Per the assignment instructions, I am not supposed to copy/paste the discussion board over to the blog but this is a pretty cool story and seems like I did, but I am not doing that.
A Jumpbox to start is a system running behind a gateway with extra security functions and minimal everything else that a user can log into to log into other systems further behind it on the network. With that being clarified, this was about 5-7 years ago.
I walked into my class for Microsoft Server’s and my Professor gave a friendly “Hi” as usual. This was a class to always look forward to, in my opinion at least. The only thing that got difficult for me was the Active Directory because it has so many functions and possibilities. Today we were getting our Final Project assigned, build out a Network on paper, draw it on the whiteboard and give a 5 minute presentation on how it all worked. After class I asked if I could present my project to him “not in class” because of the amount of value in assets the Garage LAN had. He understood and let me go ahead.
It took a good week to write down the whole network within the Garage and House, illustrate it, write down all the IP’s, Subnets, basically the whole architecture then create a single page graphic for him to be able to look at. The last hurdle was how to give him access to be able to move around the network from class. Without knowing what a Jumpbox was, a Jumpbox was created!
Having already used RDP 3389 at my Gateway for my personal access at the time, a rule was created to allow port 40001 UDP and TCP at the Gateway and a VM was setup with Windows 11 Pro behind the Gateway for the Professor to log into. the RDP port in the Windows VM was changed in the Registry from 3389 to 40001 and Firewall rules were updated. At this point from that Windows VM the professor could navigate around the network as I would while at home or on my laptop. On the desktop of the Windows VM, I put a copy of the Network Architecture Document and the Illustration for his use. This was all turned in and after class I was called up.
The Professor went to a student machine in the classroom after everyone left and logged into the Windows VM or “Jumpbox”. After about 20 minutes of navigating around the network, it was declared that I passed! The Professor also asked how many spots were available in the Garage and if he would be able to take a field trip to the Garage so the students could actually see this all work. He noted that it was one thing to learn about the cloud and a network, another to see it in real life, servers and all.
To this day, I consider that one of my biggest compliments from one of the most awesome and humble Professors I’ve had the privilege to learn from.