Schedule

I’m aiming to take the BCMSN exam towards the end of December/early January. Sat down and actually outlined my tentative study schedule. Nothing seems drastic/extreme so I should be able to maintain this schedule. We’ll see.

Week of Oct. 11th: VLANs
Week of Oct. 18th: STP and advanced STP
Week of Nov. 1st: Inter-VLAN Routing
Week of Nov. 8th: Gateway Redundancy
Week of Nov. 15th: Wireless
Week of Nov. 22nd: Security
Week of Nov. 29th: Voice
Week of Dec. 6th: Misc Topics

If I stick to the schedule even with some leeway I should be ready by the end of the year. I’ll probably schedule the exam towards the end of November.

 

I made it!

Well, I feel pretty lucky and blessed. I moved to NYC three weeks ago and feel like I’m really starting to settle in. About 2 weeks ago I started the job search process. I interviewed for a position that I really wanted and they made me an official offer this morning! I’m finally going to be a Network Engineer – something I wanted since I took that fateful networking class in 2007.

I’m still studying for my BCMSN but I’m glad I completed the BSCI. They busted out some interesting WAN questions that I would not have known if I only had my CCNA. The LAN stuff they asked me was pretty straightforward, but my limited LAN knowledge proved to be pretty embarrassing. I couldn’t wait to move onto the WAN stuff.

It did make me appreciate theory a lot more and I really want to re-read Doyle’s Routing TCP/IP. It’s on my list after I finish the switching stuff I’m focused on now. Speaking of which…

I’m really enjoying the INE CoD videos. I highly recommend them, especially if you can get them at the sale price. The best part is the recommended readings they provide after each section. The videos pointed me towards the Cisco LAN Switching book which seems to be the switching equivalent of the aforementioned routing book (albeit a bit outdated). It’s $65 new on Amazon, but I grabbed a never-opened “used” copy for $10! Seems like an incredible steal.

All this is probably overkill for the BCMSN exam, but I’m overcompensating for my limited LAN knowledge. And I want to take advantage of my currently motivated mindset.

Back to the books…

 

Internetwork Expert CCNP Bootcamp

Looks like Internetwork Expert has their CCNP class-on-demand bootcamp available. It’s on sale for half price ($495) and it looks like coupon code OCT09 (only valid until 10/3) takes the grand total down to $364. Not bad for a $995 product.

I’ve looked at the CCIE training vendors in the past just to get a feel for what is out there. Obviously, INE is one of the two big CCIE training vendors on the market. I’m interested in seeing how their CCNP material holds up.

A friend let me borrow some INE audio cd’s when I wanted some extra material on redistribution. The section I listened to was very detailed and I liked the way the material was explained. I believe the same instructor on those tapes is the one teaching this bootcamp (Brian McGahan).

I’ll make my decision before the coupon expires. In the meantime, does anyone have experience with their products?

Update: Pulled the trigger. I’ll buy one less 3550 for the home lab.

 

The Big Apple

Well, I’m officially in New York now. The past few weeks have been hectic packing and moving. I’m still trying to get settled in, but I’m definitely more comfortable than I was a week ago.

I haven’t had a chance to study but my BCMSN book came in the mail today. Looking forward to jumping back in. I’ve been spending time finishing my resume. Now comes the fun part…applying for jobs. If anyone in NYC is looking for a Jr. Network Engineer, please contact me.

I wandered around the city today and stumbled into the Strand Bookstore. I loved it and found the BSCI Lab Portfolio for only $20. I already own a copy but if anyone is in the area, grab it. It’s a steal and I think it’s a fantastic book for the BSCI. I wish they had the BCMSN Lab book…maybe next time.

I’m also planning on reviewing some WAN protocols this week. I’d hate to go into an interview and forget how to configure OSPF or something.

Also, now that I’ve settled in a little bit I will probably update the blog more often.

 

BSCI Passed!

Well, I sat the BSCI exam this morning and passed!  I panicked early in the exam, but made it through.  I somehow got two lab sims within the first half dozen questions and my time management went out the window. 

I used a large mix of books to prepare for this exam.  In the end, my core study materials consisted of the Official Self Study Guide (3rd Ed.), BSCI Lab Portfolio, Cisco website, and Chris Bryant’s video series.

I did use some CCIE study material which may have slowed me down, but I want to go for my (R&S) number one day so I didn’t mind.  Then again, I probably didn’t need to read those RFCs on Teredo and ISATAP tunneling last week.  I still don’t quite understand them, lol.

I read through everything once and was in a bit of a daze.  There was just so much material to cover.  After my second time going through the material, I realized that I needed a system to properly review and retain what I was learning.  This is what I eventually settled on:

First, I wanted to create a list of all the topics I had encountered.  The Cisco official exam blueprint is pretty sparse so I looked for alternatives.  I found the table of contents for one of the popular study vendor products on their website and used that as a starting point.  I added topics as needed and printed this list out.   This list only contained topics and no actual details.  For example, Area Types, Network Types, Authentication, and Timers, were a few of the topics I had for OSPF.  Now that I had a proper list to review, I slowly worked things into my memory.  For example, before jumping in the shower, I would check the list and pick a topic such as “LSA Types”.  I’d make sure I’d go over all the OSPF LSA Types while I showered and if I had any problems I’d read some documentation as soon as I got out.  I’d do this everywhere – a drive to the store, waiting in line, before I went to bed, etc.  I’d pick a topic and review everything about it in my brain. If there was anything fuzzy, I’d hit the documentation to fill in the gaps.

Using this list, I quickly realized which topics I needed help with and which I were pretty comfortable with.  Eventually, the trickier topics were getting hammered into my brain.  I continued to practice labs every day.  Then, about a month ago, I felt pretty confident about the material and re-read the self-study guide from cover to cover.  This was an eye-opening experience.  It was amazing how much I was still learning.  Little nuances I had overlooked now made sense since I had a better overall picture.  Of course, there’s still a LOT to learn, but at the BSCI level I was feeling pretty good.  I continued working with labs and continued reviewing my list.

I also used the list with my labs.  I wanted to be sure I could implement everything on my list from pure cold memory including verification commands.  I tried to wean myself from using too much IOS help and I think it helped.  Chris Bryant also had a nice tip which is to avoid using too many shortcuts while working in the IOS.  I come from the minimalist school and always typed as few characters as possible.  And I loved using tab, lol.  But after hearing Chris’ advice I gave it a shot and I think it really did help me retain the proper syntax for certain commands.  Your mileage may vary, but give it a try if you’re having problems remembering specific commands.

One of the big problems I had was motivation.  I wanted to pass the exam, sure, but it was hard to keep up with my studies.  The Cisco blogging community and Techexams forums were a Godsend in this regard.  I’d pull up my RSS feeds and read some inspirational stories about how somehow got their number or passed their CCNA.  I’d lurk the Techexams Forums and see other struggling along with me.  I didn’t feel alone and it was pretty amazing how this community pulls for each other.  It took me over a year to take and pass the BSCI exam.  Without the community, I’m certain I wouldn’t even have the exam booked.

Passing this exam has been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever accomplished.  It’s great to see all your hard work pay off.  To my fellow certification geeks, my hats off to you.  I’m going to take the rest of the week off before starting BCMSN.  (I can’t resist ordering some books first, though.)

 

IPv6 Unique Local vs Site Local

Some of my older documentation (2007 and earlier) refers to site-local addresses.  The newer documentation has replaced site-local addresses with unique local addresses.  Here’s a breakdown on how the prefixes look:

Unique-local

FC00::/7
FD00::

Site-local

FEC0::/10
FED0::
FEE0::
FEF0::

It’s probably a good idea to be familiar with both.

While we’re on the subject of IPv6, the older documentation also mentions the universal/local (u/l) bit in MAC addresses, but states “this feature is not yet used.”***

Well, this bit is certainly used now so don’t forget to change the 7th bit when modifying EUI-64 addresses.

I’m not sure if the BSCI exam will contain the updated information or retain the old, but it can’t hurt to be know the changes.

Two days until the exam, I’m anxious to get it over with. 

***Authorized Self-Study Guide: BSCI (Third Edition)

 

Exam date is closing in…

Well, a week and a half left until the exam.  I spent the past couple of weeks re-reading the official BSCI Exam Guide and re-doing all the labs in the Lab Portfolio for the umpteenth time.

At this point, I feel pretty good about things.  The main topic I’m still a little weary about is Multicasting, but I’ll remedy that over the weekend.

Back to the books…

 

Finally booked the test.

Took me long enough, but I finally booked my BSCI exam for August 24th.

Things have been pretty crazy lately, with lots of changes…

The big change is that I’m moving from LA to NY.  It’s something that has been looming in the horizon for quite a while, actually, but plans are finally starting to materialize.  My girlfriend is already there and has found a nice place for us.  It’s actually the first place we’re going to own, so that is pretty hectic and exciting in itself.

We’ll be doing a cross-country road trip a week or two after the exam.  Then the hunt for a new job begins. 

Will take the next few days to plan out what areas I need to work on and how to best use the next few weeks.

Back to the books…

 

GNS3 0.6.1 on Mac OS X

I’ve been running GNS3 0.5 for the past year or so.  I know 0.6.0 and 0.6.1 were released a while back but compiled versions were never offered for download.  I scoured the web looking for a guide on how to compile GNS3 for the Mac OS X, but eventually realized that I was out of luck.

Not to be defeated, I decided to try my hand at compiling the binaries and see if I could learn a thing or two.

The README itself is pretty sparse, but after fiddling around for a bit I now have 0.6.1 running on my Macbook Pro.

I will outline the procedure for those of you that may want to compile it for yourselves.

Here is the original README:

Method 1.
1. Install the Apple Devs Tools (on your Mac OS X DvD or download it on ADC account).
2. Download python 2.5.1 (or higher) for MacOS X on http://www.python.org/download/ and install it.
3. Download qt-mac-opensource-4.3.4.dmg on http://trolltech.com/developer/downloads/qt/mac and install it.
4. Download SIP http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/Downloads/sip4/sip-4.7.tar.gz, compile and install it.
5. Download PyQt hhttp://www.riverbankcomputing.com/Downloads/PyQt4/GPL/PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.tar.gz, compile and install it.
6. Start GNS3.

Method 2.
Download the DMG package, it includes two binary versions of Dynamips: one for OSX Tiger and the other for OSX Leopard.

Obviously Method 2 is out of the question.  Method 1 is also a bit unclear for people with no compiling experience.

Let’s start from the top.

1. Install the Apple Devs Tools (on your Mac OS X DvD or download it on ADC account).

I don’t have an ADC account, so I dug out my old Leopard DVD.  Open the Optional Installs folder and you will see the Xcode Tools folder.  In that folder, run and install XcodeTools.mpkg.

2. Download python 2.5.1 (or higher) for MacOS X on http://www.python.org/download/ and install it.

This step is pretty straightforward.  Download, mount, and install from the .dmg file.  For reference, I grabbed the 2.6.2 disc image.

3. Download qt-mac-opensource-4.3.4.dmg on http://trolltech.com/developer/downloads/qt/mac and install it.

The link is no longer active, but a quick google search yielded a few download sources.  I grabbed qt-mac-opensource-4.3.4 from here.

Again, mount and install from the .dmg disk image.

4. Download SIP http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/Downloads/sip4/sip-4.7.tar.gz, compile and install it.

Unfortunately, all the riverbankcomputing.com links in the README are invalid.  This is where I grabbed sip 4.7.

After downloading the file, we come to the fun part.

Open terminal and cd into the folder you downloaded the tar file and compile via the following commands:


Macintosh:$  tar xvzf sip-4.7.tar.gz
Macintosh:$  cd sip-4.7
Macintosh:sip-4.7$  python configure.py
Macintosh:sip-4.7$  make
Macintosh:sip-4.7$  make install

Hopefully everything ran smoothly and installed without a hitch.

5. Download PyQt hhttp://www.riverbankcomputing.com/Downloads/PyQt4/GPL/PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.tar.gz, compile and install it.

I couldn’t find 4.3, so I downloaded 4.3.1 from here.

Again, run the following commands to decompress and compile PyQt.

Macintosh:$  tar xvzf PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.1.tar.gz
Macintosh:$  cd PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.1
Macintosh:PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.1$  python configure.py
Macintosh:PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.1$  make
Macintosh:PyQt-mac-gpl-4.3.1$  make install

Pretty simple and it should look a lot like step 4.

We’re now in the home stretch.

6. Start GNS3.

Grab the tar from the GNS3 homepage.  We have one last step here, which is basically just decompressing the tar file.

Macintosh:$  tar xvzf GNS3-0.6.1-src.tar.gz

That’s it.  We’re done!  If you look in the folder you just created, you will see a GNS3 executable.  Run it and GNS3 will launch.

What’s great is it pulled all my settings from GNS3-0.5 so I did not have to mess with configuring and setting up directories, idle values, etc.

I hope this has been useful and let me know if anything is unclear.

 

Update

Checking dates now to book my BSCI exam (finally).