The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The IT Certification Megathread: Straight Outta CompTIA

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Jelmylicious posted:

Like a CCIE Wireless?

A.K.A. CCIE thar be wizards here...

# ¿ Dec 11, 2012 17:45

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 14:47

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Protokoll posted:

We had a CCIE R&S interview last week that couldn't subnet a 10.x.x.x/20 address. He didn't know basic IOS commands. Today we interviewed an applicant for help desk with his Network+ that didn't know the purpose of a subnet mask.

This... how is this even possible?

# ¿ Dec 28, 2012 02:29

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

routenull0 posted:

Or in today's world, we use a calculator and not our fingers and abacus.

Like this?

# ¿ Dec 28, 2012 20:36

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

MJP posted:

In case anyone is interested, there's a Groupon today - five Cisco classes for $99. Start with prep for your CCENT then goes on to CCNA and later CCNP.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/it-uni...=occasions_deal

(I'm pretty sure this is not a referral link but I'm not out to get referral cash, so if this does look referraly I'll try to find a non-unique link to the deal)

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend it. The video courses are pretty bland and not as easy to navigate as a dead tree book or even an ebook.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2013 06:10

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

DropsySufferer posted:

Oh wow this must be dated I've never heard of using an RJ-11 in an RJ-45 jack.

Really? I do it all the time. I always tell clients/customers to get three jacks wired with cat5e/cat6 to every station before they move into a suite. That way they can have up to 2 network and a phone at every place without needing to string patch cables over cube walls with mini hubs. And if they don't use POTS phones the network cabling is already done for VOIP or another network device (printer, etc)

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Jan 12, 2013

# ¿ Jan 12, 2013 19:46

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

We're not going to see IPv6 exhuastion... we're just going to see quadrillions of addresses wasted because entire /48 subnets will be relegated down to /126's in pager code. For example, Comcast's anycast DNSv6 IP: 2001:558:FEED::1

Oh, and my shortcut for IPv6 is every group (FFFF) is /16 worth. Just for fun, consider that every two groups is one internet's worth of addresses, and ARIN's default delegation to ISPs is /32, where every ISP customer is supposed to get a /48.

code:

1111:2222:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888/128
..16...32...48...64...80...96..112..128

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Jan 23, 2013

# ¿ Jan 23, 2013 18:06

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

DropsySufferer posted:

Any good estimate on how long IPv4 will remain the industry standard before IPv6 becomes the new standard? I've heard IPv4 will be the standard for at least another five years or more.

As long as it takes for people to ditch their old routers and firewalls. Five years is a modest estimate. I think it will be in wide use in five years, but probably won't overtake IPv4 universally for seven or more years. There are people who are still using IPX/SPX for their LAN protocols.

doomisland posted:

The best waste is a /64 for a point to point link instead of a /127

Yeah, I forget why but I still use /30 (and /126) for all my point to point links. There was some argument against using a /31 but it probably hinged on compatibility with lovely customer hardware.

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Jan 23, 2013

# ¿ Jan 23, 2013 20:42

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

psydude posted:

/31 is supported for Point to Point links on a lot of commercial-grade hardware.

Yeah

Inspector_71 posted:

Interesting. I assume the equipment just ignores the "requirement" for a broadcast address since it's not really necessary?

It's not like the traffic's going anywhere else on that link

# ¿ Jan 24, 2013 02:56

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

$400?? you can get a 2960 for <$100
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290850651640

# ¿ Jan 31, 2013 00:01

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Jelmylicious posted:

If there is a tie in 0-length, than I believe you should do the first string.

Yes, because you're referencing the network number and then the device's individual address.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2013 16:47

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Contingency posted:

I took an 400-level IS Auditing course in college. Remember kids, ask the network admin if his network runs on half- or full-duplex, to show him you're tech-savvy.

I... who... goddamnit. Where the hell is that idiot?

# ¿ Feb 14, 2013 03:24

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

spidoman posted:

Apologies if this is the wrong thread, is there such thing as a technet reseller, or discount codes?

"Technet reseller" selling individual activation keys? No.
Discount codes for technet? Yes.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2013 04:25

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Just an FYI, but monoprice sells a usb to serial adapter that's based on the most recent Prolific PL-2303 chipset for $5. In other words it's the greatest thing ever for network console geeks.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10311&cs_id=1031104&p_id=3726&seq=1&format=2

# ¿ May 28, 2013 14:46

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

metavisual posted:

I think the problem with the 3640 is that it has NO interfaces, so you have to buy cards to get any. (I could be wrong. I'm a total newb with this stuff, only know from recent research)

That's correct but the 3640 these days is so useless that it should be pretty cheap, even with a NM-1E2W. (1 FastEth + 2 wic slots)

# ¿ May 29, 2013 17:18

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Don't pay extra for a 1760.

There's two advantages to the 1760:
1) faster CPU rated for 8mbps 16kpps (instead of 6mbps 12kpps)
2) internal power supply = no brick.

Beyond that they're exactly the same. The two other card slots are VIC-only (no WICs allowed). That means they're only useful on a 1760-V.

If you want to get fancy look for a 1721 with 64-128DRAM 32Flash (VPN card optional). Then you can run 12.4 IOS which has "do"... but that can lead to bad habits.

# ¿ May 30, 2013 01:40

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Remy Marathe posted:

Hopefully someone will correct me if I understood it wrong, but my takeaway was that it's fundamentally no different than subnetting with IPv4 except
-Good practice is to leave the last 64 bits for hosts
-The first 48 bits at a minimum will likely be determined by a provider.
-For the sake of readability and sanity, it's good to subnet the assigned address space along hex digit boundaries (4-bit "nibbles", so you'll have prefixes that are multiples of 4).

As with IPv4 your bits available for subnetting will be between however many are determined by the ISP and those last 64 bits reserved for hosts.

Each group of 2 bytes is a 16-bit word.
The first two words are the ISP's delegation. ARIN gives providers a /32 per area by default, and we're told to give out /48 networks to our customers.
The next word is your address under the ISP. ARIN also suggests that providers allocate an entire /48 to each customer site. Since a /32 has 16-bits worth of /48's that's 32,768 possible /48 subnets.
The fourth word would be your subnet subdivision numbering scheme, however you feel like dividing your /48 up.

Does that help?

Remy Marathe posted:

I think you meant groups of 4 hex characters/nibbles per 16-bit word, groups of 4 bytes would be 32 bits.

Yup you're right. I thought I had re-read it twice for mistakes, and still dropped one in there.

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Aug 7, 2013

# ¿ Aug 6, 2013 22:36

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

I wouldn't complain if I had to use JunOS. At least with JunOS and Vyatta, your commands aren't immediately applied, so you're less likely to lock yourself out of the router.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2013 16:37

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Docjowles posted:

A few pages back (either here or the Virtualization thread, I forget) someone posted a discount code that stacked with the 50% off promo already running on Pearson's site. The net result was the exam was totally free. It was only good for a few days, though, and might be expired by now.

Also not to stir up this shitstorm again, but the "difficulty" of the VCA certs is not being exaggerated. It's literally just regurgitating VMware marketing materials and can be completed in 10 minutes. I'm not sure I could recommend paying money for the cert, even to someone with no experience whatsoever. It's a joke.

Still works

QPZIL posted:

Psssssst, hey... hey you... yeah, you... come over here for a second...

You didn't hear it from me, but if one were so inclined, one could use the promo code 'VCA501' at PearsonVUE sometime before September 30th to take any single VCA- exam for free.

It's free, it's web based, the training is free, and the training is only like 2 hours long.

There's literally no reason NOT to do it, aside from the website not working, so I had to call customer support. Hell I might see if the code will work for me to do VCA-Cloud, VCA-WM, and VCA-NV if they're that straightforward that I could knock it all out in a day.

*edit* passed. Yeah it's a joke.

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Oct 11, 2013

# ¿ Oct 11, 2013 00:13

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

abigserve posted:

As an engineer, I expect anyone wearing the "systems admin" or above title to understand at least;

- Subnetting
- VLANs
- Routing (not protocols, just the basics of how a packet gets from A to B)

I have done a lot of systems administration in my current (soon to be previous) job and you pretty much need to understand those areas just for simple tasks, though you can fake your way through. Kinda the same that I understand the basics of virtualization so I can confidentently configure networking for virtual environments and assist in problem determination.

I would agree with you, but I've seen way too many systems guys who think everything past the NIC is magic.

# ¿ Oct 25, 2013 07:45

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

BigT posted:

I agree with the CCENT, in fact, if i see that or Network+ I dive in. The reason i recommend Net+ over CCNET is because the future is commodity hardware with open source software.

Cisco's not losing out due to software, or even the "free"-ness of OSS. Cisco is losing out because their hardware depends on custom ASICs to process all the accelerated functions of their hardware, and today's desktop processors can out-perform ASICS even without hardware acceleration. This resulted in other big name hardware makers like Juniper (and now Brocade/Vyatta) switching over to commodity hardware and multi-processing platforms to curbstomp Cisco's performance with cheaper boxes. You can buy a Ubiquiti-made router running Vyatta with 3 routed gigabit ethernet interfaces in it for $100, and it will beat the performance numbers of $2000 cisco ISR routers. Mind you - that's not really open source software. The big names will have their place at the top of the food chain for the foreseeable future. They offer standardization and support verticals that OSS still doesn't offer, and probably won't any time soon.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2013 21:16

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

H.R. Paperstacks posted:

You are completely wrong on Juniper swapping to commodity hardware,

Juniper M & J-Series are based on Intel CPUs.

H.R. Paperstacks posted:

I'd be interested to see some throughput numbers on different scenarios of this $100 "gigabit" router as well.

http://dl.ubnt.com/Tolly212127UbiquitiEdgeRouterLitePricePerformance.pdf
http://dl.ubnt.com/Tolly212128UbiquitiEdgeRouterLitePricePerformanceVsMikroTik.pdf

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Oct 28, 2013

# ¿ Oct 28, 2013 18:40

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

new promo code, exp 11/15: VCA13ICS

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Nov 1, 2013

# ¿ Nov 1, 2013 18:34

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Swink posted:

So I won't have to dig up a new promo code?

You may need a new promo code, but there's plenty of them to spare.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2013 04:57

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Nope, not that great. I gave it a shot and it's just dry video lectures. You're better off with CBT Nuggets or good books.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2013 22:45

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:

Seventh cut (/31):
Now your pieces are just too drat small and you can't do anything with these. Your piece is only 2 big (has 2 hosts). Do people even use this subnet?

Yes, point to point ethernet links between routers.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2014 04:09

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

MJP posted:

That's about on par from the Sybex VCP5 book I used. It's a lot of info. The read/write combo does a lot, but it's the labbing that really helps.

If you want to just throw $10 my way for shipping I'll send you the book and my illegible notes. Could be a useful backstop against the blueprint; it goes heavy into detail.

If he doesn't take it, I will

# ¿ Apr 17, 2014 18:31

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Yeah the vmware "class materials" are a joke. The practice tests dive in to stuff that wasn't even remotely mentioned in the class materials, but they require you sit X number of hours in a classroom in order to take the test. IMHO: find the cheapest, fastest means of checking off the class time requirement, and then self-study the rest.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2014 22:35

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Soylent Heliotrope posted:

Generally the only reasons you'll get turned away are a) you're cheating, b) you threaten us, or c) you didn't bring your IDs.

What happens if I threaten you over the internet like "Hey you, yo momma!"

# ¿ Jun 11, 2014 21:40

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Fag Boy Jim posted:

I saw BGP so much in entry level positions

Ummmmm... I wouldn't want to work for a company that doesn't understand why this is a terrible idea.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2014 18:28

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

redstormpopcorn posted:

Yeah, but VMWare is probably more concerned about their GUIDlines.

At least I got the joek

# ¿ Oct 3, 2014 00:54

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Inspector_666 posted:

VLSM and CIDR aren't the same things, are they?

The way I understand it VLSM is how you get smaller-than "Class A/B/C" networks, and CIDR is how you're able to mix them when routing. Not like that's much of a distinction. *shrug*

# ¿ Mar 21, 2015 04:28

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Zapf Dingbat posted:

I landed a VOIP job knowing nothing about VOIP. My employer will pay for certs if I want them.

Any VOIP-specific stuff worth looking into?

liberate tuteme ex inferis

But seriously if you're looking for certs your best bet is going to be CCNA voice -> CCNP voice. For actual practical knowledge bone up on SIP protocol messages, handshaking format, and get intimately familiar with wireshark and pcap. What brand/vendor/phones does this voip job prefer? Every brand has its own quirks.

# ¿ Nov 17, 2015 01:44

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Race Realists posted:

CCNA/P Voice is on it's way out, best bet is the new CCNA/P Collaboration

Well that blows because I doubt the collab cert will be even remotely as topical on SIP/voip as the older cert was (HAH)

Zapf Dingbat posted:

They use Snoms and Asterisk. They're also an ISP that uses a lot of Mikrotiks.

everything's an emergency, etc.

Sounds about right.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2015 04:06

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Bigass Moth posted:

Hillary Clinton's email server?

MC Fruit Stripe posted:

"personal email server"

big money big clit posted:

email server.

Judge Schnoopy posted:

email server

MC Fruit Stripe posted:

email server

Bigass Moth posted:

The server

MrKatharsis posted:

the server

big money big clit posted:

the server

big money big clit posted:

The original server

Judge Schnoopy posted:

the server

Terry Tate says, "keep that weak poo poo outta here"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMqhoYjY2X0

Renegret posted:

some sort of horrible derail.

Too late.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2016 18:58

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

sh1fty posted:

Might be a dumb question but here we go...

I'm looking to get into the IT field, more specifically Cyber Security. I've been a TV producer/editor for around 10 years with no real IT experience. Would getting a bunch of certs (A+, Network+, Security+, CCNA, etc) help me at least land a job in IT? Would my broadcasting Diploma have any merit? Or is it hopeless without going back to actual school and getting a CS or IT diploma?

Learn how to a Unix system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFUlAQZB9Ng

# ¿ Dec 13, 2016 23:02

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Also if you're taking the VCP 5.5 for anything other than a bump in pay or resume padding, you should reconsider studying up for the 6.5 certification because VMWare kinda hosed everyone over with their new-found focus on orchestration.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2016 01:26

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

nightchild12 posted:

("sysadmin" chapter teaches SystemV, doesn't mention file systems past ext3, no SELinux, etc).

what, no murderFS?

# ¿ Apr 25, 2018 22:03

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

Any good primer on where to start with AWS exams? Their page loops around in circles.

CrazyLittle fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Dec 17, 2019

# ¿ Dec 17, 2019 19:20

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# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 14:47

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

I've been using AWS day-to-day for a couple years now so I might as well go for the Solution Architect cert. What's your recommendation?

# ¿ Dec 17, 2019 19:56

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