General – Happy New Year!

Happy new year to all the readers of the blog!

I’ve been lacking the time to update the blog lately which I’m sorry for. Work is keeping me busy with some interesting projects. I hope to get a bit more frequent with the updates and maybe do smaller posts than my traditional larger ones.

For 2017 I’m going to focus on a few different areas to stay sharp and broaden my skillset a bit.

Wireless – I haven’t worked much with wireless and I’m going to upskill in this area to be able to understand the wireless requirements better when designing enterprise networks.

Datacenter – There are a lot of DC projects right now. Many companies are at the end of their Catalyst 6500 lifecycle and are looking for new solutions in the datacenter. Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is a hot topic right now. I’ll probably be working more on DC projects and ACI in 2017.

Python – In my role as a network architect I don’t really have the need to do a lot of programming but I want to keep the brain sharp and know the basics of Python. I can use it to automate boring things Continue reading

2017 CCDE Exam Dates

2017 CCDE Exam dates has been announced.There are four CCDE exam every year. More precisely there are four CCDE Practical/Lab exam every year. There is no limitation for the CCDE Written exam.  You can join CCDE Written exam anytime in any Pearson Vue Center. It is not only 4 times in a year. CCDE Practical […]

The post 2017 CCDE Exam Dates appeared first on Cisco Network Design and Architecture | CCDE Bootcamp | orhanergun.net.

TV news anchor triggers Alexa to attempt ordering dollhouses

Last year, I was gifted an Amazon Echo; stunned, I stared at the gifter and thought to myself, have you ever met me…do you know me at all? The side of the Echo box listed features, starting with “fair-field voice control, with 7-microphone array and beam-forming technology to hear you from across the room.” Echo didn’t leave the box for six months.When I finally did open Echo, I was interested in comparing functions of Echo against those of ZOE; the latter smart home assistant was developed by Protonet with privacy in mind – nothing goes to the cloud so it couldn’t be turned into a surveillance device.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

TV news anchor triggers Alexa to attempt ordering dollhouses

Last year, I was gifted an Amazon Echo; stunned, I stared at the gifter and thought to myself, have you ever met me…do you know me at all? The side of the Echo box listed features, starting with “fair-field voice control, with 7-microphone array and beam-forming technology to hear you from across the room.” Echo didn’t leave the box for six months.When I finally did open Echo, I was interested in comparing functions of Echo against those of ZOE; the latter smart home assistant was developed by Protonet with privacy in mind – nothing goes to the cloud so it couldn’t be turned into a surveillance device.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Is Cisco CCDE exam harder than CCIE ?

Is Cisco CCDE exam harder than CCIE exam ? This is one of the most commonly asked questions by the CCDE candidates.  Short answer is no. But, you should know the differences between the CCIE vs. CCDE as well. CCDE exam is scenario based. You have four scenarios which is called as Lab or practical […]

The post Is Cisco CCDE exam harder than CCIE ? appeared first on Cisco Network Design and Architecture | CCDE Bootcamp | orhanergun.net.

Musing: Norton Core Router | Introducing the Future of WiFi.

We set out to change WiFi forever. Our uncompromising vision: a wireless router that secures your digital life, while delivering the highest level of performance. The result is Norton Core. Core uses advanced machine learning and Symantec’s global intelligence network to defend your home WiFi—and every device connected to it—against malware, viruses, hackers and much more.

Powerful, secure WiFi is now a thing.

1. We know that Norton produces sub-standard, low quality, deeply insecure anti-virus & malware desktop software. How good do you think this is ?
2. Want to bet that no one cares and the branding plus a lot of marketing dollars will make it successful
3. Attempting to be a full security suite in a single box. Oh, and WiFi.
4. Enterprise-grade security features can now be offered to retail customers – (Enterprise comes last)
5. Uses cloud for intelligence and threat analysis to power the security engine. Reuse of existing technology means its cheap and profitable.
6. MIMO is hard, beam forming is really hard. I’m doubtful that Norton could get this right the first time (or at all).
7. Lots of effort has been spent to make it look nice. Which is nice.
8. Its probably better than nothing (which is what you really Continue reading

Response: XenDesktop and XenApp Interoperability with VMware NSX

Citrix and NSX integration to build departmental isolation between VDI desktops.

In this blog, I am going to focus on XenDesktop, NetScaler and NSX interoperability. I will discuss a field use case, see how to implement that in VMware NSX for XenDesktop and then look at a few micro-segmentation deployment scenarios, to showcase how XenDesktop and NetScaler in conjunction with NSX provides a compelling deployment model.

The ability to isolate and control desktops represents a major security and integrity enhancement. Using a Netscaler provides a single point of access into the data centre and can be integrated into the NSX overlay.

Adding NetScaler in this deployment would simplify the set up and allow the users of all the airlines (or tenants) access the same landing URL and still have complete isolation from each other’s data and resources.

Observation: NSX is an automation tool for connectivity between end points and offers isolation/segmentation as service. Added to Netscaler, we get orchestration to produce greater business benefits because the XenDesktop & NSX becomes a unified service.

No specific provisioning to make this happen. Thats an SDN outcome.

XenDesktop and XenApp Interoperability with VMware NSX | Citrix Blogs

The post Response: XenDesktop and XenApp Continue reading

ASA Pro Tip — A Better Prompt

The Cisco ASA FW has a simple and robust failover mechanism. It works so well that sometimes an administrator may not realize that the load has moved from the primary device to the secondary device. When connecting to the IP address, the primary IP address for the interface follows the active unit. So it is even possible to be logged in to a different Firewall than the administrator thinks they are in.

This can easily be determined by doing a show failover.  In the output, it is easy to see if the unit is the Primary or Secondary (configured state) and Active or Standby (operational state). Since the ASA Failover is not preemptive, any glitch moving the load to standby will result in the load remaining there (unless there is a subsequent failure or manual failback).

Given the fact that I am a huge fan of situational awareness, I like to reflect the state in the CLI prompt. This is a simple configuration change.

asav-1# 
asav-1# conf t
asav-1(config)# prompt hostname priority state 
asav-1/pri/act(config)# exit
asav-1/pri/act# 

As can be seen above, a simple configuration change results in the ASA displaying its hostname, configured priority and operational state.

Disclaimer: This Continue reading

Monitoring SNMP less devices with ease

Monitoring SNMP less devices with ease

In the consumer world you will likely encounter networking devices that don’t have a easy way to poll for their network stats, or in some cases you hate <abbr style=“border-bottom: 1px dotted green;” title=“S

Holiday DDoS Attacks: Targeting gamers (and five things you can do about it)

ASA Active/Standby with BDI/BVI

I see a lot of ASA designs and they are typically flanked with switches. One of the reasons for this is that the failover requirements typically dictate that the devices to be layer 2 adjacent in each security zone. There is obviously the requirement to be L3 directly connected to their next hop. The result of this requirement that an ASA can’t typically be directly connected directly to an L3 only device and it is often the case that a switch is sandwiched between the FW and the next L3 device.

This article is meant to outline a possible work around with IOS and IOS-XE based routers to provide the L2 two adjacency using inherit L2 features. Readers may use these sample configurations to build out there own labs and more fully validate the applicability the their environment.

TL;DR–BDI and BVI allow ASA A/S to function properly in my testing.

The Topology

Below is the topology that used for validating this. In a real world scenario it is less likely that routers would be the connection point on all interfaces. The reason I positioned them here is to demonstrate both IOS and IOS-XE techniques in the same lab.

Solution Overview

Continue reading

How To Wade Through 100s Of Articles Weekly

The writing masses in addition to professional media generate tons of articles each week. What’s the best way to keep up? My strategy is multi-pronged.

TL;DR.

Filter quickly and mercilessly. Read only the most interesting articles.

1. Know why you read. Ignore content that doesn’t align with your personal consumption goals.
2. Ignore content with clickbait titles. These articles are purposely designed to drive traffic, generating salable ad impressions. Most of the time, they are content-free and safely ignored.
3. Have no fear of declaring amnesty. Missing out doesn’t matter.
4. Read it now; you probably won’t read it later. Don’t let articles pile up for when you have a better time.
5. Use tools effectively. You can get through content more quickly and share or save the best stuff easily.

Know why you read.

Keeping up with technology is a big part of my business. Therefore, I subscribe to feeds about emerging tech from news organizations, independent tech writers, and technology vendors. From these sources, I monitor trends and hype, picking out what strikes me as useful or at least thought-provoking for IT practitioners. Articles that match this criteria inspire articles of my own as well as podcast scripts, and spawn research projects. My overarching goal is Continue reading

The FTC’s IoT security case against D-Link will test its power

A Federal Trade Commission attempt to rein in a poorly secured IoT device is raising questions over whether the U.S. regulator has the power to crack down on vendors suspected of shoddy practices.On Thursday, the FTC filed a complaint against Taiwanese manufacturer D-Link Systems that charged the company’s internet routers and web cameras can easily be hacked, putting consumers at risk.But the FTC’s complaint doesn’t cite evidence that the products have been breached, only the potential for harm to consumers.That’s among the reasons D-Link is contesting the complaint. “Notably, the complaint does not allege any breach of a D-Link Systems device,” it said in a statement. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The FTC’s IoT security case against D-Link will test its power

A Federal Trade Commission attempt to rein in a poorly secured IoT device is raising questions over whether the U.S. regulator has the power to crack down on vendors suspected of shoddy practices.On Thursday, the FTC filed a complaint against Taiwanese manufacturer D-Link Systems that charged the company’s internet routers and web cameras can easily be hacked, putting consumers at risk.But the FTC’s complaint doesn’t cite evidence that the products have been breached, only the potential for harm to consumers.That’s among the reasons D-Link is contesting the complaint. “Notably, the complaint does not allege any breach of a D-Link Systems device,” it said in a statement. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Hey Alexa, what are your competitors doing?

Internet-connected intelligent gizmos had a big showing at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and there is one common thread between many ofthem: Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant.Lenovo has a new speaker featuring the assistant. Volkswagen and Ford are building Alexa into their cars. Plus, there’s a whole flotilla of other connected devices featuring Alexa, including a high-tech refrigerator from LG.That’s not to say other virtual assistants aren’t doing the same thing, but Amazon is the clear winner by volume at CES.So, what does that mean for the virtual assistant market, which includes competitors such as Microsoft's Cortana, the Google Assistant and Apple's Siri? To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US: Putin ordered cyber-meddling to favor Trump

A highly anticipated U.S. intelligence report claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to covertly influence last year’s presidential election in favor for Donald Trump.However, the report – or at least the declassified version – offered no new evidence or sources to prove the Kremlin’s role in sponsoring the effort, which included hacks and online propaganda.The U.S. government published the 25-page document on Friday amid skepticism from incoming President-elect Trump over whether Russia was really involved.Outgoing President Barack Obama has nevertheless ordered sanctions against Russia and threatened covert action in retaliation for the cyber-meddling.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

US: Putin ordered cyber-meddling to favor Trump

A highly anticipated U.S. intelligence report claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to covertly influence last year’s presidential election in favor for Donald Trump.However, the report – or at least the declassified version – offered no new evidence or sources to prove the Kremlin’s role in sponsoring the effort, which included hacks and online propaganda.The U.S. government published the 25-page document on Friday amid skepticism from incoming President-elect Trump over whether Russia was really involved.Outgoing President Barack Obama has nevertheless ordered sanctions against Russia and threatened covert action in retaliation for the cyber-meddling.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump mum on Russia blame after US intelligence briefing

After meeting with U.S. intelligence leaders on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump withheld any direct endorsement of their findings that Russia tried to meddle with the recent election.Rather, he focused on whether the hacking efforts -- from any country -- had an effect on the election’s outcome. In his view, there was “absolutely” none."While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election," Trump said in a statement. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump mum on Russia blame after US intelligence briefing

After meeting with U.S. intelligence leaders on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump withheld any direct endorsement of their findings that Russia tried to meddle with the recent election.Rather, he focused on whether the hacking efforts -- from any country -- had an effect on the election’s outcome. In his view, there was “absolutely” none."While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election," Trump said in a statement. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft’s OS supremacy over Apple to end in 2017

Apple will steal a march on Microsoft this year when for the first time this century shipments of devices powered by its operating systems outnumber those running Windows, research firm Gartner said today.In 2017, Apple's combination of iOS and macOS -- the former on iPhones and iPads, the latter on Macs -- will take second place from Windows on the devices shipped during the year. The gap between the two will widen in 2018 and 2019, with Apple ahead of Microsoft both years.According to Gartner, which provided Computerworld with its latest device shipment forecast broken out by operating system, in 2016 Windows powered about 260 million devices of the 2.3 billion shipped during the year. Windows accounted for approximately 11.2% of the total devices, which overwhelmingly ran Google's Android.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here