Cisco Live and alligators. What could these possibly have in common? What they have in common starts with a tweet from @CommsNinja (aka Amy Lewis, Data Center and Cloud Marketing @Cisco).
“Are you faster than an alligator? Find out 6/26 in Orlando. http://on.fb.me/11beA5K #CLUS (RT please!)”
I have been to Cisco Live twice and I know things can get crazy. So I was thinking the Cisco Appreciation Event could include alligator races. Instead I found something very serious, important, and very close to my heart.
The 2nd Annual Unofficial CLUS Charity 5K. This year donations are going to the Wounded Warrior Project. The Cisco Live Charity Fun Run donation page for the Wounded Warrior Project is here. I would love to know if I am faster than an alligator, but running a 5K would require a small medical contingent and an oxygen tank.
I am not able to run but I would like to donate. I will donate $1.00 for every one runner faster than an alligator ($300 max).
I challenge other Cisco Live attendees. I challenge you to also donate $1.00 for every one faster than an alligator.
I will donate an extra $10 if John Chambers and $10 if Richard Branson are faster than an alligator.
Donations may be given at Wounded Warriors Project.
See you at Cisco Live 2013 Orlando!!
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Cisco ASA Static NAT Multiple Global IPs to Single Real IP
I am finally getting comfortable with Cisco ASA Object NAT introduced with software version 8.3. I like that ACLs use the real IP address not the global/translated IP Address.
I am still struggling when in the CLI trying to parse the different elements of the of the object because there are two "object network XYX" references in the configuration, one for the host and one for the NAT mapping.
Now on to the NAT fun....
I had an interesting Static NAT configuration scenario with Cisco ASA software version 9.1(1) recently. A customer has a domain registered and hosts their own public DNS servers. Originally they had two Authoritative Name Servers (NS) with different IP Addresses.
NS1
Public IP X.X.X.1
Private IP Z.Z.Z.1
NS2
Public IP X.X.X.2
Private IP Z.Z.Z.2
The ASA had the standard object with static nat translations:
object network inside-NS1
host Z.Z.Z.1
nat (inside,outside) static X.X.X.1
!
object network inside-NS2
host Z.Z.Z.2
nat (inside,outside) static X.X.X.2
They wanted to decommission the NS2. The NS records with the Internet Domain Name Registrar where updated, NS2 was powered off, and object inside-NS2 NAT and access list references was removed from the ASA configuration.
After a few days I saw in the ASA logs, packets blocked for DNS requests to X.X.X.2/Z.Z.Z.2. Since there was no long a real server at Z.Z.Z.2 I could not recreate the NAT translation.
I found Cisco documentation for Static NAT with One-to-Many. This allows for multiple public/global/outside IP addresses to be mapped to a single real/internal address.
1st we have to remove the remaining NS1 translation
object network inside-NS1
host Z.Z.Z.1
no nat (inside,outside) static X.X.X.1
2nd we create the object range for the global/outside addresses
object network outside-ns1-ns2
range X.X.X.1 X.X.X.2
3rd we add a new nat statement
object network inside-ns1
host Z.Z.Z.1
nat (inside,outside) static outside-ns1-ns2
The nice thing about this solution is how it handles traffic flows. When Internet traffic sent to X.X.X.1, the returning traffic has a source IP of X.X.X.1, and Internet traffic sent to X.X.X.2, the returning traffic has a source IP of X.X.X.2.
For this post:
X.X.X.# = external, public, Internet routable IP Addresses
Z.Z.Z.# = internal, private, IP Addresses.
References:
Cisco Support Forums ASA 8.3 Upgrade - What You Need to Know
Cisco ASA CLI Configuration Guide, 9.0
Home
I am still struggling when in the CLI trying to parse the different elements of the of the object because there are two "object network XYX" references in the configuration, one for the host and one for the NAT mapping.
Now on to the NAT fun....
I had an interesting Static NAT configuration scenario with Cisco ASA software version 9.1(1) recently. A customer has a domain registered and hosts their own public DNS servers. Originally they had two Authoritative Name Servers (NS) with different IP Addresses.
NS1
Public IP X.X.X.1
Private IP Z.Z.Z.1
NS2
Public IP X.X.X.2
Private IP Z.Z.Z.2
object network inside-NS1
host Z.Z.Z.1
nat (inside,outside) static X.X.X.1
!
object network inside-NS2
host Z.Z.Z.2
nat (inside,outside) static X.X.X.2
They wanted to decommission the NS2. The NS records with the Internet Domain Name Registrar where updated, NS2 was powered off, and object inside-NS2 NAT and access list references was removed from the ASA configuration.
After a few days I saw in the ASA logs, packets blocked for DNS requests to X.X.X.2/Z.Z.Z.2. Since there was no long a real server at Z.Z.Z.2 I could not recreate the NAT translation.
I found Cisco documentation for Static NAT with One-to-Many. This allows for multiple public/global/outside IP addresses to be mapped to a single real/internal address.
1st we have to remove the remaining NS1 translation
object network inside-NS1
host Z.Z.Z.1
no nat (inside,outside) static X.X.X.1
2nd we create the object range for the global/outside addresses
object network outside-ns1-ns2
range X.X.X.1 X.X.X.2
3rd we add a new nat statement
object network inside-ns1
host Z.Z.Z.1
nat (inside,outside) static outside-ns1-ns2
The nice thing about this solution is how it handles traffic flows. When Internet traffic sent to X.X.X.1, the returning traffic has a source IP of X.X.X.1, and Internet traffic sent to X.X.X.2, the returning traffic has a source IP of X.X.X.2.
 |
| Cisco ASA One to Many Static NAT |
For this post:
X.X.X.# = external, public, Internet routable IP Addresses
Z.Z.Z.# = internal, private, IP Addresses.
References:
Cisco Support Forums ASA 8.3 Upgrade - What You Need to Know
Cisco ASA CLI Configuration Guide, 9.0
Home
A Network Engineer Jumps into VMware with The Official VCP5 Certification Guide
 |
| My Assistant Network Engineer Margo. |
I decided I was ready to officially jump into virtualization. I say officially because 1) I have been "touching" VMware for the last two years and 2) I'm ready to earn VCP5 certification.
To start my journey, I recently attended the vSphere 5.1 Install, Manage, and Configure class (the official class is required for VCP5 certification). The class was great for the lecture, lab, and discussion. I needed more. To prepare for the VCP5 Exam I also need a guide to further solidify my understanding.
I am making my way through The Official VCP5 Certification Guide (VMware Press Certification). This book is great! Each section provides thorough details and explanations.
Given my networking background, I enjoyed the section "Planning and Configuring vSphere Networking". I have to admit, I have felt a little out-of-the-loop when the Virtualization guys talk about virtual switches, virtual ports, virtual networks. I'm the networking guy!! I'm supposed to be working on anything with the word "network" in it. Here they are building virtual networks I know nothing about....Rude!
The book has also helped me understand storage (don't get me started on being left out with Fibre-Channel and iSCSI networking). Storage is an area that I felt was surprisingly complicated. I saw an enclosure with a bunch of hard drives connected to a mysterious box called a "Controller" and all was good. Storage admins started talking all "Zone this", "LUN that", "my HBA flogged the target via the WWN". I think the Jets and the Sharks have been replaced with the SANs and the LANs.
Thanks to Bill Ferguson's "The Official VCP5 Certification Guide" my studies in VMware vSphere are flourishing. The book is well written, provides thorough and precise explanations. I will schedule my VCP5 exam in the next few weeks and provide an update.
Thumbs Up, Great Book!!
Billy Carter
CCIE 5022
Meraki and the The Cisco Cloud Networking Group
I think this is the most interesting part of the acquisition;
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I wonder if any existing Cisco groups will be moved into the Cloud Networking Group."Cisco’s strategy is to take Meraki’s cloud platform and business model and scale this within Cisco as our new Cloud Networking Group, led by Sanjit, John, and Hans."
Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire Meraki
Hilton Romanski | November 18, 2012 at 5:34 pm PST
Cisco is dedicated to innovation as the path to growth as well as the key to sustaining our market leadership position. Our build, buy, partner strategy has always been driven by customer need and on capturing market transitions.
Today, we are excited to announce an important acquisition that addresses the rapidly occurring shift to cloud networking as a key part of Cisco’s overall strategy. San Francisco-based Meraki, a leader in cloud networking, offers customers on-premise networking solutions that are centrally managed from the cloud.
When compared to other opportunities, Meraki built a unique cloud-based business from the ground up that addresses the broader networking shift towards cloud, not just within wireless. Meraki created a massively scalable architecture that offers easy to deploy, secure, and manage networks. They didn’t obsess about the number of features, but instead focused on those that could be simplified or removed entirely. Customers liked what they saw, and today they are supporting 20,000 customers and hundreds of thousands of network devices on their cloud platform. This has resulted in a business that is growing exponentially with great margins.
Talent is one of the most important components of every Cisco acquisition. Meraki’s co-founders, Sanjit, John and Hans, are true visionaries and leaders. The founders began with the technology, and then experimented with different markets -- pivoting from a research project at MIT to a municipal Wi-Fi company to a leading cloud networking company focused on the midmarket. Along the way, they recruited experts and created a culture in San Francisco that attracted great talent. They have focused this team around a business model that combines a rapid development methodology tightly linked to a go to market engine.
During the course of our interactions, we quickly realized that Cisco and Meraki’s shared a vision of accelerating the adoption of cloud within networking as a means to simplify operations and enable new network applications. Sequoia Capital, an early investor in Cisco, also recognized the strength of the people at Meraki, and it’s great to see the technology ecosystem come full circle.
The Meraki acquisition is another example of Cisco’s focus on accelerating our adoption of software based business models. In fact, Cisco’s last seven acquisitions (Cloupia, vCider, ThinkSmart, Virtuata, Truviso, ClearAccess and NDS) have all been software companies. Cisco’s strategy is to take Meraki’s cloud platform and business model and scale this within Cisco as our new Cloud Networking Group, led by Sanjit, John, and Hans.
I am delighted to welcome the Meraki team to the Cisco family, and look forward to a prosperous and industry-transforming future together.
Today, we are excited to announce an important acquisition that addresses the rapidly occurring shift to cloud networking as a key part of Cisco’s overall strategy. San Francisco-based Meraki, a leader in cloud networking, offers customers on-premise networking solutions that are centrally managed from the cloud.
When compared to other opportunities, Meraki built a unique cloud-based business from the ground up that addresses the broader networking shift towards cloud, not just within wireless. Meraki created a massively scalable architecture that offers easy to deploy, secure, and manage networks. They didn’t obsess about the number of features, but instead focused on those that could be simplified or removed entirely. Customers liked what they saw, and today they are supporting 20,000 customers and hundreds of thousands of network devices on their cloud platform. This has resulted in a business that is growing exponentially with great margins.
Talent is one of the most important components of every Cisco acquisition. Meraki’s co-founders, Sanjit, John and Hans, are true visionaries and leaders. The founders began with the technology, and then experimented with different markets -- pivoting from a research project at MIT to a municipal Wi-Fi company to a leading cloud networking company focused on the midmarket. Along the way, they recruited experts and created a culture in San Francisco that attracted great talent. They have focused this team around a business model that combines a rapid development methodology tightly linked to a go to market engine.
During the course of our interactions, we quickly realized that Cisco and Meraki’s shared a vision of accelerating the adoption of cloud within networking as a means to simplify operations and enable new network applications. Sequoia Capital, an early investor in Cisco, also recognized the strength of the people at Meraki, and it’s great to see the technology ecosystem come full circle.
The Meraki acquisition is another example of Cisco’s focus on accelerating our adoption of software based business models. In fact, Cisco’s last seven acquisitions (Cloupia, vCider, ThinkSmart, Virtuata, Truviso, ClearAccess and NDS) have all been software companies. Cisco’s strategy is to take Meraki’s cloud platform and business model and scale this within Cisco as our new Cloud Networking Group, led by Sanjit, John, and Hans.
I am delighted to welcome the Meraki team to the Cisco family, and look forward to a prosperous and industry-transforming future together.
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Over 50 FREE VMware Instructional Videos Available at VMwareLearning.com
Over 50 FREE VMware Instructional Videos Available at VMwareLearning.com
VMware Education has released a new video site with over 50 of our free instructional videos, on products including: vSphere, vCloud Director, Site Recovery Manager (SRM), vFabric, and more. Now you can grow your IT skills with free training, expertise, and insights on VMware products, all in one convenient location.
VMware Education has released a new video site with over 50 of our free instructional videos, on products including: vSphere, vCloud Director, Site Recovery Manager (SRM), vFabric, and more. Now you can grow your IT skills with free training, expertise, and insights on VMware products, all in one convenient location.
Instructional Videos – freely accessible, these short technical videos allow VMware technical experts to provide tips and step-by-step instructions on product features, design best practices, configuring, deploying and running your virtual infrastructure.
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