9/11/2001 Started out as a normal day for me. I remember it was a beautiful day. Mid 70s and not a cloud in the sky. If things at work went well I was going to sneak out early.
I was at a customers integrating a firewall with a web content filter. I had the basics working and moved on to the more advanced parts. One of the customer's employees came into the room and announced two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. She found a TV and moved it into the conference room.
I hurried to get my work done so I could get to watching TV. I felt numb. I remembered the previous attack on the WTC. I had assumed that was an isolated incident by a few radicalized, American hating, muslims whom learned how to build a "fertilizer" bomb from the Internet.
My phone rang a couple of times. It was my wife. I was thankful she called. We shared in our shock at what was happening and exchanged "I Love You's".
Then my phone rang again. I didn't recognize the number other than it was a downtown Chicago number. I answered the phone to hear an obviously crying female voice say hello. I recognized the voice as a customer.
The last couple of months I was doing some work for her company. Her office was in an unique location. Her office, and the computer systems she supported, was located within the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is a few blocks of the former Sears Tower.
Hearing her sobs I said, "Hello. Are you ok? What can I do for you?".
What she said stunned me....
Struggling to compose herself she said, "Two plans flew into the World Trade Center. We were just told a plane is flying towards the Sears Tower. The building is being evacuated. My boss told everyone to get out."
The gentle sobs erupted into a flood of fear, panic, and terror. "My boss told everyone to get out except me... I have to stay and watch our systems to make sure they are secure." "He said if someone else will watch the systems, I can leave!!"
"Go!!" I said. "Thank you" is all I heard.
I talked to her a couple of times in the next two or three days, but never after that. For the next week I monitored their systems and saw nothing unusual.
I was happy to learn she left her employer a few weeks later.
Putty Version 0.61 and Putty Connection Manager
I have switched to SuperPuTTY. It is available here SuperPuTTY. SuperPuTTy does not use "login scripts". For SSH connections you can pass username and password, however you can not do this for telnet. Here is a SuperPuTTY new session configuration using SSH and passing username and password.
I use Putty for telnet, SSH, and serial connections to. Putty is an excellent terminal program. I also use Putty Connection Manager for Tabbed windows and login scripts.
Putty Connection Manager is a Free Putty Client add-on.
Simon Tatham has released version 0.61 of Putty. Putty 0.61 can be downloaded at: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
2011-07-12 PuTTY 0.61 is released
PuTTY 0.61 is out, after over four years (sorry!), with new features, bug fixes, and compatibility updates for Windows 7 and various SSH server software.
These features are new in beta 0.61 (released 2011-07-12):Putty Connection Manager Features
- Kerberos/GSSAPI authentication in SSH-2.
- Local X11 authorisation support on Windows. (Unix already had it, of course.)
- Support for non-fixed-width fonts on Windows.
- GTK 2 support on Unix.
- Specifying the logical host name independently of the physical network address to connect to.
- Crypto and flow control optimisations.
- Support for the
zlib@openssh.comSSH-2 compression method.- Support for new Windows 7 UI features: Aero resizing and jump lists.
- Support for OpenSSH AES-encrypted private key files in PuTTYgen.
- Bug fix: handles OpenSSH private keys with primes in either order.
- Bug fix: corruption of port forwarding is fixed (we think).
- Bug fix: various crashes and hangs when exiting on failure,
- Bug fix: hang in the serial back end on Windows.
- Bug fix: Windows clipboard is now read asynchronously, in case of deadlock due to the clipboard owner being at the far end of the same PuTTY's network connection (either via X forwarding or via tunnelled
rdesktop).
Features
- Tabs and dockable windows for PuTTY instances.
- Fully compatible with PuTTY configuration (using registry).
- Easily customizable to optimize workspace (fullscreen, minimze to tray, add/remove toolbar, etc...).
- Automatic login feature regardless to protocol restrictions (user keyboard simulation).
- Post-login commands (execute any shell command when logged).
- Connection Manager : Manage a large number of connections with specific configuration (auto-login, specific PuTTY Session, post-command, etc...).
- Quick connect toolbar to quickly launch a PuTTY connection.
- Import/Export whole connections informations to XML format (generate your configuration automatically from another tool and import it, or export your configuration for backup purpose).
- Encrypted configuration database option available to store connections informations safely (external library supporting AES algorithm used with key sizes of 128, 192 and 256 bits, please refer for the legal status of encryption software in your country).
- Standalone executable, no setup required.
- Localizable : English (default) and French available (only when using setup version, standalone is english only).
- Completely free for commercial and personal use : PuTTY Connection Manager is freeware.
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How I passed the CCIE R&S Lab on my 1st Attempt
I am studying for my CCIE Re-Certification. This has re-kindled my interest in many of the “CCIE Lab” study materials out in the Internet. With all of this material available, I wanted to share what I did to pass the CCIE R&S Exam.
I passed the CCIE Routing and Switching Lab 12 years ago on August 26, 1999. I took my lab exam in the beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I took my exam on a Monday and a Tuesday (yes, back then it was a 2 day exam). My wife accompanied me; we arrived on Saturday and spent a day and a half being tourists.
When people in the “know” realize I am a CCIE I am often asked, “How many attempts until you passed”. My response is “one”. I say this, not to brag, but to give some credibility to what I am sharing.
When I started to study there was no study guides. People who had taken the exam would not talk about the test, even the number of routers they saw. The big rumor was there was a major Frame-Relay component, but no one would talk about this.
I found Bruce Caslow’s book “Cisco Certification: Bridges, Routers and Switches for CCIEs”. This was not a “how to pass the CCIE Exam”; it was a structured road map for preparing for the lab. From this book I discovered and learned how to study technologies inside and out.
I put together my CCIE lab rack. I quickly realized there was no need to constantly change the cabling. I needed a configuration that gave me a Frame-relay Point-to-Point connection and a Point-to-Multipoint connection. If I needed additional interfaces I could use Loopback interfaces. Quick tip, If you have an Ethernet interface, but no switch/hub to plug it into, “keepalive 0” will make the interface come up.
Combining the Caslow book with my own plans I did a couple of things structurally that helped:
- Lab Time
- Monday – Thursday 7:00pm-Midnight
- Saturday or Sunday – 8hr
- Stop Time
- On Monday – Thursdays I had a hard stop time of midnight.
- If I completed my tasks with lots of time to spare, I erased the configurations and did it again
- Otherwise, I used the hard Midnight stop time to pressure me to get it done
- This way I built in the time factor every day
- Typical Study Week
- Each week I had a “topic”
- One week would be OSPF, the next IS-IS, the next IGRP/RIP redistribution into OSPF/EIGRP/RIP/IGRP, the next week BGP
- For the week, I would spend the first two days on the easy stuff.
- The next three days would be “advanced topics
- On Saturday or Sunday for the 8hr session, I would configure the advanced scenarios from the week and add on other topics to fill out my time
To summarize what it took me to pass the CCIE Lab…
- From day 1, I followed a regime that enforced timed deadlines. Every day I was pressured by time
- Each week I focused on a topic learning each and every the nuance
- I didn't have study guides that gave me a long string of “sample” test questions
- I studied each of the protocols in detail to learn how they worked
- I had a relaxing day and a half before my test
-Billy
Comcast, Skype announce partnership - Does this kill Cisco umi?
I found this article by Larry Hettick at Network World. Comcast, Skype announce partnership
Comcast and Skype announced a strategic partnership that will bring HD video calls, audio calls, and messaging to Comcast customers' television sets. The announcement was timed to coincide with the annual National Cable & Telecommunications Association's "Cable Show" held in Chicago.
Under the arrangement, Comcast subscribers will be able to connect to each other and to the global base of Skype users. Video calls from the television using Skype will be able to connect to other TVs, PCs, compatible smartphones or tablets...
The service will be delivered to the HDTV through an adapter box, and it comes with an HD video camera and microphones that sit atop the TV set, along with a specially designed remote control that combines a keyboard for texting, TV controls and audio/visual communication controls. The other calling party does not need any special equipment beyond what is needed to use Skype.
The IT Conflict: The Network vs. Users. Part 1
We can all agree, working in IT has its challenges. A friend
recently asked me "What has been the most significant challenges in IT
recently?"
To that I say "how much time do you have?"
Over the years we have seen many technology innovations. Some have been business focused while others
have been consumer focused. Business focused
innovations improved network performance and reliability, application
intelligence, business efficiencies, and security. Consumer innovations have
focused on features, functionality, and ease of use. Often, consumer
innovations have created headaches for the IT department.
I remember, back in the day, installing VPN servers when
dial-up modems were the norm. Who would use a VPN when they could just dial in?
A short time later, broadband Internet connections exploded, end user signed up
like mad, and nobody wanted to access corporate resources through a dial-up
modem any more. We struggled to install VPN servers with enough capacity.
Then wireless Ethernet appeared. Business users could
connect their company provided laptops to their home wireless networks, but
still had to plug-in at work. Why did they have to plug-in at work? “Can’t the IT department implement wireless
as easy as at home?”
So we struggled to install standalone wireless access
points. They were cumbersome, then we figured out centrally managed wireless
networks were much more efficient.
Today many organizations have deployed remote-access VPNs and
centrally managed wireless networks. Business users, from home, hotel rooms, conference
rooms, airports, Starbucks, or other locations, can securely connect to the
corporate network. In the physical office, business users can connect with
wired or wireless connections and easily access the same systems. We even can
support “Guest” wireless connections
We could finally rest, IT finally caught up to the users. But, like Steve Jobs
likes to say, “but there’s more”. ...Great!@$%
Now we have business users bringing in other devices not
provided by the IT department. I have a customer who has a XBOX in a conference
requiring wireless Internet access.
It is now a reality; IT Departments now have to support
Smartphones. Business users expect “always on” connectivity. Users expect to not only have continuous
access regardless of their platform.
Not only does the IT department have to pay for the Data
plans, they now have to support the wireless Ethernet connectivity
requirements. It would be easy to not support wireless Ethernet connectivity,
but the cost of cellular data usage has to be considered. It is now financially
prudent to allow Smartphones onto the business network.
Now, do we want the smartphones on the “Guest” wireless
network, or the “internal”. Both have their advantages. “Guest” lets the user
connect like they are at home but they may have to sign in to a “Guest” splash
screen. An “internal” wireless
connection may open up the network to security hazards.
And then someone in management had to go and get a tablet. It could be an iPad
or an Android device, it doesn’t matter. The IT department didn’t buy it, but
it needs to connect to the network. When
the connection doesn’t work, we hear “what do you mean ‘no more IP addresses
are available’”, “when I’m in my office, Angry Birds is slow”.
In my next installment; Unified Communications – home user
features vs. business users’ functionalit
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