So I actually ended up getting a second – interview – with MSFT and didn’t get the job. The second one – was with a different team. I’m going to be honest during the interview I asked the interviewer why he was wasting my time in a subtle manor as I was fully aware they where not actually hiring. Anyway, bitcoin right? So we doubled the price of gas and more than halfed bitcoin. Absolutely anyone’s guess right? Anyway, if your buying them, you still end up with the same amount in case it missiles up again.

On to what we where talking about here. I am fairly familiar with Citrix VDI interface and I’m assuming the troubleshooting aspect is about the same so lets go through some YouTube videos

1. Optimize windows image
2. Black screen – video memory
3. Unique to an individual
4. Performance issues – unoptimized image
5. USB/Scanner issues – pass through devices
6. persona manager – roaming profiles – sounds like each of these do not have their own image
7. composer problems?
8. security server?/ access points
9. certificates???? self signed certs – not going to see this in prod but someone would call VMware about it —-vcenter

So — these are rough notes I’m taking here as I’m watching this. First of all, I’m fairly certain this guy has not fielded a bunch of end user day to day troubleshooting issues but is -maybe- working tickets that get sent to VMWare or he may, simply be a speaker. Now that’s out of the way, I’ve noticed that not once has he mentioned applications not working within the VM or, as noted printers! pass through devices of any type can be tricky to troubleshoot but I promise, end users are not going to call because their single desktop was broken because of a cert issue. Every dang VDI in your infra is going to be broken. He mentions that there are various ways to connect and that could play a factor like if you have a non D joined machine — connecting via VPN with lan creds — and then launching the VM, the performance could be different. …because of the modem. That also rolls into my number 8 item, his 2. It’s possible but if you have that poorly designed of a wifi network you should probably reimplement it. Unless they are — connected to the guest network.

It all seems fairly similar to the way that Citrix works, there is a web portal where you can browse to end user VMS, resset them, check what image they are using, reset passwords and things of that nature. It does look like they are mostly setting all images to the same “model image” with an always on service level.

Looks fun!

Well, its been a while. I’ve been amazingly busy. Worked my tail off. Had issues with migraines from studying which I was able to get resolved by using a neti pot twice a day to relive sinus pressure. Worked on a network with something like 60-80 thousand clients on it (Delta Airlines). And now have an interview with Microsoft tomorrow. I don’t think I know anyone that has interviewed with them before. This is probably the apex of my career to be honest. Simply getting the interview lol. It’s basically working escalations from network admins to Microsoft, as I understand the job description. Which is interesting because that’s basically the job I’ve been doing for the last 3 years or so. Also I have yet to actually finish my CCNA, I got a noticed to re cert my Sec+ and Net+ which costs about 200 each and I learned to speak Japanese by messing with electronics (guitar pedals), reading the news and watching Gundam Wing. So that’s where we are at. Most of this stuff I was familiar with but its a good idea to review materials. Especially in what will turn out to be the absolute apex of my professional career, interviewing with Microsoft. I have “no idea how this happened”

1.  What is the primary difference between TCP and UDP?

Response: UDP is connectionless and works with things like streaming content, TCP/IP in essence, based on header content, normal website traffic that’s connection oriented and sends sequenced packets based on task.

2.  What layer of the OSI model is responsible for connection-oriented behavior?

Response: Short answer, OSI model, the transport layer is only connection-oriented. Now Lets cover this whole OSI model thing because its absolute horseshit if you use any kind of tools to look at what’s going out over the network. Ok, maybe horseshit is too strong of a phrase for those lacking in ability to digest local linguistic flavors however, I think the TCP model may work better. I’m also not presenting this case to institutions that provide standardized testing.

OSI Model	TCP/IP model
OSI model provides a clear distinction between interfaces, services, and protocols.	TCP/IP doesn’t offer any clear distinguishing points between services, interfaces, and protocols.
OSI uses the network layer to define routing standards and protocols.	TCP/IP uses only the Internet layer.
OSI model use two separate layers physical and data link to define the functionality of the bottom layers	TCP/IP uses only one layer (link).
OSI model, the transport layer is only connection-oriented.	A layer of the TCP/IP model is both connection-oriented and connectionless.
In OSI model, data link layer and physical are separate layers.	In TCP data link layer and physical layer are combined as a single host-to-network layer.
The minimum size of the OSI header is 5 bytes.	Minimum header size is 20 bytes.

The TCP/IP is a lot more logical. Honestly, I’m not clear on how the transport and network layers differ. Possibly adding in VLAN/Subnets with transport.

Disadvantages of OSI Model

Here are some cons/ drawbacks of using OSI Model:

• Fitting of protocols is a tedious task.
• You can only use it as a reference model.
• It doesn’t define any specific protocol.
• In the OSI network layer model, some services are duplicated in many layers such as the transport and data link layers
• Layers can’t work in parallel as each layer need to wait to obtain data from the previous layer.

Here is the reference citation TCP/IP vs OSI Model: What’s the Difference? I’m not copying “The Disadvantages” of the TCP/IP info here lol

01 Scenario:  An administrator approaches you with a network monitor trace of what he describes as a failure to connect to another server.  What clarifying questions would you ask to enable you to assist with analysis of the failure? 

Response: first of all, do I have access to the network? Can I see this real time?

1.  You gather the details and begin analyzing the trace.  You have been advised that the admin could ping the destination server successfully.  How would you validate the successful ping result?

Response: First check to make sure that DNS records are not stale and then have him remote into whatever box is on that IP if the DNS records seem Ok to verify that the box is up and correctly labeled in DNS and then check the service they are trying to connect to.

 2.  You continue the analysis and see that the source machine is sending sync requests, but no replies are coming back from the destination server which is on the same subnet as the source server.  What action would you take next?

Response: Where is the box in your infrastructure? Are the ports on the machine open to the web? Does it have a public IP, I would assume that it does but you never know. How did you register the FQDN and where did you purchase it from? The IP of the site, can you resolve that publicly?

3.  Is the web server directly connected to the Internet, or is it behind a firewall?

Response: This would be a question asked in the answer above. That’s not information I would have normally and would request of the client.

Interview Prep: (cont)

Need someone with WIRESHARK or netmon or networkmonitor experience

I’m fairly familiar with these, which is why I have trouble with the OSI model. Anyway, here is some info on each, in video form. With the exception of wireshark because it looks about the same as the other one (netmon is the command used to open windows network monitor). In addition Wireshark, great not normally deployed in production and without partnering with dev to know exactly what the application is supposed to be sending, not normally much more helpful that traceroute or tracert.

Need someone with strong DNS/DHCP TCP/IP experience (specifically server message block or DFSN)

Adding SMB1 protocol support to Windows Server 2019

SMB1 Sharing Protocol on Windows 10

Lots going on. Interviews with the CDC, a company that supports Colonial Pipeline and houses the infra that had issues, Warner and it seems like something else. Im not really holding my breath here for any of these to actually work out but you never know. I’m ok financially at the moment because I spend as little money as possible and am still living with family because apparently we are unable to find work for a network admin that’s actually stable for some reason. Its not really entertaining to be honest. It seems like America is a little dysfunctional, or is that just me? There are really much bigger issues at steak here than just any one singular point of focus but the over riding issue is people not wanting to act like functional adults. Hahah, in light of recent events here is a photo from the film Metropolis that was a German pre war film. Its really good and from one of my favorite directors, geography aside.

If you have never seen it, I assure you its quite worth your time. May spark a few ideas. That photo is from this scene. I just actually took the time to watch it. Its quite powerful and important. A valid sentiment, conceptually.

Ok, on to the questions and then to get some sleep. It would be great to have a real job interview or like be functionally employed at some point. By the way.

This gets a little confusing because it could be C or D and D is the somewhat more complex answer but it requires less actual typing, if that makes sense. Now, you would think it would be difficult to figure out the network because you subnetted them and thus they should have different network addresses but they are saying that isn’t the case for some reason. You may have to actually check this when running it live but it probably works.

now with more of the same memes

perfect.

I have no idea why I have trouble remembering this one. This whole global configuration mode thing is confusing but conceptually, it effects the entire router and not just the single interface. Why it cant be configured on a single interface, im not sure. It cant be though. Just dont do it

This is just memorization. I’m not even sure why I bothered to put it in here. I guess so I could look at it again.

The .6 really gets me because it makes no sense. But whats that, EIGRIP vs OSPF, down at the bottom!!!!

You know, I’m going to be honest here and say I think routing protocols at scale, in 2021, maybe arbitrary but I could be wrong.

This is a “just remember it” type of deal.

Thats all for today and Im off to bed. Kind of happy because Im up to a solid 300 pounds with relatively low body fat percentage but still its about 50-60 lbs heavier than last years 240-250 when i was running 3 miles in 37 mins, today I ran a mile in 13:50 and if you can find a 300 lb person that can run a mile that fast, I would be shocked. I started a kettle bell routine and at 15 pounds with high reps, it really packed the muscle on while cooking oatmeal.

These are examples of long out put text that shouldn’t be super complicated to remember but im still sort of struggling with them. This should be most that are covered on the test. Sometimes there are context clues which Ill try and point out.

This one, says “show Interface” counters. I mean, that’s a huge block of text to have to scroll through quickly when considering 450 questions…. to be fair

Every answer says something about IP so the listing of IP isnt helpful. it does says Routing Protocol toward the middle though followed by BGP 18. Im not sure what BGP 18 means, lets find out

no idea

There is nothing here that says what it is but I guess I can remember this one…

This is where they get you. It’s obviously something to do with mac addresses but it could be interfaces because it says “vlan” in front, right? Let me think if this is right, i mean, a switch can have virtual mac addresses, they exist, right?

Per this https://community.cisco.com/t5/switching/switch-mac-address/td-p/1378516 it looks like show interface mac to get local mac addresses doesnt really make sense and show mac isnt in a real command. Which it very clearly states in the answer text but you know, research. Anyway, I think I got this one.

This is actually a helpful page! Generally speaking, there is not a lot off useful info on the CCNA stuff,,,, anywhere.

So this is what show standby looks like on that router. The grouping of the text isnt as tight, which I find slightly less confusin

Honestly, I’m pretty sure I didn’t catch every single question like this but I did get a get amount of them. I think this is all for now. Tomorrow im going to attempt a longer study session after applying for more jobs and doing follow ups. Kind of hoping to land this spot with Warner but I have a feeling its not going to work out. I had an interview with the CDC and im not going into details but I feel like, it involved a local politician and may not have actually been a real thing. Again, I could be totally jumping to conclusions on that but it was like a 3rd shift SOC type of role? Who knows.

This is going pretty well but I’m finding when I study im getting massive headaches. Which is a problem. They are related to allergies and only seem to occur after a long study session and get so bad that they kind of render me useless. No fun at all. I’m seriously almost done with this thing and will try to keep the headaches to a minimum but it seems like long pushes of studying are the only way to get it finished which results in a headache that lasts like two days lol. Honestly basic health care would probably help but you know, who needs that. I also have applications out with the CDC and Warner. The state is an absolute wreck, like I cant even go into it, but maybe one of them will work out. Having stable employment sure would be great though. Not sure why that’s such a feet. Or why people think responsibility or being an adult is such a far fetched concept. Really feel like we are on the verge of some kind of war or something here. Who knows. Its probably a good idea to get this taken care of. I’ve got two posts here ready to go and not that anyone cares about education opinions but its good to not be cavemen I suppose.

These things make zero sense to me. there are a bunch of them too. You know, I guess I haven’t really read the answer for some reason but after reading it, as long as the theory applies to other similar questions it shouldn’t be hard as long as I dont get the blocking is the higher port number mixed up.

This one, not a lot to cover here but dot forget the 10. the subnet thing, sort of makes sense but its a little confusing.

lol here is a handy chart that explains alllllll of these questions. damn it lol the last bullet in regards to the question above it is slightly confusing. And as you can see, some questions are repeated. Ok I have one more of these to go, I dont know if ill get it done. The concept of Native VLAN, who knows. Its kind of confusing. Like where does it go after it hits that? I guess the destination port.

Well its kind of a slow day at work but to be honest its been super hectic so im kind of relived because it was a little taxing to be honest. Not too much other stuff to cover So lets do this blog thing.

Man, that is a lot of info and to be honest here, the best strat is going to be memorizing the answer but holy shit that’s a lot of words to not understand. Or to understand. Either way, we are in for a ball game folks.

I was having a great day until this happened. Man, adulting and education. Anyway, the top part outlines the situation pretty well. The revision number seems obvious as that has to do with replication and apparently computers can have their own vlans for some reason. … the answer keeps going

wow lol

Which flows great into this next question. Why I picked the .255 address is beyond me but in a /28 there are 14 hosts and you have to have a broadcast address which would be the .15 in this case.

this seems ancient but apparently it uses an RJ-45 connection which is just a regular Ethernet connection.

Well, thats all for now. Time to get on the phone and hopefully get a hold of a few people! Maybe… I mean, Ill try haha.

Well, I got some stuff done this weekend but maybe not as much as I had hoped to get done. The big thing this: I did make a beat. Which is totally helpful stuff.

But I have 3 more posts to do (two after this one) and I was hoping to get them all done but that’s not happening. I cant at least get this one done while watching Ghost In The Shell in the background. My mom is also in town. Ive also purchased a new amp. I didnt realllllly need it persay but Im ready for a “real amp” and I got a great deal so whatever.

So a friend sent me this on twitter and I think its helpful.

Here is the deal, I like know things about EIGRP but I still dont really get it. So lets just cover the basics again. When I started reading this I was so confused and thinking lets just get through some questions till we start to know enough information to really actually learn about it. Finally, I feel like im at that learning stage where I can actually fish through this stuff to glean information out of it

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ip/enhanced-interior-gateway-routing-protocol-eigrp/16406-eigrp-toc.html

After reading this, I know… a little bit more but I’m still focused on learning the questions haha

There is no explanation here at all. I suppose I should just memorize it? I really wanted to look this stuff up but honestly, if they think there is too much info to even comment on it, maybe not lol

I actually understand this but there maybe some missing info with the root bridge situation. That is the key bit but they are right about the mac address. the second bit about the the interface with the lowest number going to a forwarding state is interesting.

So, don’t include an inverse mask with EIGRP. After reading about this in the above article tonight, im feeling somewhat more confident about it but there is still, a lot to learn.

So who knows lol

I didnt write much in this but I sure did read a lot and I feel like I got stuff done. Time for sleep!

I have done, a lot of blog posts on this and to be fair, there was a lot to learn. In addition, im no where near finished blogging haha. I went through all the questions got about a 50% then went through the questions I missed (where this lot of blog posts is from) and got a 43% on it. So I’m honestly learning but there is a ton of info to cover. I’m going to do these blog posts over the weekend and then next week go through the 100 I missed, and then go through what I missed out of that again and once I’m down to like 20-25 questions that I get wrong, Ill go through the entire lot again and see where I’m at. After this one is done I might check to see about an Azure cert.

Into personal news, my guitar amp is on the fritz for some reason I need to replace it. I got a great deal on it and it sounds great but It was affordable for a reason. I’m going to end up spending about 1k on a new one. On to the good news the Mayor of Atlanta is not seeking re-election. Which is awesome news because I cant stand her and I think she’s really bad at her job. Unlike me, who is currently enjoying a remote position and will probably have to travel some this month or next month. Should be fun. Somewhere weird like Wisconsin. I think California is on the table but I highly doubt I will go there and I really don’t care either way however it seems more likely that people are kind in Wisconsin, for some reason. So lets get this post done and , go to bed.

This is fairly straight forward but these command outputs can get confusing. The problem I have is not knowing what specifically to look for and its probably the “routing for networks line” that may be a dead give away. Not real sure. Hopefully I just remember this is Show IP Protocols. Ill be real honest, this has been the hardest one since the first MCSA due to the learning curve.

Im starting to understand this a little better the second time around because the C answer is actually in the above text. the B answer doesn’t really make sense and im not sure the implication of D.

Why I choose A is beyond me. Its clearly related to HRSP but D is shocking to me, for some reason.

The second go round I didn’t get the “only in topology” part in the feasible successor part. I did get the first part right. Not much to really learn in the text below related to the question at hand. So for now, Im going to skip so much detail.

Tomorrow, is Friday..

Dinner: eaten (pasta)

Wine: drank

Innnernwebs: Ron Bd on

Time to start on number 2, for the night

Anyway, lets do some questions.

The Switch Stacking is a feature that allows us to configure multiple Cisco switches in a way that they appear as a single switch and act cooperatively. For example, if you have five individual Cisco switches, the Switch Stacking allows you to use all of them as a single large switch.

https://www.google.com/search?q=switch+stacking&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS901US901&oq=switch+stacking&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l9.2503j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

After reading about this I think the answer to the question, again, best explains the concepts they are after here. However, this is helpful

Key points

• You can add up to nine individual switches in a stack.
• Only the switch which has a special stacking module can join the stack.
• To connect stacking modules, a special stacking cable is used.
• All member switches of the stack select a master switch.
• The Master switch provides all switching related features and functions such as CDP, VTP, VLAN, STP, etc.
• Besides the master switch, no other switch is not authorized to run any switching related service.
• MAC address table is maintained only on the master switch and it references all ports on all physical switches.
• Each stack has only a single IP address and that is assigned to the master switch.
• Each stack has only one configuration file and it is managed on the master switch.
• When a new switch is added to the stack, the master switch automatically configures it.

That’s all for this tutorial. If you like this tutorial, please don’t forget to share it from your favorite social platform.

https://www.computernetworkingnotes.com/ccna-study-guide/switch-stacking-explained-with-benefits.html

So all switches are connected but the master switch has the config.

This is what I find confusing in the question it says serial0 but the answer says serial 0. I guess we can assume the answer is right. Regardless, as is almost always the case, there is probably still more to learn but lets get into it deeper at a later date without chasing too many rabbits. I still have nightmares about that from the 2012 MCSA

lol so basically nothing but the important note is that a modem ie the network provider, provides the clock rate.

also probably from an ISP?

Not really much to look up here but its good to go over this again.

Thats all for tonight!

Ok, I might get the last two blog posts for this week done tonight. Not feeling super tired and my day wasn’t stressful. Really need to get this thing out of the way and I would love to get all 217 questions done between Friday and Monday and then start on the next set of blog posts. So if I get this done tonight…that would mean… i can start on questions tomorrow! Work has been fairly stressful but today was fairly easy. Anyway,…. lets uha do these things.

wow, ok. after reading all of this text i kind of understand it. Amazing!

How the fuck am I supped to get all this from two lines of text. … again, after reading the text, I’ve concluded that I understand it.

I didnt put the question in this but the differences between show ip interfaces and show interfaces I find some what confusing. So I wanted to show what the 3 kinds look like

humm hard to see the difference between show ip interface and show interfaces here. and in the questions answer…

Ok so EIGRP is a common thing and they chose D to mean that it was learned through that got it.

Ok, so here is the deal, this is not that complicated but it requires a lot of thought that I was unwilling to give at the time of going through 450 questions. for starters lets look at this

the /30 should support 4 hosts which is plenty for two servers and a default gateway, so why is this wrong?

That last part gets hella confusing to be honest. where the answer is concerned but if you look at the subnet table its really straight forward. going to try to get another one in tonight. we will see…..