Everything you want to know
about Cisco routers, security, consumer electronics and more
To help Cisco
masses know Cisco well, we collected 15 more sites covering a range of Cisco
topics---from studying and preparing for certification, to operating a Cisco
network in an enterprise or service provider environment, to keeping up with
security tips and techniques, to just being entertained by the oddities and
idiosyncrasies of the Cisco world. Let’s have a look.
The List of Useful
Cisco Sites
Etherealmind
Etherealmind is
the brainchild of Greg Ferro, Cisco CCIE #6920, who describes himself as the
"Human Infrastructure for Cisco and Data Networking." Ferro works as
a freelance network architect and senior engineer and designer mostly in the
UK. His site features an array of opinions, outbursts, insight and experience.
He has over 20 years in IT, more than 12 in networking and has spent time at
large and small financial institutions, service providers, resellers and
dot-coms. His current areas of focus are data center, security and application
networking technologies.
Risky Business
Risky Business
Cisco customers,
engineers, marketers and enthusiasts can never get enough security
information. Risky.biz first "aired" in February 2007.
Since then, the site has published over 170 episodes and developed a following
among high-level security professionals. In addition to the weekly podcast, the
site has recorded security presentations, podcast interviews and job listings.
There are also forums for discussion with security peers on the most recent
security-related topics, issues and challenges.
Tekcert
Tekcert, authored
by Jeremy Cioara, CCIE, Trainer and "really cool guy," according to
the blog's Facebook page, used to be Cioara's "Cisco Blog: the world
of all things Cisco". Tekcert has broadened beyond that to become a site
that blogs about technology, business and certifications. The site,
thanks to Cioara, still has considerable amounts of content on networking and
Cisco. But more broadly, Tekcert focuses on "helping people
further their knowledge and education about technology."
Slashdot
News for
Nerds.Stuff that Matters. That's the Slashdot tagline and for most
readers, it's accurate. Slashdot has a mix of news, technology, oddities,
irreverence and just plain off-the-wall stuff that appeals to the tech savvy. A
quick search on Cisco yields submissions and comments on Cisco's recent
introduction of its SocialMiner "stalking" software; to the
introduction of the 322Tbps CRS-3 router. The submissions might have a specific
take on a Cisco, or any other, announcement; and then the comments increase the
entertainment quotient of the submission, if not the insight into it. So
Slashdot has the potential to inform, educate and entertain those with an
interest in technology in general, as well as Cisco.
Cisco Blogs
Cisco's own blogs
on Cisco.com provide the company with the opportunity to
expand on an announcement, strategy, product line or deployment scenario for
customers looking to harness the latest, or legacy, Cisco technology. Strategic
imperatives for the company, like video, collaboration and data
center/virtualization, are highlighted in topic-specific blogs; and then there
are more general Cisco interest sites, like The Platform, Social Media, Web
Experience, etc. Perhaps the most infotaining is Cisco Interaction Network, which includes TechWise TV, a site we
highlighted in the "20 useful" list two years ago that features folk
hero Jimmy Ray Purser and his unique insights into Cisco products, deployments and strategies.
Cisco-nsp
Cisco-nsp is
an e-mail reflector for users of Cisco gear mostly in enterprises,
but with some service provider contributions as well. Topics are very technical
and participants usually offer up a deployment challenge or issue for review,
followed by tips, tricks, sympathies and snarky comments on how to rectify it
or deal with it. This is a site for true practitioners of Cisco networking, and
can be very valuable to those with new or decades-old Cisco implementations.
NANOG
Like Cisco-nsp,
the NANOG e-mail reflector serves the same purpose, but for service
providers. Have a site that's unreachable? You might find the symptoms and
cause here first. Have a problem with route flapping or BGP update suppression?
Find workarounds here. Want a review of a new router or switch, or the best to
implement for 10G? Find it here. It's a not a Cisco-specific site by any means
but a useful running commentary of issues service providers and network
operators grapple with every day, whether they're using Cisco routers and
switches or not.
CertGuard
CertGuard performs
a search and verification of certification "braindump" sites – those
that offer quick and easy, and cheap, certification exams and aids, such as
those for Cisco CCIE and CCNA that may lack authenticity. These sites can put
the user's certification at risk. CertGuard assesses these sites and offers
suggestion on how to get the best bang for your buck without risking your
certification. CertGuard says it has over 1,900 brain dump websites and roughly
500 File Sharing websites listed in its database which are freely distributing
copyrighted materials without the written permission of the owners of the
material. The site also tracks connections or similarities between
certification related websites which have previously been undiscovered, and has
flagged them for future reference. With this data, CertGuard is focused on
assisting candidates in making the correct choice in certification sites, and
to stop proxy test takers and unethical brain dump websites.
Engadget
Like social media
and Web 2.0, consumer electronics is also a key new growth endeavor for Cisco.
Nowhere is that more evident than the company's $550 million purchase of Pure
Digital and its pocket-sized Flip videocam – which followed earlier
acquisitions of wireless SoHo router maker Linksys and cable set-top box pusher
Scientific-Atlanta. Engadget usually has the scoop on some new models
of Flip coming down the pike, as well as some of the first coverage of other
Cisco and top name consumer gear hitting the market. Engadget also comments on
cool and missing features from consumer gear, and forecasts user trends and
buying behaviors based on what's currently hot and not.
Jaluri
As the title
implies, Jaluri aggregates blogs on Cisco and network issues in
general to provide a one-stop shop for Cisco- and network-related topics,
opinions and technical guidance. In Jaluri's own opinion, it's aggregating
"some of the best" network and Cisco blogs, some of which already
appear in this list and in the one we did three years ago. Several appear
to be targeted at CCIE candidates and undoubtedly many more are authored by
CCIEs. There's even one on Juniper…
Burning With
The Bush
Speaking of which,
who at Cisco would not want to keep up on its archrival in routing? Burning
With The Bush blogs on All Things Juniper, from core and edge routing
to its moves into new markets, such as data center/cloud computing, mobile
Internet and wireless LANs. BWTB also provides tip and tricks on configuring
and operating Juniper routers and other JUNOS-based platforms. Burning With The
Bush collects info from various sources and many authors, crawling through the
Web looking for and linking to relevant Juniper and JUNOS-related posts. The
site also has authors that write original content. Its founder, Chris
Grundemann, is a certified JUNOS engineer -- JNCIE #449 – author of a book on IPv6,
founding chair of the Colorado chapter of the Internet Society, and
participates in Internet governing institutions. And BWTB is independent – the
blog is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Juniper.
Qsolved
Qsolved provides
quick answers to Cisco technical support questions. The site describes itself
as a "community powered, pay to play marketplace" where experts field
and respond to questions from Cisco users. Yes, some of Qsolved's services may
require payment of fees, according to the site's terms and conditions. But in
return you get to download or copy the content from these experts, and other
items displayed on the site, provided they are for personal use only and do not
infringe on the site's copyright protection. But a perusal of the Qsolved blog
shows there's some serious stuff going on in there so it might be worth a look.
Tom's Hardware
Looking for
unbiased reviews on Cisco Linksys routers, Aironet access points or Unified
Computing System blade servers? Tom's Hardware has been published by
Bestofmedia Group since 1996. Bestofmedia claims it was one of the first sites
to review computer components. The site is intended to provide independent,
unbiased technology news, articles, reviews and reports to IT professionals,
purchasers, tech enthusiasts and influencers. It includes comparison charts and
benchmark testing on topics such as high-performance PCs, building your own PC,
security, business computing and storage.
Mashable
This is the
site for social media news, reviews, opinion and views. Mashable covers the
whole Web 2.0 wave, a phenomenon close to Cisco's, and its customer's, heart.
For Cisco enthusiasts, Mashable covers significant Cisco announcements –
like the recent unveiling of the Cius tablet, and the Videoscape Internet TV
platform – and offers opinions and commentary on those relevant to social media
and Web 2.0. Mashable, which was founded in 2005, is also a model for profitable
and influential blogging – the site has more than 30 million monthly page views
from an audience that includes early social media adopters, enthusiasts and
entrepreneurs, corporations, journalists, bloggers, and advertising and
marketing firms. Mashable claims to have also harnessed Twitter and Facebook as
conduits into its site, helping to drive traffic and page view metrics.
Friday Traffic
Report
Another site for
tips and tricks on profiting from social media and Web 2.0 technologies –
blogs, wikis and the like – is Friday Traffic Report. Cisco is a huge proponent
of businesses adopting social media and Web 2.0 technologies to help market and
make money on their product or service. The Friday Traffic Report is
a blog dedicated to assist in blog marketing and money making. The site is
authored by Jack Humphrey, who's been at this online thing since 1991. Humphrey
claims to have generated billions of site visitors for himself and his online
marketing clients over the past decade. He's also into big hair bands, drums,
wilderness survival (including cyberwilderness, no doubt), disarming wit and
Vegas. Be prepared to be entertained while you learn online marketing tips and
tricks. There are also job listings for bloggers, social media practitioners
and other techies, including 1,064 at Cisco when we last checked…
…
There are still
more sites covering Cisco news, Cisco network solutions, Cisco product release,
reviews, Cisco certifications, Cisco books, etc.. If you know some useful
sites, you can share them with Cisco masses here.
Cisco Subnet
Our own Cisco
Subnet brings a wealth of knowledge, opinion and event coverage under one
blog umbrella. Here's a sampling of what you'll find there:
Security Watch: We report on Cisco security
advisories and security responses as soon as they're issued.
Bloggers: We have a stable of bloggers who are
experts in their fields:
Wendell Odom's Cisco Cert Zone: Wendell Odom, CCIE No, 1624, splits time
between writing books for Cisco Press and teaching classes for Skyline ATS. His
books include titles on QoS, CCIE R/S, as well as several titles related to
CCNA certification, including his newest book Official Exam Certification
Library (CCNA Exam 640-802).
Michael Morris: From the field: Morris is a Technical Team
Lead and Network Architect at a $3 billion high-tech company. His background is
in enterprise WANs working with telcos, and developing large-scale routing
designs.
Jeff Doyle on IP Routing: Jeff is president of Jeff Doyle and
Associates, an IP networking consultancy, and author of Routing TCP/IP, Volumes
I and II. Read the transcript of our live online text chat with Jeff entitled
"IPv6: Will matter to the enterprise in five years."
Jamey Heary: Cisco security expert: Jamey Heary, CCIE
No. 7680, is a security consulting systems engineer at Cisco. Jamey is the
author of Cisco NAC Appliance: Enforcing Host Security with Clean Access.
Larry Chaffin: Putting realism into your network: Larry Chaffin,
Ph.D, is the CEO/chairman and founder of Pluto Networks a consulting company
specializing in VoIP, WLAN and security. He is also author of a number of books
including Managing Cisco Secure Networks, Skype Me, Practical VOIP Security,
and Configuring Check Point NGX VPN-1/Firewall-1.
John Oltsik: Network Nuggets and Security Snippets: Jon
Oltsik is a principal analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group responsible for the
networking and security services at ESG. Jon previously served as VP of
Marketing & Strategy at GiantLoop Network where he managed all marketing
activities and defined the company's strategic vision, and a Senior Analyst at
Forrester Research where he covered a wide range of infrastructure and IT
topics.
Chris Jackson: Net Defense: Chris Jackson, CCIE
(Security, Routing, Switching), CISA, CISSP, ITIL, SANS, Technical Solutions
Architect in the Cisco Architectures and Verticals Partner Organization, has
focused for the past six years on developing security practices with the Cisco
partner community. During a 15-year career in internetworking, he has built
secure networks that map to strong security policies for organizations,
including UPS, GE, and Sprint.
View slideshow
Mike Sheldon: Network
Resolutions: Mike is CEO of Network Hardware Resale, one of the largest
secondary market resellers of Cisco equipment. Mike joined NHR in sales in 2001
and was named CEO in 2005, and in that time NHR has grown from $25 million to
over $200 million in revenue.
Erik Parker:No Strings Attached:
Erik is a wireless network engineer for a Fortune 500 e-commerce company based
in the United States, and was previously a wireless engineer at Toyota and
consulting network engineer for International Network Services (Now BT-INS).
His primary focus is on wireless infrastructure, 802.11 protocol analysis, RF,
and mobility, and he has maintained his CISSP designation since 2002.
Jimmy Ray Purser:Networking Geek to Geek: Jimmy Ray is the technical co-host for
Cisco's TechWise and BizWise TV, and also conducts advanced training for
engineers across North America and Europe. He is an active member in the IEEE
and the Ethernet Alliance and has designed, installed and tested numerous
networks for Fortune 500 companies, the United States military and other
institutions worldwide. He holds three U.S. patents for Ethernet security
algorithms with two others pending.
Scott Hogg: Core Networking
and Security: Scott is the Director of Advanced Technology Services for Global
Technology Resources, Inc. (GTRI), a network engineering, consulting and
training firm. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from Colorado State
University, a M.S. in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado, along
with his CCIE (#5133) and CISSP (#4610). Scott is the author of the Cisco Press
book IPv6 Security and is currently the chair of the Rocky Mountain IPv6 Task
Force.
Douglas Gourlay:Default
Gateway: Doug is vice president of marketing at data center switch vendor
Arista Networks. Prior to joining Arista in 2009, Doug was the vice president
of Cisco's Data Center Solutions Group, where he was responsible for Cisco's
global marketing strategy for data center, virtualization, and cloud computing.
Doug has filed or holds more than 20 patents in networking technologies and
directed product management for Cisco's Nexus and Catalyst 6500 switching
lines.
AvnerIzhar:Cisco Knowledge
Share with AvnerIzhar: Avner is a Consulting System Engineer for World Wide
Technology and has 14 years in the networking industry. He holds a CCIE in Voice
(#15999), CCSI (#31623), CCVP and others. He is also the author of two CCIE
voice training related books: CCIE Voice Technology Workbook and CCIE Voice
written study guide.
Jim Duffy: The Cisco
Connection: Yours truly has been covering Cisco for 17 years and has 25 years
of experience in covering the computer networking industry as a journalist – 20
of which have been at Network World. I started blogging about two years ago on
matters pertaining to Cisco -- its products, markets, competitors, strategies,
etc. My content comes from several sources: Cisco, its partners, its
competitors, my own coverage, analyst reports, other blogs and the like. I hope
you find it informative and useful!
---Original
reading: networkworld.com
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