Product Description

“ The Cisco Firewall Video Mentor is an outstanding aide in learning to configure and understand the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance. Whether you are a newcomer to the ASA or operationally experienced, these videos clearly explain and demonstrate how to configure and manage the ASA from the commandline and from the ASDM GUI.”

—Mark Macumber, Systems Engineer, Cisco

 

Cisco Firewall Video Mentor is a unique video product that provides you with more than five hours of personal visual instruction from best-selling author and lead network engineer David Hucaby. In the 16 videos presented on the DVD, David walks you through common Cisco® firewall configuration and troubleshooting tasks. Designed to develop and enhance hands-on skills, each 10–30 minute video guides you through essential configuration tasks on the Cisco ASA and FWSM platforms and shows you how to verify that firewalls are working correctly.

 

Lab Layout:

Each video lab presents objectives, dynamic lab topology diagrams, command syntax overviews, and video captures of command-line input and GUI configuration. All of this is coupled with thorough audio instruction by an industry expert making learning easy and engaging.

 

Network Animation:

Animated network diagrams show you lab setup, device addressing, and how traffic flows through the network.

Command-Line Interface (CLI) Video:

 

Video screencasts of ASA and FWSM CLI and the ASDM GUI demonstrate command entry, configuration techniques, and device response.

 

 

This video product is part of the Cisco Press® Video Mentor Series. The video products in this series present expert training from industry-leading instructors and technologists. This dynamic learning environment combines animations, screencasts, and audio instruction to help users bridge the gap between conceptual knowledge and hands on application.

 

 

System Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows XP, 2000, or Vista
• Apple OS 9 or later
• Linux operating systems that have a web browser with Flash 7 or later plug-in
• Speakers or headphones
• Color display with a minimum 1024x768 resolution
• 1 GHz or faster CPU recommended
• DVD drive

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #407691 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

About the Author

David Hucaby, CCIE® No. 4594, is a lead network engineer for the University of Kentucky, where he works with healthcare networks based on the Cisco® Catalyst®, ASA/PIX®/FWSM security, and VPN product lines. David was one of the beta reviewers of the ASA/PIX 7.0 and 8.0 operating system software. David has a B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky and has worked in the IT field for 19 years. He lives in Kentucky with his wife Marci and two daughters.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

The Cisco Firewall Video Mentor supplies 16 instructional videos that cover a variety of firewall configuration tasks. Because firewall features can be complex and tedious to configure, each video presents a scenario that visually demonstrates a feature configuration step by step, along with a running audio commentary.

This product is one of several in the Cisco Press Video Mentor series. The Video Mentor series offers a learning environment that is different from that of printed books, where you can only read about concepts and look at static examples. With the video labs, you can learn about concepts much as you would in a classroom setting, with a live instructor. As well, you can watch configurations and examples unfold, step by step, with explanations along the way.

The Video Mentor covers the firewall features found in the Cisco ASA 5500 family of security appliances, as well as the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Firewall Services Module (FWSM).

Who Should Use the Cisco Firewall Video Mentor?

The Cisco Firewall Video Mentor is intended for people who are involved in firewall installation and administration. Although it is not designed around any specific Cisco course or exam, it can be used to augment self-study books about firewalls and security topics.

Because of the multimedia format, the Video Mentor uses video and audio media to deliver information more effectively than printed material alone—especially for visual learners.

Goals and Methods

The Cisco Firewall Video Mentor shows the author's computer desktop as a firewall is being configured and tested. A running audio commentary accompanies the video so that every activity is explained.

Most of the video labs follow the same format, using these steps as they are appropriate to the lab:

Step 1. The video begins by listing goals or topics for the lab.

Step 2. An overview of specific firewall features is given.

Step 3. A scenario involving a firewall feature is presented, and related command syntax is discussed.

Step 4. A terminal emulator window shows how the firewall feature is configured with the command-line interface, step by step.

Step 5. The configuration is reset, and the same scenario is rebuilt using the Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) management tool.

Cisco Firewall Video Mentor Contents

The Cisco Firewall Video Mentor contains a DVD and a printed booklet. The DVD consists of a series of 16 video labs. The DVD is viewed on a computer screen and is optimized for display in a 1024x768-pixel minimum area.

The booklet contains information that you can use as a reference while watching the video labs. It is not meant to be a standalone tool. The booklet has a section devoted to each of the 16 video labs, containing the figures and configuration information used in the video.

Each booklet section includes the following:

• A list of objectives or topics for the video lab

• A description of the scenario, broken into steps

• The initial configuration entered in the firewall before the video lab begins

• The configuration commands that are entered during the video lab

The booklet also includes topology figures from the video labs as appropriate.

The booklet is also available in PDF format on the disc. You can switch between displaying the video and the booklet as you work your way through the video labs.

How the Cisco Firewall Video Mentor Is Organized

When the DVD starts, the Cisco Firewall Video Mentor application displays the list of 16 video labs. From the initial menu, you can also view an introductory video that describes the entire product. The video labs are organized as follows:

Lab 1, "Initial Configuration": This lab demonstrates how a new firewall can be configured for the first time. The command-line interface (CLI) is used while the computer is connected to the firewall console.

Lab 2, "Configuring Interfaces": This lab shows how the firewall mode (transparent or routed) is set. Then a variety of firewall interfaces, both physical and logical, are configured.

Lab 3, "Setting Up Routing": In this lab, sources of routing information are configured. Static routes, default routes, standby ISPs, and the OSPF dynamic routing protocol are all demonstrated.

Lab 4, "Firewall Administration over the Network": This lab shows how a firewall can be configured for remote management through Telnet, SSH, and ASDM sessions.

Lab 5, "Using Multiple Security Contexts": This lab demonstrates how a single physical firewall platform can be configured to run multiple instances of virtual firewalls or security contexts.

Lab 6, "Using Failover for High Availability": In this lab, two firewalls are configured as a failover pair. This enables them to operate in a redundant fashion, increasing their availability during a failure.

Lab 7, "Failover in Action": This lab demonstrates several different kinds of failures, triggering the failover operation presented in Lab 6. A "hitless" upgrade is also shown, in which the operating system of each firewall in a failover pair is upgraded without impacting the traffic passing through.

Lab 8, "Setting Up Address Translation and Connection Limits": This lab shows examples of six different ways to configure address translation on a firewall.

Lab 9, "Setting Up Firewall Rules": In this lab, security policies are defined through access list configuration. Furthermore, access lists are configured in a more organized, compact fashion with object groups.

Lab 10, "Setting Up a DMZ": This lab demonstrates how additional interfaces can be added to a firewall, beyond the simple "inside" and "outside" interfaces.

Lab 11, "Setting Up Logging": In this lab, a firewall is configured to generate and send logging messages to a collection point. After they are collected, the messages can be analyzed, or they can become a record for an audit trail.

Lab 12, "Using MPF to Control Layer 3/4 Connections": This lab demonstrates how the Modular Policy Framework (MPF) is used to define a policy that sets connection limits on UDP and TCP connections.

Lab 13, "Using MPF to Perform QoS Queuing and Policing": In this lab, the MPF is used to configure priority queuing policies that handle specific types of traffic more efficiently than other traffic. In addition, policing is used to limit the bandwidth used by certain types of traffic.

Lab 14, "Using MPF to Tune Application Inspection Engines": This lab shows how a firewall can be configured to change how it inspects traffic related to specific applications.

Lab 15, "Testing Security Policies with Packet Tracer": This lab demonstrates the Packet Tracer tool and how it can be used to verify a firewall's configuration. A virtual packet is sent from one interface to another, with a graphical display showing what happens to the packet at each step along the way.

Lab 16, "Capturing Traffic": In this lab, a firewall is configured to capture traffic for further analysis. Both the CLI and ASDM are used to configure a capture session and to display the packets captured.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

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Customer Reviews

Hucaby R-O-C-K-S!!! This one is a winner.
I'm a fairly seasoned Cisco PIX/ASA Firewall Administrator. I've been around for a few years supporting several enterprise/campus networks and worked for a few Fortune 500 companies as the Firewall Administrator.

I love this product. Especially the clear and concise explanations for using multiple contexts.

These explanations are very clear and very much build on the previous topic. The author is clear and smooth in his expert delivery of the topic.

This is excellent. I own most of his books and I've used them on the job. But I never heard Huccaby deliver this material. He's top notch and clearly an expert's expert.

I think this product is an excellent value and would highly recommend it to anyone who supports with the Cisco ASA or the Cisco FWSM (Firewall Service Module).

Good job David.

Thanks for an excellent product I can easily recommend to others.

My sincerest compliments.

Darby Weaver

Cisco Firewall Video Mentor
Cisco Firewall Video Mentor by David Hucaby published by Cisco Press (ISBN-13: 978-1-58720-198-1 / ISBN-10: 1-58720-198-4) covers various firewall configuration tasks associated with Cisco's Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) through 16 instructional videos (also referred to as Lab 1 through Lab 16). A printed, ninety (90) page booklet accompanies the DVD. The booklet is also available in PDF format on the DVD. The booklet covers all 16 labs and is consistently formatted. The booklet format for each lab contains 4 sections. The first section describes the objectives of the lab. The second section contains the steps performed in the lab to complete the objectives. The third section contains the initial configuration prior to starting the lab. The fourth section is used as a reference to the video presentation of the lab.

The author uses the Command Line Interface (CLI) to demonstrate how to configure various tasks and many times uses the Graphical User Interface (GUI) called ASDM (Adaptive Security Device Manager) to depict how one can also accomplish the same configuration task through the use of ASDM vice the CLI.

The video is presented well, typically using the upper third of the layout for reference material (i.e. - command formats, diagrams, etc.). The bottom two/thirds of the layout are used to show the terminal emulation session (i.e. - the console session of the ASA) and the ASDM interface. The author has a pleasant voice and the running audio commentary was outstanding and synchronized perfectly with the typing associated with the CLI and ASDM interfaces. I am wondering how many takes was required to get the audio synchronized with the typing that well. It truly is impressive.

The author does a tremendous job presenting the content of the video. The content is presented in a cumulative manner. All content, from rudimentary concepts, such as, exploring the CLI modes to more complex concepts, such as, Modular Policy Framework (MPF) are broken down and thoroughly explained. I found the video to be properly paced. When I did not fully grasp a concept, it was easy to back up the video and watch and listen to it again.

I really enjoyed learning about Cisco's ASA via this video method. It is a nice departure from just reading pure technical documentation. The video mentor presentation is the next best thing to having your own lab equipment. Anyone interested in learning about stateful firewall concepts and configuring the Cisco ASA will benefit greatly from watching and listening to this video.

Excellent learning tool for the cisco firewall devices
The Cisco Firewall Video Mentor (ISBN:1587201984) by David Hucaby is a step-by-step video training guide for configuring the PIX or ASA firewall and is a must for beginner and intermediate level engineers. Hucaby is a natural at teaching and the video and audio make for a smooth learning experience. It comes with a handy 90 page book that follows labs but is also a great command and process reference guide to keep at your desk.

Hucaby moves along fairly quickly so you never get bored and it's easy to stop the video if you need to do a bit more research. Because he moves at a perfect speed, I found myself watching areas that I was already familiar with because I wanted to see if there was something he might do differently. I never felt as though I had wasted my time after finishing any of the sections.

One thing I really like about this is you can be completely new to Cisco and he gives you the essential tools you need to know to hit the ground running. I feel strongly that I could give this to a IT professional new to Cisco and help them feel relatively comfortable with the basics of a Cisco firewall. But it's not just the basics; it covers more advanced features like MPF, rules, traffic capture, etc..

The layout of the video is perfect and allows Hucaby to quickly move through the bottom console while displaying commands, images, and other data at the top of the screen. It's also easy and quick to navigate through the various labs. I used a pretty old computer yet I could jump from one lab to the middle of another in a very reasonable amount of time. The time is always on the bottom of the layout so you can remember exactly where you were at one point for later reference or research.

Not only does Hucaby cover configurations on the command line interface but he also does demonstrations in the ADSM. Right after he completes a CLI config, he removes it and shows the same config in the ADSM. I'm still not a fan of using the ADSM graphical user interface but it was nice to see commands translate from the CLI to the GUI.

I'd have to say what I was most impressed with was how Hucaby often spends a lot of time explaining why he is doing something, as opposed to someone who moves from step to step with little value to add. For example, in the chapter titled Packet Capture, he goes through all of the command syntax arguments before he actually types the command. After covering the syntax, you feel a lot more comfortable as he types the particular command arrangement.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this publication and I will seek others like it for more Cisco topics.