New CCNP Track Announced From Cisco

http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/le2/le37/le10/learning_certification_type_home.html

Cisco Announced New Certifications based upon SP Operations - CCNA/CCNP/CCIE SP Operations

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-6488

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/docs/DOC-6490

You Want To Be a CCIE ?

I have been asked this so many times about what is CCIE ? What's It's Scope ? How to prepare for CCIE ? Is CCIE really valueable ? How much I can earn after being a CCIE ? and many more questions of similar nature...

Hufff....okay Ofcourse I may be not the best guy to tell you about these...but ofcourse I can guide people the best way I can...or atleast I always tries...most of time time people who ask these questions are either fresher graduates or people with some small level certification...or people with less industry experience...anyways....here is some opinion from Experts with some other details...Should take a look :)

http://certcities.com/editorial/features/story.asp?EditorialsID=89

http://tcpmag.com/features/article.asp?EditorialsID=91

http://brokenpipes.blogspot.com/2006/02/how-to-become-ccie.html

http://brokenpipes.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-lab-exam-should-be.html#comments

http://brokenpipes.blogspot.com/2009/08/3-types-of-network-designer.html#comments

http://blog.ru.co.za/ccie-rs-lab-blueprint-v4/

http://www.ine.com/downloads/optimum-time-planning.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/user/INEtraining

http://classroom.internetworkexpert.com/p10099035/

http://ieclass.internetworkexpert.com/p41888542/?launcher=true

http://www.internetworkexpert.com/resources/ccielaboutline.htm

http://blog.internetworkexpert.com/2009/03/22/how-to-study/

http://www.internetworkexpert.com/resources/ccielab.htm

http://www.internetworkexpert.com/topology.htm

http://www.internetworkexpert.com/resources/iosonpc.htm

http://hemantbhakuni.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/ccie-lab-journey-pit-and-falls/

http://blog.internetworkexpert.com/2009/05/12/ccie-rs-4x-expanded-study-blueprint/

Hope this will help...

Best Regards,
Deepak Arora

Preparing For CCIE SP Lab - Why SP instead of R&S ?

In last few days I have been asked many times from friends & blog readers about why I am shifting myself to SP track and not going further with R&S lab...Hmmm...Ok here is my opinion...but before that I must say I might be wrong about what I think about these two tracks... so these are just my personal opinions...So first reason is that R&S Lab has become lot more tough to pass than SP lab after introduction of version 4....only one guy has claimed to pass new version 4 lab since new lab format came into effect on sep 18,2009....I am not saying it's unbeatable but probably the amount of time I am able to put in my efforts is not enough for preparing R&S ver 4 lab currently...adding more I would say lab is quite costly too and I cannot' just attempt the lab to get the feel even when I know I am not gonna pass...some people in West does this....but they earn in dollars and pays in dollars...we earn in INR and pays in dollars makes great difference :)...don't you agree ?


The other reason (again just personal opinion) is that I feel SP lab is based upon more real world things than R&S...stuff like Advance QOS, Inter AS QOS/Multicast, Advance BGP, MPLS , MPLS TE, L2/L3 VPNs, VPLS etc....these all are SP lab topics and have very little scope in R&S track or may be I should say little scope or no scope at all compare to SP track. May be not all but most of these topics are in high demand in Networking Jobs these days....and I see a bit less competition in these technologies...or may be I really wanna BGP/MPLS expert some day :)

Another thing is both tracks have around 60% contents in common...which makes life a bit easier rather than moving to Voice or Security tracks...From my point of view I feel that even if I pass R&S I have to go for SP sooner or later...but if I pass SP Probably I need not to go for R&S later...there are some other personal opinions as well...but probably don't wanna discuss right now...

Best Regards,
Deepak Arora

GRE Tunnel Across Frame-Relay Multipoint

Hmmm....may be not the one of the best diagram I have here these days....but using MS Paint those are easy to build...yet enough informative....and takes less time than Visio style of diagram.


Anyways...here is a quick challenge task....R1/R2/R3 are configured in Frame-Relay hub and spoke style of network using Physical Frame-relay Interfaces. Loopback 1 on all routers has been added for basic reach-ability using Static Routing. Now Challenge was to establigh connectivity from R2's Loop 2 to R3's Loop 2 interface through GRE tunnel. EIGRP is running over GRE tunnel and Loop 2 interfaces. So Using R1 I basically tried to simulate Service Provider Router which is connecting two branch office routers but Provider Shouldn't be able to see routing information of Branch offices LAN segments which I simulated here using Loopback 2 interfaces. So all set....lets hop on to config :)





R1#sh ip int b | e unassigned|down
Interface                  IP-Address            OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial0/0                    10.0.0.1               YES manual up                    up
Loopback1                  100.100.100.100   YES manual up                    up

R1#sh run | s ip route
ip route 5.5.5.1 255.255.255.255 10.0.0.2
ip route 5.5.5.2 255.255.255.255 10.0.0.3
ip route 125.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.2
ip route 150.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.3

R1#sh run int s0/0
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 227 bytes
!
interface Serial0/0
 ip address 10.0.0.1 255.255.255.0
 encapsulation frame-relay
 serial restart-delay 0
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.2 102 broadcast
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.3 103 broadcast
 no frame-relay inverse-arp
end

R2(config)#do sh ip int b | e unassigned|down
Interface                  IP-Address          OK? Method Status             Protocol
Serial0/0                  10.0.0.2              YES manual  up                    up
Loopback1               125.125.125.125   YES manual  up                    up
Loopback2               1.1.1.1                YES manual  up                    up
Tunnel1                   5.5.5.1                YES manual  up                    up

R2(config)#do sh run | s ip route
ip route 5.5.5.2 255.255.255.255 10.0.0.1
ip route 100.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.1
ip route 150.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.1

R2(config)#do sh run | s router
router eigrp 10
 network 1.1.1.1 0.0.0.0
 network 5.5.5.1 0.0.0.0
 no auto-summary

R2(config)#do sh run int s0/0
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 217 bytes
!


interface Serial0/0
 ip address 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0
 encapsulation frame-relay
 serial restart-delay 0
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.1 201 broadcast
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.3 201
 no frame-relay inverse-arp
end

R2(config-if)#do sh run int tu 1
Building configuration...


Current configuration : 120 bytes
!
interface Tunnel1
 ip address 5.5.5.1 255.255.255.0
 tunnel source Loopback1
 tunnel destination 150.150.150.150
end

R3#sh ip int b | e unassigned|down


Interface                  IP-Address          OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial0/0                  10.0.0.3               YES manual up                    up
Loopback1                150.150.150.150    YES manual up                    up
Loopback2                2.2.2.1                  YES manual up                    up
Tunnel1                    5.5.5.2                  YES manual up                    up

R3#sh run | s ip route
ip route 5.5.5.1 255.255.255.255 10.0.0.1
ip route 100.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.1
ip route 125.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.1

R3#sh run | s router
router eigrp 10
 network 2.2.2.1 0.0.0.0
 network 5.5.5.2 0.0.0.0
 auto-summary


R3#sh run int s0/0
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 217 bytes
!
interface Serial0/0


 ip address 10.0.0.3 255.255.255.0
 encapsulation frame-relay
 serial restart-delay 0
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.1 301 broadcast
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.2 301
 no frame-relay inverse-arp
end

R3(config-if)#do sh run int tu1
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 120 bytes
!
interface Tunnel1
 ip address 5.5.5.2 255.255.255.0
 tunnel source Loopback1
 tunnel destination 125.125.125.125
end

Happy Studying.....

Best Regards,
Deepak Arora

NEW CCIE Logo - From Me :)

Interesting EIGRP Scenario

I just discovered some new tricks related to EIGRP while doing some lab stuff. I say "TRICKS" because these implementation which I am gonna show here are not very real world or maybe only required in some rare circumstances. So here is the Task requirement:

EIGRP spokes R2 and R3 should be able to reach loopback addresses of each other....hmmm....sounds quite easy....looks like some CCNP level task...isn't it ?...now here is the twist...second requirement is that routing table should look like as below:

R2(config-router)#do sh ip ro e
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:05:02, Serial0/0
D    75.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.3, 00:06:30, Serial0/0

R3(config-router)#do sh ip ro e
D    50.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.2, 00:07:04, Serial0/0
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:05:36, Serial0/0

Did you notice one thing....R2 see 75.0.0.0 network reachable via next hop address as 10.0.0.3...hmmm...usually it should see 10.0.0.1 as next hop address....so now trick is how exactly they achieved this ?

The first solution I presented here is also valid in situation where lab asks for spoke to spoke connectivity without disabling Split-Horizon on hub.

There are actually two different ways to achieve this....below is the config for both solutions....but just in case you don't know...for get normal reach ability from spoke to spoke without such requirement...we need to disable split horizon on R1's S0/0..because it's a FR hub and spoke network and by default EIGRP uses the split horizon tool as loop prevention system which states that we should never send a update back for a network received on the same interface.

So normal config is here: With first split horizon in affect

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Split horizon in affect

R1(config)#do sh ip in b | e unassigned|down
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial0/0                  10.0.0.1        YES manual    up                    up
Loopback1               25.25.25.25     YES manual   up                    up

R1(config)#do sh run int s0/0
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 256 bytes
!
interface Serial0/0
 ip address 10.0.0.1 255.0.0.0
 encapsulation frame-relay
 serial restart-delay 0
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.1 102
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.2 102 broadcast
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.3 103 broadcast
 no frame-relay inverse-arp
end

R1(config)#do sh run | s router
router eigrp 88
 network 10.0.0.1 0.0.0.0
 network 25.25.25.25 0.0.0.0
 no auto-summary

R2(config)#do sh ip in b | e unassigned|down
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial0/0                  10.0.0.2          YES manual up                    up
Loopback1                50.50.50.50     YES manual up                    up

R2(config)#do sh run int s0/0
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 246 bytes
!
interface Serial0/0
 ip address 10.0.0.2 255.0.0.0
 encapsulation frame-relay
 serial restart-delay 0
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.1 201 broadcast
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.2 201
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.3 201
 no frame-relay inverse-arp
end

R2(config)#do sh run | s router
router eigrp 88
 network 10.0.0.0
 network 50.50.50.50 0.0.0.0
 no auto-summary

R3(config)#do sh ip in b | e unassigned|down
Interface                  IP-Address      OK? Method Status                Protocol
Serial0/0                     10.0.0.3        YES manual up                    up
Loopback1                  75.75.75.75     YES manual up                    up

R3(config)#do sh run int s0/0
Building configuration...

Current configuration : 246 bytes
!
interface Serial0/0
 ip address 10.0.0.3 255.0.0.0
 encapsulation frame-relay
 serial restart-delay 0
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.1 301 broadcast
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.2 301
 frame-relay map ip 10.0.0.3 301
 no frame-relay inverse-arp
end

R3(config)#do sh run | s router
router eigrp 88
 network 10.0.0.3 0.0.0.0
 network 75.75.75.75 0.0.0.0
 auto-summary

R1(config)#do sh ip ro e
D    50.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.2, 00:16:24, Serial0/0
D    75.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.3, 00:15:04, Serial0/0

R2(config)#do sh ip ro e
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:16:49, Serial0/0

R3(config)#do sh ip ro e
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:15:52, Serial0/0

Now lets disabled the split-horizon:

-------------------------------------------

R1(config)#int s0/0
R1(config-if)#no ip split-horizon eigrp 88

R2(config)#do sh ip route e
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:19:33, Serial0/0
D    75.0.0.0/8 [90/2809856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:00:55, Serial0/0

R3(config)#do sh ip ro e
D    50.0.0.0/8 [90/2809856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:01:14, Serial0/0
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:18:37, Serial0/0

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now lets Turned Split Horizon on R1 Back ON to get what we were asked for

R1(config-if)#ip split-horizon eigrp 88


So here is the first solution:

----------------------------------

Configure Neighbors:

R1(config-if)#router eigrp 88
R1(config-router)#nei 10.0.0.2 s0/0
R1(config-router)#nei 10.0.0.3 s0/0

R2(config-router)#do sh run | s router
router eigrp 88
 network 10.0.0.0
 network 50.50.50.50 0.0.0.0
 no auto-summary
 neighbor 10.0.0.1 Serial0/0
 neighbor 10.0.0.3 Serial0/0

R3(config-router)#do sh run | s router
router eigrp 88
 network 10.0.0.3 0.0.0.0
 network 75.75.75.75 0.0.0.0
 auto-summary
 neighbor 10.0.0.1 Serial0/0
 neighbor 10.0.0.2 Serial0/0


R2(config-router)#do sh ip ro e
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:05:02, Serial0/0
D    75.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.3, 00:06:30, Serial0/0

R3(config-router)#do sh ip ro e
D    50.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.2, 00:07:04, Serial0/0
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:05:36, Serial0/0

Now Solution 2:

-------------------

R1(config-if)#no ip next-hop-self eigrp 88
R1(config-if)#no ip split-horizon eigrp 88

R2(config-router)#do sh ip ro e
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:05:01, Serial0/0
D    75.0.0.0/8 [90/2809856] via 10.0.0.3, 00:00:09, Serial0/0

R2(config-router)#do sh ip ei n
IP-EIGRP neighbors for process 88
H   Address                 Interface       Hold Uptime   SRTT   RTO  Q  Seq
                                            (sec)         (ms)       Cnt Num
0   10.0.0.1                Se0/0            139 00:08:58 1058  5000  0  17

R3(config-router)#do sh ip ei n
IP-EIGRP neighbors for process 88
H   Address                 Interface       Hold Uptime   SRTT   RTO  Q  Seq
                                            (sec)         (ms)       Cnt Num
0   10.0.0.1                Se0/0            153 00:09:41  156   936  0  17

R3(config-router)#do sh ip ro e
D    50.0.0.0/8 [90/2809856] via 10.0.0.2, 00:04:54, Serial0/0
D    25.0.0.0/8 [90/2297856] via 10.0.0.1, 00:09:45, Serial0/0

Regards,

Deepak Arora