OT: American job skills & offshoring

[Bob George]

Drew Taylor wrote:

> [...] Yes, I've always been interested in how "enterprise" networks
> are setup, and the gear that runs them. But I've never had 4-5
> figures to try them out like you did! Kudos for giveing so freely.

One of the interesting parts of doing this project was figuring ways to
use open source software to enhance the lab overall. A big part of the
distributed lab was the use of zebra (quagga) to add additional
"routers" to the mix at low/no cost. At one time, I had an additional 4
"virtual" routers working with my 4 physical routers, allowing me to
test some very complex configurations with RIP, OSPF, BGP and route
redistribution.  I used VMware at the time, but now I'd use usermode 
linux. A couple of guys in the distributed BGP lab had NO Cisco gear, 
and only used zebra. Of all the cert tests I did, I did best on the 
routing questions, so I think this beat the usual "simulator" approach.

> The docs you mentioned - who are they written towards? The newbie
> (like me), who knows basically what routers do but has no idea how
> they work or are programmed.

I think those docs were mentioned by someone else. For what I was doing,
all the docs are at www.cisco.com. And there's a LOT there for anyone
interested in "Enterprise" stuff that's not Cisco proprietary.

> Or do you assume a minimum level of knowledge?

The only thing I asked is that folks made some minimal efforts before
calling for help, and not do dopey things like lock other users out.

> Either way, where would you suggest starting? I'd like an intro to
> routing, and then build from there.


Cisco has some great intro docs. The Internetworking Technology Handbook 
would be a good place to start:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/index.htm

The Internetwork Design Guide is not exactly an intro, but is a good 
starting place:

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/idg4/index.htm

To emphasize: I was after Cisco certification, but the general concepts 
apply to any network environment. I also found that many open source 
tools like ethereal, tcpdump and the like were invaluable for gaining a 
deeper understanding of what was going on "under the hood."

- Bob