WGU Capstone and Capstone Proposal Done

Got official confirmation from TaskStream my Capstone passed. That makes the degree plan 125/125, graduation. YES!

Thoughts -- SBT1 -- Tech Writing
Tip 1: Ok, everyone...absolutely everyone says follow the rubric. DO IT. Don't be smart, don't assume the grader will find you satisfied the rubric buried in your paper. Simply follow the follow rubric using the template. It'll save you headaches. I had to resubmit my SBT1 due to failure to define objectives clearly. I had goals and deliverables, but my objectives (goals-->objectives-->deliverables) weren't clear. Resubmit and I passed.
Tip 2: if you have to make up a project (I did), do something you are good at and tie it back to your degree. I'm a network goober at heart, but my degree is IT Security. I did a pseudo-network redesign for pseudo company. Securing the edge was only part of the solution. Anyhow, you don't have to make the project explicitly about your degree program. I was going to do a wireless security project, but it was going to get out of control quickly. Not a good idea. You have to incorporate your emphasis somewhere, and that's it. Don't make it hard. Its a lot of writing as it is.
Tip 3: Yes, it is the department of redundancy department. You will feel like you are repeating yourself throughout. Just the nature of the beast. stick to the template. If you choose to review the capstones, don't over-analyze. Some are 3 years old, some don't have the same layout as the current templates. Use the current template.
Tip 4: have someone else read your paper. Doesn't matter if they are technical our not. Just need a grammar and structure check. You've read it too much. you know what you mean to say. they don't. let 'em read it and fix it. You aren't perfect. I'm not. No one is. Let your best friend, spouse, whoever help on the review. Plus it'll count on your 10 items list if you do it right.

RGT1 -- capstone
This is fairly straightforward. Don't overthink it. Do the conversion as given, and write the new sections. I did mine in 2 days (8 hours each). Most of the heavy lifting is in the SBT1. I created pseudo network diagrams, network schemes, etc. Dreaming that up took 4 hours. I got a 4 on the rubric for the add-ons. I dunno if the depth of information helped, but I'm going to guess it does. Make sure you had some depth to the project. SBT1 is just a dream. RGT1 is real. Make it tangible. Produce the paperwork you would for a job. Network diagrams, IP info, whatever your boss or you'd want your junior engineers to have after you were done. Make it come to life. And if you don't have the software, grab the timebombed versions and install them. (office/visio).

Anyhow that's it. i'm done. good luck on your adventures.

WGU Update -- MGC1 & TPV1 Done

I passed the TPV1 today, Project+. I thought it was relatively easy compared to some of the other courses. The prep material from uCertify was perfect for the course. I studied 6 days for this one. Only recommendation is use the uCertify material, and READ the questions and how they got the answers. Remember there are 5 phases, answers from the 4th phase will not be right for the planning phase questions. If you have a good vocabulary, that will help. Also, taking the MGC1 right before actually helped as Project+ had the stages of teams (yay!) plus the types of conflict resolution, and last, the types of organizations (matrix versus functional vs project). Nice carry-over.

I took the MGC1 course 12 days before and passed. Typical test. Study what they tell you. Do the practice test at least twice with at least a mid-80 grade. As noted above, this course carries over really well into the project+ course. In hindsight, I'd probably do the Org Behavior, followed by Principles of Mgmt, then project+ back to back to back. The concepts stack and less relearning. If you were feeling ambitious and wanted to go off track/do a victory lap, doing the ITIL Foundations would fit nicely at the end of these 3. It isn't quite the same as stacking of concepts, but a lot of the ideas/concepts are interrelated to these 3 courses.

That's 36 hrs this semester currently. Have the Tech Writing and Capstone to round out the degree making it 43 hrs total for this one with 25 the previous plus semester. Yay me.

CIW v MS v Cisco v WGU v CompTIA Exams

(Updated) -- I've seen people post what tests/providers are the hardest in the WGU lineup. I'll go ahead and post my thoughts. I'm doing IT w/Sec Emphasis so my experience may be different than yours. I have over 15 years of real world experience from Desktop goober to Network geek to Boss. I've also had the technical alphabet soup after my name in the early 2000s (MCSE, CCNP, A+, Others...). Translation, I've taken a few test in the past 20ish years. Mostly passed too. Shocking. My personal order of difficulty from easiest to hardest as for 2014/2015 from a WGU point of view:

1. WGU assessments
2. CIW
3. MS
4. CompTIA
5. Cisco

On the WGU test, the amount material can be overwhelming as in the bio course. However, the bar tends to be set low. Most of the time, you can get it down to a 50/50 coinflip on the questions you don't know. The material always seems to match the test. No question will be a surprise topic. Plus some of the recorded lectures tell you how to take the test well. Last, you get to stay home and take it so the comfort of home helps (provided your house is quiet, the neighborhood is quiet, etc...)

CIW has seemed to be the easiest testing-center test makers. Part of it is due to the fact the questions are truly from the material. There haven't been any surprises taking this line of testing. In addition, it seems like some of the concepts are common sense and can reason your way into the right answers, especially if you know the definitions of the words/terms. These test also seem to be simply definition/term based. Unlike the Cisco, MS, and CompTIA, there wasn't a lot of application of knowledge to a situation.

It may shock you to see MS next, but the 2 tests were entry level tests for Win7 and something else. The material provided by WGU seemed to be sufficient with my experience to pass these fairly easy. I would not be shocked to hear the more advance server courses had some difficultly and were harder than the CompTIA.

CompTIA. I actually thinks these are some of the more interesting tests with the scenarios they offer. The study material offered past the A+ needs some updating within the curriculum & course of study. The material WGU offered for Project+ was spot on, especially the uCertify resource. Net+, Sec+, Linux+/LPI all took outside resources. I'd list the difficulty within these sub-tests from easiest to hardest:

• Net+ (Its what I do/did so only had to learn 1 section)
• Project+
• A+
• Sec+
• Linux+

The carry-over of my network life helps a lot on the first 3, but the Linux to a windows person required some hands on retraining. As for the people who will say CompTIA deals with outdated tech, I'd argue most environments will have some flavor of outdated equipment you'll have to support, or help upgrade. Knowing how the old stuff works will help make good choices when proposing and upgrade to your boss/customer/spouse. The last pro on the "old" information is that you can communicate with the people who got off their tech career tracks a while back and are coasting it home to retirement. These people exist (sometimes in high places). The reality of work and life.

Cisco. Disclaimer, I failed the CCNA Sec the first time (888 vs 898 - not happy). I thought the material was ok (Books + Video), but the other material on Cisco's site is a must. The site material was the difference between pass/fail. I didn't take the CCNA (ICND) within WGU as I came in with it. These tend to have a very high bar to reach for a passing grade(85% or higher), require some hands-on, and know some random ass stuff buried within the material. Plus, its difficult to get true hands-on practice for this one. WGU says use GNS3 (which I advocate too), however, getting an IOS to run is challenge.

I've also taken the CWNA and ITIL exams in the recent 18 months. Below is how I'd group all the tests I've taken in the past 2 years from my point of view.

1. Relatively Easy: WGU courses, CIW (ALL), Entry MS courses
2. Moderate: ITIL Foundation, A+, Net+, Project+
3. Somewhat Difficult: Sec+, LPI exams/Linux+, CCNA R&S
4. Difficult: CWNA, CCNA Sec

 

CJV1 Passed -- CIW Database

Took the CJV1/CIW Database exam. 84 points achieved, 74 needed.

Test vs Material: the course and WGU material pretty much covered the test. Again, the practice questions aren't word for word the test, however they provided a good overview.

Test itself: Was actually fairly readable for an IT test. 50 questions, and only had one, maybe two questions where I had to decipher the phrase/word the test makers were dancing around. Again, nothing unexpected or new on the test.

Study Method: read the material end to end. Did chapter quizzes and exams. re-read 1-6 quickly. Did the 6 domain area quizzes. Did the domain area exams. Took test. Was making 90-94 on domain exams/quizzes. I didn't do any of the labs. I had enough practical experience in my few efforts query a DB to know the basic commands. SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, CREATE, DROP, ALTER, ...etc.

Onto MGC1. Took the pre-assessment and made a 76. Guess I should schedule it...

Network+ Done

Took and passed network+ with an 865. Woo, missed 4 questions. I think I whiffed a scenario, but I'm not sure. Funny.

Anyhow, regarding the material and test. Sorry, this wont be much help for a lot of folks.

Material: I quick glanced the material from WGU (Testout?). I took 4 notecards of notes. normally, I take a pile of them (50-150 cards depending). I had to beat into my head the 568A & 568B and 110 blocks. Ended up using WAG, BOW and BLOG for the scheme, A-GW (WAG), B-OW, Bl-O-G. The other cards had stuff on them. Don't even recall what. I took the practice tests, and did the scenarios in about 2/3rds of the sections. The ones testing ping, nslookup, dig, etc, I skipped. I've done these way too often in real life.
ping yourself
ping the gateway
ping your destination...

Took the full practice test, made a 96.

The test vs material: since I only quick-glanced it, I can't say how much it mapped up.  I simply used my experience (CWNA, CCNA, CCNA-Sec) to ferret out most of the answers technical answers. I think the study material gave me 3-4 questions I would have missed or 50/50'd. I still love "choose the BEST" solution questions. Basic things to know

• IP networking (subnetting, broadcast, Classes, etc. One of the questions was on a CCNA level I thought. Good question, had to think and know your rules).
• OSI model and service at each level and device relationships to said model (Physical - cables,hubs; datalink - bridge/switch; etc;)
• devices to service provided (Firewall vs router vs switch vs packet filter vs content filter)
• Ports and protocols (FTP, SMTP, SNMP, etc)
• Cabling standards
• troubleshooting steps
• WiFi (a,b,g,n; security options/flavors; radio freqs; antenna basics; )

Test itself. 80ish questions, and like most of the CompTIA lead with scenarios. I think I had 6-8 out of the gate. One was a good question, but I'm guessing a lot of people get it wrong. Actually had to use the notepad to do the math. The rest of the non-scenario questions are straight forward. I thought most had the right answer well defined and the other choices weren't really an option, but that might be experience. Felt there were 10 questions where it was down to 2 answers, and it was pick the best. (IE, asking a layer 2 OSI model question, 2 answers were router and hub, other was switch and bridge -- pick the best).

Anyhow, there is a lot on this one. experience helped a ton and made it relatively easy for me. knowing the OSI to services helps a lot for this test. Probably need to know it very well.

IINS 640-554 passed (CCNA Sec, WGU Course CNV1)

Passed. Only with a 918 out of a 1000.

Thoughts: This was a test with a high bar to reach. as stated in other notes, make sure you read the documents from the Cisco site beyond the book and the videos from CBTNuggets and Boson's tests. The books and videos will get you close, but the material from the others will get you the rest. I spent a lot of time in the CCP GUI and console the 2 days before the test. I re-reviewed my notes the night before.

GNS3 is almost required. I'm am using the most current version 1.2.1. Here is the practice I used (over and over and over).

• The Win7client was a VirtualBox Machine. It was used to manage all devices, ASDM and CCP. CCP IS dog-ass slow discovering. 
• One Proc, 2Gigs of RAM, 40G HDD
• Installed Apps included 
• ASDM -- for the ASA
• CCP -- for the routers
• Notepad++ -- cause i can't remember anything two seconds after i see it
• Chrome (w/adblock) -- my preferred
• Tftpd64
• to move asdm image back and forth to the ASA
• to provide file downloads for the IOS IPS
• default gateway was the IOS router (NOT THE ASA)
• Local/Host workstation
• Quad core Intel, 16gigs of RAM
• Connected to ISP router with physical connection. Physical connection is the Local Area Connection 2
• Served as VPN connection to the ASA.
• Routers
• 7200 series with IOS 15.0.x
• All routers had a 1GE Interface
• WANFU
• had qty 2 -- 2 port 100FE cards
• Was a DHCP client on g0/0 to get internet routable IP address. I hate looking at the damn yellow ! network icon on win7client box.
• did NAT (hey! a test objective) for other networks.
• Was known to blow up once IOS firewall was turned on (hey, another test objective!)
• Area4 & Area5 Routers
• Single 2 port 100fe cards
• Not shown interface was the interface used for vpn (f1/1 on both)
• Ran OSPF as the IGP. Redistributed on WANFU for default route.
• ASA used the known working image within GNS3. It spent most of its life OFF. It WILL eat a single core of your processor when it is on. Plus it is very fickle about keeping configs between reboots. As this is an entry-level course, redoing the interfaces didn't take long, and was good practice.
• The VMWare cloud hosted the ACS box. I'll figure out how to reconnect it. 

My practice labs I did a lot to get the commands down. Seeing enable secret level 6 0 level6pwd looks weird if you don't know what you are seeing. Test related info in bold. Maybe I'll write out a full step by step or some sort of solutions. Right now, please verify your work as you go. I just used this lab to reinforce what Keith Barker's Nuggets taught. I broke most of this out into sections. They can be done independently of each other AFTER the initialization section. 

• Initialization: basic connectivity 
• Give the routers IP addresses. I like loopbacks, so I added some. Mine were 10.0.255.25x/32. Also, make sure to set the g0/0 to DHCP client on WANFU
• Get IPv4 routing working. I used OSPF, everything in area0. Don't advertise the 192.168.xx.y nets. They are your site-to-site VPN networks. Notice you don't have to advertise them to get VPN working.
• Enable IPv6. Give the routers IPv6 addresses on all interfaces. 
• Get some sort of IPV6 routing working.
• Check your IPV6 interfaces and routing
• show ipv6 int brief
• ping 2001:... source 2001:..
• Configure NTP . Make WANFU master (ha!). use encryption. Set Area4 to use WANFU. Area5 will be done later. 
• Configure Users and CCP Login
• Create the users listed at the privilege listed
• enable secrets at the appropriate level with correct passwords
• TEST; login; give some rights.
• give all the boxes a domain-name (ip domain-name gns3.local is the syntax I used)
• turn on the web server on each router 
• turn on both insecure and secure methods
• use local authentication
• generate your certs for SSH
• On all but Area5 Router, turn on AAA authentication, authorization. Area5 gets it in the GUI. that sounds wrong
• Authorized exec and commands. Again use the user accounts for levels. practice with both default and NAMED method lists. I always set my lists to use local, then 2 or 3 of the other options (group tacacs, enable, local-case, etc). Heck create 2 types, MYTAC and MYLOCAL for authentication.
• configure vty lines to use the aaa authentication and authorization, using the methods just created
• On Area5 Router
• configure login on the vty terminals WITHOUT AAA.
• Turn on CCP. CCP FUN time. 
• Create a group of nodes, MYGNS3 is what i called them.
• I used loopback interfaces. Good practice in RL, but...up to you
• Discover your nodes! (good time to drink, use the facilities, talk to your family, order dinner). Yeah, it can be slow.
• Manage Area5 router's AAA in CCP
• Turn on AAA
• Configure the exact same method lists as WANFU and Area4
• Push the config out
• Manage NTP in CCP for Area5 Router. WANFU is the reference.
• Back to the consoles. Sad, so sad....
• enable views and login in with the root view. You did read what it told you when you turned it on?
• create more views! Assign some rights. commands exec all show ip; show ipv6; etc. test that bad boy. 
• Test everything now. Login right and wrong. 
• Debug AAA authentication/authorization
• test aaa group (yeah, no server, so what?). It fails, what a shock.

All right, i think we got most of the basics going and tested. CCP should work. AAA should work using local for SSH/Telnet. All routers are accessible. Life is good. NTP might work. I found NTP  tended to cause WANFU to suffer an emotional breakdown and have to be deleted and re-added. Saving would be good if all works in a way you like. Let's move on!

• All right! more fun! Lets go out of order and do VPN! Why? Cause the longer before I make WANFU do a whole lot, the better off I was. Back to CCP! If you don't understand the jargon, read the study guide, watch Keith Barkers videos. These are just practice labs to reinforce.
• Rediscover Area4 and Area5 Routers
• Create an new site-to-site VPN on area4 router
• DO NOT USE Defaults. be wild, be crazy, just dont DES. friends don't let friends DES. For your HAGLE, lets pick...AES192, MD5, Pre-shared (ilikevpn), DH group 5. Leave the lifetime alone. Seriously, pick your own options. copy-cat.
• for the phase 2 portion, lets pick MD5-HMAC, and AES 256.
• Your interest traffic will be....????
• (192.168.40.x going to 192.168.50.x)
• Your interface will be??? (f1/0)
• Push that bad boy out. 
• Ok, go clear the phase 1 that is pushed out by default by CCP. Defaults suck (well, not really, but what fun is letting someone else pick?)
• And lets go Area5 router and do the same thing! Fun. Switch nodes in CCP to Area5.
• Create a new site-to-site VPN. match it up with your others. 
• your interest traffic might need an adjustment? (the answer is yes)
• Push out the config. Destroy the default Phase 1 it sends. You are remembering what screen on CCP all this stuff is buried as you do this?
• To the console. About time. keep the CCP up tho. You'll want to view both
• Generate some interesting traffic. On Area4 Router; ping 192.168.50.1 source 192.168.40.1. If you did it right, the establishment of the tunnel might eat one or two packets, but otherwise work. nomnomnom. If not, well, crud. You get to troubleshoot! Haha! (or reboot the boxes and retry. i wont judge you. much. You have to suffer through a rediscovery in CCP. Another 5 minutes of your life lost waiting.).
• Practice your show commands
• show crypto ipsec ?; show crypto isakmp ?; show crypto map; show run. what does the map do and have in it? what does the sa option show you? Where is everything applied
• go to the GUI. check the tunnel status. Answer all the questions you had in the console via the GUI. 
• If you are feeling really spicy, turn on your debugs. debug crypto...bring the tunnels up/down etc.
• Do a show run. see what is in the crypto map. what is in the isakmp part. what is in the ipsec part. what does the ACL do and which one is it?
• We'll put off the ASA VPNs for a bit. Your host workstation will thank you.

Did your VPN work? if so, save it! we are moving on! Let do some more security, a security audit.

• Is CCP up and everything discovered. Yep. do it. Pull up your favorite 3-5 minute youtube video while you wait.
• Lets manage WANFU. Lets do a security audit!
• OMG! what should you trust and not trust
• No one trusts their internet. 
• Although i don't trust the guy configuring the rest of this lab, lets say the rest of we do for now (f/x interfaces and loopback0)
• DNS, use google 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4
• Run the security audit! go ahead and let it do service password-encryption, and some others if you feel it.
• Push it out if you are feeling lucky
• ALright! lets do a one step lock-down. save your config before you start (and gns environment)
• You'll need to see the screens.
• let it push out one time. I've always had craptacular luck and had to reload the OS at this point.
• read the screen. see what options you can turn up/down. 

That was fun? easy? simple? Onward. IOS based firewall next on WANFU

• get CCP going. manage WANFU.
• go ahead and turn up the down dmz interface, f1/1. 172.31.255.1/24 is good. I like using the boundary addresses to reinforce. everyone puts the lower bounds, practice on the upper. 
• you'll have to do this one a couple of times
• do a basic firewall
• do an advance firewall
• This is all virtual, so make up a virtual server for the dmz. if you are really feeling it, go ahead and connect it to the switch in a different vlan and attach some magic box running whatever service you let through

To be continued...

Additional Resources for IINS 640-554 (WGU CNV1)

I am in the process of adding additional resources I used beyond the CBTNuggets and official Cisco book for the test.

This is based off of my actual test experience and Cisco's CCNA Security Exam Topics.

• Overall information to review and study directly from Cisco itself is here. They have several resources that are beyond the scope of the material from CBT and the books.
• Chapter 6, For Layer 2 Security/Common Layer 2 attacks, the link doesn't appear to work. I used this resource from Pearson. This beyond what is in the the book. Since it is 25 pages and the reference link is 25 pages, I'm guessing it is the resource link we are to use. Based upon experience, I am confident this is the material. Seriously, read it, take notes.

I'll add more as I get back into this test.

CNV1 -- IINS 640-554 Test -- Failed

I recently took the Cisco CCNA Security 640-554 test and failed with a 888 with an 898 needed Yeah, big suckage. 5 days for Cisco before retake and I do know now how long for the WGU retake.

Thoughts on the test without hopefully violating the terms.

• Know the CCP GUI for all the sections and material you are responsible for. The test expects some level of knowledge here
• This includes how to do a configuration of the selected tasks.
• What the path/where to click to access the task or information. (IE, where do you go to configure NTP Servers in CCP).
• The tasks to know
• How to view and configure everything related to an access-list
• How to view and configure everything related to IOS VPN
• How to view and configure everything related to IOS Firewall
• How to view and configure everything related to AAA
• How to view and configure everything related to time
• The tasks and steps under the security audit tab
• Know the same topics from the command line too. :)
• Know your ASA for SSL VPN options and setup
• The books provide most of the test information you will need. However, some areas that I think the books, practice tests, video (CBT) were short on.
• IPv6
• IPv6 access-lists
• PVlan
• Layer 2 (books and video especially)
• Have a better understanding than the books give for the other Cisco products basically outside the scope of the test. Inside the scope would be CCP, ASA, IOS, IOS IPS, & ASDM. The books do cover these other items (SecureScan, IronPort, SCM). You don't need a detailed knowledge of how to configure or use these devices, but know the feature sets they offer.
• Have a good understanding of layer 2 protocols and protections. Understand Layer 2 from what the Boson practice test quizzes you over. The books and videos aren't enough.
• Know the Cisco answer to the question. I got a question that there were 3 rights and I had to pick 2. It wasn't one of the, "which of the following is the best..." either. Experience in the real world can be good AND bad.
• The study material probably covers only 85-90% of what I was tested on.
• Review the official Cisco Exam topics. Like everything else in life, what you don't prepare for  always seems to show up.

Personal thoughts:

• I think I might have got a pretty crappy role from the RNG on what I was tested over in certain areas. I'm sure life evens itself out eventually.
• Never forget Cisco certs are highly sought after so the questions and material will reflect it. Lots of opportunity for "bad" people to dump answers and raise the bar for the rest of us. Cisco has to make it harder somehow so they will do the following:
• Expect poorly worded questions to distract, confuse or frustrate you.
• Expect to see some minutiae questions. They will test you over a single sentence from the book.
• Test outside of the book & video but still within exam objectives (NOT NICE!)
• Studying for this one isn't fun. You will spend quite a bit of time messing with the environment to get enough hands on practice. You will be reloading OS, configs, scenarios, waiting for CCP, etc...

From the WGU Perspective:

• There's NO help in the forums for the current version of the test. You are on your own.
• Again there is a large gap between the test and the material. As a college course you kinda hope to have materials that provide you an environment to simulate the material on the test especially if it is hands on. Access to IOS, ASA, ASDM, IOS IPS, CCP are either memorize the lecture steps (hahahaha), buy equipment to practice, or find emulators to practice.

WGU -- CNV1, IINS 640-554 Studying

Well this has been among the most frustrating courses to study. I have grabbed my voucher and am looking to schedule the test this week. Wish me luck. Onto the study material.

First, the course of study read likes, here's the material, good luck. The forums mention little to worse. So, based on the C.O.S., the CBTNuggets are entertaining and good. The only thing is having to setup a lab or 2 that emulates the commands. Even having 10+ years of experience on Cisco gear, learning zones, zone pairs, ccp, etc are newish to me. I can't imagine learning this from start. Here is what I did and built.

Host machine: Win 7 box with quad core proc and 16G of rams with dual monitors. I wish it had 3. One for the lab setup (including putty), one for the CBT at full screen, one for the virtual machines in the labs. It has worked well.

Software (sorry to my Linux/Apple host friends, but you can get pretty close, or better. GNS3 and most of the software works everywhere, and supposedly better in others. Lucky):

• Oracle's Virtualbox. If you are WGU student you should have it from your linux+ stuff. I used this to emulate some win7 and a radius boxes. And use your  WGU licensing from MS to spin up and clone. Plus, when you clone in the Virtualbox, the sheep makes me laugh every time. I have 3 win 7 clones sitting there. These boxes will need to be attached to GNS3. You don't have to setup the radius boxes, but i'm a nerd. 
• VMWare's VMPlayer -- This is so you can spin up the ACS server to see how tacacs+ works (if you want).
• Some people will find the need for MS loopback adapter for...
• GNS3. Godsend. If you want to practice without actually buying the hardware, you NEED this. This software is awesome. I will grab a list of links. Right now, they have just launched 1.0/1.1 version and a lot of the links are for 0.86 etc. here are some quick notes...
• First, it lets you spin up Cisco equipment sufficient enough to practice on the command line. Until you are can type en, cisco123, conf t, username admin secret 0 cisco, etc, until you are blue in the face. Plus these same boxes can be manage by your VM win7 box running in the same virtual environment. 
• On the ASA, do not put in options if you use 8.4.2. it simply works. However, it will chew up one of your 4 cores (at least it did mine). My proc runs at 25% all the time when i have an ASA up.
• Make sure you find a good idle time value. 
• If your connecitons are working but you -know- you have it setup right. save your GNS3 config, save your device configs, and restart GNS3. 
• GNS3 lets you attach your VMs to it. 
• Virtualbox works out of the box directly connected. Find the articles how to do it. I say this is pretty f-ing cool. 
• VMPlayer has to be attached via a cloud/loopback adapter. I used the Virtualbox adapters here. VMPlayer doesn't have the hooks to directly connect and the ACS boxes require VMWare in their hardware check. (Yes i am sure you can make it not, but my google-foo was exhausted, and my patience was gone by then. If you have the details, i'll add 'em). 

My actual study routine. I read the book first online. I used Safaribooksonline. I like this resource better than the WGU option. same book, different location. I took notes. I used 5*7 notecards. I take notes on concepts, not word x = definition. For example, my card on IKE Phase 1 has HAGLE, with all the parts of hagle broken out with details such has DH supports 1 @ 768, 2 @ 1024, and 5 @ 15xx, H has SHA1 (@ 160), and MD5 (@128). And it is a single bi directional tunnel. 

After reading the books, i watched the cbtnuggets material. Keith is a good lecturer. Most of the lectures takes 2 or 3 times the running time of the material for me. I typical pause and rewind him as he does the configuration. I made 2 or 3 instances of setup within my GNS setup. repetition makes perfect. 

Now I am on to the practice tests from Boson. It scares me to read the reviews. Not promising. Old test, missed material. We will see. This is the only test we have score an "A" on and our material and testing have left quite a few out in the cold. Scary. I made right at 80% on my first time through on Boson. I always use the practice method. Question, my answer, grade my answer, review the material. Also had my favorite, questions on material that my material didn't cover. They asked a concept PVLANs that are in the official cisco curriculum stuff, but not i don't recall it in either study material (book or cbt). Some of the details they asked, i didn't recall, but that's why we take practice test. honing and focus and repetition. 

Anyhow, the frustrations of this course...Once you figure out that GNS3 and VM and Virtualbox can solve some problems.

• Where do i get software?!? And what do I need to do.
• Ask your account mgr if you have a contract with Cisco. This will be the 1, most frustrating problem through the course. Plus from my understanding, the internet comes with a search function. 
• You will need IOS router software. I used 7200's with 15.0x running for my labs
• You will need to get IOS IPS Signatures. 
• You will need ASA software, 8.4.2 is supported.
• I used 3 Win7 virtual boxes, one for CCP, one for ADSM, one for AnyConnect.
• You can spin up the attack box our instructor uses. The product name has been updated. 
• GNS3 is excellent except for....
• My ASA won't save its config beyond a GNS restart (save a script, best i got so far)
• My ASA doesn't do DHCP right (save a script and restart the project)
• My ASA's chew up my processor. (agreed, shut 'em down when not in use)
• My cloud doesn't work right ( again saving and reloading my project)
• My switch doesn't work right (again, saving and reloading project worked for me)
• My routers cook my CPU (find your idle-timeouts and use a supported IOS).
• I get strange console errors (meh, i am not doing routing labs, so don't care -- yet).
• Where are the Cisco switches (not supported).
• Seriously, where do i get software. Search for GNS3 IOS images. I agree, frustrating, that a university, vendor, can get us time-bombed material so we can practice. 
• The forums are 0 help here WGU students. Sorry. Normally, they serve as a great guide.
• Pacing guide, read 2 chapters a week. That's not a guide....

I'll post an update how i do this week. Thursday is looking to be test day. Plus, I want to forget over Turkey day. 

CNV1 - Designing Custom Security Solutions -- IINS 640-554 Setup

Wow. This course does not have much pre-test help. The forums were very lacking in information on how to prep. Listen to the CBT nuggets, read the book and do the practice test. That makes getting hands on practice kinda difficult if you don't have gear. Not good.

I decided to use GNS3 and virtualbox to do the routers and such. It has taken a 2 days to get the environment setup. I read the manual after getting lost for an hour or two. I try the click until something good happens at first. Helps me learn where everything is before reading a manual cold. Next, Getting IOS images is a challenge. Plus setting the idle time is important. Last, connecting virtualbox into the system is cool. Yay, practice for tacacs+ and radius. Good thing to save those practice Win7 and Linux machines from earlier courses.

CTV1 -- SY0-022/SY0-401 -- Security+ Passed

Yay! Passed another one. This was one of the harder or more intimidating courses to pass. You have to get a 750/900 and that translates to between an 81-83%. That's a bit high than the 600 or 700/900 on most of the CompTIA courses so far in the curriculum. Anywho, rambling. Back to the course.

Study Material: Again, after checking the forums and reading what other students had done, I went with a 3rd party source for studying, not the official WGU material. I used the book from Darril Gibson (kindle -- $9.99)along with the practice tests ($19.99 or 29.99) on his website. The book is a relative easy read, and it doesn't get lost in the woods like many of the other resources. It has the level of detail needed for the test, but not too much more.

Practice Test: I used Mr. Gibson's website practice test material for the majority of my practice sessions. I was scoring 98% on his site, but 90% in real life. (If you get the material, you'll understand that statement). I did take the Transcender's material offered with the course, but I thought several of the question banks could use some work. (Look at the sources for the questions when reviewing the answers. Seriously, if it isn't part of the official study guide certified by CompTIA, why is it being tested?). I was making 75% to 82% on the transcender material the day of the test.

Test: 70 questions, 90 minutes. Yikes. Gotta hustle. The test had your standard simulations like most CompTIA courses now. There were 6-8 of those. Rest were multiple guess based on two to three sentence scenarios or pure definition questions. Along the way there were multi-select multiple choice just to spice it up.

The scenarios can chew into your time. I always find the hardest part is getting enough screen real-estate to see the test question, the diagram, and the answer area. I end up having to move windows around all the time. Grrrr. Those took 3 minutes or so each. I am starting to think on the scenarios, don't even read the question. Just open the scenario, quick view the diagram, and then read the question after looking at the diagram(s). The question always hovers sonit is readily available to view.

The whole test took me 55 minutes total. Some of the questions are awkwardly worded (as usual). Made an 816 for my troubles.

WGU -- Week Update

Ok, here's a bad of the WGU experience. This is picking the nits off of nits, so take it that way. Consider it a lesson learned on my part. I'm waiting to take the CTV1 or SY0-401 certification test. The goal was this Friday. Well, goals and reality don't always meet up.

Within WGU, you have to request approval to go take your test with your mentor and quite possibly the course mentor. Once s/he approves the test, you have to request the test within the course of study. Then testing or whoever issues you a testing voucher. At $250 per test, I'll wait for the voucher thank you very much. Official policy is 48-96 hours or so is the policy to issue the voucher. Until this time, it had been less than 48 hours. Not this time though. Bah. Oh well. The location where I test is fairly flexible so I don't factor that in.

The lesson: if you know what day you want to take your test, make sure you give yourself 5-7 days to get all the appropriate paperwork filed. 10 days if you are that type (raises hand). Consider it your own personal project management experience. Yeah, knowing if you are ready 10 days out can be a challenge. You will figure out your rhythm.

WGU Update -- BNC1 Down

This is the organization behavior course. Having been in mid-level management, it was nice to have official terms for some of the things I have experienced. Anywho, on to the course itself. Follow the course of study to the letter. This is a good course if you haven't been back to school in a while. Read the chapters, and don't let the first section beat you down as it is 3 chapters in the book. There are a lot of terms. The rest of the course subsections are only 1 or 2 chapters long each. Do the practice tests. Grade them with the lectures. If you aren't good at tests, listen to the lecture on how to eliminate obviously wrong answers. Mr. Jividen takes time to help you on this technique throughout all of the sections. If you are good at testing, fast-play will be your friend. Review the key areas (groups, teams, and the org section). Test. Its the Kryterion one so its a home test for most. Move along.

I made about 40 5*7" notecards for this one. I like putting an entire topics on a card. I write smallish. example, one card for me was the 5 stages of group formation. Another was the 4 types of decision making in group or whatever it is called (Face-to-face, brain-storming, Nominal, and virtual). I put a few comments about little subsection. I use traditional cards. My eyes are old and tired and staring at the screen at night hurts after reading it all day.

I found the material entertaining, but i enjoy people watching and observing things. If you don't enjoy understanding (or at least the attempt to understand) the human aspect of life within a business environment, well, this will not be your cup of tea.

Next Course Done -- DHV1

Took the next test in the line up, DHV1/Windows OS Fundamentals. Its a fairly easy test if you support Win7 from either desktop or network side of the house. Using the online book plus taking the measureup self test did the trick. I'm not a big fan of the learnkey stuff on this one. I took the learnkey practice test and quit after asking MS-DOS/Win95 questions. It was only 10 questions into the practice test.

Be sure to READ the measureup answers. Select all questions, pick an answer, read the solution. It includes both what is right and what is wrong with the others. The book needs this to be a complete solution.

Also spun up a Win7 Pro VM on VirtualBox using the student software agreements. I hate blowing up my work machines. Took 6 days of off-on studying. 1 day cram. made an 88.

Sept 2014 WGU Courses -- DRV1 & DSV1

September 2014: I completed the two Linux Courses, DRV1 and DSV1. The tests weren't bad, however, the primary study material left a lot to be desired. On the DRV1 (LPI101) course and study guide, I was making the upper nineties on the practice questions from WGU material. I knew the answer to the question, not just memorizing question 4 answer c. I knew what the other 3 answers represented or what the question was asking. However, the real test material was quite a bit different. Very frustrating experience.

I jumped to the forums after eeking out a 600 (500 to pass). Many had the same issue. I tried the recommendation of many and went to the linuxacademy.com site for the LPI102 course. MUCH BETTER! They offered a monthly plan which i picked up for $25. The course was 30 hours of material. It was lecture with the instructor doing a lab. as part of the package, you can launch up 4 different linux machines with a variety of OS. I spun up two machines, CentOS and Ubuntu (RPM vs. Debian). Some of the files are in different locations per distribution, plus it was good practice to deal with the different tools on each. My typical session was to listen to the instructor, watch what he did, then duplicate it on my own machines. So, it took longer than 30 hours to complete the course in LPI102 pausing the lectures. After each section, I would review the course notes to make sure I covered anything not specifically covered in the lecture. Some commands just have a lot of options. Last, studying there and passing and understanding all the prep material, I tried a WGU practice test to get used to seeing test questions. I went into the testing site only making 80% on the WGU tests.  I made a 670 on the DSV1/LPI102 course. The questions I missed were my fault. It was covered at LinuxAcademy, but I simply didn't recall the answer. Plus some were those details where I go, screw it, if they ask that level detail, I'm guessing. I can deal with that feeling much better than going into a test having studied the wrong material.

Anyhow, recommendation: use the study programs, examples, and guides at the LinuxAcademy. 25 for a month, 60 for a 3 months is worth it. Duplicate what the instructor is doing in EVERY LAB. Yeah you may have to pause, rewind, and go wth did he just do?. I didn't ask any questions of the two gentlemen who provided the course, but they are responsive in the forums. Use the practice tests from WGU to get some questions thrown at you a day or 2-5 days prior to the test. Master the material/commands where you have to type something that was in both study materials. Master the locations of anything covered in both. Review the LPI101/102 exam objectives (duh?) to ensure you aren't going to be surprised on the topics. Don't expect the exam questions to be repeated word for word in your study material. That's called a brain dump. Neither of the training providers are in that business. However, read the test questions again. Sometimes they combine topics, ask a question a different way than you studied it. Usually you can get the questions down to 2 options.

Good luck.

Certification Testing Center Experience and Information

Are you nervous about taking your first online testing experience at a dedicated testing center? Here's my thoughts and experiences.

• Before the test!

1. Pre-Scheduling Stuff: If your certification requires you to join a community, sign an NDA, or other things before you take the test, do it! Go visit the vendor's site, (Cisco, CompTIA, LPI, ITIL, whoever) and see if you need to complete any forms. Remember your login. Also, consider, do you use you work email or personal email? Plus, if you register, you typically get your scores posted quickly and certifications faster
2. Scheduling: Find a testing center! (Duh, right?) Most tests are offered by certain testing providers, PearsonVue, prometric, certiport, etc. Visit your certification vendor to find out whoever offers your test. The certification vendor will link to the correct testing provider. Most of the testing providers have search engines to help you find a location near you. If you are lucky and live in a metro area, you may have many to choose from. Just be aware to consider drive-time during the time of day you are scheduled to test. A 9AM test to a center 10 miles from you might take you 30 minutes in traffic. So, if traffic stresses you, try to work with your employer to get an off rush-hour time to the center.
1. If you are with WGU or other online technical/similar university, you may want to call and find out if your center partners with WGU, etc. You will be able to schedule a majority of your tests at this one location. Familiarity relaxes you and its one less thing to stress over.
2. Write down the test you are taking
3. Travel: All centers recommend to arrive around 15 minutes early. If it is your first time, pad that amount of time. You can sit in your vehicle and study if you are there too early. Bring that piece of paper with the test info with you.

• At the Testing Center

You've arrived! Are you nervous, anxious, scared?! Yes, most test takers are. I've had an alphabet soup behind my name in certifications before, and I STILL get nervous (I hate to fail). Here's what going to happen.

1. Pre-Test Paperwork: Greet the person at the front desk. The testing center will want to know your name and what test you are scheduled to take. The piece of paper comes in handy here if you get nervous and your brain can't recall anything but what you have crammed into it.Yes, if you put your life on your phone, just use your phone. Your photo ID will have your name if you forget that. Give the test info to the nice person getting you registered. You likely will be asked to sign a sign-in register. You will also be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement. They will also ask for your two forms of ID (DL and CC, or Passport and credit card, etc). They will make copies of the photo ID and return your IDs.
2. Pre-Test Frisking: Be prepared to go through airport security. Well, not exactly, but close. Only bring what is required, typically two forms of ID. I bring my cell, wallet and keys. The center should give you a locker with a lock and key to secure your items. You get to hang on to the key to the locker where you stored your stuff while you test. You cannot have anything with you when you take your test...Speaking this, you will be asked to 
1. Empty your pockets & show your emptied pockets -- front and back --
2. Remove your coat, scarf (sorry atticus), or any other "extra" clothing
3. You will be required to show your legs (lift your pants to your calves)
4. Show your arms in long sleeved shirts
3. Pre-Test Mug Shot: Many tests will require you have your picture made, even if it is with the same certifying authority for each and every test you take. You will get to sit and have your picture made. It may even be printed on your results! Don't worry, all my friends say i look like a crazy person in my photos. You try looking relaxed when you are stressed and didn't sleep for squat.
4. Pre-Test Launch: Often you will be asked
1. Do you need to use the bathroom. Hey, if it is 30 minutes, might not be a big deal. If it is 2 hours, you probably should. Plus, sometimes a little splash of cold water from the faucet feels good.
2. Do you need earplugs. I get them the first time. Put 'em my pockets. Since the facility I have been using is quiet, I don't any more. 
3. Last, you'll be asked to "follow me" into the testing area proper!
5. Testing Area: It is typically a room with testing stations separated by partitions. The stations at my location are about 4 foot each. The testing station will have a keyboard, mouse and monitor. The monitors at mine are at least 19", and i think 21". I don't measure them as my mind is elsewhere. You'll also probably notice several security cameras. Yep, you are being recorded.
6. The Test:  You will sit down at a station specified by your exam proctor. Your proctor will get you logged into your specific test on the computer. S/he may give you a blank laminated paper with a pen. Again, you may be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement and NDA on your testing workstation before starting. The testing software will ask if you are ready to start. It will often give you the requirements of "passing" before you start. And you start. Each test will be different. Make sure you have read everything regarding the test. Some are only multiple choice, some are scenarios, some are type in the commands to configure this magic box to do "x", etc. Most tests of have time limits. 
1. Test speed: Some tests will be soooo slow between questions. Most of the time the engine is drawing the scenario questions with diagrams. Patience.
2. Marking Questions: Some tests let you mark questions for review. I use this, but i seldom if ever change my answer. However, sometimes a question later may trigger your brain and you come up with the right answer to an earlier question. 
3. Question Review: Some tests give you the option of reviewing your answers. Up to you. I only review my marked ones.
4. The finish: When you are done with the review (or test), typically there is an end test/submit test/finish button to select. Do it when you are as done as you'll ever be.  the testing engine will give you a warning saying something along the lines of, are you really really ready to submit this for grading?! Yes.
7. SERIOUSLY?!?!: some testing engines will ask you demographic questions before giving results. WT...And these can be about 10-20 questions. What did you use to study? Who is your employer? Hell, I don't know if i'm employed any more if I don't pass! geez, give me the results. Finish it anyway. I try to be honest on them now. WWJD?
8. The Results: The testing engine will give you the results. I hope they are good for you! Remember, passing is passing unless you plan on teaching. No one cares if you got the exact minimum requirement to pass, except for the people who want to brag about themselves. Whatever, if you pass, you passed! You'll probably start to ask yourself, now how do I make sure I don't loose these results so where is the print or emailto: button? Your proctor or exam admin will have them. Close out of the testing engine and get ready to leave.
9. Leaving: Pick up your laminated paper and pen from your station. Get up and leave quietly. Remember, there are other souls being tortured next to you. Open the door quietly; shut it back quietly from the testing area. Go to the sign-in or designated area. They will typically do the following:
1. Let you retrieve your stuff from your locker.
2. Print out your results. Some will be marked with a specialized stamp.
10. Paranoia: It will take a few days for your results to post with your certification provider. No matter how many times you click refresh on email, it will still take a period of time. Relax. you passed. You will get email regarding your next steps (confirm your physical address, your name, etc). Just hang on to the original print out of your results just in case

WGU Semester 1 Complete Recap

I transferred in about 30-40 hours. I'm in the last 3 weeks of the semester and cannot be issued additional classes. I thought I'd recap semester 1 courses. I completed 27 hours while working. Please understand I have over 15 years experience in a wide breadth of technology so some of this was a refresher.

A+ test courses: the material was good. Plenty sufficient. I'm glad I have nearly 2 decades of experience to answer a few of the questions. I'd recommend actually setting up some wifi routers....All the other sims were good.

The CIW intro course and the web programming: Again, the study material is more than sufficient. At least the material you learn here can be reused the in the MS MTA course regarding style sheets, html, and scripting.

MS-intro program course. As always, the material was sufficient. I didn't get section 2. i used the lynda videos. Re-read the chapters again.

Critical thinking course. I see why my mentor said some people hate this course. You actually have to use logic and thinking skills. There is some memorization. Not a bad course really. I kind of enjoyed it.

Biology. imagine cramming for a standard bio course for a single final. As always, the material was sufficient. I watched the videos. Read the material twice. I know I did well.

Exams -- two types, vendor and at home. The vendor ones are at a certification center. I have cert center close that works closely with WGU. Works very well. I tend to call the center the day of or the day before my test. The other is the web cam test. It feels weird knowing someone is watching you. I mouth the questions when i dont know the answers and haven't had any proctor issues. The only thing that gets me here is that it take 72-96 hours before you can take the test once you register. So, I have to plan a bit more so I'm ready but not over-ready for the test.

Pre-Exam -- I use the practice tests HEAVILY. Not for just the answer to the question, but to all the question options. Do I know what the wrong answer would be right for? I typically take them full battery of questions at least twice. I read fairly quick so i can do a test bank of 200 in a reasonable amount of time. It wears me out, but i typically do questions and show answers the first time. i want to know what the answer is and why it is right. Most of the practice material will tell you what the other answers really mean. I take time to study all both the right and wrong answers.

My Mentor -- Everyone at WGU gets a mentor. I get to talk to mine weekly. She is very nice and encouraging. She also replies to emails quickly. Shes there to support me and help me if I need it. I'm glad she's there. its good to have someone else care. She is also responsible for starting the process to take the actual test. Since i've done well, she releases the assessment portion so I can sign up for the tests.

Message boards -- I use the message boards. Every class has them. I recommend that you at least check them out. someone has likely had your question and if not the course mentors will answer it. Some will provide you alternative material or what to focus your studies on. A very good resource. I usually check it before I begin studying the actual course material.

So far, I've enjoyed the experience. The material is good. The resources are there. Its not always easy. Lots of saturdays and sundays studying with a a test Monday morning...

Full Time Student

I recently resigned my position of IT Director to...become a full time student at WGU. There had been a few positions I applied for that my lack of degree held me back. Its time to fix that problem. I could have stayed and been a part time student, but the circumstances would have made that difficult. In addition, most of the courses at WGU are certs I had formerly held so that will help speed the studying along. The goal is to finish in the spring or summer of 2015. 60ish hours to go.