EXP bits

Cisco ASA 5505 User License Explained

2011-03-22T15:47:00.000-05:00

New Service Provider Business Models

2011-03-22T08:33:00.001-05:00

Recently I've been spending quite of bit of time in the lab doing IPv6 testing. I've been proving out some methods for providing both IPv4 and IPv6 services to customers. This also brought me to think about how to utilize a new business model to encourage IPv6 use and to put scarcity on IPv4 services, thus increasing IPv4 service cost because of the falling supply: http://mpreath.blogspot.com/2011/03/ipv6-deployment-scenarios-part-4.html.

Another problem area for service providers is the bandwidth consumed by over-the-top content providers such as Netflix, Hulu, and youtube. Cisco has published a very interesting document discussing the possible revenue options that can be used to compensate for this loss of bandwidth, and consequently loss of profit: http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac79/docs/pov/TwoSided_Model_POV_083110_FINAL.pdf. This model of video distribution is here to stay, so a provider either must embrace it or just simply deal with it. This style of service is what consumers want and demand. Providers will have to be either "utility" providers that sell fat pipes only or they will have to be "innovation" providers that create user experiences.

I've thought about this a little bit and always come back to the vision of having Netflix, Hulu, and Youtube "vault" appliances. Basically I see a rack-mount server appliance with a Netflix logo that downloads and caches Netflix content for access by local Netflix customers. Netflix can charge the server provider for the caching service, the providers Internet pipes aren't saturated with video content, and customers can get a better Netflix video experience. Its a win for all three: content provider, service provider, and customer.

One interesting section in the article, and something that I hadn't really given much thought, is the mix of subscription-based revenue and ad-generated revenue. An example offering would be IPTV service, supported both by subscription fee and targeted ads, that offers DVR, social media integration and access to over-the-top content (netflix, vimeo, youtube, hulu, etc.). A provider could earn revenue both through a subscription and from ads. These targeted ads could be used to generate enough revenue to lower the cost of the subscription thus increasing the number of subscribers. Interesting thought.

Service providers need to embrace these new concepts, models, and ideas in order to increase revenue and keep their customer-base.

God's Chisel

2011-03-21T22:30:00.002-05:00

IPv6 Deployment Scenarios Part 4: Address conservation and business models

2011-03-21T16:25:00.002-05:00

The primary purpose of migrating to IPv6 is to be able to grow your current customer base without having to acquire additional IPv4 addresses. There will be a point in time where your IPv4 requests will simply get denied and you will be given a block of IPv6 addresses to use. With this in mind, the migration strategy and business model you chose should focus on providing a good growth path and reduce the number of IPv4 addresses required to deploy new customers.

Here is a "sample" tiered structure for a new provider that supports IPv6 and IPv4:

Standard Service - IPv6 address (NAT 64 used to provide connectivity to IPv4 sites)
Premium Service - IPv6 address + public IPv4 dynamic address (dual-stack or IPv4-only client)
Premium Plus Service - IPv6 address + public IPv4 static address (dual-stack or IPv4-only client)

These tiered structures are combined with various speed and cap levels to form the overall service offering. For example Standard Gold service provides an IPv6 address, 10Mbps x 1Mbps, and a 75GB cap. Premium Gold service provides an IPv6 and dynamic IPv4 address, 10Mbps x 1Mbps, and a 75GB cap. Premium Diamond service provides an IPv6 and dynamic IPv4 address, 20Mbps x 1Mbps, and a 150GB cap. These obviously are just some made-up examples but give you an idea of how these can be leveraged.

Most users will just take a Standard tier service offering and their device (router or PC) will need to support IPv6. NAT64 will allow a smaller pool of IPv4 addresses to be mapped to a group of clients. You may have 5,000 clients but can get by with a smaller pool of addresses (1000 maybe). If they don't have IPv6 support they will have to take the Premium service to get the IPv4 address. This will cost more and average users should be encouraged to upgrade and allowed to move down to Standard service when they do. I believe by making IPv6 the "standard" service we can start making this transition a little bit faster. If you need IPv4 you will have to pay a slight premium to do so.

IPv6 Deployment Scenarios Part 3: IPv6 client and NAT64

2011-03-21T15:31:00.002-05:00

In the IPv6 Deployment Scenarios series of articles we've been discussing the need for IPv6, issues with migrating to IPv6, and some strategies to use to get it up and running in your network. This article continues where we left of with the dual-stack scenario. In this article we will be looking at using IPv6-only clients and make use of NAT64 to provide IPv4 connectivity for these clients.[1]

We will be using a piece of software called Ecdysis [2]. I downloaded the LiveCD, which runs a modified version of Fedora, and booted it up on a spare workstation with two NIC adapters. Here is the basic network architecture being explored in this scenario:

The initial boot-up of Ecdysis didn't show my NICs in the device configuration so I skipped it. I logged in as root with no password and setup the following:

Outside global IPv6 address

ip addr add /126 eth0

Outside public IPv4 address

ip addr add /29 eth0

Set IPv4 and IPv6 default routes

ip route add default via dev eth0
ip route add default via dev eth0

DNS servers

edited /etc/resolv.conf and added in my local DNS servers

Inside global IPv6 address

ip addr add /64 eth1

Once I had these configured and I tested functionality using ping and ping6. I verified connectivity to ipv6.google.com and google.com.

In the /root directory there is a script called magic-quick-start.sh that I used to start the service. There is also a nat64-config.sh that gets thing setup. I ran nat64-config.sh and then magic-quick-start.sh.

After that I configured my Windows 7 client with an IPv6 address and gateway. It didn't appear the linux box was handing that information out. I then specified the IPv6 address of the Linux box for the DNS server as well as the default gateway. I could then access all of the v4 and v6 sites from a v6 only client. It is quite impressive. The one down-side to this is that for v4 access we suffer the same issues that standard NAT has. Because we are sharing a single public address, port forwarding, running servers, and providing always-on two-way communication is difficult.

Windows 7 running IPv6 only:

C:\Users\Administrator>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : XXXX:YYYY:0:1e0::2

Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::9d9e:7efe:7926:5ea2%11

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : XXXX:YYYY:0:1e0::1

I verified connectivity by first pinging the ipv6 and ipv4 versions of the Google website:

C:\Users\Administrator>ping ipv6.google.com

Pinging ipv6.l.google.com [2001:4860:800b::68] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 2001:4860:800b::68: time=42ms

Reply from 2001:4860:800b::68: time=43ms

Reply from 2001:4860:800b::68: time=42ms

Reply from 2001:4860:800b::68: time=43ms

Ping statistics for 2001:4860:800b::68:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 42ms, Maximum = 43ms, Average = 42ms

C:\Users\Administrator>ping google.com

Pinging google.com [64:ff9b::4a7d:e113] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 64:ff9b::4a7d:e113: time=17ms

Reply from 64:ff9b::4a7d:e113: time=16ms

Reply from 64:ff9b::4a7d:e113: time=17ms

Reply from 64:ff9b::4a7d:e113: time=16ms

Ping statistics for 64:ff9b::4a7d:e113:

Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:

Minimum = 16ms, Maximum = 17ms, Average = 16ms

The 64::ff9b::/96 network is reserved for the NAT64 process. When the IPv6 client makes a DNS request the NAT64/DNS64 box makes an upstream DNS request. If a AAAA record is returned it passes that response back down to the client. If only a A record is returned it encapsulates the IPv4 address into the host portion of an IPv6 address using the 64.ff9b::/96 prefix. If you notice the first ping is an IPv6 site (2001:4860:800b::68) and the second ping is for an IPv4 address (64:ff9b::4a7d:e113) because it starts with the 64:ff9b:: prefix. The 4a7d:e113 portion is the IPv4 address in hex format.

I then checked the results using whatismyv6.com:

The v6 address matched what was configured on my v6-only client and the v4 address matched what was configured on my NAT64 box for IPv4 translation. It worked great and looks like a valid option for running IPv6-only clients and using a small pool of IPv4 addresses for v4 connectivity.

In the next article I'll be looking at some business models and IPv4 address conservation methods utilized with those models.

References:
[1] http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/testing-nat64-and-dns64
[2] http://ecdysis.viagenie.ca/index.html

IPv6 Deployment Scenarios Part 2: Dual-stack RFC1918 IPv4 and IPv6

2011-03-17T19:37:00.004-05:00

In the last post we discussed using NAT64 for IPv6-only clients to reach both the IPv6 and IPv4 Internet. Supporting both IPv6 and IPv4 is a struggle and will continue to be a struggle. In this article I'll be demonstrating a scenario where the client is running dual-stack with a public v6 address and an RFC1918 v4 address using NAT. This will give a good base for verifying v6 and v4 connectivity without a lot of hassle.

Here is the basic network that I built in the lab:

I made use of Google's public DNS servers at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. These servers return both A and AAAA records if they are available. For sites that return AAAA records the client would connect via IPv6 and for sites with just A records the client would connect via IPv4.

Here are various DNS lookups. I had to set type=AAAA to see the IPv6 DNS records, but after that things started to make a little more sense.

C:\Documents and Settings\mpreath.CCIDOMAIN>nslookup

Default Server: google-public-dns-a.google.com

Address: 8.8.8.8

> google.com

Server: google-public-dns-a.google.com

Address: 8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: google.com

Addresses: 74.125.225.18, 74.125.225.19, 74.125.225.16, 74.125.225.17

74.125.225.20

> ipv6.google.com

Server: google-public-dns-a.google.com

Address: 8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:

Name: ipv6.google.com

> set type=AAAA

> ipv6.google.com

Server: google-public-dns-a.google.com

Address: 8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:

ipv6.google.com canonical name = ipv6.l.google.com

ipv6.l.google.com AAAA IPv6 address = 2001:4860:800b::93

> ipv6.netflix.com

Server: google-public-dns-a.google.com

Address: 8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:

ipv6.netflix.com AAAA IPv6 address = 2620:0:ef0:13::20

The router facing the client computer was configured with both IPv6 address, IPv4 addresses, and IPv4 NAT. The configuration was relatively short, but here are the import points:

IPv6 + IPv4 public on upstream interface:

interface FastEthernet0/0

ip address XX.YY.56.251 255.255.255.248

ip nat outside

duplex auto

speed auto

ipv6 address XXXX:YYYY::6/126

IPv6 + IPv4 private on customer facing interface:

interface FastEthernet0/1

ip address 192.168.253.1 255.255.255.0

ip nat inside

duplex auto

speed auto

ipv6 address XXXX:YYYY:0:1E0::1/64

IPv4 NAT/PAT:

ip nat inside source list 101 interface FastEthernet0/0 overload

access-list 101 permit ip 192.168.253.0 0.0.0.255 any

For the border router there was already IPv4 peering configured so IPv6 BGP peering had to be added. This was a pretty simple process once we had it worked out with our upstream IPv6 provider.

IPv6 on upstream interface:

interface GigabitEthernet2/6

ipv6 address XXXX:YYYY:0:42::2/126

IPv6 + IPv4 on downstream interface:

interface GigabitEthernet2/27

ip address XX.YY.56.249 255.255.255.248

duplex auto

speed auto

ipv6 address XXXX:YYYY::5/126

BGP peering:

router bgp XXXXX

neighbor XXXX:YYYY:0:42::1 remote-as YYYY

neighbor XXXX:YYYY:0:42::1 prefix-list in

neighbor XXXX:YYYY:0:42::1 prefix-list out

address-family ipv6

no synchronization

network XXXX:ZZZZ::/32

network XXXX:ZZZZ:8::/48

neighbor XXXX:YYYY:0:42::1 activate

neighbor XXXX:YYYY:0:42::1 route-map in

neighbor XXXX:YYYY:0:42::1 route-map out

exit-address-family

I did IPv6 verification to http://whatismyv6.com/

This showed my proper global v6 address and then did an IPv4 only test.

which showed my correct v4 public address.

The dual-stack testing went well with minimal troubles. I had to troubleshoot an v6 route issue in our border router and enable IPv6 in Windows XP. Once those items were resolved I had no trouble accessing sites via v6 and v4.

The next lab project I will be doing is a NAT64 demo with an IPv6 only client.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T08:58:00.001-05:00

Linkin Park - Leave Out All the Rest

2011-03-16T14:41:00.001-05:00

Diddy Dirty Money - Coming Home

2011-03-16T13:10:00.001-05:00

Linkin Park - Waiting for the End

2011-03-16T11:55:00.000-05:00

VW Commercial

2011-03-16T08:56:00.000-05:00

IPv6 Deployment Scenarios Part 1

2011-03-14T22:54:00.002-05:00

I've been doing a lot of research into IPv6 deployment scenarios as more and more of my service provider customers begin looking for solutions. The main problem that needs immediate attention is the lack of IPv4 address space left for service providers to use for turning-up new customers.

Let's start off with the basics. First, you'll need to request an IPv6 block from ARIN (in North America). You'll then need to identify if your current upstream provider will do IPv6 MP-eBGP peering with you. This is key. If they won't, find one that will.

Now that you have an address block and its advertised out to the IPv6 Internet you have to create a migration strategy. Unfortunately this is where it gets tricky. You can't just move all of your customers to IPv6 and be done. There are two main reasons for this:

Not all websites (or other services) your users will access have an IPv6 equivalent.
Not all of your users have devices (routers, PCs, etc.) that support IPv6.

This leaves you with supporting both IPv6 and IPv4 services for the foreseeable future as your only option. Let's tackle the first problem. You will have to continue with your IPv4 peering and add in IPv6 peering to your upstream providers. This will give you access to the IPv6 Internet and allow access into your network via IPv6. At this point if you had a dual-stack client running both IPv4 and IPv6 you could theoretically get to all of the IPv6 AND IPv4 sites on the Internet.

Wait though.

What about the clients that don't have an IPv6 stack? Hmm, out of luck on the v6 sites. This also doesn't conserve any v4 addresses as all of your customers would need a v6 and a v4 address. This brings us to problem two. You have a few options, some are bad, some are tolerable ... none are all that good.

Run dual-stack v6 and v4 and use RFC1918 private addresses + NAT for v4
Give all customers only a v6 address and use NAT-PT or NAT64/DNS64 (preferred) to translate for access to v4 sites

Customer devices that don't support v6 will need to be upgraded.
Suffers from some of the same issues v4 NAT has

As I write this, the preferred solution is to run IPv6 only and use NAT64/DNS64 to provide access to IPv4 sites with a client running only a v6 stack. Old customers can continue to run IPv4 if needed, but should be encouraged to migrate to IPv6, new customers should be turned up as IPv6. I've included a simple diagram to demonstrate.

Absolute Forgiveness

2011-01-28T08:14:00.004-06:00

Over the past few weeks I've been able to have some really great conversations with a few struggling Christians. One of the most revolutionary ideas that comes from Christianity is the idea of absolute forgiveness, and it is one of the hardest for most people to understand and for Christians to put into action.

We are a world surrounded with sinful selfishness, evil influences, and constant bombardment of negative media. It hard for people to stay positive and stay away from the temptations and influences of Sin. However, no matter how much we have staggered off the path of Christ, He is willing to forgive us, and we should freely forgive others and ourselves. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus spends his time with tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves, the diseased, and the poor.

1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 "About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' 5 So they went. "He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' 7 " 'Because no one has hired us,' they answered. "He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.' 8 "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.' 9 "The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.' 13 "But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' 16 "So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

The deeper meaning of Matthew 20:1-16, shows that even a convicted murderer on death row can be forgiven. This is a hard concept for most people who see things as having to be fair or justified. The concept of everything have to be fair is man made and part of the selfish American culture. How amazing that no matter how much you've messed up, you've been forgiven through Christ. Faith is two-fold. One its about a personal relationship with Christ and the other is about loving your neighbors as you love yourself and being happy for them when coming to Christ, no matter how much you "think" they've messed up or how it doesn't seem "fair". Its about love and self sacrifice for others.

3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." Luke 17:3-4 (NIV)

Love they neighbor, if he asks for your forgiveness 1000 times, 1000 times forgive him.

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)

Be honest with yourself, we are all Ragamuffins, be honest with others, be honest with Him. Forgive others and ask for forgiveness from others. Pray each and every day asking for forgiveness. He loves you and wants to forgive your Sin - you just have to be humble and ask.

What is my purpose?

2011-01-28T08:03:00.002-06:00

Follow the Word of Christ
Spread the Word of Christ
Be a positive and encouraging person.
Let Christ shine through me with truth and grace.
Forgive others as I've been forgiven

1 Samuel 8:10-20

2011-01-18T06:42:00.001-06:00

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

Separation of Church and State

2011-01-18T06:09:00.002-06:00

I had a great conversation with a friend this weekend about groups pushing to remove "In God We Trust" from currency, the pledge of allegiance in schools, and "Merry Christmas" from Christmas. I'm a Christian but I am pro-separation of church state - just like our founding fathers. We, as parents, friends, teachers, and Christians should be teaching Christian values to our children, friends, and students - not the Government or our Schools. Parents should be parenting, which sadly is becoming much more rare.

Although I DO NOT see the need to remove these historical phrases and items from buildings and documents I can sympathize with those that don't want their children mindlessly reciting some pledge they don't agree with. Would you, as a Christian, recite a pledge that declared your faith to Allah? I think not ...

What people fail to realize is that separation of church and state is in place to protect Christianity.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

There are plenty of news articles out there that predict by 2050 that the minority population will surpass the white population. I only use this as an example of a minority becoming a majority. Now lets think about the case where the Christian majority in the U.S. gets surpassed by followers of Islam. Wouldn't you, as a Christian, be furious when the "new" majority tries passing prayer laws, morality laws, or force Christians to listen or recite the Koran? This is the entire point of the First Amendment - that no religion can legislate or guide the government.

Please don't depend on our Government to give you religion - attend a Church, pray, spend time with the bible each and every day.

Green Bay Packers

2011-01-15T12:38:00.001-06:00

Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons tonight ... we are going to One Eyed Jack's in Orlando to watch the game with the central florida packer backers. Big event!

Aaron Rodgers highlight video:

New house

2011-01-15T12:00:00.001-06:00

Well, its official, we finally bought a new house. After a year of many blessings we were able to sell my house and get approved for a new house. We have signed and close early next month. The house is on Forest Drive in Norway.

Its 4 bedroom, 2.5 baths, and around 2500 sq ft. With the 3 kids this is going to be huge improvement over the 850 sq ft we are in now. Kurtis' first request is that we have a room for video games. There is just the spot in the house.

We'll keep everyone posted on the status but everything is a 'go' right now.

Campaign Headquarters: ...and now ... the rest of the story.

2011-01-15T10:41:00.000-06:00

Campaign Headquarters: ...and now ... the rest of the story.: "A crack forms in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula By Dan La Ponsie, 8 October, 2010, 7 Comments 200 yards long, 5 feet deep in parts..."

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth - Kevin Wilson

2010-04-14T17:57:00.001-05:00

Switchfoot - Dare You To Move

2010-02-23T08:13:00.003-06:00

Been slacking

2010-02-23T08:07:00.000-06:00

Well, I definitely have been slacking on the blog here. Been studying non-stop for the last few months for my CCIE exam on Feb 26th. Only 3 more days.

Conversations with FCC Chairman

2009-11-28T23:34:00.006-06:00

Broadband and Mobile Communications

2009-11-28T12:16:00.014-06:00

I watched a very interesting announcement and discussion the other day. The FCC is in the initial phases of net neutrality regulation. The FCC is looking for recommendations and the video link below contains the announcement and a panel discussion afterwards.

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/ID/212626&start=0&end=6474

What is your opinion on the matter?

In my opinion the industry should be composed of two distinct entities. One provides infrastructure, the other provides service to end-users. For example, one town could have one infrastructure provider that provides wireline service to a majority of residents and through government subsidies has provided infrastructure to 99% of the residents. Two competing service provider companies have come to the same area to provide Internet and voice service over this infrastructure (paying the infrastructure provider per month per access line). The two competing companies market their services and the consumer gets to pick the provider that offers the best options and service they require. These service providers would pay the infrastructure providers a per month per access line fee and a per month bandwidth fee at each hub site.

These infrastructure providers also could have their own service provider business but have to allow the different providers equal access. This is similar to how telcos had to allow other DSL providers access to the lines.

Because these infrastructure providers would have to allow many providers to use their network, in fact thats its entire purpose, it would have to remain neutral when dealing with traffic.

More to follow ... I have a lot of ideas on this.

The First Internet Router

2009-11-27T04:20:00.003-06:00

The COMPUTER That Will Not Die: SDS Sigma-7

Tweet Density

2009-11-12T13:01:00.001-06:00

Check out tweetstats.com to see some cool graphs and information on your twitter usage. Very cool.

The above graph shows my tweet density per day. A majority of my tweets are made in the morning and on the weekends. Pretty cool ... I must have a job.

I really started picking up my twitter usage in the last couple of months. I was more of a passive observer before then.

Anyhow, just wanted to share this cool website. You can follow me on twitter @mpreath.

Gaming Yesterday

2009-11-12T12:48:00.002-06:00

Wow, yesterday was one of the best gaming sessions in awhile. We got a late start and not everyone showed up but it definitely was a fun time. I ended up leveling my Paladin up to 10 and then taking Fist of Razeil for two levels. The Fist focuses on smiting evil and casting spells, sacrificing advancement of some of the other paladin powers. I also shifted around some of my feats, should be good to go from here on out, up into epic levels.

The mage noticed a dark shape pass in front of the secure shelter window. He immediately drew the curtains closed. We had rested for nearly a day when we heard a pounding noise on the shelter, and eventually the shelter began to crack open. Upon looking out the window we saw a group of ogres and one ogre mage. The paladin cast shield other on our mage. Our mage spotted a clear spot on the other side of the room and dimensional doored over behind the ogres. The ogre mage noticed our mages move, forcing initiative. The rest of the group remained in the shelter.

Our mage dropped a fireball into the middle of the group and two of the ogres pursued him. In the meantime, the rest of the party was battling the other ogres through the holes and cracks in the secure shelter. Two of them were dropped before the shelter collapsed and we were forced to exit the shelter.

The vampire that has been following us, and has dominated a good portion of the party, appeared, made his presence known. The party huddled around the paladin for the protection provided by his magic circle. This prevented the effects of the domination spell the vampire had cast. After we threw many a spell and arrow at the vampire he disappeared. We then finished off the other ogres. The paladin and warrior took some heavy damage but all survived.

We then entered a room to find a group of slaves in bad shape. The paladin healed them and provided food. The group of slaves are now following our group through the temple.

What kind of parent are you?

2009-11-08T12:36:00.000-06:00

Today at church the sermon was about "what kind of parent are you?". This one hit home for both Kristen and I. Especially after this weekend where my patience was running thin and was falling into the authoritarian role.

Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Always remember the commands I give you today. Teach them to your children, and talk about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign. Tie them to your forehead to remind you (Deuteronomy 6:4-8)

How are children to be taught? Impress the word of God upon your children, mark them
Where should they be taught? Everywhere
When should they be taught? Every waking moment

Four kinds of parents:

Neglectful - low in love, low in discipline and direction
Permissive - high in love, low in discipline and direction
Authoritarian - low in love, high in discipline
Authoritative - high in love, high in discipline and direction

We should all strive to be an Authoritative parent. High in love and understanding, high in discipline and direction. Teach your children the word of God, with love and discipline, guide them, set limits.

Five words of good parenting:

Love
Lift - encourage them
Limit - give them boundaries and discipline
Laugh - laugh with your children, lighten up
Lead - show them the way, lead by example - if you teach them impatience, they will be impatient.

Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

Fathers, do not nag your children. If you are too hard to please, they may want to stop trying. (Colossians 3:21)

VBS - Crocodile Dock

2009-11-06T11:44:00.005-06:00

A few months ago Kristen and I were team leaders for VBS at our church. VBS is a hands-on bible study for kids. This year's theme was Crocodile Dock. It was a ton of fun and I'm really grateful that I was asked to help out. I learned as much as the kids did. There were break-out sessions about different things in the Bible, focused on teaching kids the word of God.

Here are a few pics:

Kristen and I

Kristen with her group of kids, Pastor Jim leading the charge. Kennedy in the middle staring at the camera.

Youth Pastor Chad speaking and Toby standing up by the girls.

Flyleaf - All Around Me

2009-11-04T08:08:00.001-06:00

Lacey Mosley, the lead singer of Flyleaf, went through a troubled childhood... eventually finding her savior. Her story is very inspiring to me in many ways, but accepting God and changing her ways is the most admirable.

During that same year, she went through bouts of depression and had suicidal tendancies. "I lost my boyfriend, I lost my brothers and sisters that I watched every day, and I lost my drugs that I did. I really felt like that was the end," she said. "So I decided to kill myself the next day." After her grandmother forced her to go to church, Lacey Mosley experienced something supernatural that brought her to God. "My life totally changed after that."

Aaron Shust - My Savior My God

2009-11-03T08:14:00.002-06:00

Brandon Heath - Wait and See

2009-11-03T08:07:00.004-06:00

CCIE Lab 3

2009-11-02T23:54:00.003-06:00

UPDATE (11/3/09): Here is a link to the dynamips/dynagen network file.

IGP

· Configure routers in AS1021 to use OSPF area 0. ASBR-6 and ASBR-5 should be able to ping the other router’s, in AS1021, loopback0 address.
· Configure routers in AS455 to use IS-IS level-2 routes. Routers 1,2,3 and 4 should be able the ping the other routers’, in AS455, loopback0 addresses.
· The link between ASBR-6 and ASBR-5 should be configured to eliminate the DR/BDR election process.

BGP

· Configure an eBGP session between ASBR-1 and ASBR-6 as well as between ASBR-4 and ASBR-5.
· Advertise the loopback addresses of routers in AS 455 to AS 1021 from both ASBR-1 and ASBR-4. Do NOT use redistribution on ASBR-1 or ASBR-4 to accomplish this and only advertise the loopback addresses.
· Advertise the loopback addresses of routers in AS 1021 to AS 455 from both ASBR-5 and ASBR-6. ONLY use redistribution on ASBR-5 and ASBR-6 to accomplish this and only advertise the loopback addresses.
· Configure iBGP sessions on all routers in AS455 with ASBR-1 as a RR.
· Configure iBGP between ASBR-6 and ASBR-5.
· Traffic from AS 455 to AS 1021 should prefer the ASBR-1 to ASBR-6 link.
· Traffic from AS 1021 to AS 455 should prefer the ASBR-6 to ASBR-1 link.
· All non-CE routers should be able to ping the loopback of all other non-CE routers after this configuration.

MPLS

· Configure all routers in AS 455 for label switching using TDP for a label advertisement protocol.
· Configure all routers in AS 1021 for label switching using LDP for a label advertisement protocol.
PE-CE routing
· Configure EIGRP for vrf CustA on PE-3, PE-2, and CE-7. Both PE-3 and PE-2 should have CE-7’s loopback address in its vrf routing table after this.
· Verify this using the ping command.
· Configure RIP between ASBR-5 and CE-8 in vrf CustA. ASBR-5 should have CE-8’s loopback address in its routing table after this.
· Verify this using the ping command.

IntraAS VPN

· Configure an L3VPN using MP-BGP between PE-2 and PE-3 for vrf CustA.
· Configure loopback addresses on PE-2 and PE-3 in vrf CustA. Use 10.1.1.2/32 and 10.1.1.3/32 respectively. Configure EIGRP accordingly.
· Verify that CE-7 will use the VPN connection to reach these loopbacks in the event of a link failure on CE-7.

MPLS-TE

· Enable MPLS-TE throughout AS 455.
· Create a tunnel with the highest priority possible between PE-3 and PE-2 such that all L3VPN traffic between the two routers takes the PE-3, ASBR-4, ASBR-1, PE-2 (and vice-versa) path on the network. Also, this tunnel should reserve 15 Mbps of bandwidth.
· Verify the operation of this tunnel.

InterAS VPN

· Configure a L3VPN session between PE-3 and ASBR-5 for vrf CustA. The only VPNv4 session should be between these two routers. Only CE-7 and CE-8 loopback addresses should be shared.
· Configure the network to support this LSP.
· If the link between ASBR-4 and ASBR-5 fails, the VPN should still operate through the ASBR-1 and ASBR-6 link.
· Verify connectivity between CE-7 and CE-8.

Multicast

· Configure AS 455 and AS 1021 to support multicast traffic. This includes SSM and pim sparse-mode. In AS 455 ASBR-4 will act as the rendezvous point. In AS 1021 ASBR-5 will act as the rendezvous point.
· Verify the operation of multicast traffic on both networks.

InterAS Multicast

· Using MSDP between ASBR-4 and ASBR-5 configure InterAS multicast support between AS 455 and AS 1021.
· Multicast traffic should be able to flow between the two networks.

Multicast VPN

· Configure the L3VPN between PE-2, PE-3, and ASBR-5 to support multicast across the VPN.

Funny Cisco ASR 9000 Commercial

2009-11-02T09:46:00.001-06:00

CCIE SP Lab (OSPF/ISIS/MPLS/BGP)

2009-11-02T09:25:00.001-06:00

Here is yet another CCIE SP lab topology I came up with. This one is more focused on BGP and InterAS VPNs but I ended up doing OSPF in one AS and IS-IS in the other AS. Then eBGP between the two ASBRs, and iBGP in the ASs with P-2 as a RR and in AS 15 I didn't use a RR.

I'll be posting some configuration topics soon but am looking for others to make suggestions on what would be good things to study with this topology?

LAB002 Topology

Bibles Unbound - Get Involved

2009-11-01T13:45:00.000-06:00

Please help the Voice of the Martyrs distribute Bibles to persecuted Christians all around the world. To help now go to the Bibles Unbound website.

Hope and Hopelessness Sermon 11/1/09

2009-11-01T13:32:00.002-06:00

Today's sermon at church was from Ruth (Ruth 1:1-18). Naomi after the death of her husband and sons spoke with a hopeless tone to her daughter-in-laws. She told them to leave her and find better lives, the hand of God was against her, and that she had no hope. However, Ruth refused.

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

Hopelessness is sometime referred to as "learned helplessness". The pastor referred to an analogy of dogs in a kennel who were shocked randomly and repeatedly. After a long time a "safe" zone was created in the kennel where the dogs could go to not get shocked. These dogs that had been shocked repeatedly never moved, they just let themselves be shocked. However new dogs were put in the kennel and they very quickly learned where this "safe" zone was. Hopelessness, or learned helplessness, is refusing to move when being shocked.

Hope is the fuel for our lives as gas is the fuel for car. A beautiful, fancy, fast sports car is useless without gas. The same goes for our lives, without hope, our lives are not going anywhere.

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Phillippians 4:13)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:1-2)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3)

Juniper reloads for battle with Cisco

2009-10-31T07:15:00.002-05:00

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/46923

This arcticle by Cisco Subnet is a about Junipers announcement of new technologies and strategies. I'm a long time Cisco IOS user. I recently used JUNOS though and was blown away. From a configuration, scripting, and monitoring perspective I gave JUNOS the thumbs up. With this announcement they have basically opened up portions of JUNOS for any customer to develop their own set of tools, or for 3rd parties to develop tools and market them. JUNOS has a lot to offer and Cisco may want to look at. Oh yeah they did with IOS XR, well kind of ... you know have a good thing when somebody else copies it.

In my opinion Junipers hardware updates, software updates, and new marketing strategy are all good things for the market.

Matthew West - The Motions

2009-10-30T08:41:00.005-05:00

This is probably one of the most inspirational songs I've heard in a long time. I only heard it recently but was instantly touched. I figured I'd share this live version. Very touching and inspirational message from Matthew West.

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

Juniper Moves to the NYSE

2009-10-30T07:07:00.004-05:00

Interesting discussion with Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson. I'm glad to see Juniper coming alive. Hopefully this move, the new branding, and marketing push will put a dent in Cisco's market share. I love Cisco but some real competition would be good for businesses and service providers looking for networking equipment.

Check out Juniper's new network here. I wish Juniper well and am hoping some of this movement shakes up the industry a little bit.

Link to original article here

CCIE IS-IS MPLS Lab

2009-10-28T22:17:00.016-05:00

I've created a few labs for use with my CCIE studies until I get some workbooks from IPExpert. I'm going to be posting these periodically. Here is the first lab ...

LAB001 Topology

1 IGP Routing

1.1 IS-IS Routing

Configure routers P1, PE-2, PE-3, and PE-4 using IS-IS.

Use area 43.0204
The loopbacks on these routers should be reachable by one another
The links PE-4 to PE-3 and PE-3 to PE-2 should be both L1 and L2 links.
The links PE-4 to PE-1 and PE-1 to PE-2 should be only L2 links.
Eliminate the DR election on each of the links.

2 PPPoE

2.1 Configure PPPoE between CE-5 and CE-7.

CE-5 will be the "server" and CE-7 the "client"
Use CHAP authentication with a username/password of ccie/ccie.
CE-7 should obtain its IP address via DHCP. This address should always be 12.1.57.7.

3 MPLS

3.1 Core MPLS configuration

Enable LDP between P-1, PE-2, PE-3, and PE-4.

3.2 VRF Configuration

Configure Serial2/0 on PE-3 and PE-4 to be in VRF Blue
Configure OSPF between PE-3, CE-5, CE-7, and PE-4.
Configure Serial2/0 on PE-2 to be in VRF Red
Configure RIPv2 between PE-2 and CE-6

3.3 MP-BGP L3VPN Configuration

Using MP-BGP configure a L3VPN connection between PE-3 and PE-4
P1 should act as a route-reflector for these routes
The loopback addresses from CE-5 and CE-7 should be advertised into this VPN on both PE-3 and PE-4.
CE-5 should prefer the L3VPN connection between PE-3 and PE-4 to reach CE-7's loopback address. Do NOT use static routes.
CE-7 should prefer the L3VPN connection between PE-3 and PE-4 to reach CE-5's loopback address. Do NOT use static routes.

3.4 Central Service L3VPN Configuration

Using MP-BGP configure a L3VPN such that CE-5 can reach CE-6's loopback address through PE-4.
Using MP-BGP configure a L3VPN such that CE-7 can reach CE-6's loopback address through PE-3.
CE-6 should only have the loopback addresses of CE-5 and CE-7 added to its routing table via the PE-2 to CE-6 RIP process.

Belonging to Jesus

2009-10-06T12:33:00.001-05:00

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their own sinful selves. They have given up their old selfish feelings and the evil things they want to do. (Galatians 5:24)

Accepting Christ as your savior to me is more than just saying it, but is also living it. By following the teachings of Christ you show your worthiness to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but you also show other people the power of accepting Christ. So, help out a person in need, put aside your selfish desires and do what is right.

Caleb - 8th Level Paladin

2009-09-23T17:50:00.003-05:00

Caleb, Male Human Pal8: CR 8; Medium Humanoid ; HD 8d10+16(Paladin) ; hp 80; Init +0; Spd 20; AC:22 (Flatfooted:22 Touch:10); Atk +12/7 base melee, +8/3 base ranged; +13/8 (1d8+5, +1 Longsword); +4/-1 (1d8, Crossbow, light); +12/7 (1d3+4, Unarmed strike); AL LG; SV Fort +13, Ref +7, Will +11; STR 19, DEX 10, CON 15, INT 12, WIS 18, CHA 20.
Skills: Concentration +10, Diplomacy +14, Handle Animal +10, Heal +12, Knowledge (Religion) +7, Ride +8, Sense Motive +6, Use Rope +2.

Feats: Armor Proficiency: heavy, Armor Proficiency: light, Armor Proficiency: medium, Cleave, Extra Smiting (evil), Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency.
Spells Known (Pal --/2/1): 1st -- Bless, Bless Water, Bless Weapon, Create Water, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Poison, Detect Undead, Divine Favor, Divine Sacrifice, Endure Elements, Golden Barding, Magic Weapon, Protection from Chaos, Protection from Evil, Read Magic, Resistance, Restoration, Lesser, Resurgence, Traveler`s Mount, Virtue; 2nd -- Blessed Aim, Bull`s Strength, Cloak of Bravery, Delay Poison, Eagle`s Splendor, Owl`s Wisdom, Remove Paralysis, Resist Energy, Shield Other, Undetectable Alignment, Zeal, Zone of Truth.
Spells Prepared (Pal --/2/1): 1st - Divine Favor, Protection from Evil; 2nd - Shield Other.
Possessions:
Weapons: +1 Longsword (2,315 gp); Crossbow, light (35 gp); Bolts, crossbow (50) (5 gp).
Armor: +2 Full plate (5,650 gp).
Shields: Mithral Heavy Shield (1,020 gp).
Goods: Coin: gp (5) (5 gp); Backpack (2 gp); Bedroll (1 sp); Blanket, winter (5 sp); Flint and steel (1 gp); Grappling hook (1 gp); Holy Text (10 gp); Parchment (sheet) (5) (10 sp); Pouch, belt (1 gp); Rope, silk (50 ft.) (10 gp); Torch (5) (5 cp); Waterskin (full) (1 gp); Holy symbol, silver (25 gp); Explorer`s outfit (10 gp); Coin: sp (5) (5 sp).
Magic: Wondrous: Amulet of Health +2 (4,000 gp).
Alban, Male Animal, Horse, War, Heavy : CR 2; Large Animal ; HD 8d8+24 ( Animal) ; hp 60; Init + 1; Spd 50; AC 20; Atk + 7 base melee, + 3 base ranged; +7/+2 ( 1d6+5, 2 Hoof; 1d4+2, Bite ); SQ: Scent (Ex), Low-light Vision (Ex); AL N; SV Fort + 9, Ref + 7, Will + 3; STR 20, DEX 13, CON 17, INT 7, WIS 13, CHA 6.
Skills: Jump +12, Listen +5, Spot +4.
Feats: Endurance, Run.

2009-09-22T21:54:00.004-05:00

Maybe I should start with a training wiki... where all of the engineers could collaborate to create various training documentation for each other. Could be a good opportunity to encourage cross-training.

Designing
Quoting
Pre-stage
Racking and powering
Cabling
Initial configuration
Upgrading
Support
Testing

Random thoughts ...

2009-09-22T21:51:00.001-05:00

Just got done reading Twitterville by Shel Israel ... very good book. I'm also in the process of reading Wikinomics. So far so good with that one. Reading through these books has sparked a lot of thinking for me regarding the use of social media and web technologies at work. Basically setting up mediawiki and going to town with various customer bios, project information, procedures, documentation, and notes. With this all of the engineers (pre and post sales), project managers, and sales people could collaborate on the wiki to keep information accurate and up-to-date. One step above that would then be to use Twitter to not only collaborate with each other internally but with customers and partners as well. I've only be using Twitter for a short time myself and already have ran into potential clients, current clients, and countless training opportunities.

I would like to see us become much more open, internally and externally. It won't happen overnight, but I think the only way it will, is through a grassroots effort by us.

Like I said, random thoughts...

IS-IS to OSPF Redistribution Problem

2009-09-12T16:42:00.001-05:00

I ran into a question on the OSL mailing list regarding IS-IS to OSPF redistribu

tion. I put together a network design in GNS3 to simulate the issue.

Here is the network diagram:

R4 is advertising 4 /24 networks into Level 2 IS-IS. R1 is receiving these route

s and redistributing them into Level 1 IS-IS. R2 receives these routes from R1 a

s Inter-area routes. R2 then attempts to redistribute these ia routes into OSPF

so R3 can receive them. However, no method of redistribution into OSPF will actu

ally redistribute the routes.

So, basically, L2 -> L1 -> OSPF. Obviously, not a good overall design, but from

a configuration standpoint I would assume this would be possible.

R4 'sh ip route':

R4#sh ip route

Codes: C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP

D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area

N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2

E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2

i - IS-IS, su - IS-IS summary, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2

ia - IS-IS inter area, * - candidate default, U - per-user static route

o - ODR, P - periodic downloaded static route

Gateway of last resort is 150.1.4.1 to network 0.0.0.0

150.1.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 7 subnets, 2 masks

C 150.1.4.0/30 is directly connected, Ethernet0/0

C 150.1.3.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback3

C 150.1.2.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback2

C 150.1.1.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback1

i L2 150.1.4.4/30 [115/20] via 150.1.4.1, Ethernet0/0

C 150.1.0.0/24 is directly connected, Loopback0

i L2 150.1.4.8/30 [115/20] via 150.1.4.1, Ethernet0/0

i*L2 0.0.0.0/0 [115/10] via 150.1.4.1, Ethernet0/0

R1 'isis configuration':

router isis

net 24.0000.0000.0000.0001.00

redistribute isis ip level-2 into level-1 distribute-list 100

default-information originate

access-list 100 permit ip 150.1.0.0 0.0.255.255 any

R1 'sh ip route':

R1#sh ip route

Codes: C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP

D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area

N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2

E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2

i - IS-IS, su - IS-IS summary, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2

ia - IS-IS inter area, * - candidate default, U - per-user static route

o - ODR, P - periodic downloaded static route

Gateway of last resort is 0.0.0.0 to network 0.0.0.0

150.1.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 7 subnets, 2 masks

C 150.1.4.0/30 is directly connected, Ethernet0/0

i L2 150.1.3.0/24 [115/20] via 150.1.4.2, Ethernet0/0

i L2 150.1.2.0/24 [115/20] via 150.1.4.2, Ethernet0/0

i L2 150.1.1.0/24 [115/20] via 150.1.4.2, Ethernet0/0

C 150.1.4.4/30 is directly connected, Ethernet0/1

i L2 150.1.0.0/24 [115/20] via 150.1.4.2, Ethernet0/0

i L1 150.1.4.8/30 [115/10] via 150.1.4.6, Ethernet0/1

S* 0.0.0.0/0 is directly connected, Null0

R2 'router ospf':

router ospf 100

log-adjacency-changes

redistribute connected subnets

redistribute isis level-1-2 metric 1 subnets route-map ISIS->OSPF

network 150.1.4.8 0.0.0.3 area 0

access-list 10 permit 150.1.0.0 0.0.255.255

route-map ISIS->OSPF permit 10

match ip address 10

R2 'sh ip route':

R2#sh ip rout

*Mar 1 00:11:52.859: %SYS-5-CONFIG_I: Configured from console by consolee

Codes: C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP

D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area

N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2

E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2

i - IS-IS, su - IS-IS summary, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2

ia - IS-IS inter area, * - candidate default, U - per-user static route

o - ODR, P - periodic downloaded static route

Gateway of last resort is not set

150.1.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 8 subnets, 2 masks

i ia 150.1.4.0/30 [115/148] via 150.1.4.5, Ethernet0/0

i ia 150.1.3.0/24 [115/158] via 150.1.4.5, Ethernet0/0

i ia 150.1.2.0/24 [115/158] via 150.1.4.5, Ethernet0/0

i ia 150.1.1.0/24 [115/158] via 150.1.4.5, Ethernet0/0

C 150.1.4.4/30 is directly connected, Ethernet0/0

i ia 150.1.0.0/24 [115/158] via 150.1.4.5, Ethernet0/0

C 150.1.4.8/30 is directly connected, Ethernet0/1

i L1 150.1.10.0/24 [115/20] via 150.1.4.5, Ethernet0/0

R3 'sh ip route':

R3#sh ip route

Codes: C - connected, S - static, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP

D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area

N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2

E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2

i - IS-IS, su - IS-IS summary, L1 - IS-IS level-1, L2 - IS-IS level-2

ia - IS-IS inter area, * - candidate default, U - per-user static route

o - ODR, P - periodic downloaded static route

Gateway of last resort is not set

150.1.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 3 subnets, 2 masks

O E2 150.1.4.4/30 [110/20] via 150.1.4.9, 00:12:05, Ethernet0/0

C 150.1.4.8/30 is directly connected, Ethernet0/0

O E2 150.1.10.0/24 [110/1] via 150.1.4.9, 00:01:13, Ethernet0/0

Broadband Carriers Clamor for Stimulus Funds

2009-08-30T19:14:00.002-05:00

From the linked article:

The $4 billion in grants currently available to applicants is just the first part of the $7.2 billion that the government has allotted to fund broadband infrastructure investment over the next two years. Of that money, $4.7 billion has been given to the NTIA to award grants for projects that will build out broadband infrastructure in un-served or under-served areas; to deliver broadband capabilities for public safety agencies; and to stimulate broadband demand through training and education. The remaining $2.5 billion in broadband stimulus money has been allotted to the Department of Agriculture to make loans to companies building out broadband infrastructure in rural areas.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/170998/broadband_carriers_clamor_for_stimulus_funds.html

The Case against Literary (and Software) Patents

2009-08-30T19:05:00.003-05:00

http://www.cato.org/tech/tk/090828-tk.html

JUNOS AS A SECOND LANGUAGE E-LEARNING COURSE

2009-08-27T08:00:00.002-05:00

http://www.juniper.net/us/en/training/elearning/jsl.html

Free Juniper Training

2009-08-27T07:45:00.004-05:00

http://www.juniper.net/us/en/training/fasttrack/

2009-08-26T11:48:00.002-05:00

Caleb's back story part 1

2009-08-26T11:03:00.008-05:00

Caleb was born into a small, but religious family. His family were poor farmers with a home and field about half a day ride west of Hommlet. Caleb helped his father on the farm but felt a higher calling. Throughout his youth he was very active at the temple of Heironeous in Hommlet. Serving as an assistant during ceremonies and providing comfort and relief to his family and those in need in the local area. As a teenager he began following the path of the Paladin; providing protection to travelers, assisting in the temple, and supporting the local militia.

Level 7 Paladin of Heironeous

2009-08-25T23:26:00.011-05:00

Caleb, Male Human Pal7: CR 7; Medium Humanoid ; HD 7d10+14(Paladin) ; hp 72; Init +0; Spd 20; AC:21 (Flatfooted:21 Touch:10); Atk +11/6 base melee, +7/2 base ranged; +12/7 (1d8+5, +1 Longsword); +3/-2 (1d8, Crossbow, light); +11/6 (1d3+4, Unarmed strike); AL LG; SV Fort +12, Ref +7, Will +11; STR 18, DEX 10, CON 14, INT 13, WIS 18, CHA 20.

Skills: Concentration +9, Diplomacy +13, Handle Animal +10, Heal +12, Knowledge (Religion) +6, Ride +8, Sense Motive +5.

Feats: Armor Proficiency: heavy, Armor Proficiency: light, Armor Proficiency: medium, Cleave, Mounted Combat, Power Attack, Ride-By Attack, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency.

Spells Known (Pal --/2): 1st -- Axiomatic Water, Bless, Bless Water, Bless Weapon, Create Water, Cure Light Wounds, Deafening Clang, Detect Poison, Detect Undead, Divine Favor, Divine Sacrifice, Endure Elements, Faith Healing, Golden Barding, Magic Weapon, Protection from Chaos, Protection from Evil, Protection from Possession, Read Magic, Resist Planar Alignment, Resistance, Restoration, Lesser, Resurgence, Silverbeard, Strategic Charge, Traveler`s Mount, Virtue, Vision of Glory, Warning Shout.

Spells Prepared (Pal --/2): 1st - Bless, Divine Favor.

Possessions:

Weapons: Bolts, crossbow (50) (5 gp); Crossbow, light (35 gp); +1 Longsword (2,315 gp).

Armor: +1 Full plate (2,650 gp).

Shields: Mithral Heavy Shield (1,020 gp).

Goods: Coin: gp (90) (90 gp); Explorer`s outfit (10 gp); Backpack (2 gp); Bedroll (1 sp); Blanket, winter (5 sp); Flint and steel (1 gp); Grappling hook (1 gp); Holy Text (10 gp); Mess Kit (6 sp); Parchment (sheet) (5) (10 sp); Pouch, belt (1 gp); Rope, hemp (50 ft.) (1 gp); Torch (5) (5 cp); Waterskin (full) (1 gp); Holy symbol, silver (25 gp).

Magic: Potion: Cure Light Wounds (1) (50 gp); Potion: Cure Light Wounds (1) (50 gp); Potion: Cure Light Wounds (1) (50 gp); Potion: Cure Light Wounds (1) (50 gp).

Alban, Male Animal, Horse, War, Heavy : CR 2; Large Animal ; HD 6d8+18 ( Animal) ; hp 45; Init + 1; Spd 50; AC 18; Atk + 6 base melee, + 3 base ranged; +6/+1 ( 1d6+4, 2 Hoof; 1d4+2, Bite ); SQ: Scent (Ex), Low-light Vision (Ex); AL N; SV Fort + 8, Ref + 6, Will + 3; STR 19, DEX 13, CON 17, INT 6, WIS 13, CHA 6.

Skills: Jump +12, Listen +5, Spot +4.

Feats: Endurance, Run.

Picture from http://h-minus.deviantart.com/art/Paladin-18115093

Hmmm .... weird

2009-08-25T23:17:00.002-05:00

Wisdom from Marley

2009-08-25T09:50:00.002-05:00

You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters?

She’s not perfect - you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can.

She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break - her heart.

So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.

— Bob Marley

Morality Lecture

2009-08-24T12:31:00.003-05:00

Conservatives see causality chains - "If we let people use marijuana, they might {rape, pillage, burn}" That's fear. As I said before, sometimes there is real basis for that fear.

Liberals tend to think "So let them use marijuana. If they then {rape, pillage, burn}, punish them for that." Sometimes liberals are right that the causality is too remote to justify interference

I found this interesting comment made on a morality lecture. Its true. Conservatives vs Liberals.

PROVERBS 11:5-6

2009-08-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin. The godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them.

Simple Touchpoints of Loyalty

2009-08-20T09:25:00.001-05:00

Simple Touchpoints of Loyalty

Posted using ShareThis

Health care is a right

2009-08-20T07:15:00.000-05:00

I find it very interesting that any single humane person would be against the idea of free health care coverage for everyone. So who would oppose it on principal alone, insurance companies perhaps. The other groups that opposite, do so out of spite for the president, or legitimately because they don't see a good way to pay for it.

I am of the school of thinking that every person born in the United States has the human right to seek medical treatments without prejudice or having to end-up in bankruptcy court 6-months later. As a society as a whole this would benefit the overall health of the nation. Right now, the people with money or people that have been blessed with the opportunity to purchase insurance through their employer, have access to health care. Because of its cost, it is nearly unreachable to those without insurance. When a medical emergency arises for those unfortunate enough to not have insurance, they end up seeking loans, refinancing, filing bankruptcy, or selling possessions. A citizen of the United States of America should not have to worry about being able to afford to be healthy - it should be implied.

I did some basic math to see how much revenue could be made via tax increases of small amounts:

According to Wikipedia the current population of the U.S. is around 307,191,000. Of that 307,191,000 roughly 63% of the population is between the ages 20-64, which to me would be the working life of a person. It could even be 25-64. This comes out to 193,530,330 people in the 20-64 category.

If each person between 20-64 were required to pay $100 extra in taxes a year it would equal $1,119,553,033,000/yr to cover the cost of the health care plan. Increase that value to $500 extra in taxes a year to equal $5,597,765,165,000/yr. I currently pay around $500/month for insurance. If a healthcare plan existed like this I would pay $500/yr instead of $500/month saving me $5,500/yr.

In my opinion, private health insurance has become very greedy and discriminatory, the bottom-line always being the deciding factor and not the betterment of people or society as a whole. Unless there is a massive reform on the private sector there will be no choice except to move to a socialized health care insurance system, the actual health care sector could stay private.

Health care statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau: http://is.gd/2q45a

Insurance Reform reality check at whitehouse.gov: http://is.gd/2q5JQ

Link to the Health Reform bill: http://is.gd/2q6iG

GPG Public Key

2009-08-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

Email: mpreath@gmail.com

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Tech Tip: 2-column code printing

2009-08-19T09:20:00.002-05:00

I was looking for away to print two-column sheets like I used to in college for programming assignments. I messed around with lp and lpr and finally got it right with the lp command. So I setup an alias in my .profile:

alias printcode="lp -o number-up=2 -o page-border=single"

This will print to the default printer (in Mac OS X anyway) a page with two pages worth of text side-by-side with a single thin black border around each of the pages.

printcode my_code.txt