Cisco conference call

I had a conference call at work today with a couple of Cisco sales reps. The point of the conference call was to discuss the Cisco NAC evaluation taking place later this week. The conference call took place using WebEx. It was a little strange using WebEx for a phone conference call. Everyone where I work that was also involved in the call, as well as myself, thought that the Cisco reps were going to do a video demonstration but they didn’t.

The Cisco reps wanted to nail down a few details before the evaluation took place. The main points discussed were what we were looking for, how our network is currently set up and what we hoped to gain using the Cisco NAC. I’m really looking forward to checking out their system.

One big highlight that came out of the meeting was that I’m getting a chance to attend a Cisco CCNA boot camp for free. The CCNA training will be held at a local Cisco office. They are still trying to nail down the exact dates for the week long training. Once they get that, someone from the Cisco office is going to email me. A $2300 training course for free? I’ll take that in a heart beat.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. – M. Kathleen Casey

10.Sep.07 Certifications, Networking, Security Comments (4)

The firewall burns again

Thanks to a friend at work, my firewall is back to operational status. He had an extra laptop drive in his office from when we decommissioned some old Inspiron laptops. The drive he gave me is exactly like the drive that was in the firewall (20 GB, 4200 RPM). I had a config backup so it only took about 15 minutes to load the new drive and restore the settings.

I still think its odd that I don’t get full throughput (6 Mb) if I use the Linksys router (BEFSX41). I used it while the pfSense system was down. The Linksys router is rated for 30+ Mb throughput but I barely get 3 Mb.

Studying for the SQL 2005 upgrade certification exam is going slow. I hope to knock it out within the next 3 or 4 months but it will probably take a little longer. There are some database projects I’m having to work on right now that are eating up study time.

If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up. – J.M. Power

09.May.07 Certifications, Hardware Comments (0)

Certification upgrade time

I’ve had my MCDBA (SQL 7 & 2000) for about 6 years now. According to this site:

You are not required to upgrade.
Your MCDBA credential will continue to be recognized and valued by employers and decision makers who use SQL Server 2000. Microsoft will not retire the MCDBA.

Still, I need to go ahead and upgrade. My employer isn’t requiring it but they are going to help pay for some training. I don’t really want any classroom training because I don’t need that much help. I might just get the self-study box set as seen here.

One thing that bugs me is the fact that Microsoft changed the name of the certification. It is no longer MCDBA. Now, you are a Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Database Administrator. MCITPDA? That’s too many letters for a certification. Of course, I could just take one upgrade exam instead of two and become a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: SQL 2005 but that feels like a half step up. It’s almost like saying I was a DBA but now I’m just a user that knows how to write queries. That just won’t do.

I’m going to pickup the study kit later today. The individual books, as well as the kit, got decent reviews on Amazon. I have no idea how long it will take to study for this test. I do remember that the SQL test were the hardest ones I took out of all the MCSE/MCDBA test.

Immorality: The morality of those who are having a better time. – H.L. Mencken

17.Apr.07 Certifications, Microsoft SQL Comments (0)

Free CramSession study guides

CramSession publishes some of the best study guides on the market. They are now offering over 100 of their study guides free for download. You can choose from any of the following:

The guides aren’t the only point of study you should use but they do give you a pretty solid base or point of reference. All of the guides are in PDF format. You will have to sign up for a free account in order to access the downloads.

I couldn’t find anything showing the time limit on this offer but I wouldn’t wait too long.

Today, there are three kinds of people: the have’s, the have-not’s, and the have-not-paid-for-what-they-have’s. – Earl Wilson

27.Jan.06 Certifications, Technology Comment (1)