Building The Net

Setting up IPv6 connectivity.

Back in December `09, my company ACT USA, began testing IPv6. These tests quickly advanced to our production environment. Over the last six months, I have been in the process of setting up native IPv6 connectivity for all our data centers. This connectivity is based on the dual stack model. This article attempts to cover the technology available, and the choices I made based on that technology.

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Building Redundant Networks in Data Centers.

I recently was asked to put together a brief web presentation on the different methods of creating redundant networks. I couldn’t think of a better place to put it, then right here on my blog. After all, I was overdue for a post anyways…

What do I mean by redundant networks?

A redundant network is two or more distinct paths for data to travel to and from an upstream network. In it’s simplest form, it can be a piece of equipment that can be manually placed into service easily upon a failure. More often though it is set up so that any single device or connection can fail, and without user intervention, a backup system or connection will automatically step in and take over the job of the failed device, or connection. A redundant network does not mean that no mater what happens, your data will still be reachable. There are many factors that need to be considered, ranging anywhere from your providers, to your applications, that can cause a failure.

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How to build a Linux Firewall… Join us and Learn!

I will be speaking at the Simi Conejo Linux Users Group (SCLug) on August 15th 2009.

I will be demonstrating how to setup a Linux based PC with multiple network interfaces to act as a firewall. The presentation will cover the following topics:

1. Linux as a stateful firewall.
2. Using policy based routing to select between multiple  routes.
3. Performing source and destination network address translation.
4. Performing load balancing between multiple internet connections.

I plan to start with a base Debian install, and take the group step by step through setting up NAT for both static and DHCP internet connections. I’ll then move to setting up a second internet connection, and demonstrate the use of policy routing to choose an outbound route for different types of connections. Once we’ve covered policy routing, I”ll finish up with session based load balancing across both connections.

If you are going to be in the East Ventura County area on the 15th, I encourage you to join us!

The presentation will be held at the Simi Valley YMCA at 2:00PM on August 15th, 2009.

I look forward to seeing you there!

— Stu