Shifting Gears (again)

I was given an "opportunity" to move to a new team at ${DAYJOB} (a required clearance for advancement in my position was denied...such is life in the government sector). I've been increasingly bored with Linux lately, so jumping over to commercial Linux support didn't seem very appealing at all. I wanted to branch out into a more diverse ecosystem with room for me to learn. As I'd done considerable work with Windows in support of Government work, I wasn't keen on heading there either (and let's face it, as funny as it sounds on TV, "Have you tried turning it off and back on again?" is not a phrase I can repeat with a straight face).

I've grown quite fond of networking protocols and learning about how the pieces all fit together within large scale networks, so I thought I might take a leap of faith from host-services over to network security. I have a solid understanding of TCP/IP and IPSec (as all engineers believe they do prior to taking any Amazon course on networking), so I figured VPN would be a nice team to join until I got bored with Cisco and moved on again, right? I had a lengthy discussion with one of the resident VPN gurus in which he asked about my experience with Cisco, Juniper, Fortigate, Palo Alto, etc... in which I basically said "well, I've taken the CCNA classes, but I didn't bother taking the exams, and uhh, I have IPSec VPNs at home, if that counts for anything". I left the meeting feeling pretty bad (in any job-related situation where I've uttered the words "I do $tech at home, if that counts for anything", it hasn't ended in my favor). I started contemplating a new role on the Linux team, as that's where I'd surely end up.

Fortunately for me, if it speaks IPSec our customers are using it for VPC connectivity...and with my extensive background in BSD and Linux, the Network Security team was all the more happy to have me on board for those pesky OpenSwan/pfsense cases. Skill synergy FTW.

My first task, according to the VPN guru, was to work nothing but VPN cases for my initial 3-6 months on the team. I've worked plenty of VPN cases before (I was tagged as the IPSec guy on my Government team, actually), so this isn't anything new to me, but they don't want to send me to the VPN subject matter expert panel (which I hear is downright brutal at Amazon, comparable in difficulty to the entry interviews at Amazon) without considerable day-to-day casework. Oh, and I need to log a ton of time in the VPN lab on all of the available device types.

I went from big fish in a little pond to small fish in a giant ocean...again...and I'm taking the mentioned Amazon course in VPN networking, in which we are discussing the nitty gritty of all of the various protocols involved, namely IKE, ESP, BGP, etc...

I have much to learn.