The other day someone joked that I should write a post about plugging in a cable, or at least something to that extent. Then I started thinking about it. It’s actually a good idea. Everyone has their own way of cabling up a rack of patch panels and switches. Most of us would love to get the exact right length cables for the job however, that’s often not the case. There is a patching strategy I like to use when you are stuck using a box of 7 foot cables when all you really need are 3 foot cables. None the less, we all want it to look as neat as it can when we are done. I’m going to show you my practice when it comes to patching which can be easily modified whether you’r racks follow a panel-switch-panel-switch arrangement or a panel-panel-switch-switch arrangement.
Category: Education
Back To Basics – Patching A Switch
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You Coach Not Teach Troubleshooting
A colleague and I have been debating over a few months the topic of troubleshooting. My initial stance on the topic was that you CAN teach troubleshooting. However, as time has passed working with particular individuals I have came to a realization that you CANNOT teach troubleshooting. My belief now is that some people simply have a mind that thinks in logical sequences to rule out options and others don’t. While I’m sure this post may cause some heat towards myself the point isn’t to say anything bad about anyone. My point is that some individuals have a very effective troubleshooting skill set, while others simply have a set rubric of tests that if exhausted, results in a complete halt in process. I’ve come up with four items that impact an individuals ability to troubleshoot effectively even after the initial checklist has been exhausted.
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Apps for a Network Engineer Part II: Windows
Windows for Network Engineers
Part two in my series of apps for network engineers across the three major platforms. I previously did the post for Mac when I first refreshed my laptop and purchased my first new Mac in 8 years. Issued by work, my daily laptop is a Windows machine which is fine with me. I would prefer to use Mac but give me a machine that has the tools I need and I’m fine. So with that in mind, I am going to list my favorite Windows tools for Network Engineers.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/apps-for-a-network-engineer-part-ii-windows/
IP SLA for Single Default Route Change
The scenario goes like this. You are working at your office (R1) and need to change the IP address and default route on the remote device (R2). The issue a factor of two things. The first is the fact that R2 is connected to your network with only one link. The other issue is R2 cannot use any dynamic routing protocols so you are stuck with a default route that is pointing at the next hop. If you are to change either of these facts you lose connectivity to R2. While there are other solutions to making this change, I am going to take the concept of floating static routes and an IP SLA to change both the IP address and the default route.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/ip-sla-for-single-default-route-change/
Initial Router Setup For Remote Access
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The following lab can be completed using any Cisco Emulator supporting the appropriate feature(s).
The purpose of this lab is to reinforce basic router configuration including naming the router, connecting two routers via an ethernet connection, and establishing logon procedures for remote access including secure remote access. Remote access if a key design feature of any network. It provides efficiency of management by preventing unnecessary trips to distant devices for simple tasks. Secure access is provided to prevent unauthorized access and data gathering from packet captures on plain text traffic.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/initial-router-setup-for-remote-access/
Cisco OSPF MD5 Authentication
Continuing with our OSPF and interior gateway protocols we will not look at an MD5 implementation utilizing OSPF on a Cisco router. We will again continue with our 3 router topology as used in both the EIGRP MD5 example and the OSPF plain text example. There are very few changes that will need to be made to our earlier OSPF example using plain text. The topology is as follows.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/cisco-ospf-md5-authentication/
Cisco OSPF Plain Text Authentication
Continuing with our interior routing protocol discussion on authentication we are going to look at Cisco OSPF implementation of plain text authentication. While this isn’t the most widely used model for authentation with OSPF it is a viable option. The topology we are going to use is the same topology from the EIGRP authentication example. The steps may feel familiar as well.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/cisco-ospf-plain-text-authentication/
Overlapped IP Range in a Merger
The Scenario is this…Company A has purchased Company B. One is an enterprise of thousands of users, the other a mid size company in the multiple hundres. However, as would happen to be the case, both companies utilize an overlapping subnet. To further complicate the issue it has been decided that both companies need to terminate at Company A’s core and utilize a single unified instance of EIGRP. As part of this scenario, both companies need to be abble to access each others networks but luckily it has been determined that neither need to be able to access each others overlapped networks. Additionally both companies advertise different bit masks on their overlapping networks. This is something that we can work with.
The following examples show the additional configuration required for the specific scenario above. The full router configurations are posted at the end of the article.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/overlapped-ip-range-in-a-merger/
Cisco DHCP Configuration
Cisco routers are capable of doing many more things than simply routing packets. In fact, it can operate as a small DHCP server when needed. By no means is it a replacement for your enterprise, centrally managed DHCP server but it does have its applicable scenarios. Lets say you have a branch office that has its own server for any particular reason. Maybe it is a local file share for an engineering departments CAD program and rather than having all file traffic from opens and saves traverse the WAN during the day, you simply run backs of that server across the WAN at night. Continue reading
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/cisco-dhcp-configuration/
Static Routing with Cisco
Routing is at the core of the network infrastructure. Routing is what ultimately lets you get from point A to point B not only in your own network, but also across the entirety of the world wide web. Routing in its simplest form tells your network devices the path to get to another network device located on another network. This was originally handled by creating static routes to the required destinations.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.packetpilot.com/static-routing-with-cisco/