Cisco just announced new certifications in the market and they’re super exciting! Of course, a lot of you are already writing me about when my books will be out… All I can say is I’m pounding the keyboard as fast as I can and that yes, I wish I could figure out some way to do that while sleeping too! But since I haven’t figured out how to do that yet, just hang in there-at least I’m not on strike!

Anyway, I actually want to talk to you a bit about the old network certification path first, starting with the CompTIA certifications that led to the CCNA. Referring to the figure below, a newbie to the networking field would start off by studying, learning, practicing on LANs and probably some hosts and servers as well. After that, they’d possibly take the CompTIA Network+, Security+, Server+, A+, etc:

Moving right along, with the foundational background of the CompTIA certifications in hand, our newbie’s next logical move would be to dive straight into the Cisco CCNA — either through the Certified Entry Network Technician (CCENT) or by just taking the CCNA exam (640-802). Of course, all this assumes that the Newbie has made a career choice and opted for the “Networking” path.  Makes sense…

Once you’ve nailed your CCNA, you’re good to go for the professional level certifications like, Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP) or Cisco Certified Voice Professional) (CCVP) as shown here in the next figure:

But let’s say you still want more. At this point, all paths lead to the veritable PH.D. of Cisco Certs-the Cisco Certified Internetworking Engineer (CCIE). People really don’t have to subject themselves to the special torture of the lower level certification process CCIE gauntlet, but getting through it alive and well definitely has benefits. (At the very least, you get major props and bragging rights!)And, although many people have tried many paths (many times), the most popular way to tackle this monster is step by step: CCNA, CCNP, then the CCIE Routing and Switching (R&S) lab. Over 50% of the pushes for the CCIE summit take this route!

But as I said, Cisco has tweaked things and changed its various professional paths to networking nirvana. Yep…Cisco even put a new one on the radar — it’s all pretty cool!

For instance, if you were going with the foundational CompTIA certifications, you can still take:

1. Your basic CCENT/CCNA Routing and Switching Cisco foundational certifications.
2. The CCNA, CCNA Security, then the CCSP, and finally the CCIE Security.
3. The CCNA, CCNA Voice, the CCVP, then the CCIE Voice.
4. The new, most exciting one of these is the new CCNA Wireless Certification path. Start with your CompTIA foundation, grab your CCNA, and then head straight for the CCNA wireless. In the near future you’ll go to the Cisco Certified Wireless Professional (CCWP) and then on to the CCIE Wireless.

Cisco has my full attention here — are you with me?

(Note: The basic CCNA, either through the two test method of ICND1 or ICND2, or the one test method of the 640-802 exam, is a requirement before any other CCNA certifications.)

Let me show you what Cisco’s new approach to certification looks like:

Okay-you can see that yes, it’s true, there are now four paths, and you get to choose any of them from beginning to end-sweet! (Again, the advanced Wireless certs are not announced yet - hopefully soon.)

So which path is for you? Since they’re all awesome, I’d say, “take them all!” But that’s just me. I bleed Cisco blood, what can I say? Seriously, you really can’t go wrong with any of them, which is why the changes Cisco has made are so exciting. So many options — so many ways to succeed!

Oh, and just so you know, I’m going to be teaching all of these new courses soon at GlobalNet Training, inc, in Dallas, Texas-the exclusive reseller of my “Cisco Authorized Todd Lammle BootCamps” *.

Cheers!

Todd Lammle

*All courses are delivered by Internetworking Training, inc. a Sponsored Organization of FastLane.

Cisco has just announced that the CCNA 640-802 exam price is now $250, effective immediately!

Like getting the CCNA isn’t hard enough, now if you fail it, the cost, both financially and emotionally is a huge toll!

Well, let’s just make sure we pass our exams the first time….

Cheers!

Todd Lammle

Okay, Yes… The rumors abound suggesting our great Internet, as we know it today, is going the way of the Dodo. We could get on that boat and talk about the end of the Mayan calendar and the Nostradamus’s predictions too, or we can take a more sober approach and look at this issue not hysterically, but in an informed and logical way!

First, I’ll acknowledge the threat is real. Certain large corporations would love to become even larger and not only control our Internet access, but charge us for that “service” in the name of protecting our children from danger and impropriety and saving us adults from viruses and identity theft. Can’t happen you say? I’m telling you it can… Check out this little beauty that was, well, leaked from a supposed large, well, known marketing company about a month ago and is now making its way around the still free Internet (click the image to get the full-sized version):

As an analogy, think about way back when T.V. was free, and there was nothing you bought with that TV except, maybe an antenna. There were only a few channels on the air, though as time went on, more became available—for free. Now I pay somewhere around $130 a month now for HDTVs with satellite connections and a package of about 500 channels. Times have indeed changed… This was unfathomable 20, maybe even 10 years ago, and if I’m not mistaken, coming right up in 2009, there will be no longer be any free TV (analog signals) at all!

So what does this have to do with the Internet? A lot…Most people were getting onto the Internet in the mid 90’s, with many more going online into the late 90’s. Some people still weren’t on the Internet until the 2000s or so, but now, pretty much everyone is. Many of us absolutely need to be online simply to work. How did that happen? Well, let’s look at how this all progressed… First we paid the telephone co. for dial up, and then moved up to some broadband provider, and then, hmmmm… Now you can get one company to provide phone, video and data services…aha! Now we’re talking. Can you see where I’m going with this?

So, yes, theoretically, your Internet access could become controlled by your ISP and /or large corporations selling access packages at different levels/plans depending on your need/desire for access to get to various sites. But it may not turn out that we’re all doomed to this ugly fate. I’ll back the fact that the issue of preserving Net Neutrality is very real, but know that it’s has own league of Big Business behind preserving it! Google, for one, is developing free tools to enable big cable company’s customers to detect when their connections have been throttled, or when their access has been modified in any way. I’ll provide a link to an article detailing all this that came out June 15th in a bit, but for now, to quell your fears I want you to know that there’s a ton of effort happening right now to get laws passed that will block cable companies from this kind of censorship.

The F.C.C. itself has promised to take a serious look into charges that big-time cable and other large companies are planning to attempt an access heist on us. The article also mentions that in May there was a bill re-introduced to Congress asking to redraft the present U.S. Antitrust laws with language that would prevent network operators such as Comcast and AT&T from, I quote, “blocking, impairing, or discriminating against “lawful” Internet content, applications and services, or from charging extra fees for “prioritization or enhanced quality of service.” End quote.

So while plans for an access controlled, “pay per view” Internet may well be being laid, and the threat against Net Neutrality is definitely genuine, to me there’s a distinct possibility—even probability—that Net Neutrality will come out the winner! Check out the links below to the articles I mentioned and quoted and let me know what you think:

Google prepping broadband-monitoring tools
FCC: We’ll investigate Comcast-BitTorrent flap
Democrats revive another Net neutrality proposal

Cheers,
Todd

Repeat after me: “IPv6 is my friend”! And keep that up because it´s true! But I´m not going to formally introduce you to all its benefits just yet because going there would turn this blog into a full-fledged article. I´ll be going there really soon though, so stay tuned! For now, just know that IPv6 will be a hugely important part of your future, and let me continue my rave on why using Vista and Server 2008 are going to do great things for your networking career.

In my last post I discussed chimney and receive side scaling—stuff that new multiple processor servers are likely to come with. So now I want to move on to telling you about how the new stack provides optimization on both the receiving and sending sides for the hosts on your network. I´ll finish up by telling you why on earth all this Microsoft stuff I´ve been chattering about in these two posts is so very strangely important to you as a Cisco network admin! Here´s a couple good reasons:

Receive Window Auto-Tuning and Compound TCP (CTCP).

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• Receive window auto tuning optimized receiver-side throughput and upgrades the old TCP Windowing we used for receive flow control. This little beauty will allow us to have very large MTU´s.
• CTCP optimizes sender-side throughput and is most noticeable in high-latency, long round-trip time (RTT) networks (like wireless and cellular, or inter-continental links).

Receive Window Auto Tuning is enabled by default on both Vista and Server 2008 and CTCP is only enabled on Server 2008. Personally, at least right now, I see no reason not to enable CTCP on all your hosts, but Microsoft doesn´t advise doing this for some as yet unknown reason.

Okay, before I get to describing the good news part of all this Microsoft stuff, I need to explain something first: Receive Window Auto Tuning tries to send so much data so quickly that you can often watch network problems pop up as fast as noxious weeds. We´ve all heard multitudes howling about Vista creating wide variety of evils, so I´m pretty sure we´ll hear even more complaints as Server 2008 rolls out. But the thing is, it´s actually not Vista´s fault, or even Server 2008´s fault. Nope—it´s your fault! Why? Simple… You need to upgrade your network. This is the part I love about Vista and Server 2008, and it´s also the reason I´m writing a blog about Microsoft on my Cisco training web site! I see this as a true opportunity and so should you—an opportunity to get certified in these things so you will be poised, ready and able to cure the broken networks epidemic we´re about to experience!

Say you´re not surprisingly having problems with your network going up/down, application unreliability, on-line storage problems, and other disturbingly weird issues after you installed Vista. Steel your nerves and resist the temptation to revert back to XP—it´s not your solution. Yes, you can temporarily disable receive window auto tuning, but remember, if you do this, you´re pretty much satisfied with saying “I have a network issue that I can solve temporarily by disabling receive window auto tuning—viola!” You don´t want to do this permanently because it´s total denial, (which is unhealthy), and worse, it prevents you from accessing and enjoying all the bennies that new networking stack has waiting for you! Instead, roll up your sleeves, toss out the crate of tissues and: Upgrade your network to gigabit links for your hosts and switch ports as well as all your router interfaces add ten gig links and TOE cards with RSS capability for your servers, then watch your network rock the house! Oh, and don´t forget to take a (gracious) bow and accept that promotion! The new networking stack can optimally make use of all this bandwidth wealth. The older stack just didn´t have what it takes—it just was not smart enough to understand how to take advantage of it. Interestingly, this means bottlenecks will no longer clog at our hosts and servers, but on our network interfaces and routers instead.

I was in the U.K. last week and came across some fascinating facts: I read that there simply are “not enough certified network individuals with enough network experience and so, it´s estimated that by 2012, the Internet in the U.K. cannot exist as it currently does. For the U.S. that time frame is only slightly extended to 2015”. So basically, in order to keep enjoying our precious internet, we have no choice but to fully embrace the new networking stack and we need to get our networks upgraded, and do so ASAP! Sure, you can disable most of the features to make your networks work temporarily, but call me odd—is it really a solution if it means losing a proven 40 to 400% increase in throughput on your network when with a just few adjustments you´re good to go with the new networking stack instead? Do you really think that you can force your company to stay with XP forever? Sheesh… I remember many companies telling me that they would never consider using wireless networks! HA! That´s laughable today, although sure, I do know some super-high security networks that still don´t allow wireless, but can you imagine a network that exists completely without it? Probably not—at least very rarely and they´re definitely not the norm. In 5 years, it´ll be the same situation regarding IPv6 and Windows 7, due out in 2010 (which means 2011).

So to sum things up, take my advice and make sure you understand how to configure a Cisco router and switch, how to upgrade your network ports to gigabit, and how to implement TOE boards with receive side scaling support on your servers. Get Cisco certified and start planning this migration/network upgrade now; it could save your job!

Oh… Just this one last thought: The top ten jobs of 2015 haven´t even been created yet, and in as little as five years, you´ll be running products on your network that are now just a twinkle in their inventor´s eye! Where and how successfully you´ll fit into this future directly and completely correlates to how well you position yourself for these changes now! Stay current—stay ahead, and best of luck to you.

Cheers!

Side note:
To disable Receive Window Auto-Tuning: netsh interfacetcp set global autotuning level-disabled
To enable CTCP on Vista: netsh interface tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp

As many of you know and are more than likely less than thrilled about, Microsoft’s Vista has been out for a while now. Old news. On a much fresher note, I’m guessing a whole lot less of you are actually familiar with Server 2008 that’s just now starting to sneak it’s way into computer server rooms. For those of you that are, I know there’s a ton of division there in the ranks, so for now and maybe never, I’m not going down the interface path. Let’s just agree that that some like it, some hate it, and some really don’t give a rip. It is what it is—‘nuff said, because you know what? Core Server 2008, which I happen to think is very cool indeed, doesn’t even have an interface—so much for that noise!

Okay, what I’m all excited about is the new networking stack that lives inside of both Vista and Server 2008. Yes, you could play masochist for a day and update XP and Server 2003 with the Scalable Networking Stack, but only if you’re into pain and suffering. I’ve never seen that result in anything but an ugly crop of nasty problems suddenly making their way onto systems. This isn’t the case with Vista and Server 2008. Now stop—I don’t have my head in the sand or anywhere else nasty. I’m not maintaining that for sure, Vista and Server 2008 can, and have given us grief, but if you really think about it, not to the systems themselves. Instead, any death or destruction you experienced, whether mild or major, occurred mostly on your old, antiquated networks, didn’t it?

To be straight with you, I’ve really never been excited about any product from Microsoft, and I mean any product ( be honest, have you?) but then, this new networking stack is truly a different story—I tell you no lies! It’s just not the same old song and dance. This stack actually provides LAN, WAN and career enhancing changes without smoke, mirrors or looking for a good deal on a straight jacket.

Now you probably already know that the MTU on a segment of data has been stuck at 64k MTU for, like, no less than about 30 years now, right? It’s definitely a serious and totally limiting problem with our old IPv4 networking stack. So yes, IPv4 is obsolete—it sucks and badly! It’s chock full of security holes, cramped with sorely inadequate segment sizes, besieged with legions of retransmissions—oh, not to mention that tiny, little issue of running out of addresses! Let’s face it, using the old windowing flow control has majorly constricted our lives like a hungry anaconda wrapped around our collective neck, we just didn’t know it. No, wait—I’ll be fair. Some of us did, it’s just that there weren’t exactly crowds of people listening—or even interested in doing so. Most people just don’t like change.

Well my friends, those, “that’s the way we’ve always done it”, days are gone…Vista/Sever 2008 networking is going to make you sit up and listen finally, whether you want to or not. Your only real choice is whether you opt to get a head start on this now, or pitifully bring up the rear later!

To wit, let me ask you this: Why break up our data streams into segments, create a window size, and then receive an acknowledgment from a remote host after that window size has been sent, then just keep repeating this process over and over and over again until all the data has been sent? If you answered, “well, because Todd, that’s how we do it”, you would be sort of right…Yes, that’s how we did it. Take a look at the figure and pay close attention to the encapsulation method—everyone should recognize it (click to enlarge):

Step-by-step, the network data is encapsulated and processed by the host.

Moving on: It’s the dreadful truth… By default, Windows and Vista are predators. They seek to and strive to bring down your innocent, vulnerable little network, and they’ll do it in a flash of gore given the teensiest window of opportunity! How? Stay tuned for next week’s blog and find out.

But what about the good part of Vista/Server 2008? Well, Windows and Vista want to send data streams from your application to your new, shiny, expensive network card—a TCP Offload Engine (TOE)— and full on skip the network stack all together. Doing this is called Chimney and it can be enabled on both Vista and Server 2008, and BTW, I highly recommend implementing this on all you servers—really! The reason why is that Chimney is proven to provide 60% more throughput on your server and an 800% (yes, 800%!) processor efficiency increase for your applications! Interested yet? Probably, but you may be wondering, “how does the data get from one host to another if we don’t use TCP and IP?” Gnomes/faeries/miracles? Well, kind of… you see, Chimney uses something called Vents that allow both TCP and IP to communicate to the remote host(s) and well to me, vents are pretty close to miraculous—check out the next figure:

All of the network stack processing has been lifted from the host processors and instead are all processed on the network card.

Intel has a somewhat competitive, similar product out called Net Direct Memory Access (NetDMA), and it works the same way—sort of. But know that you can’t use Chimey and NetDMA together so don’t get duped into shelling out some serious capitol for a super pricey server with Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (I/O AT) if you have a TOE card. Sad but true, I’d say it’s a good bet although that a lot of companies will foolishly end up with servers that have both technologies thanks to ingenious marketing/sales traps!

And there’s more! Another great feature of the new networking stack is called receive side scaling (RSS) that works like this: When packets are received on a host, they’re placed into a buffer then processed through the networking stack. In order for this to happen, they must go through the processor. So, what if you’ve got a bunch of processors on your host or server? All packets being processed for the network stack can only be handled by one processor. Multiple processors are there to process the application data. The issue we all commonly face is that we require tons of network stack processing to be completed on an already busy, even overloaded server. But with an RSS capable network interface card, the network stack processing can be offloaded to multiple processors—something that Microsoft claims to provide an increase of 50% more requests per second on your server. Just imagine the exponentially increased performance in larger networking environments—wow!

So you can see there’s some pretty fascinating and seriously practical aspects loaded inside Vista/Server 2008—and I’ve only just begun talking about them! Just wait… Very soon, I’ll be telling you a couple more super cool and highly powerful features as well as about the great new logical networking stack called IPv6 that’s enabled by default on Vista/Server 2008. Added to what I’ve told you so far, these new features and IPV6 can truly make a serious improvement in your networking life now and the future!

I know you’re probably thinking I’m pretty confused, after all, what in the world am I doing talking about Microsoft stuff!? WHY are these Microsoft improvements important—relevant enough to warrant putting this on my Cisco blog? I’ll tell you that next week.

Chat soon,
Cheers!

This new entry-level certification has been dubbed Cisco Certified Entry Network Technician (CCENT).

Why is this so important? Well, because the CCNA exam—especially the new CCNA announced today—is now extremely hard, that´s why! So basically, it´s CCENT to the rescue. It gives unsuspecting network professionals the opportunity to take a much easier stepping stone-like approach to getting that all-important CCNA certification instead of trying to gulp all the information in a one week class, or by reading a book.

Yes, it´s true—the GlobalNet Training bootcamp approach works really well for most people that have networking experience, but for those people trying to become network professionals with no prior experience whatsoever, diving straight into the sometimes overwhelming and unforgiving depths of the CCNA is a pretty formidable challenge! The CCNA course/exam just isn´t the entry level program of days past, so the new CCENT certification is a terrific introduction—it´s the answer for inexperienced people who want a much more user-friendly, (read, possible), way to break into the internetworking profession!

Okay—here´s what Cisco has to say about this new entry certification:

• Optional step toward CCNA or all other Certification Programs
• Certifies Practical Skills
• Tangible first step to CCNA
• Assesses aptitude & competence for working with Cisco Networking Devices and Software

Oh, and by the way, Cisco has done a bit of research that just so happens to confirm the fact that there´s some serious interest among employers for a certification that covers entry level IT skills that mitigates and reduces the risk inherent when hiring employees with little or no previous networking experience.

Note: This new entry level certification exam is not a prerequisite to obtaining your CCNA.

• ICND1 640-822
• ICND2 640-816
• CCNA Composite 640-802

In order to obtain your CCNA you can take and pass the ICND1 and ICND2 exams at $125 bucks a piece, or try your hand at the CCNA Composite 640-802 exam at $150.

This is the same approach Cisco has been using for years—you either take two relatively easier tests, or one super hard test.

I always recommend the one test approach because, well, no one, including Cisco, has proved that the two-test approach is actually easier. So why go there?

Anyway, since the new exam won´t be released for another month, this could all change very soon. But no worries—I´ll give you the dirt on all of this somewhere around August 1st, as soon as I get back from Networkers.

And, it´s also good to know that if you´re still are studying for the old exam(s), you haven´t wasted your time/effort/cash, because you get until November of 2007 to take them.

A really cool thing I like about the new exam is that it covers all the new cutting edge stuff—no more of that ISDN crap! Here´s a short list of the new technologies covered:

• Secure Device Manager
• Virtual Private Networks
• IPv6 (my favorite!)
• 2960 Switches
• Cisco Network Assistant
• Advanced EIGRP and OSPF
• Introduction to Wireless networks
• More security
• Lots of troubleshooting

Should be a hoot…

In the meantime, come on over to www.globalnettraining.com and get yourself signed up for the newest courses using the latest and greatest gear.

And, don´t forget to nick a copy of my latest CCNA Composite 640-802 Study guide from Sybex because it truly is, far and away, the best book I´ve written to date—I´m so happy with how this book turned out!

IP version 6 is poised to revolutionize networking. Here’s why you should care and what you need to do to get ready.

The odds are good that you’re aware Microsoft will soon release new server and host operating systems that will come loaded with the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) stack pre-installed and ready to rock on your network. Did you know that IPv6 will be the default-routed protocol, though? Unless you uninstall it from your new servers and hosts, your network will be moving to IPv6. If it fails, your hosts will revert back to IPv4. [ Read the rest at RedmondMag.com ]

Effective August 15, 2006
The CCNP® certification validates a network professional´s ability to install, configure and troubleshoot converged local and wide area networks with 100 to 500 or more nodes. Network Professionals who achieve the CCNP® certification have demonstrated the knowledge and skills required to manage the routers and switches that form the network core, as well as edge applications that integrate voice, wireless, and security into the network.

Updated Course Information:
BSCI v3.0 has replaced BSCI v2.2
BCMSN v3.0 has replaced BCMSN v2.2
BCRAN v2.2 will reach End Of Life October 15, 2006
CIT v5.2 will reach End Of Life October 15, 2006
ISCW v1.0 is a new course as part of the CCNP® certification track
ONT v1.0 is a new course as part of the CCNP® certification track

Updated Exam Information
Building Scalable Cisco® Internetworks (BSCI 642-901) is a qualifying exam for the CCNP®, CCDP®, and CCIP® certifications. The BSCI 642-901 exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to use advanced IP addressing and routing in implementing scalability for Cisco® ISR routers connected to LANs and WANs.

The exam covers topics on Advanced IP Addressing, Routing Principles, Multicast Routing, IPv6, Manipulating Routing Updates, Configuring basic BGP, Configuring EIGRP, OSPF, and IS-IS.
* FYI, the last day to test for BSCI 642-801 is December 31, 2006.

Building Converged Cisco® Multilayer Switched Networks (BCMSN 642-812) is a qualifying exam for the CCNP® and CCDP® certifications. The BCMSN 642-812 exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to implement scalable multilayer switched networks.

The exam includes topics on Campus Networks, describing and implementing advanced Spanning Tree concepts, VLANs and Inter-VLAN routing, High Availability, Wireless Client Access, Access Layer Voice concepts, and minimizing service Loss and Data Theft in a Campus Network.
* FYI, the last day to test for BCMSN 642-811 is December 31, 2006.

Implementing Secure Converged Wide Area Networks (ISCW 642-825) is a qualifying exam for the CCNP® certification. The ISCW 642-825 exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills necessary to secure and expand the reach of an enterprise network to teleworkers and remote sites with focus on securing remote access and VPN client configuration.

The exam covers topics on Cisco® hierarchical network model as it pertains to the WAN, teleworker configuration and access, frame mode MPLS, site-to-site IPSEC VPN, Cisco® EZVPN, strategies used to mitigate network attacks, Cisco® device hardening and IOS® firewall features.
* FYI, the last day to test for BCRAN 642-821 is December 31, 2006.

Optimizing Converged Cisco® Networks (642-845 ONT) is a qualifying exam for the CCNP® certification. The ONT 642-845 exam will certify that the successful candidate has important knowledge and skills in optimizing and providing effective QoS techniques for converged networks.

The exam topics include implementing a VOIP network, implementing QoS on converged networks, specific IP QoS mechanisms for implementing the DiffServ QoS model, AutoQoS, wireless security and basic wireless management.
* FYI, the last day to test for CIT 642-831 is December 31, 2006.

The Composite exam (642-891) is the quickest way for currently certified CCNP® and CCDP® professionals to obtain recertification. The exam tests skills and knowledge pertaining to the Building Scalable Cisco® Internetworks (BSCI) and Building Cisco® Managed Switched Networks (BCMSN) courses. Composite may be taken to recertify CCNP® and CCDP® certifications; it may also be taken in place of the BSCI and BCMSN exams required for CCNP® and CCDP® certifications. Candidates must successfully pass both routing and switching subsections of the Composite exam to successfully pass the exam.
* FYI, the last day to test for Composite 642-891 is December 31, 2006.

A Note about CCNP® Recertification:
CCNP® certifications are valid for three years. To recertify, pass any 642 exam that is part of the professional level curriculum after 8/18/06, or pass a current CCIE® written exam.
* The second level in general Cisco® Career Certifications is professional-level certifications such as CCNP®, CCSP™, CCDP®, and CCIP™ each falling within a different certification path (or track) for meeting varying career needs. Think of this level as the advanced, or journeyman, level of certification that shows expertise with networking foundations.