Need some advice on learning networking

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Where to start.....


rthonpm was right. It would be senseless to set up 2 seperate DHCP servers. Waste of money and resources.


I did set up DHCP failover and it was an adventure. I configured a 2nd DHCP server on my secondary domain controller and then I enabled DHCP failover. It was a little bit of work, I cannot lie. lol

When I was done, I disabled my primary domain controller and went to a Windows 10 PC, and it was able to pull a DHCP address from my secondary DC.


This stuff is cool as shit and I love the idea of having a 2nd DHCP server....just in case.


PS - Thanks again, rthon.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

By the way, the 2nd DHCP Sever works hand-in-hand with the primary DHCP sever. It's really just replicated DHCP services on the 2nd controller. Another cool feature of DHCP Failover is Load Balancing. In a corporate setting it could be important to share the load of DHCP.

[tsbservice]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Where to start.....


rthonpm was right. It would be senseless to set up 2 seperate DHCP servers. Waste of money and resources.


I did set up DHCP failover and it was an adventure. I configured a 2nd DHCP server on my secondary domain controller and then I enabled DHCP failover. It was a little bit of work, I cannot lie. lol

When I was done, I disabled my primary domain controller and went to a Windows 10 PC, and it was able to pull a DHCP address from my secondary DC.


This stuff is cool as shit and I love the idea of having a 2nd DHCP server....just in case.


PS - Thanks again, rthon.

My understanding of networking is very limited but I would rely on experience and knowledge of rthonpm anytime.
His words weight nothing but gold.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

My understanding of networking is very limited but I would rely on experience and knowledge of rthonpm anytime.
His words weight nothing but gold.

Amen. There's no bigger fan of rthon than me.


I've gone from knowing very little about Server 2019 to some more advanced configuration. At least it seems advanced to me. I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now if it wasn't for rthonpm.


Over the past year, most of my time has been spent on learning Cisco CCNA. This year, I plan to devote much more time to Server 2019. I don't understand why everyone isn't doing it.

[tsbservice]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

...
This year, I plan to devote much more time to Server 2019. I don't understand why everyone isn't doing it.

Because too many ITs will leave no room for regular techs. I'm joking but it appears to me lately everyone wants to be an IT work remotely get high paid etc. And that said they even don't understand how much hard work, education and learning this stuff require. I know few real IT guys like rthonpm and they are way smarter than me...in fact they are way smarter than most people

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Because too many ITs will leave no room for regular techs. I'm joking but it appears to me lately everyone wants to be an IT work remotely get high paid etc. And that said they even don't understand how much hard work, education and learning this stuff require. I know few real IT guys like rthonpm and they are way smarter than me...in fact they are way smarter than most people

I disagree that IT people are smarter than you. I think most IT people are of average intelligence but they put in the time to learn their craft. There's very little that I've covered thus far that would lead me to believe that they're smarter than most.


There's a formula for learning. You want to know what the formula is?

Enough time & desire = you can learn anything.

Most of this stuff isn't overly complicated...it's just a lot to cover.


PS - I'm sure than rthon is a very smart person. But I also think you are. Don't sell yourself short.

[tsbservice]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I disagree that IT people are smarter than you. I think most IT people are of average intelligence but they put in the time to learn their craft. There's very little that I've covered thus far that would lead me to believe that they're smarter than most.


There's a formula for learning. You want to know what the formula is?

Enough time & desire = you can learn anything.

Most of this stuff isn't overly complicated...it's just a lot to cover.


PS - I'm sure than rthon is a very smart person. But I also think you are. Don't sell yourself short.

Last sentence really make me laugh... because that's exactly what my wife keeps telling me 😂
Back on track I didn't talk about regular IT but a few special who learnt my respect over the time.
I'm completely agree with you on learning matter.

[slimslob]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

I disagree that IT people are smarter than you. I think most IT people are of average intelligence but they put in the time to learn their craft. There's very little that I've covered thus far that would lead me to believe that they're smarter than most.


There's a formula for learning. You want to know what the formula is?

Enough time & desire = you can learn anything.

Most of this stuff isn't overly complicated...it's just a lot to cover.


PS - I'm sure than rthon is a very smart person. But I also think you are. Don't sell yourself short.

My experience with IT techs tells me that some are like rthonpm and have years of experience in addition to their training in multiple areas. Many on the other hand only have a single certification, usually either CompTIA A+ or Network+,which they spent very little time studying for, they just crammed for the test, and with some certification being online with little or no proctoring often cheated.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

My experience with IT techs tells me that some are like rthonpm and have years of experience in addition to their training in multiple areas. Many on the other hand only have a single certification, usually either CompTIA A+ or Network+,which they spent very little time studying for, they just crammed for the test, and with some certification being online with little or no proctoring often cheated.

I've covered enough of CCNA that I can tell you this. Yes, it's difficult. Sometimes very difficult. Sometimes I want to pull out all of my hair. However, you just have to push through it until the lightbulb comes on. Don't worry about the results...trust the process.


I'm gonna bring up 2 people on this forum who I think are exceptional. I hope they don't mind.

-rthonpm
-blackcat


People see the finished product when they read their posts. What they don't see is the hard work they've put in and the years of experience.

I try to emulate blackcat when it comes to copiers and rthonpm when it comes to windows server. There's no need for me to try to reinvent the wheel, I just need to follow the blueprint that they set.

[rthonpm]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Most of what people consider 'experience' is really just the benefit of other people's failures. I've banged my head against problems and completely made things worse to the point where the least painful option was to blow it up and start over clean.

Kind of a deeper point, English doesn't really make a distinction like some languages in what exactly we 'know'. There's things that we just understand like ice is cold or a stove is hot, there's things we know how to do like electrical wiring or server configuration, and then there's things we learn like maths or the way that electricity works. In some other languages, all of these are different words entirely, which makes it a little more understandable just what skill set you're looking at.

It takes a slightly different skill set to understand, know-how, and to learn. I've met people that can do one incredibly well, but not the others. I've met people who can blend all three together and are amazing. I've met some who can learn but are little more than stupid geniuses.

With enough effort anyone can learn anything, it just depends how far down the rabbit hole you want to get, and how you can apply it to other skills you already have.

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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Most of what people consider 'experience' is really just the benefit of other people's failures. I've banged my head against problems and completely made things worse to the point where the least painful option was to blow it up and start over clean.


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People who say that they didn't experience failure are either a genius or a liar.


I'm reminded of a quote by Thomas Edison:

“I have not failed, but found 1000 ways to not make a light bulb.”

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

When I'm learning something for the first time, usually my head is swimming and I don't fully grasp everything. One of the first things I learned on Windows Server was "Folder Redirect."

Now, I love Folder Redirect for many reasons:

- If the local drive crashes, the data isn't lost because it's stored on the server
- The end user can access their information from any PC on the network. Very helpful if the user doesn't work in one place.
- Easy to backup user info. from a central location.


With that said, there is one potential issue. What if the server isn't available? How can a user access their information?


I haven't done this yet but the answer is something called "Offline Files". Basically it syncs the files on the server with the local PC.

I'm gonna give this a go later today. Will update.

[rthonpm]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

When I'm learning something for the first time, usually my head is swimming and I don't fully grasp everything. One of the first things I learned on Windows Server was "Folder Redirect."

Now, I love Folder Redirect for many reasons:

- If the local drive crashes, the data isn't lost because it's stored on the server
- The end user can access their information from any PC on the network. Very helpful if the user doesn't work in one place.
- Easy to backup user info. from a central location.


With that said, there is one potential issue. What if the server isn't available? How can a user access their information?


I haven't done this yet but the answer is something called "Offline Files". Basically it syncs the files on the server with the local PC.

I'm gonna give this a go later today. Will update.

Step away from the keyboard now. Offline folders is just a pile of pain. You'll thank me after you sepnd an hour or two trying to delete the local cache after a sync issue on one file and conflicts on another two. This was a potential method for replacing roaming profiles that ended up being another chair of glass coated nails.

I've moved most of my customers with Microsoft 365 over to OneDrive and known folder sync. It saves you from being responsible for people's local files and also gives them the ability to access them whether they're connected to VPN or even completely offline with a reliable sync engine. It's also a considerably cheaper way of giving users a terabyte of space. Most of the personal drives I set up were set with some kind of quota: anywhere from 25-150 GB.

Folder redirection is still an okay solution for a desktop only environment, but those are dying off fairly quickly. It needs to be seen as part of the past like POP email, PST files, roaming profiles, Internet Explorer, and 32-bit applications.

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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

Step away from the keyboard now. Offline folders is just a pile of pain. You'll thank me after you sepnd an hour or two trying to delete the local cache after a sync issue on one file and conflicts on another two. This was a potential method for replacing roaming profiles that ended up being another chair of glass coated nails.

I've moved most of my customers with Microsoft 365 over to OneDrive and known folder sync. It saves you from being responsible for people's local files and also gives them the ability to access them whether they're connected to VPN or even completely offline with a reliable sync engine. It's also a considerably cheaper way of giving users a terabyte of space. Most of the personal drives I set up were set with some kind of quota: anywhere from 25-150 GB.

Folder redirection is still an okay solution for a desktop only environment, but those are dying off fairly quickly. It needs to be seen as part of the past like POP email, PST files, roaming profiles, Internet Explorer, and 32-bit applications.

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I'm glad you stopped me because I was just about to implement Offline Files.


Let me see if I have this right. You're using One Drive and the advantages are that there's no issues with their sync engine and it also works for mobile devices?

Do I have that right?

[rthonpm]

Re: Need some advice on learning networking

It's a modern sync engine in OneDrive that also doesn't have to worry about file locking and other limitations of SMB for file access.

OneDrive works with mobile, Windows, MacOS, and the web so there are very few devices that can't use it. There are also other applications with plugins for it to either save or access files in it, such as Acrobat.

You also have the feature of pushing rarely used files back to the cloud side until you open them again: helpful for keeping your local drive from filling up with files it doesn't need. You can also specify what files are always available directly available on the device. I have all of my service manuals and customer notes stay always on the laptop.

For mobile, you can also have any pictures you take sync to OneDrive as well.

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