In my previous post, we saw the theory behind hub-and-spoke VPN. We saw how H/S involves multiple VRFs with cross-importation between them, and we traced the basic flow of a route advertised from one spoke to another. Next, we are going to look at two options for configuring H/S VPNs. In this post, I will […]
Hub and Spoke VPN Part 1
One of the JNCIE-SP exam objectives I found difficult was hub and spoke VPN. Conceptually it’s not easy, and as is often the case, the documentation is only somewhat helpful. This series of posts is designed to walk you through the concepts of hub and spoke VPN, as well as its basic configuration using BGP, […]
The joy of being an “expert”
Ah, the joys of being an “expert.” I had forgotten what happens after you pass an exam like the JNCIE. One of my colleagues starts grilling me on various topics for which I am unprepared, since they weren’t covered on the exam. MX architecture, MC-LAG, MX virtual chassis, etc. Be careful what you wish for. […]
TAC Tales #3: GSR
Shortly after I went to work at TAC, my first team, which was dedicated to enterprise customers, was dissolved, and I ended up on the Routing Protocols team. The RP team supported both enterprise and service provider customers, and I had zero experience on the SP side. There was quite a learning curve ahead. One […]
JNCIE-SP Experience
This is a follow-up to my previous post on the JNCIE-SP exam. Some thoughts about the experience of taking the JNCIE exam, especially versus Cisco:
Passed JNCIE-SP: Initial Thoughts
Back to the blog, now that the JNCIE-SP is finished. I got #2332. The last time I did an expert-level exam was 2008, and I forgot just how challenging it is. I passed my JNCIP in June and it took me until November, working solidly most of the time, to get my number. It’s been […]
Blogging on hold
For the handful of people who come across this blog and have posted comments, thank you very much for the kind words. This blog is on hold for a bit while I finish up my JNCIE-SP, which I am taking in a couple weeks. I’ve come across a lot of excellent blog post topics from […]
TAC Tales #2: How to troubleshoot
The case came in P1, and I knew it would be a bad one. One thing you learn as a TAC engineer is that P1 cases are often the easiest. A router is down, send an RMA. But I knew this P1 would be tough because it had been requeued three times. The last engineer […]
RIB Group Confusion
This article continues to be the most popular one on this blog. However, I published it back in 2014 while I was working on my JNCIE-SP, and that was a long time ago. I now work at Cisco and do not have access to Junos, and my memory of Junos is getting spotty. I am […]
Tac Tales #1: Case routing
Before I worked at TAC, I was pretty careless about how I filled in a TAC case online. For example, when I had to select the technology I was dealing with in the drop-down menu, if I didn’t see exactly what I had then I would go ahead and pick something at random and figure […]