DIY Expedit Separèe

Recently we moved in a terraced house and finally I got the mansard I was dreaming of, to build my own recording studio.

TOOLS USED:
- 2 normal screwdrivers
- an hammer
- an electric screewdriver / driller
- a manual saw
- the hex screwdrivers provided by ikea, plus the hex bits for my driller
- the "no more nails" glue

The space is around 50 square meters and I needed to divide it in 2 halfs, one for the project studio and one for the family (TV, WII, etc). I aimed to get a multipurpose bookshelf, a place for my DJ console and vinyls, less space to heat / cool. I avoided the plasterboard because I couldn't affort the installation costs and the removal wouldn't be easy. An Expedit solution meant that I splitted the costs buying an expedit from time to time, the structure isn't cemented but just layed on the walls. In addition this solution is more "interior designed" :-)

I glued together several ideas and my creativity to get a clean final result. Some expedit doors and drawers are still missing but I can afford to buy them in the future.

The DJ console was done following several ideas that you can easily find around the internet. But here are glued altogether.

STEP BY STEP FOR THE DJ CONSOLE
- I simply mounted the 4x2 expedit
- for the top, I added 2 capita legs (the inclined version, not on the catalog, but ask for them) and the lack shelf
- for the feet, 3 lillangen for the bathroom forniture
- for the headset, a bjarnum hook
- for the upper part, all stolmen elements (the shelf is the shoes rack)

STEP BY STEP FOR THE WALL SEPAREE:
- I designed the project with Adobe Fireworks
- I bought 6 expedit 4x4 white for the main structure
- I bought 2 expedit 4x2 white, one for the DJ console and one for the "door" effect
- I bought some doors and drawers
- 2 people are required to put one expedit on top of another, 3 people to install the door top
- I firstly mounted the 6 4x4 expedits (one person is enough, 15min the required time each)
- I passed the cables (phone, etc) over the upper expedit in order to hide all the cables
- I putted between each upper expedit and the ceiling (where you see the black cable) a kitchen zinc adjustable foots, with 2 felt pads to the ends in order to avoid scratches, and rotated them to keep the whole structure in tension towards the floor
- I mounted on 3 sides (left one shoulder) and adapted the 2x4 expedit cutting it with a manual saw, as you can see inside it's all paper except for the frame and the 2 ends, which are made of chipboard
- I extracted the endings and adapted with the NO MORE NAILS glue pressing the paper, or you can't mount the shoulders into the adapted structure
- After fixing it, I finished the little gap with the NO MORE NAILS glue using it as plaster
- At the end I used a stencil by Thisismykea
- I masked a gap between 2 expedits caused by the stairs railing with 2 kitchen neon lights

notice the cables that will be hidden after the top element will be mounted

the top element needs a "little" customization in order to fit the gap

notice that the ending has an hard chipboard terminal

use the saw to fit on your needs but take care, since inside is just chipboard frame and it's empty
just some filling paper (see below)

here's the chipboard ending, some filling paper and 2 pieces of chipboard frame

just push the chipboard ending inside, pressing the filling paper

rescrew the screws in place
recycling the ending results in having the original screw holes already in place

the stairs on the back forced a little tooth, but no problem
I applied LED lights on the back over the stairs, in order to enlight them

How to pass Cisco Data Center DCICN 640-911 certification exam

Today I'd like to share my first impression on the Cisco Data Center DCICN 640-911 certification exam I attemped today for the first time. 71 questions in 120 minutes (30 are auto-added for non-english speaking countries). Missed 3 questions to get 818 and scored 780.

The official Cisco Press / Pearson publication will be available not before the next 6 days, so I spent my last month self-studying on the following material:

• "Anthony Sequeira CCNA DC" from CBT Nuggets
• "Introducing Cisco Data Center Networking Study guide" by Todd Lammle
• Todd Lammle Nexus 7010 simulator
• a self-made virtual Nexus 7000 on VMware (you can hardly find the proper vmx somewhere online, but then you need to customize, see below for the screenshot of my installation)
• the Cisco official website, Wikipedia and Google
• exam simulations by Todd Lammle (from Wiley website and on iPhone) and free around the internet. Somebody offers the braindumps, but they cost too much for my pockets.

I started with a good knowledge of LAN and WAN networking, operative systems and some years of experience, but I don't feel they are needed (as also stated on the Cisco exam objectives). I also don't have any previous Cisco certification or particular experience.

If you don't have any previous experience on IOS and you start from scratch, this is a huge benefit, trust me! With Nexus, Cisco simplifies their whole software, so some multi-choice answers contain IOS commands to confuse IOS practitioners, while to brand new Nexus initiated they just appear wrong!

I firstly studied on the book by Todd Lammle.

PROS: it's stupid-proof! Well done Todd!

CONS: Todd, here starts the list, be prepared please...

1. some errata corriges around, you need to check his official forum, but they are more than the ones adviced there and huge huge huge
2. sometimes it's unconsistent in terminologies: you find a term in the chapter check questions which is different or missing in the text
3. sometimes the chapter check questions talk about something missing in the whole book, e.g. CoPP and other security matters which I explicitly found in the real questions today
4. it's missing really important parts... at least 10 questions were focused on exact Cisco models (1000, 5000, 5500, 6000, 7000 series) and exact model features, BLAME ON YOU CISCO because this is a matter for sales or specialists!!! In addition 3 questions were about the twinax cable specs, which are barely mentioned into the book. At least other 5 questions were about the emergency boot, golden BIOS, memory and file storage, which are just drafted or completely absent. Here come the Cisco official website, Wikipedia and Google

Then I integrated with Sequiera videos.

PROS: some concepts like OSPF are represented better than Todd, there's some concept more.

CONS: doesn't add nothing significative to Todd's book for such that price.

I tried the commands with the free Todd Nexus 7000 simulator.

PROS: it's free.

CONS: a lot of commands described in the book don't work, so it doesn't fit any purpose else than confusing the student.

You just need to put your hands on commands and miss, fail, learn from your errors. At this time the choice was to buy $20.000 Nexus stuff, but I didn't afford to pay $3.000 for the cheapest course (just for DCICN, then you have to pay twice for DCICT)! Here comes the hungry smart... So I retrieved some VMware imaged on the internet, made one from two, modded it in order to respond to both telnet and ssh.

PROS: it's a real nexus b!tch!!!

CONS: lacks supervisor, takes exactly a minimum 2096MB RAM (or it reboots and currupts), so I could not make 2 nexus'es communicating each other like I hoped, because my poor MacMini just has 4GB and beggin for more...

Exam simulations by Todd Lammle.

PROS: I found at least 10 questions exactly reported by Todd. The free material you find around the internet it's just stolen from Todd's stuff. You need the exam simulator on the Wiley website, more the iOS app, since they have some different questions. Make them all, it's like the driving license: the more you do, the better you learn.

CONS: the considerations made for his book are still valid for the exam simulations: errata corriges, inconsistencies, missing arguments, etc.

At last it was not my fault, I scored 990 on Todd's exam simulations based on 100 questions. I couldn't make educated guests on multiple choice questions asking which licenses are free and which others are paid on a nexus 7000 or on a 5000. 6000 series is barely or perhaps not even quoted inside the book. I just had to make a random guest... this juiced me $250. I pre-ordered the official cert guide by Pearson on Cisco Press website, I will fill my gaps, score 990 in a couple of weeks (UPDATE: in a month) and report here.

For DCICT we have to wait for the next year, but be sure that I will try it before and eventually lick my wounds here! Stay tuned...


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES NEEDED

FEATURE-BASED LICENSING OVERVIEW
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/sw/nx-os/licensing/guide/b_Cisco_NX-OS_Licensing_Guide/b_Cisco_NX-OS_Licensing_Guide_chapter_01.html#con_24753

NEXUS SWITCHES FOR DATA CENTERS
(YOU ONLY NEED "PRODUCTS & SERVICES" AND "TECHNOLOGIES" TABS)
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/data-center-switches/index.html#~products-services

NEXUS COMPACT COMPARISON AND SHORT DESCRIPTION
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco_Nexus_switches (WIKIPEDIA IS ALWAYS THE SMARTER HUH? ;-)

GOLDEN BIOS
(YOU CAN READ WTF IT IS ON ANY NEXUS SPECIFIC MANUAL, HERE'S ONE)
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus5000/sw/fundamentals/421_n1_1/b_Cisco_Nexus_5000_Series_NX-OS_Fundamentals_Configuration_Guide_Release_4_2_1_N1_1/b_Cisco_Nexus_5000_Series_NX-OS_Fundamentals_Configuration_Guide_Release_4_2_1_N1_1_chapter_011.pdf

But you would avoid reading all, you only really should know that:

The upgradeable BIOS and the golden BIOS are programmed onto the 2 MB flash part. You cannot upgrade the golden BIOS. When the switch boots, the golden BIOS validates the checksum of the upgradeable BIOS. If the checksum is valid, then control is transferred to the upgradeable BIOS image. The upgradeable BIOS launches the kickstart image, which then launches the system image. If the checksum of the upgradeable BIOS is not valid, then the golden BIOS launches the kickstart image, which then launches the system image.You can force the switch to bypass the upgradeable BIOS and use the golden BIOS instead. If you press Ctrl-Shift-6 within two seconds of when power is supplied to the switch, the golden BIOS will be used to launch the kickstart image, even if the checksum of the upgradeable BIOS is valid.

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VIRTUAL LAB - ACCESSING THE NEXUSes
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Firstly I need to say Cisco makes the Nexus 1000V virtual machine downloadable for free from their website. This means that you can have the real (entry level) Nexus for free shipped at your home without costs. I quitted after I realized that:

• the features are limited compared to the skills required from the exam
• I would need to firstly install a linux VMware ESXi host on a dedicated virtual machine, or 1000V won't install. I just hate virtualization over virtualization.

Somewhere on the internet you can find the Nexus 7000 Titanium image in VMX format (suitable for both VMware Fusion for Mac and VMware Workstation for PC).

Here's a couple of links:

http://tejasjain1991.blogspot.it/2013/06/cisco-nexus-titanium.html

http://networkstweaks.blogspot.it/2013/09/cisco-nexus-titanium-over-vmware.html

You can setup how many as you like but there's a caveat. The minimum RAM requirement is EXACTLY 2048MB and you won't be able to run 2 as soon as you have 4GB: VMware Fusion (perhaps also Workstation?) won't allow you to have less than 2GB for your host computer. After you upgrade your RAM to a minimum of 8GB, you could safely run 2-3 Nexus, ever if I feel that 2 is enough to try all the routing features and to see the topology tables for your brand new network-admin life.

SERIAL PORT ACCESS VIA TELNET

You can access your Nexus either via SSH and a "Telnet simulated" serial console, but for this second option you need to tweak the .vmx file. In the real world you would avoid telnet (disabled by default on Nexuses) in favor of SSH for security reasons, but this telnet resides on your PC network stack so it causes no security issues.

Compared to SSH, Telnet doesn't timeout, so you can leave it turned on and don't mind if you have go to lunch for a while. Here are the 2 Nexus.vmx file excerpts:

NEXUS 1 named "N7K1"

serial0.present = "TRUE"

serial1.present = "TRUE"

serial1.yieldOnMsrRead = "TRUE"

serial1.fileType = "network"

serial1.fileName = "telnet://127.0.0.1:9001"

NEXUS 2 "N7K2"

serial0.present = "TRUE"

serial1.present = "TRUE"

serial1.yieldOnMsrRead = "TRUE"

serial1.fileType = "network"

serial1.fileName = "telnet://127.0.0.1:9002"

Then just type on 2 different terminal instances:

telnet://127.0.0.1:9001

telnet://127.0.0.1:9002

Please note that the serial0 line was already in place and I saved it for tracking purposes. So I just added the 4 lines in order to have another COM port (serial1). One Nexus opens the 9001 port and one other opens the 9002 port on my mac.

I hope that at this point it's clear that this is not the real usual telnet, which is still disabled on your Nexus and, if activated, is an additional access way (the less secure to be fair...) reachable typing the command:
telnet://192.168.1.101
telnet://192.168.1.102

SERIAL PORT ACCESS VIA SOCAT

The socat solution you find almost everywhere (the one with "\\.\pipe\") works perhaps working good with PC. On the mac it works if you put on your COM port (from VMware Fusion in the virtual machine options) a named pipe file name e.g. "nexuspipe": this option will create the file called "nexuspipe" inside every Nexus VM folder (I mean the folder containing vmx and vmdk files).

This means that you then need to open 2 terminal instances and then, for every instance, you need to go into the nexus 1 folder on one window and into the nexus 2 folder on the other window. Then from every instance of the terminal:

socat UNIX-CONNECT:nexuspipe PTY

On a third and forth terminal instances, find the brand new TTY devices created by socat and open them (always separately). Usually they are the last ones, e.g. for one nexus:

ls -la /dev/tty*

screen /dev/ttys002

press enter and a nexus asks you for the password :-) repeat it for the second nexus.

SSH ACCESS
This is my favorite access since you don't need to tweak anything:

ssh admin@192.168.1.101

ssh admin@192.168.1.102

The IP 192.168.1.101 ships as default in the image and obviously you first need to configure it on the second Nexus or you it will result in an IP confict. Power off the first Nexus and assign the IP 192.168.1.102 to the second one. Please notice that you have a 30min default inactive timeout directly on the Nexus even if you addedd (like I did) .ssh/config file with e.g.:

ServerAliveInterval 300 

ServerAliveCountMax 1000

So son't take a long lunch or you'll need to reconnect... OK it's just arrow up + password + enter but you will lose your commands history.

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UPDATE 3 dec 2014 - CISCO OFFICIAL CERT GUIDE
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Yesterday I received the Cisco official cert guide by Odom and Hintz + premium content (PDF+epub+mobi versions), 600 pages. It includes Pearson exam simulator in the CD shipped with the book, while additional videos can be downloaded from the Ciscopress / Peason website.

Useless to say that I'm eating it, here are the first impressions.

I begin with a caveat, since the premium content is useless. The exam simulator works only with Windows 7 or later. Don't lose your time installing wine, the software requires .NET framework 4.5 which is compatible nor with XP neither with wine. At this date I only found a winebottled version of 4.0, however I decided to better invest my time downloading a Win8.1 image for VMware OSX from modern.ie (MS official website): you get a fully working 8.1 for 90 days, enough to cover a full DCCICN study, the installation works like a charm, no viruses no warexxx no pain in the /\ss.

The exam simulator by Todd is nothing compared to this:

• you can choose between study mode (no time limitations) or final exam simulation mode (time limited to 90 mins)
• you can test alone or mix up the questions coming from
• all the book assessment questions divided by chapter as Todd
• 4 final exam questions (instead of 2)

If you accept the limitation represented by installing a Nexus 7k simulator (please read above, the Lammle / Schwarz simulator IMHO sucks or lacks, judge yourself) and installing the Win8.1 you have the advantage to put your hands on the real questions and answers coming from Cisco, not on braindumps or wherever Todd retrieved his questions.

The Lammle book has quite a good number of errata corriges but mostly are reported on his forum by several users (not all in my opinion), so don't forget to take good note of them. On the other hand, I found a buggy answer just in the chapter 3 (more to come eh!!!) and promptly adviced the Pearson support, an out-of-office reply came from their manager. Nobody's perfect.

The style is quite as friendly and clear as Todd's: compared to the old CCNA official book from 2001, perhaps during this years Cisco realized that the ocean is turning red...

It skimmers some aspects on which Todd spent more time, it introduces several aspects that Todd left which obviously are part of the exam (definitely always a Cisco exam...), e.g. WAN (leased lines, DSL), MPLS, and I'm still on chapter 5 of 22. I will keep you updated on what's goin' on...

So where should you really prepare your exam? My answer is: avoid any well paid official training course, spend your money on both Lammle and Cisco books. You spend 100$ for both (if you live outside US order it on your amazon since I spent 50$ for the Cisco book and almost 50$ for taxes...), you save 2000$ of intensive course which will not inject any knowledge directly into your brain, nor will gift you advantage when sitting at the exam (I hope...), neither will clarify you the concepts later on whenever you will need them again written somewhere in the future.