Simplify network design

Hi guys! It's me once again! I noticed that during these past few days, I notice that I'm gettin more and more active on this blog, as I share some tech/networking related tools/features that would most likely help many of our cisco/network guys out there.

Going back to my usual stuff, I found out this link.

Ciscoweb tools: Designer

It's a pretty neat tool, which I guess has been available for quite sometime, which helps us in planning and choosing the right equipment, design and the deployment for our equipment.

It asks us, for example, the number of users, how many branch offices(if applicable), if there will be remote users, what kind of connectivity do we plan to use, e.g. Private Leased WAN or the internet, the security you'll use, the technology we are going to use e.g. VoIP, storage, proprietary applications, etc... all that stuff. And you can choose to answer the questions in the form of a simple, radio button type of interview.

I usually design for medium sized to enterprise networks, having those in mind, I came up with this.

Click on the image above to see the picture clearly.

Pretty neat eh? Try this one out, and see different results for different network scenarios and needs. Enjoy!

New tambayan

Hey guys, I've a new tambayan. I really get useful information and stuff here, and by far, I think they present the most practical way to configure your network(not only cisco) devices. Configuration, FAQs, topics, discussions, all can be found here in one place. I hope you enjoy and make this your tambayan as much as I did.

DSLreports.com

DSL reports.com - Cisco FAQ, Configuration and discussion

While I was researching thru the internet about QoS, I came across a pretty neat blog, which has Cisco/Networking as topics on it. One of the best topics there as I scanned through the blog is the Cisco IOS Hidden tools. I hope this one's informative for you.

Cisco IOS hidden tools

Hello there,

Just a quick overview over a couple of cisco hidden command useful in certain circumstances

1. ttcp

ttcp is only available on routers/layer 3 switches

For those familiar with iperf, ttcp is a kinda”ish” iperf

Start ttcp on one router in point 2 point scenario and ttcp on the other endpoint. One router will be in receiving mode, while the other will be in sending mode… running the command is quite straight forward, thus I will not demonstrate it here.

2. test crash

Ok this used to be hidden, but isn’t in newer IOS version. Test crash allows to simulate a crash.. so you came to the office one morning and found your switch dead… not log, not knowing what happened. test crash can help you dig into the problem by simulating the crash

3. test transmit

This is a very cool feature. You can simulate traffic to interfaces, using specific encapsulations and protocols…

4. ip route profile and show ip route profile

Used in conjonction, this “debug” command enables you to see route fluctuation.

5. csim start “number”

This emulates a voice call to the specified number… practical for VoIP testing environment.

6. show controller switch

Need to get a quick overview on your switch traffic stats. Suspect a congestion network? show controller switch will give you the quick heads up on where you stand

7. debug ip osfp monitor

This command enables you to monitor the OSPF SPF process

8. ip-con 2 con

Available on cisco 7500… it enables you to enter the VIP console to execute VIP commands on VIP boards

9. ip osfp interface retry

Back to OSPF (the coolest routing protocol), by default OSPF pools retry on the interface 10 times… having too much fluctuation of states on the interface of your router? increase the pooling period.

10. show region

Displays how the memory is partitioned on the device

Taken from: Alouche.net

The truth about boogers/snot

I've really been wonderin' about how boogers/snot form. Of course, to cure my curiosity, I did a research regarding this very interesting stuff. This was taken from kidshealth.org.

As I quote:

To understand what boogers are, you need to know about mucus (say: myoo-kus). Mucus is the sticky, slimy stuff that's made inside your nose. If you're like lot of kids, you have another name for nose mucus: snot. Your nose and sinuses make about a quart (about 1 liter) of snot every day.

Mucus has a pretty important job — it protects the lungs. When you breathe in air through your nose, it contains lots of tiny things, like dust, dirt, germs, and pollen. If these made it all the way to the lungs, the lungs could get irritated or infected, making it tough to breathe. Luckily, snot helps trap this stuff, keeping it in the nose and out of the lungs.

After this stuff gets stuck inside the nose, the mucus surrounds it and some of the tiny hairs inside the nose called cilia (say: sih-lee-uh). These hairs help move the mucus and the trapped stuff toward the front of the nose or the back of the throat. When the mucus, dirt and other debris dry and clump together, you're left with a booger.

Boogers can be squishy and slimy or tough and crumbly. Everybody gets them, so they're not a big deal. In fact, boogers are a sign that your nose is working the way it should!

If you have to get rid of boogers, your best bet is to blow 'em out of your nose and into a tissue. Picking your nose isn't a great idea because boogers contain lots of germs and because poking around in your nose can make it bleed.