May 25th, 2007 neteng
To all of us in the USA, have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend! I’m sure it will be a well-deserved 3-day weekend for all of us. Bring on the summer!
neteng
Buy Me a Beer! Help me keep my sanity as I write more articles.Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
May 8th, 2007 neteng
Dynagen makes your life a whole lot easier when it comes to creating your Cisco Lab-In-a-Box. It gives you the ability to create and modify networks through simple text files. It has the ability to automatically choose appropriate network modules based on the type of connectivity you’re providing between your virtual routers. Packet capturing is a snap, for further review of what’s happening in this network you’ve created. And it also simplifies the optimization process when running the routers on your PC (via idle-pc values).
As an example of the uber-cool capturing capabilities, I’ve attached some screenshots of Wireshark, showing RIP activity on a small network of 3 routers:
This is all happening on my Dell laptop. Pretty cool, huh?
neteng
Buy Me a Beer! Help me keep my sanity as I write more articles.Posted in HOWTO, Networking, Tools | 1 Comment »
May 7th, 2007 neteng
A little more then a year ago, I posted a link to a Cisco 7200 emulator. Since that time, the emulator has evolved, and continues to evolve, into an excellent educational and simulation tool. My next few blog posts will be filled with tips on how to optimize the back end as well as how to put together a small (or large) network with various pieces of Cisco equipment. You will see how this tool has not only become an invaluable tool in my CCIE studies, but has also been extremely useful during my ‘day job’ as a network consultant. It is my hope that you will discover the same advantages; maybe even some that I have not yet found.
So keep an eye out and your RSS readers subscribed!
neteng
Buy Me a Beer! Help me keep my sanity as I write more articles.Posted in Networking, Tools | 1 Comment »
May 7th, 2007 neteng
I recently signed up with ViaTalk for for a $199/2-year special they had. After a few minor kinks during the first couple of weeks, things seem to be running quite well (minus a power outage I had, but hey, it’s VoIP…). Other than their generally fast support, they have a very active customer community to help out with any problems. I also purchased a bluetooth headset and downloaded Counterpath’s X-Lite softphone to use while I’m on the road. It’s been a great tool to help cut down on valuable cell minutes and utilize those free local/long-distance calls!
I just hope the current legal limbo that Vonage is currently in does not adversely affect the future of ViaTalk.
Does anyone else out there use VoIP at home? What do you think of your service/provider?
neteng
Buy Me a Beer! Help me keep my sanity as I write more articles.Posted in Networking | 2 Comments »
May 3rd, 2007 neteng
TCPmag.com has a cool little article on the use of “tracking” to affect routing policy. This feature used to be primarily available for use with gateway redundancy protocols (HSRP/VRRP/GLBP), but now with the ability to detect indirect network failures, its value has greatly increased. I won’t waste your time by reposting what Scott Morris has already explained well, so check out the link.
As you will see below, this feature has certainly evolved rather quickly:
For more detail on the specific ‘reachability’ command, follow this link for IOS versions prior to 12.3(14)T. For post-12.3(14)T, but pre-12.4(4)T syntax, take a look here. And finally for IOS 12.4(4)T and above, click here.
Buy Me a Beer! Help me keep my sanity as I write more articles.Posted in Networking | No Comments »
May 1st, 2007 neteng
Okay, so now that I have passed the ‘entrance exam’ (woohoo!), I must begin a quest to find as much lab study material as possible. Suggestions anybody? I’ve been using the most excellent Cisco simulator - Dynamips - along with the Dynagen front-end. I’m looking for some good lab write-ups (free or otherwise) to run through.
Thanks everyone!
neteng
Buy Me a Beer! Help me keep my sanity as I write more articles.Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
