Current Employment
Cisco Systems Ltd
Employed since October 2006
ECATS – Enhanced Customer Aligned Testing Services
Previously named NSITE (Network Systems Integration Test Engineering) – ECATS is a network solutions / systems testing group. In its original incarnation, ECATS tested solutions as the ‘zero-customer’, generating and proving network architectures as part of Cisco’s Verified Designs (CVD) programme. This included initiatives such as Safeharbor and the DCAP project. In its new form, the group carries out both zero-customer/pre-BETA testing of solution products as well as customer-defined solution testing. Essentially the testing is the same, but now carried out on behalf of specific customers with their designs and architectures.
Projects
Network Privilege Framework – NPF1.0
NPF is security project – pulling in individual security products and technologies including the newly released Authentication Control Server 5.0 (ACS), Network Admission Control 4.5.1 (NAC), Device Profiling (Profiler) and 802.1x Port Authentication (dot1x).
The NPF solution includes an endless number of protocols, standards and product interactions to make it viable – the primary ones are listed below:
- 802.1x – Extensive Authentication Protocol , EAPoL (EAP over LAN), including encrypted versions
- RADIUS – Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service
- PKI – Public Key Infrastructure, and other Certificate-based authentications
- SAML – Secure Assertion Markup Language
Datacentre Assurance Programme – DCAP
The DCAP project is born of the Safeharbor testing initiative. The aim is to provide additional quality-assurance of released versions of Cisco’s IOS software. The testing was indirectly influenced by customers’ architecture and requests for specific systems to be tested. Solutions testing included the following product lines interacting:
- Catalyst 6500 Switches
- 6500 Service Modules:- SUP720 and SUP32 Supervisors, SSL Off-load, Server Load Balancing (CSM/SLB), Application Control Engine (ACE), Firewall Services (FWSM), Intrusion Detection (IDSM)
- Wide Area Application Services (WAAS)
- Global Site Selector (GSS)
- Virtual Switching System (VSS) – incorporating the C6500 SUP720-10GE supervisor
