SD-WAN: What Is It? The 5-Minute Primer
SD-WAN in five minutes: what it is, what it replaces, the four-plane architecture, transport-independent overlays, and how it stacks against traditional MPLS WANs.
Latest posts — page 30
Enable IEEE 802.1X Authentication on Windows 11 (Manual + Group Policy)
How to enable IEEE 802.1X on Windows 11 wired adapters. Start the Wired AutoConfig service, configure the Authentication tab, push the same settings via Group Policy.
What is 802.1X Authentication? End-to-End Flow with Real show Output
How 802.1X authenticates a switch port from link-up to traffic flow. The three roles, EAPoL exchange, IOS XE config, host modes, and real show authentication sessions output.
OSPF vs BGP Redistribution: Which Protocol Wins Which Tie
When OSPF and BGP both know about the same prefix, who wins? A practical walkthrough of mutual redistribution, the admin-distance trap, and why BGP into OSPF needs a filter or it takes down your domain.
members
Cisco ASA Field Reference - Free 9-Page Cheat Sheet
Nine printable pages covering Cisco ASA NAT section order, post-8.3 ACL addressing, the packet pipeline, inspection engines, and the troubleshooting commands that matter, condensed so you can stop scrolling docs at 2am.
Migration Considerations from ASA to Secure Firewall (FTD)
When to migrate from ASA to Secure Firewall Threat Defense, what tooling does the migration well, what it does not move automatically, and what to verify on the FTD side before declaring the migration done.
Cisco ASA Multiple Context Mode
Multiple context mode turns one Cisco ASA into several virtual firewalls, each with its own config, interfaces, ACLs, NAT, and admins. Covers the system, admin, and user-context split, what the feature costs, and the configuration to enable it.
Cisco ASA Inspection Engines: MPF and Custom Maps
The ASA Modular Policy Framework binds inspection engines to traffic with class-maps, policy-maps, and service-policies. Walk the default global policy every ASA ships with, then add custom HTTP, FTP, or ESMTP inspection without breaking it.
Cisco ASA Upgrade and Backup Procedure
The production-ready ASA upgrade procedure: back up off-box, stage the image to flash, set the boot variable, reload, verify, and roll back if needed. Works for a single ASA or a failover pair.
Cisco ASA Syslog Configuration and Logging Levels
Six lines of config give the ASA sane production syslog. This article walks the destinations, the eight severity levels, message lists for filtering, and reading the %ASA-X-XXXXXX format using real lab logs from IKEv2 failures and ACL denies.
Cisco ASA Management Plane Hardening
A production-ready hardening pass for the Cisco ASA management plane: SSH and HTTPS the right way, AAA with local fallback, per-interface management ACLs, password policy, and disabling what you do not need.
Cisco ASA Static Routing and Default Route Configuration
Static routes, default routes, administrative distance, and SLA-tracked failover for multi-WAN on the Cisco ASA, plus how to read show route. Most production firewalls run all-static routing, and this is the syntax that runs them.