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Get Techie With It

Passed Palo Alto Networks Certified Security Administrator (PCNSA)

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In the beginning of this year I had successfully passed the PCNSA exam using the Pearson OnVue system.

Pearson OnVue is a way to take the exam from home (online proctoring). It’s not as easy as the in-person testing centers. You need to clear your desk area and prove there is nothing to either side of you that could help you cheat. In the end, I had to undock my laptop because of camera or microphone issues.

Palo Alto Networks PCNSA

My notes were kept in a Notion page as I wrote typed out features and options I sure wouldn’t memorize.

Palo Alto Networks publishes a free Study Guide but it was not enough to rely on alone. It wasn’t as in-depth as I imagined.

To improve my odds of passing I used a PA-820 firewall and attempted to complete each objective through lab work.

I used the Administrative Guide as a reference for detailed configuration items. It requires a little digging but it’s not too bad. I recommend bookmarking the link for your studies or download the PDF.

Another reason for training I used was from Beacon which I think requires partner level access, which I have.

There really is a lot to cover in this exam so any hands on practice you can get to help nail the topics will benefit you.

Some of the topics I recommend really understanding:

  • How security profiles work
  • How different NAT configurations work
  • Understand the flow of traffic and how they are checked against security policies and profiles
  • Understand what needs a license and what that license affects

5 Years Running

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It’s been 5 years since Packet6 became an LLC. What started off as a blog later transformed into a side hustle business.

Many organizations getting help from IT providers weren’t happy. They weren’t seeing the outcome they desired.

IT providers did not have the Wi-Fi expertise in-house to solve these Wi-Fi problems quickly and efficiently.

This is why Packet6 focused on enterprise Wi-Fi. It wasn’t easy at first. The first few clients were difficult to get when no sales team or marketing existed.

Instead, I relied on writing. By targeting the issues I knew different organizations faced, I was able to get paying clients from Google search. After speaking to these clients, I learned they’ve been burned by other IT Providers. They felt that no one could fix their Wi-Fi problems.

I knew specializing in Wi-Fi would be beneficial for Packet6. People want a specialist to solve complex issues.

Later, I realized customer service was also lacking in our industry. My goal was to always be of help to clients. Even if it meant helping them for free, when another IT provider would try to make profit from just having a conversation with a client.

The last 5 years have not been walk in the park. Packet6 is still a side hustle but it’s a serious one. I have to juggle my time carefully. And be strategic with my vacation hours with my full-time employer.

But the real value in this side hustle are the opportunities it has opened up for my family. We’ve been able to purchase real estate, bring home additional income, and create new relationships. Sometimes, my family travels with me. After some client work, we have a mini-vacation.

Today, we’re thinking of new strategies to work on the business instead of in the business. How can I free up more of my time, mentor others, and delegate work. We’re working on processes for growth.

The next 5 years will be interesting. And I’m looking forward to it!

Q4 2021 and Yearly Income Report

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Just like that we’re in 2022. We just kissed 2021 good bye. This year brings on a clean slate with fresh challenges. I’m coming into this year with great optimism but it’s going to require some careful planning.

Highlights of Q4

Completed an SD-WAN Project

I spent a good chunk of evenings learning how Palo Alto Networks does SD-WAN with their acquisition of CloudGenix. I first came to know about CloudGenix from Networking Field Day as a delegate where I listened about their products.

Here I am, now as an end-user and reseller, deploying Ions at multiple locations for a retail customer of Packet6.

Rested

At the end of December, I finally got to put my feet up and rest. What a year.

Lessons Learned

Just in time learning

After reflecting on SD-WAN, I thought about how much reading and learning was required. Having access to documentation and vendor support was critical in helping me understand how certain parts of SD-WAN technology worked.

Exercise

With my days and nights being occupied with multiple cutovers, I spent the rest of my time sleeping. Without exercise I don’t think I was at my best and I know I definitely gained additional weight at the end of the year. Next step is to put health as a top priority in 2022.

Income/Expense Analysis

This quarter was exceptional compared to Q3 2020. We were still in the pandemic last year and saw huge decreases all around. Things have positively looked good in 2021 and I remain hopeful.

Businesses are in full swing trying to fix issues as people came back to the workplace. Others were getting ready for the return to office. The trend I have seen is less carpeted office Wi-Fi work was needed. The environments I’ve been in are primarily warehouses or higher education.

Expenses keep creeping up. It’s been a goal of mine this year to decrease expenses and I’ve rolled it over to 2022 as well. They’ll eat into your profits.

Q42020 PY% Change PY
Revenue$163,232.89$45,742.54256.85%
Expenses$114,420.23$37,297.13206.78%
Net Income($33,062.19)($749.49)(4,310.50)%

Revenue analysis

Revenue more than doubled compared to the previous year Q4. It’s a good metric to see increase year over year.

There was a big jump pro services, increasing 117.75% compared to Q4FY20. We couldn’t have done it without help. I’ll be tempted to do project work alone especially when you can earn most of that income without paying it to someone else. But working alone is not the answer. More projects begin to pile up and that’s when we start looking for assistance from other professionals.

Hardware reselling activities increased 462.83%. Another big quarter in reselling right before the vendors increase their prices. None of the reselling activity came from cold calling sales activities. This was mainly increased due to new projects from existing clients.

Q42020 PY% Change PY
Pro Services$51,127.50$ 23,480.0241.68%
Hardware$53,713.51$9,543.55734.51%

Expense analysis

This is the category that brings us to a negative profit number. I’ve mentioned it in previous quarters but I’ll say it again – watch your expenses.

What really drove up our expenses this quarter was pre-paying federal taxes. I’d rather not have a large tax bill in April so I ended up pre-paying taxes for previous quarters. I’ll note that I’m supposed to pre-pay quarterly, if not, I’ll see some penalties for skipping it. This was our largest expense item. Not sure if I should even classify taxes as an expense but it was money that left our accounts – a question for my CPA.

Where things went well was the decrease in Office Supplies & Software by 60.90%. But we saw Web services – subscriptions increase by 238.83%. Not a good sign. But that was due to a subscription payment of ZoomInfo for sales, the largest expense in that category. I better make up for this next quarter! Other increases in expenses moving forward will be a vehicle lease. A decision that was made in December.

Q32020 PY% Change PY
Vehicle$6,116.11$516.551,084.03%
Web services – subscriptions$5,214.13$1,538.86238.83%
Office Supplies & Software$2,000.94$5,117.62(60.90%)
General & Admin Expenses$17,261.98$10,528.9063.95%

I didn’t meet my goal of decreasing expenses in Q4FY21. At the end of the year there are decisions to spend money which would lead to a lower taxable income, a strategy we’re looking to improve for 2022.

FY21 Review

20212020% Change
Revenue$623,160.35$224,880.26177.11%
Expenses$272,681.16$141,317.7292.96%
Net Income$147,499.11$40,113.54267.70%
20212020% Change
Pro Services$192,868.07$132,531.1046.28%
Hardware$247,889.74$33,687.08635.86%

Given that 2020 was a rough year with the pandemic, we did very well in 2021. We were able to meet some of our key objectives of increasing sales by 70%. Reselling of hardware really paid off.

Last year I was able to obtain my CompTIA CTT+. In December 2021 is when I started the planning on how I could better utilize what I’ve learned from CTT+. The goal here is to see the product by the end of Q2FY22.

Obtained my CompTIA CTT+

We closed deals with 5 new clients last year. A few who were new and came through out website and others that were from previous relationships at other companies. It’s always good to nurture the relationships you have since people will change roles or companies often.

Most of the revenue comes from existing clients. Repeat business with companies that trust us. When you treat people like people, have good intentions, and over deliver on promises you will be rewarded.

Where we failed was operating within budget. The expenses nearly doubled. But luckily, it didn’t hurt us.

What’s Next

Our biggest objective is to keep an eye on unnecessary expenses. Even operating as a small business, we’re placing an additional process for expenditures. Budget forecasting is new for us but we have 4 years worth of data to develop a budget. We’re also implementing an approval process which means I can’t go rogue with purchases.

We’re improving upon the processes we’ve implemented in 2021 and continue to add new ones in 2022. Subcontracting will likely be more involved with that process to free up precious time. But we have to be strategic with who we work with.

In 2022 we’ve laid out some objectives to reach:

  • Increase website visits by 15%
  • Increase reselling revenue by 10%
  • Increase pro services revenue by $5-10k each quarter
  • Publish training material
  • Lower expenses by 7%
  • Obtain two new clients via cold sales activities

I hope you found this information useful if you’re thinking about starting your own business.

I’m proud of the progress we’re making no matter how small.

I PASSED JNCIA-MistAI

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Juniper Networks Certified Associate, Mist AI (JNCIA-MistAI)
JNCIA-MistAI

A goal I set for myself in 2021 was to take the JNCIA-MistAI certification. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any time so I set it aside for January 2022.

I’m familiar with Mist as an administrator and as a reseller/partner. I have clients who use Mist and I have a few Mist access points and a Juniper switch in my lab.

The JNCIA-MistAI certification is for network administrators managing a Wired or Wi-Fi network with Mist infrastructure. Or it could be aimed towards IT professionals who want to get more familiar with Mist.

For my studies, I leveraged the training videos available in Juniper Open Learning with Peter Mackenzie. I did not watch every single video but I had to brush up on MistAI specific topics and licensing.

What is on the JNCIA-MistAI exam?

You can see the exam objectives from Juniper’s website. The main topics include:

  • General WLAN Concepts
  • Wi-Fi Standards
  • WLAN Lifecycle
  • Mist AI Components
  • Mist AI Configuration
  • WLAN Monitoring

If you have a background with Wi-Fi and have taken the CWNA exam then you’ll have the General WLAN Concepts, Wi-Fi Standards and WLAN Lifecycle covered.

Utilize the available training from Mist to get up to speed with the last three bullets. If you have a Mist AP to lab with then you’ll be better off.

It’s important to understand how Mist does things because licensing will be covered.

Be sure to be very familiar with the dashboard to identify different components of Service Level Expectations.

Run through setting up Wi-Fi within the dashboard to easily identify Wi-Fi policies and how they work.

What type of questions are on the exam

Expect to see three types of questions:

  • Multiple choice
  • Single choice
  • Scenario-based

Where can I take the exam

Testing formats can be at a testing center or at home. I did the exam at home while wearing my pajamas. It was comfortable and I used a reliable computer.

You’ll want to test the OnVue application prior to taking your exam. Be sure the application can use your microphone and camera.

If taking the exam at home, you’ll want to clear your desk. You’ll be asked to show your desk with your camera. Additionally, you’ll use your phone to take a photo of your ID, your face, and your desk area.

Make sure no one can interrupt you.

The number of questions on the exam could change and I do not know what the passing score is.

At the end of the exam you’ll be notified if you’ve pass or failed.

Study Resources

Admins and Role-Based Access Control – PCNSA

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This is published as part of a series on obtaining the PCNSA certification.

Firewall administrators are defined via Panorama (central management) or locally on the firewall. But not everyone should have cart-blanche access.

Role-based access control can limit the type of changes a firewall administrator can perform.

Authentication Methods

The most common method is to define an administrator using local authentication.

To add a firewall administrative account, navigate to Device > Administrators and click on Add.

Firewall Administrators

Specify a name for the account and password.

There are a few optional items such as the Authentication Profile and the Administrator Type, either Dynamic or Role Based.

Defining an administrator

An Authentication Profile is used with other authentication services.

The Administrator Type specifies a role. Dynamic includes built-in roles which include:

Dynamic RolePrivileges
SuperuserFull access to the firewall
Superuser (read-only)Read-only access
Device AdministratorFull access to the firewall except creating new accounts and virtual systems
Device Administrator (read-only)Read-only access to all firewall settings except password profiles and administrator accounts.

Role Based will include custom roles that you configure. This allows you to create more granular control over certain settings. This would be configured under Device > Admin Roles

Admin Roles

For example, I can create an Admin Role called analyst which will have access to the Monitor Logs only.