Category Archives: General

network

How to produce good documentation – Part 3 – Network IP’s & Interfaces

Networking, General, , , , , , , ,

The time is here, lets look at starting to document that network of yours.

Now lets look at the other side of the coin.

Click the above for the templates used in this diagram

SwitchPort Diagrams/Tables

So it’s not all creative visio diagrams, one of the best pieces of documentation I find that I produce is actually a switchport diagram.

Using Excel to diagram out a given number of switches, mapping the interfaces to the hosts or devices in which is connected to them.

Continue reading How to produce good documentation – Part 3 – Network IP’s & Interfaces →

Cisco Champions Banner V2

Accepted for Cisco Champion Program 2015

Cisco, General, ,

So tonight was a saved by the bell moment, brought with a little joy.

I’ve been selected for the Cisco Champion Program 2015.

So it means I have something to blog about, =D.

The program was brought about last year for its first year, bringing together members of the community who work with Cisco products and services. Heres the official line;

The purpose of the Cisco Champions Program is to create and nurture a network of people who are passionate about Cisco and enjoy sharing their knowledge, expertise, and thoughts across the social web and with Cisco.

The Cisco Champions program encompasses different areas of interest and geographical areas within the company, providing a variety of opportunities for Champions to participate in the program.

The full information set can be found in this FAQ.

What it means to me

I guess it shows I am passionate about an area of technology, for me I was on the Enterprise Networks last year, which looked at Datacenter and Security technologies. Which meant I was given insider exposure to Cisco UCS, which is an area I am looking at developing into, creating designs around the platform, and deploying the solutions, even having a chat with one of the Cisco UCS team members to see how the Mini fitted in with a customer design I was underway with.

I’ve also met other peers from around the world of various different job roles and experience, and shared deep dive insights and jokes with them. Which is a great way of networking further, aside from writing in community based blogs.

What I’m looking forward to
  • Blogging for Cisco’s website as a community member, who could pass up that chance, I’m hoping to talk about the Cisco CCNP Certification.
  • Development oftheUK based Cisco Champions
    • A lot of the stuff done for the Cisco Champions is based around USA time, which is a pain for me personally, however speaking with the guys who run things, this is something they are looking at developing out further, after all 2014 was its first year!
  • Enhancement of Cisco Product range, and getting the insider track on whats coming.
  • Enhancing the Cisco Community in any way possible.
  • vBacon 😉

CiscoChampion200PX

So thanks to all of those who reviewed my application and accepted it!

Regards

 

Dean


297

Veeam ONE v8 – New Look, New Features

General, VMware, , , , , , , , ,

So I covered Veeam Backup and Replication v8 here. And now for the Veeam ONE Edition of the v8 update post.

The Update Process

Pretty simple, mount the ISO, follow the instructions for Veeam One install, which will detect and upgrade the existing environment.

New Look, New Features

So you will see that straight away a new set of swish icons, sporting the new blue look.

2014-11-07_13-28-26 Continue reading Veeam ONE v8 – New Look, New Features →

powershell

Get-PowerShelling or Remove-JobRole

General, Windows, , , , , , ,

Coding, Scripting, Powershelling, etc etc, Dirty words in the mouth of Infrastructure guys across the globe.

When I was in college taking on my computer course, I had two options, Hardware and Networking, or Web Design. I went with my interests and skillsets, hardware and networking.

spongebob-school

Coding to me is something I wasn’t interesting in when I became a geek, I wanted to provide the platforms for you to build and run your apps on, not be the guy building the apps. It looks like I screwed up, Job Security wise and Pay wise.

5 Years ago when I was getting into the IT industry, it was taking a number of days to provision a server ready for application installation and deployment. Now, thanks to virtualisation, this has been reduced to minutes. Something I think I’ll blog about on another day, the changes in the industry as I see it.

Here’s two slides showing this, provided by Joe Baguley (CTO, VMware).

Slide1 Slide2

Continue reading Get-PowerShelling or Remove-JobRole →

What an employer is looking for in a Technical Role

General, , , , , , ,

So after an interesting North West VMUG event on 12th November, I’ve decided to write my own comments on the state of employment within IT. This is prompted by Neil Mills Talk at the above VMUG event, where he gave tips on super charging your CV, and the industry as he see’s it.

Most of my recruiting experience from the last year comes from a reseller/solutions provider point of view.

From Neil’s talk I gleaned the following;

  • The Market is awash with jobs and not enough quality candidates
  • Cloud is taking off, but not at the rate it was first thought of
    • This may be down to issues surrounding the adoption of cloud, i.e compliance.
  • Certifications such asVCP,MCSA/E, have become the commodity, and expected
    • Advanced/Higher certifications such as VCAP is what makes the differentiator
  • If you are using a recruiter, work them, don’t leave them too it!

So what have I personally noticed;

Continue reading What an employer is looking for in a Technical Role →