<br />
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Anyways, I'm slowly making my way through the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144549&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=9107f47ceda910913a91574d5cb55c06">OCG</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144549" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> book, finishing the small section on Data Center. If I recall the FLG book never really hit this topic at all so I learned quite a few cool new things. Especially on the virtualization front which lightly touched on Virtual Device Contexts and access layer switching within the virtual environment.<br />
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I'm hitting every practice quiz, study reference, and additional study topics that the book is offering me. This will give me the right amount of repetition I need to be ready for the exam itself. Honestly I felt like I should of studied for the CCNP R/S this way. At my current gig, we didn't touch routing too much besides DMVPN. So a lot of the intricate routing theory I'm starting to loose.Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-19679340539762144952015-04-04T12:21:00.001-05:002017-12-12T07:30:19.518-06:00Cisco DESGN Foundations Learning Guide CompletedLast week I've finished the CCDA FLG book for the DESGN exam. The last chapter discussed wireless design and architecture at a very high level. There were tons of things I picked up from this chapter that helped me understand my employers wireless environment immediately. Mainly the Mobility and RF Group sections. We have a wireless refresh project coming up shortly (with the help of a vendor) and this will help me immensely.<br />
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Now I'm hitting the DESGN Official Certification Guide book along with taking copious amount of notes, making flash cards, and hitting the multiple choice questions hard. I'm not exactly sure when I'll take this exam this year but it should be before the end of summer. As mentioned before, I'm not exactly in a rush right now coming off fresh from the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587206633/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587206633&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=c0c43a1eb1bbfe73beb3fa5a8df5e14e" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587206633" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> about four months ago.<br />
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After the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144549&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=9107f47ceda910913a91574d5cb55c06" target="_blank">CCDA</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144549" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, next up is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158714462X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=158714462X&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=c4fa6b3c41fd3d454d9ca399cda93356" target="_blank">CCDP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=158714462X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, and then maybe...just maybe a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144727/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144727&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=9b0c0a351d20cb726b476d102025775b" target="_blank">CCIE</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144727" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> level certification. Experience trumps all though so after the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158714462X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=158714462X&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=c4fa6b3c41fd3d454d9ca399cda93356" target="_blank">CCDP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=158714462X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> I may wait until my knowledge is and skill set is at a point where a CCIE certification makes sense. SDN and programmable networks are very intriguing to me but my gut keeps telling me that I need a really strong foundation before diving in to that.Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-47606949147231377162015-03-04T16:14:00.002-06:002017-12-12T07:31:17.771-06:00Cisco SAFESecurity is my biggest weak point period. I'm currently reading through the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144549&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=9107f47ceda910913a91574d5cb55c06" target="_blank">CCDA</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144549" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> security chapters in the FLG book. I'm also downloading and book marking all of the references and white papers from these chapters I can get my hands on!<br />
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I probably have 100 of pages of reading to do on the Cisco SAFE (SCF) security framework a head of me. But I need to have a better holistic view of network security. I get asked network security questions quite often in my job role. Even today my employers CIO had a security question that I foolishly couldn't answer because I'm not well versed with the firewall policies in our environment. I will be changing this,Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-23643107196502894702015-02-14T13:31:00.000-06:002017-12-12T07:32:11.470-06:00Enterprise Internet Edge Design<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjdowgJchiDb-coSLLis0xynmhmRZ-7R2CSQFHLYAT1aq4eOhe6YcrvInFY6NhsYZ6Srp8rwNno9jDmc-OwQzjoeZgq8yo1ndJA64XTh63DLAirqJjzShCOVbG_nOglW78yi8TrJx4ks/s1600/IEDE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjdowgJchiDb-coSLLis0xynmhmRZ-7R2CSQFHLYAT1aq4eOhe6YcrvInFY6NhsYZ6Srp8rwNno9jDmc-OwQzjoeZgq8yo1ndJA64XTh63DLAirqJjzShCOVbG_nOglW78yi8TrJx4ks/s1600/IEDE.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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As I finish chapter 5 (Designing Remote Connectivity) in the Cisco CCDA FLG book, it provided a list of great references to gain additional understanding. I read through Cisco's Ethernet MAN and WAN design guide. Now I'm going through Cisco's guide on enterprise internet edge design.<br />
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For the most part the guide focuses on securing the edge within the 5 different modules shown above. This may be overkill for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587144549/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587144549&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=9107f47ceda910913a91574d5cb55c06">CCDA</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587144549" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> but my intent is to take in the material slowly and thoroughly.Shawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00083873572645834884noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-81330999159270945482015-02-11T12:41:00.002-06:002017-12-12T07:37:00.521-06:00CCDA StudiesI've been digging into network design specifically for the last two months now. I've started and completed the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587202832/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587202832&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=c177770e1032f5c290e5be5613606a73">Top-Down Network Design</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587202832" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> book which was a a great primer to the certification material.<br />
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I'm now working through the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158720424X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=158720424X&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=e6c8fd27eb58bb3f612c338136cd9af4" target="_blank">CCDA FLG</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=158720424X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> book which is really helping nail down the topics for the DEGN exam. I'm taking my time for this exam since I'm still fresh off of the CCNP R&S certification. Which is a nice change of pace since I wanted to knock out the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587206633/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587206633&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=e49d4b8134c94f4c098c2f4279d6c385" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587206633" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> cert before the new tracks started this year.<br />
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After the FLG book I'll finally hit the OCG book and then maybe finally prep for the exam itself. I'm on the fence on getting the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158714462X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=158714462X&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=1d45cbffbc5ed8ceb1502799a7d492e3" target="_blank">CCDP Arch books</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=158714462X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and/or CCNA Security books for exam prep but we shall see. Along the way I'm going to constantly be hitting up the Cisco SRND documentations to so that I fully understand the topics I'm learning.<br />
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Design is very interesting to me and something I've wanted to do but was always scared of. Hopefully over the next few months I can flesh out my blog more with the topics I've been learning. It's been years since I've really talked about my progress due to the countless other blogs out there.<br />
<br />Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-63413926283677983142014-10-28T11:56:00.001-05:002017-12-12T07:41:13.464-06:00CCNP Passed!As of October 28th 2014 I'm officially a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587206633/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587206633&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=e49d4b8134c94f4c098c2f4279d6c385" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587206633" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />! After my <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517583942/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1517583942&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=f5f156c8961194a37302d709aa864630">ROUTE</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1517583942" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> exam I jumped right into the SWITCH material. SWITCH was a lot easier for me to digest as I work with Layer 2/3 switches almost on a daily basis. This exam alone helped my day to day tasks tremendously along with giving me the confidence I need to tackle a few data center projects currently going on. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517351227/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1517351227&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=be6f438fc4db335fe6a3b08f48140072">SWITCH</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1517351227" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> exam took me 3-4 months to complete.<br />
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Today I finished up my <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587206633/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587206633&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=e49d4b8134c94f4c098c2f4279d6c385" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587206633" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />by taking the TSHOOT exam, which was actually pretty fun. This is basically a lab simulation that tests your troubleshooting skills using <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587206633/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587206633&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=e49d4b8134c94f4c098c2f4279d6c385" target="_blank">CCNP</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587206633" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> level knowledge. If you aced ROUTE and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517351227/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1517351227&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=be6f438fc4db335fe6a3b08f48140072">SWITCH</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1517351227" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> than this exam should be a breeze for you. I studied for about 2 months for this exam. I reviewed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517583942/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1517583942&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=f5f156c8961194a37302d709aa864630">ROUTE</a><img src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1517583942" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> topics since there was the 4 month gap between diving into the routing material.<br />
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With the SDN craziness on the way, I'm going to spend the next 3 months digging into Python. This will also give me a much needed break from certifications. After that I'm going to start hitting the Cisco designs certs for the rest of the year. I acknowledge that my design skillset is my biggest weakness. While I do not expect to walk away being able to take on a Network Architect type position, I do believe this will give me the foundation I need to head in that direction.Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-80023225540389571002014-04-02T08:32:00.003-05:002017-12-13T18:14:57.185-06:00CCNP Route Test: Yes it's Hard, and Yes I Passed (Barely)I've completed the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587205599/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587205599&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=b28c1dcb092ed4e4ffa96f836a0a196e" target="_blank">CCNP Route</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587205599" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> exam yesterday. Yes it's just as difficult as you think, but not impossible. I highly recommend the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0955781574/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0955781574&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=b9c5fb0b67e5d4566674977e2a048ecf" target="_blank"> CCNP Simplified</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0955781574" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> series along with their 101 labs, you truly do have to understand why each routing protocol works the way it does.<br />
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After passing this exam, I now understand why there is the CCIE. I simply had more questions rather than answers as I progressed through my study material.<br />
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Next up is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587205602/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587205602&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=c812cdda0e8391f1b67a75e7c61a402e" target="_blank">SWITCH</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587205602" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> exam, I previewed the book material I will use which is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587205602/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587205602&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=7f3e13307c882cf79950f31f4fac3883" target="_blank">Cisco OCG</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587205602" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0955781574/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0955781574&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=b9c5fb0b67e5d4566674977e2a048ecf" target="_blank"> CCNP Simplified</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0955781574" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> series. I'm at a lost about what I'm going to do for setting up my switching lab. Setting up a routing lab is simple, just use GNS3 but of course GNS3 doesn't support switching yet in their software.<br />
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I have one lonely Cisco 3550 at home from my CCNP: Voice studying. I think I'm going to bring my 3550 to work and borrow whatever layer 3/2 switches I can find to setup a lab. Either that or Ebay but I'm trying to avoid that if possible. I'm still on the fence on rather or not I should sell the 3-4 routers sitting in my rack doing nothing, only time will tell.<br />
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I plan to contribute to this blog more which I've abandoned for quite a while due to life in general.Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6009352323133876805.post-83029671732588539182013-11-10T18:58:00.000-06:002017-12-13T18:16:44.180-06:00Still Routing AroundI've had a bunch of life changes this year but I'm still here and getting back into the swing of things. I've been primary planning, designing, and implementing LAN technologies the past 18 months. SDN is really starting to take off and I want to ride on the coat tails of it along with data center design.<br />
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I'm back to studying CCNP R&S again and it's a lot easier to dig into it with the network experience I've gained compared to my first attempt 4 years ago. I'm only about 1/4th through the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1587204568/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1587204568&linkCode=as2&tag=mooreblogs-20&linkId=81943a8b811e4166663693c0ce9af2e2" target="_blank">FLG Route</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=mooreblogs-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1587204568" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />book but I plan on keeping a steady past. Network projects and after hours maintenance is a huge killer on persistence along with general life.<br />
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My immediate goals have changed a lot but the end goal is to own a business of my own of some sort. I've tried a lot of difference things and experienced a lot of different failures but I plan on pushing on and just work smarter and harder.Shawn Moore's Cisco Trekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07748086772833629277noreply@blogger.com0