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July 30, 2008
Best Cisco Laptop?
I've been a "quasi-apple fan" for years...When they came out with the MacBook Pro, I bought the 17" giganto-screen model and have been using it to configure Cisco devices ever since. Recently, I was at a client site...he pulled out an old Dell X200 12" laptop to configure a Cisco router. I suddenly found myself being jealous over a thin laptop (2.9 pounds) that cost 1/10th what my behemoth MacBook did. I'm thinking I'll hit Ebay to pick one of these up for a couple hundred bucks (they're older), but before I do...does anyone know of a better super-thin, small, lightweight laptop to use for base Cisco configs? Nothing fancy, just needs to run a terminal window.
I thought this might start a good thread for "Cool ultra-portable Cisco-configuration laptops" everyone (including me) can use.
UPDATE: I've settled on the Dell D400 since it has a built-in serial port.
Posted by JC at 10:33 AM | Comments (25) | TrackBack
July 28, 2008
Automatic Err-Disable Recovery
Someone showed me a great feature today. One of the constant pains in the network is when you get a port err-disabled on the switch. Regardless of how many times I see it, it always seems to be the last thing I check. There's a little-known feature in the IOS called "err-disable recovery" which automatically turns a err-disabled switchport back on after 5 minutes (by default). The good news is that this command allows you to choose specific reasons where you'd like to re-enable the port, such as re-enabling ports disabled because of a port-flap instance but keeping mac-address security violations error disabled. Here's the syntax to make it happen:
CAT3550#conf t Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. CAT3550(config)#errdisable recovery ? cause Enable error disable recovery for application interval Error disable recovery timer value CAT3550(config)#errdisable recovery cause ? all Enable timer to recover from all error causes arp-inspection Enable timer to recover from arp inspection error disable state bpduguard Enable timer to recover from BPDU Guard error channel-misconfig Enable timer to recover from channel misconfig error dhcp-rate-limit Enable timer to recover from dhcp-rate-limit error dtp-flap Enable timer to recover from dtp-flap error gbic-invalid Enable timer to recover from invalid GBIC error inline-power Enable timer to recover from inline-power error l2ptguard Enable timer to recover from l2protocol-tunnel error link-flap Enable timer to recover from link-flap error link-monitor-failure Enable timer to recover from link monitoring failure loopback Enable timer to recover from loopback error mac-limit Enable timer to recover from mac limit disable state oam-remote-failure Enable timer to recover from OAM detected remote failure pagp-flap Enable timer to recover from pagp-flap error port-mode-failure Enable timer to recover from port mode change failure psecure-violation Enable timer to recover from psecure violation error security-violation Enable timer to recover from 802.1x violation error sfp-config-mismatch Enable timer to recover from SFP config mismatch error storm-control Enable timer to recover from storm-control error udld Enable timer to recover from udld error unicast-flood Enable timer to recover from unicast flood error vmps Enable timer to recover from vmps shutdown error CAT3550(config)#errdisable recovery cause link-flap CAT3550(config)#^Z CAT3550#show errdisable recovery ErrDisable Reason Timer Status ----------------- -------------- arp-inspection Disabled bpduguard Disabled channel-misconfig Disabled dhcp-rate-limit Disabled dtp-flap Disabled gbic-invalid Disabled inline-power Disabled l2ptguard Disabled link-flap Enabled mac-limit Disabled link-monitor-fail Disabled loopback Disabled oam-remote-failur Disabled pagp-flap Disabled port-mode-failure Disabled psecure-violation Disabled security-violatio Disabled sfp-config-mismat Disabled storm-control Disabled udld Disabled unicast-flood Disabled vmps Disabled Timer interval: 300 seconds Interfaces that will be enabled at the next timeout: CAT3550#
Posted by JC at 1:19 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 24, 2008
VUE Releases Testing "Enhancements"
These were rumored at the end of last year...looks like they have finally arrived! VUE Testing enhancements:
• Photo on Score Report and Web - On completion of a certification exam at the test center, candidates will receive preliminary score reports imprinted with their photos and unique authentication codes. The authentication code can be used to access a candidate's official score online at Pearson VUE's website usually within 72 hours of the examination. The online score report will also display the candidate's photo. Candidates may share access to their online records with employers or other third parties.
• Forensic Analysis - Exam results and other testing data will be continuously analyzed by forensic software to detect aberrant testing behavior and to flag suspect exams for further investigation.
• Preliminary Score Report - All paper score reports will be preliminary, pending the results of forensic analysis, until official exam scores are posted to the Web usually within 72 hours of exam completion. Once the exam scores are official, candidates may use the authentication codes on their score reports to access the Pearson VUE website for score and photo verification.
That "Forensic Analysis" section looks pretty interesting. I wonder if they're looking for the TestKing brain dump-style tests? I'm very curious!!!
Posted by JC at 4:58 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
July 21, 2008
Another Great Resource
Here's another great blog/website resource to add to your list:
The site is well organized into interesting sections. I especially like the cheat sheet (for technology, not exams) and Network Monitoring / Utilities categories.
Posted by JC at 5:21 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 19, 2008
Scheduling Periodic Config Backups in IOS
Pretty cool article talking about using kron jobs on a Cisco router to schedule periodic configuration backups.
Posted by JC at 10:40 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
July 8, 2008
CCNA Voice Exam Debrief
Alright, this afternoon I took the CCNA Voice exam (aka Implementing Cisco IOS Unified Communications, 640-460). While I completely loathe brain dumps, I am all for getting a good idea of focus areas and the general feel for the exam, so that's what I'll give you here.
The CCNA Voice exam will have between 60-70 questions according to the official Cisco website. My exam was dead in the middle with 65 questions. The current passing score (which changes over time) will be somewhere around a low B letter grade.
Here's a general summary of what I encountered:
- Plenty of questions on the traditional voice world, TDM technology, analog to digital voice conversion, signaling, etc...
- Only one simulation...but it was a solid, "can you set this up" scenario. It uses the new simulation style that I first saw on the 640-802 CCNA exam - you can drag & drop multiple windows in your screen area, resize windows, and so on...real nice improvement to the old simulation questions (seen in the exam tutorial...the exam tutorial doesn't yet show this new simulation style)
- Plenty of "exhibit" style questions where you see the UC500 interface, or configuration example and have to interpret the output, find a missing command, or choose what tabs you would click on to configure such-and-such.
- LOTS of drag-and-drop questions (terminology, network diagram, call flows, etc...)
- Plenty of multiple choice style questions, but worded in more of a "can you apply your knowledge" rather than "did you memorize the factoid from the book" way.
If you take the exam, I'd love to know your experience - tack it on to this post. Keep in mind that any information that I consider "brain dump-ish" (including questions, answers to questions, exact information on simulation(s), etc...) will be absolutely, immediately deleted...and your computer will immediately get a virus that causes it to melt before your very eyes.
Posted by JC at 7:56 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack