Thursday, January 9, 2014

CCIE DC prep - ACE loadbalancer

While every DC has a load-balancer that is integral part of the DC, how we configure it and what options we have explored makes all the difference. While I have deployed the ACE LB in multiple setups, it is always refreshing to do a focused study on the topic.

I have prepared in the exam in mind. Only 10% of the topics will be on the lab. I used the Datacenter vitualization book to read and understand some of the basics of the LB.  It is interesting when we look at the exam topics; the first topic says -

  • 5.1.a Implement standard ACE features for load balancing

I am forced to think all the options but when we read through other topics we know this predominantly deals with initializing the device, creating contexts, allocating resources, assigning interfaces, defining access policies etc. The getting started guide in the documentation will prove to be useful for this section.

  • 5.1.b Configure server load-balancing algorithm


This we need to learn all the predictors & traffic policy, how they work and how to use them. Its the interesting part. Much of the stuff will be here.


  • 5.1.c Configure different SLB deployment modes

This will deal with the routed/bridged mode, one arm deployment with NAT, offloading and compression etc

I have gone through the entire syllabus and seen all the options available. I practiced the common features used and the tricky ones that I thought probably can get asked on the lab. Its nice to revisit the ACE after working quiet a bit on the F5.

Its now time to do some deep dive on the UCS part !!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Fantastic Year ahead !!

Happy new year to all my blog readers.

2013 has gone by and been a crazy year filled with many surprises.
The only certification I have done is the CCIE-DC written. I really wanted to complete my lab also in the same year but unfortunately I was unable to.
I was neck deep in security framework for the datacenter, that I am ready to take up my CCIE Security also.
I was introduced to SDN and the hype surrounding it.
I met a lot of managers talking about "Multi-Tenancy" without really knowing what it is.
Succesfully design a Multi-Tenant Private cloud.
Learnt a lot about storage technology and the solutions provided by EMC and NETAPP.
Transformed a enterprise datacenter and corporate network to a state-of-art status.
Flew to differnt countries in the Asia region.

Goals for 2014

Complete CCIE-DC lab
Schedule CCIE-Sec
Design and implement larger datacenters.
Gain more expertise on the vmware, Storage side of things. If possible finish a certification.
Learn python scripting
Prepare for what the SDN hype will materialise as
Get a better paying job & get a better designation
Blog a lot !!
Get a .com domain name
Dive deep into the virtualization world and prepare for technology change.

Importantly have a fantastic year ahead !!

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