Certification Prep – The 20 Minute Workout

This year I have two main goals for myself and one stretch goal. I decided for 2011 that I was going to obtain my Microsoft Virtualization Certification and my Cisco CCNA. My stretch goal for 2011 was to also work towards a certification on WMWare. I am a little farther behind the curve than I wanted to be for the year (I was hoping to have a couple of the Microsoft Virtualization Certification exams out of the way already) but I have been busy with several projects at work and saving the 4th of July celebration in my hometown for the second year in a row. With that work completed, both the project at work and the one in Wallingford, I am going to get back on track over the summer. (Admittedly, I may have to drop my certification on WMWare stretch goal for 2011 and defer it to 2012 but we’ll see how it goes). In the meantime I am going to be looking at the Microsoft Server Virtualization certification track as well as the Desktop Virtualization certification track.  Thes...

Hi Gang, Really quickly this AM - I saw a posting over on LinkedIn from Shon Harris - Owner and President of Logical Security where she indicated that she is providing 25 hours of free CEH on-line training. I am presently studying for this certification myself so I am certain it will be quite helpful for me to review this from the master herself and I wanted to pass along the information. Directly from her posting: Free On-Line CEH Course – Over 25 Hours Long I am providing 25 hours of free CEH on-line training. The video modules are outlined below and can be found at www.logicalsecurity.com/resources/resources_videos.html Hope you find them useful! 1. Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing 2. Footprinting and Reconnaissance 3. TCP/IP Basics and Scanning 4. Enumeration and Verification 5. Hacking and Defending Wireless/Modems 6. Hacking and Defending Web Servers 7. Hacking and Defending Web Applications 8. Sniffers and Session Hijacking 9. Hacking and Defending Windows Systems 10. Hac...

Andy's Tech Experiments Blog has an excellent video presentation covering an experiment he performed where he which upgraded through every major version of Windows using a virtual machine install. Along with the video installation he has his blog post that offers additional information and details that he did not include within the presentation. Below is the video and his blog post can be found at Andy's Tech Experiments Blog under Chain of fools : Upgrading through every version of Windows

Companies are offering their IT pros more flexible hours and more money in the hopes of getting them to stay. Read the full post on the InfoWorld website. Regular readers of my blog know I have been saying this for the past six months and it’s only going to escalate from here – this is good news for IT workers, as they may have more leverage for raises / bonuses / flexible and /or additional benefits with their current employer. If not, the one up the street might offer what you’re looking for. Just remember all the loyalty (or lack thereof) that you’re current employer provides and make the decisions that are best for you and your career.

Support for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) will come to an end on July 12, 2011. The transition of support on this date corresponds with the regular Microsoft Support Lifecycle policy. The date was originally set when Windows Vista Service Pack 2 released back in April 29, 2009. Windows Vista users can continue to use the product at this service pack level but to be eligible for Mainstream Support and to have access to security and high priority updates, users must be on the supported service pack. The most important part of this is that customers still on Windows Vista SP1 after this date will not have access to new security updates, high priority updates and non-security hotfixes. As part of the normal support lifecycle, support is provided for 12 months for the previous service pack when a new service pack is formally released according to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Service Pack policy for servers as outlined on the Microsoft Support Lifecycle page. Both Mainstream and Exte...

QUESTION – What is a router’s primary function on a network? (Choose all that apply – choose only the best answers). A.   Create the boundary of a Broadcast domain B.   Create the boundary of a Collision domain C.   Creates a network segment where it is the default gateway D.   Creates a network segment where it is the central network device on that segment E.   Responsible for Packet Switching on the network F.   Responsible for Path Selection on a network Answer and Explanation. The best answers for this question are A, C, E and F Choice A - Create the boundary of a Broadcast domain, is correct because routers are mainly responsible for creating the logical network division that we call a broadcast domain. For more information please see the Wikipedia article titled “ Broadcast Domain ”. Choice C - Creates a network segment where it is the default gateway, is a correct answer because routers are generally ...

In my post from yesterday I had mentioned that I am going to be studying to take my Cisco CCNA 640-802 exam. I have a couple of text books I am going to be reviewing for research and study, I also have access to a couple of CCNA video training suites that I will be using.  One of the titles I am going to be reviewing is Train Signal’s Cisco CCNA Training . I am going to be doing this training on my train ride to work so it is nice to have it available to view offline and when I am not connected to the internet. I’ll give you a quick overview of the product now and some more of a detailed review once I’ve had the chance to review most of it. So according to the marking material on the Train Signal’s Cisco CCNA Training page – “In 3 Days or Less, You'll Learn How To Install, Operate, and Troubleshoot a Small to Medium Enterprise Branch Network... And Have the Knowledge to Pass the Cisco CCNA 640-802 Exam... Guaranteed!” The immediate additional information there also inc...