What is the general process that EIGRP follows when configured?
router eigrp asn command is issued followed by one or more network net-id wildcard-mask statements.

What are the rules for the above commands?

1. Neighboring routers must have the same ASN.

2. EIGRP is enabled on interfaces that match the network command. When enabled, router does the following:

a. Attempts to find EIGRP neighbors by sending multicast EIGRP messages (Hello).

b. Advertises the connected subnet on interface to neighbors.

3. If no wildcard mask is configured on the network command, command will be classful network number.

4. If no wildcard mask is configured, on the network command, EIGRP is enabled on all router’s interfaces directly connected to configured classful number.

5. If wildcard mask is configured, router performs ACL logic when comparing the network-id configured in the network command with each interface’s IP using configured wildcard-mask as an ACL.

Example configuration:

router eigrp 1
network 10.0.0.0 (classful)
network 10.1.0.0 0.0.31.255 (wildcard ACL)

What commands are used to verify EIGRP configuration?

sh ip eigrp interfaces – lists working interfaces where EIGRP is enabled; omits passive interfaces.

sh ip protocols – lists contents of network configuration commands for each routing process and list of neighbor IP addresses.

sh ip eigrp neighbors – List of known neighbors; doesn’t list neighbors with mismatched paramters.

sh ip eigrp topology – lists all successor & feasible successor routes known to the router. Doesn’t list all known topology details.

sh ip route – lists contents of the IP routing table.

What are the three steps EIGRP follows to add routes to the IP routing table?

1. Neighbor discovery: router sends Hello messages to discover neighbors and performs basic parameter checks to determine which routers should become neighbors.

2. Topology Exchange: Neighbors exchange full topology updates when relationship comes up, then partial updates as needed.

3. Choosing Routes: Each router analyzes their EIGRP topology tables to choose the lowest metric route to each subnet.

How does EIGRP exchange topology information with neighbors?

Through Update messages to multicast 224.0.0.10. Sent using Reliable Transport Protocol (RTP).

How does EIGRP calculate the best route?

metric = (( 10^7/least-bandwidth) + cumulative-delay) * 256

Least bandwidth is lowest bandwidth link in the route in kilobits per second.

Cumulative delay is the sum of all delay values in “tens of microseconds”.

What are the features of EIGRP (summary)?

Transport: IP, protocol 88.

Metric: Constrained bandwidth and cumulative delay.

Hello interval: Interval at which EIGRP sends Hello messages on an interface.

Hold timer: Timer used to determine when a neighboring router has failed.

Update destination address: Sent to 224.0.0.10 with retransmissions sent to neighbor’s unicast IP.

Full or partial updates: Full updates when neighbors are discovered; otherwise partial updates are used.

Authentication: Supports MD5 only.

VLSM/classless: EIGRP includes mask with each route allowing it to support discontiguous networks and VLSM.

Route tags: Allows EIGRP to tag routes as they are redistributed into EIGRP.

Next-hop field: Supports the advertisement of routes with a different next-hop router than the advertising router.

Manual route summarization: Allows route summarization at any point in the EIGRP network.

Automatic summarization: EIGRP supports and defaults to use automatic route summarization at classful network boundaries.

Multiprotocol: Supports the advertisement of IPX & AppleTalk routes & IPv6.

What are the steps to learning the best loop-free routes?

1. Establish EIGRP neighbor relationships with other routers on the same subnet.

2. Exchange EIGRP topology data with neighbors.

3. Calculate best IP route for each subnet based on known topology table and add to the IP routing table.

What are EIGRP Hello messages for?

To find neighbors and to confirm link between neighbors still works.

What is the default Hello interval and Hold timer?

5 & 15, respectively.

How would you optimize convergence between routers?

Reduce Hello interval and Hold timer.

How do you configure Hello interval and Hold timer?

Per interface:

interface fastethernet0/1
ip hello-interval eigrp asn integer-value
ip hold-time eigrp asn integer-value

Which command tells the local router what to do and which tells the neighbor what to do?

Hello-interval: tells local router what to do
hold-time: tells neighbor what to do

What command verifies Hello interval?

sh ip eigrp int type number detail

How do you verify hold timer?

Repeatedly issue sh ip eigrp neighbors

How would you disallow neighbors on an interface?

Configure passive interfaces

How do you configure passive interfaces?

Use command on router config mode: passive-interface type number

OR

passive-interface default with no passive-interface type number

What are the two methods to prevent EIGRP neighbors?

Passive interfaces
Don’t enable EIGRP on interfaces and redistribute connected interfaces

How do you verify passive interfaces?

sh ip protocols

How would you control EIGRP neighborships?

Use authenitcation (MD5). Each message is authenticated.

What is the process to enable EIGRP authentication?

1. Create an authentication key chain

Global command: key chain name (doesn’t have to match on routers)

Create one or more keys: key number (doesn’t have to match on routers)

Define authentication key value: key-string value (must match on routers)

Optionally define lifetime

2. Enable EIGRP md5 authentication on interface for EIGRP ASN

ip authentication mode eigrp asn md5

3. Refer to correct key chain on interface

ip authentication key-chain eigrp asn name-of-chain

Which keys are used for sending EIGRP messages?

Lowest key among all currently valid keys.

Which keys are used for receiving EIGRP messages?

Uses all valid keys.

How do you verify EIGRP authentication?

sh ip eigrp neighbors

sh key chain

debug eigrp packet

What should be kept in mind when troubleshooting EIGRP authentication?

Examine the time (sh clock).

Key chain name and key number on two routers don’t have to match.

Key string on neighbors must match.

Check which keys are valid with sh key chain.

MD5 authentication and key chain must be configured on interface.

Why would you statically configure EIGRP neighbors?

To reduce overhead associated with EIGRP multicast messages.

How do you configure a static EIGRP neighbor?

Under EIGRP router subcommand: neighbor ip-address exit-interface

What are the caveats to using EIGRP static neighbors?

EIGRP multicast processing is disabled.

No dynamic neighbors are discovered on the interface which is used for static neighbor.

Existing dynamic neighbors will fail.

What are neighbor requirements for EIGRP?

Routers must be able to send IP packets to each other.

Interface’s primary IP’s must be on the same subnet.

Connected interface must not be passive.

Must use the same ASN.

Must pass EIGRP authentication.

K-values must match.

How does an EIGRP router determine it’s router-id?

1. Use the configured value (eigrp router-id a.b.c.d).

2. Use the highest configured up/up loopback interface IP address.

3. Use the highest IP address on an up/up non-loopback IP address.

MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration Study Guide: Exam 70-640, by William Panek, 624 pages, Published by Sybex.

I had previously started out with the Microsoft Press material but found myself falling asleep after reading just a few pages. Technical material is rather dry and boring so it’s difficult to find the right books to study with. After reading reviews on Amazon I picked up this book by William Panek.

William Panek has a number of Microsoft certifications – MCSA, MCSE – 200 & 2003, MCT, MCDBA, MCTS and more.

What I find most valuable in this book is how simple it is to follow and learn the concepts. There are many exercises in each chapter. Steps are easy to follow with a simple VM setup. Concepts are explained clearly.

Each chapter begins with the objectives that they’ll be covering. I found this helpful for my own studies so I can drill in further on my weaknesses.

This book is a good resource for self-study of the 70-640 Microsoft exam but I wouldn’t make it your only resource. Additionally, some of the steps are different in Windows Server 2008 R2.

Chapters of the book:

Chapter 1 – Over of Active Directory
Chapter 2 – Domain Name System (DNS)
Chapter 3 – Planning and Installation of Active Directory
Chapter 4 – Installing and Managing Trees and Forests
Chapter 5 – Configuring Sites and Replication
Chapter 6 – Configuring Active Directory Server Roles
Chapter 7 – Administering Active Directory
Chapter 8 – Configuring Group Policies
Chapter 9 – Planning Security for Active Directory
Chapter 10 – Active Directory Optimization and Reliability

Endless emails, instant messages, endless meetings, long hours at work. Fatigue, emotionally drained, fat, thirsty, mentally detached.

Those are just some of the words IT professionals would describe their workday and life. You wake up, get ready, drive to work, find donuts to eat, work through lunch, go home late, and go to sleep. Rinse and repeat.

Is productivity linked to burnout? Not 100% but I bet it contributes a good portion.

Big offenders:

Bringing laptop to meetings. I’ve seen others bring their laptops to meetings only to see that they aren’t even taking meeting notes. Their answering emails or surfing the interwebz.

Checking emails too often. Outlook is always open. Once that cringing sound of new mail is heard or I see that new email icon, I drop what I’m doing. Sometimes that new email is just an all staff emailing telling everyone to buy Girl Scout cookies from their daughter.

Disruptions at my desk. This is inevitable. Our coworkers will always come to our desk. Most of the time its because they have an issue. And most likely, you will stop what you’re doing and get up to help them.

Multitasking. Most people say they are awesome at multitasking. I beg to differ. There are only a select few who really need dual screen monitors. The rest use the 2nd monitor as a dumping ground for everything non work related. One of the problems I’m trying to overcome is working on two or more issues at the same time. I’ve caught myself forgetting a step on the other task or completely forgetting what I’ve done.

“..When you switch away from a primary task to do something else, you’re increasing the time it takes to finish that task by an average of 25 per cent.” -Tony Schwartz

Just focus on one task, be awesome at it, and complete it on time.

Eliminate Burnout, Increase Productivity, Be Happier

I’m going to outline the steps I will personally take to better myself. These tips should help but everyone is different.

Eat healthier. Stop drinking soda, eating Cheetos and eating out. You are what you eat.

Exercise. This is tough for me to fit into my schedule. The simplest way to get some form of exercise is to take a quick break from your desk, go outside and walk. Even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Fresh air will clear your brain.

Take breaks. Ties into the tip above. How often are you staring into a computer screen 8+ hours a day straight.

Get more sleep. I don’t know what it is but my body likes to fight off sleep. I wake up at 6am and wont go to bed until 11pm or later. Most of the time I’m catching up on RSS feeds, studying for a cert or doing more work. The goal for myself is to schedule these tasks and not do them every night.

Stop multitasking. You’re probably laughing at me. I’ve gotten rid of my dual screen monitors. My main monitor is a wide 24″. My goal is to increase the quality of my work by focusing on one thing at a time.

“Multitasking increases the chances of mistakes,” according to David E. Meyer

Don’t eat lunch at my desk. It’s not really a lunch. It’s just eating while working.

Less social media. There are too many social networks with less than useful chatter. Create lists, add those who are influential and engage in valuable interactions.

The end result is feeling better, mentally and physically, and getting home to my wife and son for precious family time. I’m a work in progress and like the technology I work with, I need to optimize to get the best performance.

What are your tips for better productivity and avoiding burnout?

photo credit: Zach Klein via photopin cc

So says the guy in the airport in a Microsoft commercial. Yes boys and girls I am officially backing up to the cloud. I’m referring to my personal Macbook Pro.

Previous attempts to maintain a reliable backup have resulted in failure. The idea of using Time Machine, at the time, was attractive. Unfortunately, I didn’t want to bring an external hard drive with my MBP. It was a burden and extra weight. The biggest drawback was having your backup at the same location as your laptop: at home. So God forbid a fire broke out or a burglar steals your data.

A local backup kept me up at night.

My solution: Backblaze

A secure, offsite and unlimited storage cloud backup. 

The price is right for this online solution. For $50/year you get a plenty of features. $50 is nothing compared to the priceless photos of my family, financial documents, and years worth of work.

Follow me as I run through my favorite features:

Backup online

No more carrying around external hard drives. You won’t run out of space with Backblaze. It backs up your data continuously as long as you have an Internet connection.

Exclusions

You decide what you want backed up. They make a few obvious selections for you but take it even further. I don’t back up my music because I get it from iTunes which has their own cloud.

External Drives

A nice feature here is that you can actually tell Backblaze to backup any external drives connected to your laptop. I have one external hard drive with data that I’ve moved off my laptop. I finally get to back that up and keep it safe. I can sleep like a baby tonight.

Security

If you have super duper private information then you’re going to want to enable encryption. Comes included with your purchase! You configure a top secret complex password to enable nuclear bunker type strength encryption. Technically speaking, Backblaze uses public/private and symmetric key algorithms.

I’m taking this directly from their site,

We generate a new 2048-bit RSA public/private key pair when our client is installed, store the public key on the local disk and transmit the private key to our datacenter via https. Then, for each backup session, we generate a new random 128-bit AES symmetric key which we use to encrypt the user’s data. We secure the 128-bit AES key by encrypting it with the user’s public key and transmit the encrypted file along with the encrypted key to our datacenter over https. We destroy the unencrypted 128-bit AES key at the end of each backup session and never write it to disk. To decrypt a file, the user’s private key is used to decrypt the 128-bit AES which is then used to decrypt the file.

The reports are good enough that Bill Lumbergh would give you a raise

Backblaze generates detailed reports of your backups and delivers a simple bar graph categorizing the type of data being backed up and how much of it. Then there’s even more reports. You can get a list of what files are in the queue to be backed up. AND an event log for those who love looking at event logs.

Recovery

Recovery is simple. You can log into their site, get an overview of your account, the amount of files backed up, etc. There’s an option to view/restore files. Once you’re there you have three options for restore. Either use the web interface and file management window to download the files you need, Have them ship you a USB flash drive up to 28GB for $99, or request a max 1 TB hard drive shipped to you for $189.

Three simple options depending on the severity of your outage or failed hardware. The download option is the easiest. I selected the file I needed, Backblaze will put your data into a zip file, email you when it’s ready and have it available for download.

Backblaze is not a perfect back up solution but it’s pretty damn close. I assume the number one complaint is the amount of time it takes to fully back up your files. I’ve been backing up for 6 days now. Encryption will probably slow that down the upload as well.

That’s my extensive review/first look at cloud backup for personal use. It’s available for Windows and OSX. They even have an option for business use which I find a bit pricey. Try it out for yourself by downloading a free trial.

What backup solution are you using at home?

I’m now 2 months into using Windows Live. Yes I have thrown Google Gmail out the window and said hello to Windows Live. Now, I’ve been a long time Gmail user so what gives? Why move now.. and why Windows?

Back in January I was browsing my Twitter feed. Paul Thorrutt had published an article about consolidating email accounts. It made me think about my email services. Being in IT, I felt that I had to do what I had learned to do.. evaluate and migrate.

The Negatives of Gmail

Paul Thorrutt’s article made me think about Gmail, their services, and how they fit in with my workflow. The one thing that really sticks out in my mind was making the change to the new Gmail themes that align with their Google+ feel and look. I absolutely hated it. The change made my logon times longer. Buttons and loading took longer to react to my mouse clicks.

The native integration of Google+. It’s finds its way into your inbox. It hovers to the side letting you know that you can chat with someone in one of your circles.

There is just too much going on that required much of my time to organize it.

Live to the Rescue

Paul went with Hotmail. I went with Live. To me, they are the same service just different domains.

Windows Live introduces a homepage where it tells you what emails you have in your inbox from your contacts, which important emails you have flagged, your upcoming calendar events and social media news (if you’ve connected them). I give it a glance and move right into email.

The interface is solid. It’s fast and responsive. Doesn’t take long to load either.

One of the nicest features of Windows Live is your ability to organize email by Social or Newsletters with one click. NICE!

Another added bonus is the SkyDrive. It’s quickly becoming a favorite over Dropbox. Once Microsoft releases an app that works across all platforms then I’m sold. Another bitchin feature is the integration of Office Web Apps. With Google I was using Google Docs. Just like Open Office but on the web. I can kiss that goodbye. I can now open and edit my documents not only on the web but also open them in my Office applications. Now that’s a nice feature.

One last feature I am warming up to, and Google had their way of doing this too, is the possibility of adding an Alias to your email account. So let’s say I want to sign up for newsletters, etc but I don’t want to give my personal email address. You can create an Alias email account and call it whatever you like and use that on the Internet. Live will deliver those emails in your inbox or you can create a folder just for those emails.

Cross Platforms

My biggest challenges occur when I crossover from work to home. Personally, I use a Macbook Pro and will always use one. At work I prefer to use Windows. I don’t use any installed applications for email, other than Exchange but that is only for work. My ideal set up is to use the cloud.

Currently, I have any Gmail messages automatically forward to my Live email. All emails arriving in Gmail are marked as read and archived. Gmail acts as an added spam filter at the moment which is making my Live account looking really clean. When the time comes I will cut that off and put up an auto responder for my Gmail account.

Have you had any positive experiences switching email accounts?

Given my previous blog post about shifting focus to Microsoft technologies, I have decided to take on the Microsoft Server certification, MCITP: Server Administrator which involves passing the

• 70-640 Active Directory, Configuring
• 70-642 Network Infrastructure, Configuring
• 70-646 Server Administrator

It will give me a solid foundation on administering Server 2008. So my current plan is

• Reading Sybex subject books
• Labbing using VMware Workstation
• Utilizing TechNet subscription w/ Workstation
• Microsoft Virtual Labs (free)
• Notes using OneNote

I hope the resources above will help me pass the exam.

Initially, I thought about just reading through the books and various TechNet resources without taking the certification exam but I later changed my mind. People in the office are proud to display their degrees and certificates. It made me realize that I should also be proud of my knowledge and expertise. So why not have it validated.

Hopefully, my study resources will help me pass the exam and you will know whether or not it will work since I’ll be posting my updates. Check back soon!

It’s been a month since I’ve been at my new employer. What’s different is that I’m more focused on a smaller set of technologies. On one side, I’m less exposed to the cutting edge. But now I can really focus on just a few technologies and become a subject matter expert.

That leads to me to say that you will be reading more about Microsoft technologies. It will be leaning on Active Directory, Exchange and SharePoint. Those are currently my primary areas of focus. I think they’re great topics and have lots of room for growth.

Networking will still be a large part of what I do since its what transfers the 1s and 0s. And it’s quite possible that I may be on a networking project.

My environment is definitely different. I’m going from a non-profit to a private equity firm. Huge change. I’m enjoying it. The people are great and fun to be around.

The current projects I’m looking at will help increase the productivity and reliability for the whole firm. It’s an exciting time to be in IT for the firm.

Friday the 13th was my last day at my non-profit employer. I had been there for a good five years. A good run for sure. I learned so much there. I did everything from configuring laptops, troubleshooting said laptops, configuring email on iPhones, Blackberries, Androids and tablets, provisioning servers, deploying VMs, dealing with alarms.. you name it.

It was definitely a jack of all trades kind of thing. But then came a moment when I felt that I needed something different. A change.

Starting today I will be working at a private equity firm as a Sr. IT Support Specialist. I’ll be supporting a growing infrastructure. Similar to my previous job responsibilities.

In a way I’m happy to move back to a for-profit. There are many pros and cons to both for-profit and non-profit. Probably better fit for another blog post.

All I can say is that I’m looking forward to this new chapter.

One thing to consider for 2012 is that I will be using and learning more VMware. I’ve always had a strong interest in virtualization, especially with VMware’s technologies. Back in 2010 I took the VMware vSphere: Install, Configure, Manage class. I was impressed with their lab setup. Everything worked flawlessly. Even with recent moves to the virtualized desktop and BYOC. It’s amazing what you can do now with virtualization.

I’ve already began refreshing my knowledge by reading through Scott Lowe’s Mastering VMware vSphere 4. It’s full of useful information and I’m soaking in a lot. I’m planning out my lab, which will run on my Macbook Pro, using VMware Fusion. I still have my lab books from my VMware class so I will utilize those. Then I need to brush up on the new material for 4.1.

I’m actually aiming high and looking to sit in on the VCP 4 exam this month. You’ll see more VMware posts in the upcoming days.

Near the end of 2010 I set out some goals for myself to complete in 2011. Did I complete them? Hell no. But I’m not necessarily bummed out about it. In your professional career, you go where your career takes you. Sometimes it takes a different path. My career is still along the IT path but it has somewhat shifted a bit.

My major goal for 2011 was to get my CCNP RS. I attempted my CCNP ROUTE but failed on my first attempt. No problem. I’m still studying for it now and will probably sit on the exam before March 2012. It’s still on my list of goals!

When I look back at 2011 I see it as a maintaining year for our network. Not too many implementations. Lots of troubleshooting and optimization. I did work on lots of planning and project management. Learned quite a bit there but nothing of a large scale.

I’ve had growing interest in more implementations for new systems and have been training myself in that area.

2012 will be an interesting year for me and I’m not going to create any major goals this year. What I want to do is see how my career plays out for a while. Let’s just say I’ll create some small goals