Solving the “jabber-config.xml” File Mystery
The jabber-config.xml file is an essential piece of configuration for the Jabber client. Sure, the client has the ability to operate just fine without this file. Video calling, deskphone control, instant messaging, etc. all work flawlessly. However, if you need to add any additional options, policies, or directory integrations, the jabber-config.xml file becomes necessary. Within the realm of the CCIE Collaboration certification, we are specifically concerned about two different configurations: UDS Directory Integration and SIP URI Dialing.
User Data Service (UDS) simply put, is the name for the End User database within Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM). It contains all relevant information about that user, as would any other directory. UDS, however, is not enabled by default on the Jabber client. In fact, Jabber is geared towards integration with an LDAP source “out of the box”. This means that we must instruct the Jabber client to use UDS if we would like to be able to search the CUCM database to communicate with other users. Since this will have to be done by using the jabber-config.xml file, we must first determine how to create it. Thankfully, the Cisco documentation does not disappoint in this regard. From the Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 6/19/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Luis Garcia, CCIE #49023 (Data Center)
- Hamed Zolghadri, CCIE #36789 (Data Center)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 6/12/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Ali Syed, CCIE #48998 (Data Center)
- Panayiotis Chiras, CCIE #48880 (Wireless)
- Evgeniy Petrunko, CCIE #48938 (Data Center)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
Cisco Announces New CCNA and CCNP IoT Cloud Certifications, Could a CCIE Cloud be on the Horizon?
As many of you have heard by now, Cisco has announced their new CCNA Cloud and CCNP Cloud certifications. These certifications are designed to be a focus-based around their “Internet of Things” (IoT) concept, which will also play into the “Internet of Everything” (IoE) transformation that we’ll see happening over the next several years. In addition to Cisco, so many other companies are participating in the IoT concept, at a minimum, the companies listed here.
As a quick summary, the IoT definition refers to the endpoints, devices, and networks that connect to the internet, whereas their IoE definition is more of a “tied in system” that brings networked devices, and endpoints (IoT) together into a much larger solution that will allow the ability to connect people, places, and things in a much more relevant and valuable way than ever imagined. IoE brings people, processes, data, and the connected devices together to form – essentially, in my own words “a connected world”.
For a visual explanation, check out this slideshow and video (which I love) developed by Cisco.
Top IoT Trends and Their Impact on the Internet of Everything
Cisco’s Internet of Everything | Circle Story
As I read into Cisco’s Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 6/5/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Martin Fischer, CCIE #48881 (Security)
- Joseph Ploehn, CCIE #17658 (Data Center)
- David Sun, CCIE #48879 (Routing and Switching)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
IPv6 DMVPN Routing
In our last article we looked at IPv6 over IPv4 DMVPN configuration, where IPv4 transport was used to tunnel IPv6 traffic. In this blog post I would like to show you how to deploy pure IPv6 DMVPN network, and even more importantly, how to enable one IPv6 Routing Protocol over another in the Cloud.
Since IPv6 will be now also used as the underlying transport, the overall configuration of the DMVPN devices will be a little bit different from the previous example; also note that our topology was slightly modified :
Key thing here is that NBMA addresses are no longer IPv4; basically IPv6 is used everywhere, which means that our mappings on the Spokes will be always referring to v6 information.
Let’s start our configuration. We will first configure our Hub (R3), then the Spokes (R2, R4), and finally enable routing on the Overlay network. Since IPSec is optional, we will not be using it in this example (note that to protect IPv6 packets IKEv2 would have to be used, not IKEv1).
R3 (Hub) configuration. Again, everything is IPv6, including the tunnel mode. Don’t forget that link-local addresses must be always hard-coded on a given Cloud, on every device Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 5/29/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Garrison Botts, CCIE #48589 (Data Center)
- Craig Stork, CCIE #48824 (Wireless)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
Building a CCIE Wireless v3 Home Lab on the “Cheap”
With the new version of the CCIE Wireless lab coming in September, many people will be looking to start preparing for their lab attempts. But one look at the hardware list for the exam shows that fully replicating the lab will be out of reach for just about everyone, unless your work already has a spectacular lab. But as with most every track, you can typically practice most things on a home lab without breaking the bank if you look at alternative options.
Before I list out my recommendations for a home lab, know that it will have some significant limitations. It’s not something that you could become fully lab ready on. Also, you will have a hard time following along with the workbooks that I’ll be putting out due to the restricted number of devices and the restricted feature sets available to them. But for self-directed study, this will allow you to practice a large portion of the v3 blueprint.
Recommended Hardware
These recommendations assume that you are starting a lab from scratch and don’t have existing equipment to pull from. If you have better stuff than what I recommend, use them.
WLCs
You will probably want to use Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 5/22/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Alan Arruda, CCIE #48677 (Data Center)
- Matthew Nowlin, CCIE #48875 (Routing and Switching)
- Daniel Cleary, CCIE #47503 (Routing and Switching)
- Nik Kale, CCIE #46112 (Security)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 5/15/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Denys Monteiro, CCIE #48536 (Wireless)
- Travis Bugh, CCIE #48508 (Wireless)
- Manojkumar Chandrasekaran, CCIE #15387 (Wireless)
- Rodrigo Espinha, CCIE #8847 (Data Center)
This Week’s Testimonials
Travis Bugh CCIE #48508 (Wireless)
I made the investment of getting the iPexpert Workbooks and Videos to prepare for my CCIE Wireless lab attempt. Their materials prepared me for the actual lab through well thought out mock labs that simulated the real environment you will be facing. Coupled with the video series for precise explanations on what you need to know, and I had the recipe for my own success in the wireless lab.
Denys Monteiro CCIE #48536 (Wireless)
I am very happy to announce that I passed my CCIE Wireless LAB. I would like to thank iPexpert which gave me great study material.
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
Dial Peer Redundancy
The implementation of redundancy in any technology is of paramount importance, whether you’re studying to achieve a CCIE certification or designing a network for a client. So it goes without saying that this is a concept with which you should become intimately familiar.
In this blog, we’ll turn our focus specifically to redundancy in IOS dial-peers. Of course, dial-peers come in two different flavors: POTS and VoIP. POTS dial-peers deal exclusively with PSTN connectivity while VoIP dial-peers can be used for several purposes, as long as the communication takes place over IP.
Let’s take the example of a call routed inbound from the PSTN, destined toward the HQ CUCM cluster using the H.323 protocol. The configuration on the gateway appears as shown below.
As you can see, we are accepting calls inbound from the PSTN using dial-peer voice 1 pots and translating the incoming called number to a 4-digit DN. From there, we have two separate dial-peers with the ability to send the call to the HQ CUCM cluster. As you know, the dial-peer with the lowest preference (default 0) is chosen as the first routing option. If for some reason, that option is unavailable, the next possible dial-peer Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 5/8/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert students who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Jon Major, CCIE #47884 (Routing & Switching)
- Arash Tabarestani, CCIE #48300 (Data Center)
This Week’s Testimonials
Arash Tabarestani CCIE #48300 (Data Center)
The 5-day bootcamp with Jason Lunde helped me the most, before the bootcamp I was totally lost, after the bootcamp, I just practiced the Worksbooks on iPexperts proctorlabs, and reviewed the bootcamp videos.
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
Product Update :: CCIE Collaboration 8-Hour Mock Lab Workbook (Vol. 2)
We’re excited to announce the full-scale launch of our CCIE Collaboration 8-Hour Mock Lab Workbook (Vol. 2)! Written and tested by the world’s best Collaboration Instructor – Andy Vassar CCIE #22042 (Collaboration, Voice, and R&S), it’s a must have solution for any student that’s preparing for their Cisco Collaboration Certification.
Here’s what you get:
Five Complete 8-hour Mock Lab Scenarios
- Scenarios you’ll encounter during your actual lab!
Detailed Solution Guide (DSG):
- What to configure.
- Why you need to configure.
- What to look for when configuring your labs.
Web-based access to our workbooks
- Study on the go.
- Download PDF’s.
Pathway to success:
- Purchase your Volume 2 Workbook here today
- Purchase your rack rental vouchers
- Start preparing for your Lab Exam!
- Reserve a spot in a Collaboration 5-Day Bootcamp and get direct training from our world-class instructor Andy Vassar!
After you’ve purchased your CCIE Collaboration 8-Hour Mock Lab Workbook (Vol.2), don’t forget to reserve rack time with our CCIE Collaboration Rack Rental Vouchers – time slots book fast. Purchase your vouchers today!
Understanding NPV: Part 1 of a 2-part Series
N-Port Virtualization (NPV), and N-port ID Virtualization (NPIV) have been around for quite some time now. Enhancements have been made to the traditional NPV and NPIV implementations, making it more convenient for unified fabric topologies (which is what we will be discussing today). This blog, part 1 in a 2-part series, will be discussing the ‘fcoe-npv’ implementation of NPV/NPIV, while the next blog will be focused on the traditional implementation.
NPV and NPIV were created as a method in which we could add additional switches (i.e. port density), to a given fabric, without consuming additional domain-id’s, or adding to the administrative burden of a growing SAN (managing zoning, domain-id’s, principle switch elections, FSPF routing, etc…). A lot of this concern stemmed from the fact that the Fibre Channel standard limits us to 239 usable domain id’s. Essentially 8-bits, or the most significant byte in the Fibre Channel ID (FCID), is reserved for this domain-id. This byte is what is used within FSPF protocol to route traffic throughout a Fibre Channel fabric. While this gives us 256 addresses, only 239 are usable, as some are reserved. Beyond this, many vendors restrict us too a much smaller number of domain-id’s on Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Additions 5/1/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert client’s who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Jeff Kuehn, CCIE #48275 (Wireless)
- Diego Monasterios, CCIE #48240 (Routing & Switching)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
DMVPN for IPv6
As you probably already know, every DMVPN network consists of multiple GRE tunnels that are established dynamically. At the beginning, every Spoke in the Cloud is supposed to build a direct tunnel to the Hub. Then, once the Control Plane converges, the Spokes can possibly build tunnels with other DMVPN device(s), of course assuming that our DMVPN deployment (aka “Phase”) allows for that.
In most cases DMVPN tunnels will be deployed over an IPv4 backbone, interconnecting different sites running IPv4. But since GRE is a multi-protocol tunneling mechanism, we can use it to carry different protocol traffic, like for example IPv6. Frankly, in the newer versions of IOS code you could even change the underlying transport from IPv4 to IPv6. This basically means that you can use an IPv4 OR IPv6 network to tunnel IPv4 OR IPv6 traffic.
In this particular article I am going to discuss a scenario in which the Transport/NBMA network (“Underlay”) uses IPv4 addresses, but the goal will be to use the DMVPN to interconnect sites enabled only for IPv6.
As you can see from the topology below, our private sites are configured with prefixes starting with 2192:1:X::/64, and the VPN (“Overlay”) subnet used is Continue reading
iPexpert’s Newest “CCIE Wall of Fame” Adaditions 4/24/2015
Please join us in congratulating the following iPexpert client’s who have passed their CCIE lab!
This Week’s CCIE Success Stories
- Akash Deep, CCIE #48145 (Data Center)
- Shraddha Bhaskar, CCIE #48147 (Data Center)
- Claryeliza Gonzalez, CCIE #21961 (Data Center)
We Want to Hear From You!
Have you passed your CCIE lab exam and used any of iPexpert’s self-study products, or attended a CCIE Bootcamp? If so, we’d like to add you to our CCIE Wall of Fame!
Connectivity Policies in UCSM
The importance of using templates with Cisco UCS cannot be emphasized enough. Creating something that you can reuse over and over again, as well as update and push out to pre-created objects, can save you a ton of time from an administrative perspective. vNIC and vHBA templates are a great example of this within Cisco UCSM. These templates allow you to create reusable vNIC and vHBA objects that you can reference within the creation of a service-profile template or even a LAN/SAN connectivity policy.
You can reach even further with policies and template on UCS, and create what are known as LAN and SAN connectivity policies. These will allow us to pre-create the LAN and SAN connections for service profiles and service profile templates. Take this for example. Say we knew that we were going to deploy a lot of ESXi servers in our environment, and that they would all essentially have the same exact LAN requirements in terms of the number of NICs that they needed, and the VLANs that they would need for the hosts themselves, as well as the guest machines. We could create a connectivity policy for these servers, and reuse that policy in all of Continue reading
The Benefits RTMT Features in CUCM and CUC
Finally, it’s the blog you’ve all been waiting for! Yes, that’s right folks; the time has come to discuss the benefits of Real-Time Monitoring Tool (RTMT) in CUCM and CUC. All right, I know it’s not the most exciting subject to discuss all the topics on the CCIE Collaboration lab blueprint, but it can help you perform troubleshooting tasks in a very efficient manner. The goal for this blog is to point out a couple useful features of RTMT to give you a nice boost when tackling different lab topics.
For those that are not familiar with RTMT, it can be used to pull traces (log files) for troubleshooting in all Cisco UC servers, monitor real-time platform statistics, check syslog messages, and display a host of “Performance” parameters that can assist the engineer in gathering system information. While those are all great features worthy of our attention, I’d like to focus specifically on a new RTMT feature available in CUCM 9.x called “Session Trace Log View.” This feature is an excellent troubleshooting tool, especially when used with SIP. Essentially what this does for us is organize the traces in such a way as to provide a cohesive view Continue reading
How to use AnyConnect to “cheat” in the CCIE wireless lab
How would you like to be able to look up the answers to some of the tasks in the wireless lab, and not get in trouble over it? Well, read on, and I’ll give you a fun tip that you may be able to use in the lab to solve parts of certain lab tasks. It’s not actually cheating, but it almost feels like it.
One of the realities of the lab is that there will be some pre-configurations on many of the devices. You won’t be configuring every last device from scratch. There’s not enough time, and they’d prefer to test you on more complex things than configuring every VLAN, interface, host name, etc from scratch. Just about anything has the potential to have some level of pre-configuration, and that includes the AnyConnect client. If you find that the AnyConnect client already has some WLAN profiles configured on it, say a silent “thank you” to Cisco because they just gave you a ton of great information.
Another reality of the lab is that they often don’t ask you to do things in the most straightforward and clear way possible. Often they use code words or phrases that need to Continue reading