What to do next redux

If you've noticed, I have bounced around the last few months regarding what I want to expend my efforts on next. I know I need to do something, I'm just not sure what. Since whatever it is will turn out to be a major undertaking, I don't mind if it takes a long time to make up my mind. In no particular order, some of the items on the list are:

• Get all of the CCIEs (probably Service Provider next)
  
• Get a PhD in Computer Science (finishing MS this summer)
  
• Author/co-Author a book

Those are the main three, of which I'd like to complete one in the next five years. I'm leaning toward the CCIE route since I think it's most in line with my career aspirations. I'm not planning on being a researcher or professor, so all the PhD would really get me is another suffix to my name.

I was previously thinking of going for a CCIE in Security next, but that was mostly because I didn't see myself doing much with SP networks. As it turned out, that has changed so it makes more sense now.

Stumble!

I dropped in a new Firefox plugin called Stumble! the other day that really caught my attention.

If you've ever had a Tivo, it's a similar concept to that, but for websites. When you're on a webpage, you give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

From there, it ranks pages (which you can view on Google in an Amazon style star raking system), or you can have it give you random pages based on your preferences.

You can even view the pages I gave thumbs up to here.

Goodbye Microsoft

A few months ago the upgrade path for my MCSE in NT and 2000 expired and I'll have to take a bunch of tests if I ever want to upgrade it. However, since it's been about 4 years since a company has given me domain admin rights, I'm not very concerned.

Last year I installed Vista on my home PC because I got the business version for free--or I should say included with the $20,000+ I paid Towson University over the past 3 years in the quest for a Master's degree.

I'm not a Vista hater. It was ok, but more than anything it's just plain slow. With 1GB of ram and a 3GB single core processor it was having a rough time. Like my MCSE, my computer's upgrade path had expired (DDR1 RAM, Socket 478, no PCI Express).

So I could have went back to XP, which has reached end-of-sale status, or give something else a try. I chose the later and went with Ubuntu.

I've always had a linux box on the side, but never ran one full time. Now I'm running two. There are some things I like, and some things I'm not so fond of. But without a doubt the single biggest thing I love is the sheer speed. The install took 20 minutes. My computer takes about 20 seconds to boot up or shut down. Gone are the days of starting it up and getting a cup of coffee. No more hard drive thrashing or blue screens of death.

So far there are only four needed programs I haven't been able to get to work natively. Wine solved two of these by simulating a Windows environment for the program. Unfortunately two other programs (I'm not naming them because they may work and I just haven't quite figured them out yet) don't work and I am stuck with vmware for these two programs for the time being.

I'm liking Ubuntu more and more every day. If you've thought about giving it a try, here are some reasons.

The Importance of HSRP groups

When using the standby command to setup HSRP, one optional parameter is to use a group number. When I configure it, I typically always use one, even though I never really had a good reason to do it.

One thing to keep in mind is dealing with the virtual MAC address HSRP uses. By default, this MAC address is 0000.0c07.ac00, if no group number is specified. If a group number is used, it is added to the last word. For example, group three becomes 0000.0c07.ac03. Further details here.

In general, you will usually only use one HSRP group per vlan, so this isn't a problem. But if you have another device spanning multiple vlans that needs to talk to multiple HSRP speakers simultaneously, this can create MAC address conflicts if the same HSRP groups are used.

Back From Silence

I haven't posted much as of late. It's not because I didn't have a lot to say, that's for sure. A couple of months ago I got the itch for a career change. Fortunately, having a CCIE makes this relatively easy to do--recession or no recession.

If any of you out there are concerned about the occasional stories about how the CCIE is becoming worthless, let me assure you it is definitely not. Posting my resume on Monster yielded a barrage of opportunities.

After everything was said and done, I'm now working for Cisco Systems in RTP. Everything is going great and it's truly an excellent company to work for. Now I have the unusual experience of going from being one of the most knowledgable in my company to realizing I have a long way to go.

Long story short, my previous story of becoming board will not be coming to fruition any time soon.

What to do next?

Bottom line, I'm torn. I know I have a lot to learn in a number of areas, but I'm not sure where to go next.

Do I go for a CCSP or CCVP? Or straight to the CCIE written in voice or security?
I'm a little reluctant to work on a second CCIE because I'd like to reap some of the benefits of the first one before working on the next.

My weaknesses in Security have shown over the past few weeks when I've missed little things here and there.

And then there's other non-Cisco options such as CISSP or Ethical Hacker. This summer I'm finishing a Master's in Computer Science, so I just don't think those two certs would matter much with a Master's and a CCIE.

Then there's always the thought of going for an MBA or a PhD in Computer Science. Neither seem too appealing to me at this time.

April Fools RFC

I look forward to these every year.

RFC 5241 - Naming Rights in IETF Protocols
RFC 5242 - A Generalized Unified Character Code: Western European and CJK Sections

I've also added a couple of my all-time favories to the list of links to the right.