I would have done myself a favor by shutting down this site/blog long ago. It has been 2 and 1/2 years since my last post. Good grief…
I have been doing things during this period of silence that I wished I had taken the time to share with others. I mean, that’s why the whole thing exists in the first place; is so I can share tech stuff with peers.
Enough rambling, at least at this moment, I’m back in the saddle.
There is alot of effort going into this one: http://www.xpresslearn.com
XO is still growing…
It is amazing to me that 80 10Gig channels can be implemented over a single pair of fiber.
I can’t stand dealing with Nortel phone gear. I know it worked great ‘back in the day’, but it really has a terrible VoIP solution. Integrating the big boxes in the phone switch room with VoIP really is a joke (in my humble, first hand experience, opinion). The ‘non-traditional’ solution, which is the newest add, is a server based platform. Maybe it has all the right stuff, but I think I’ll pass. On first look, an asterisk solution would have served this scenario very well.
Http server: HFS – Http File Server
Anytime you need to share files via http, it can be troublesome to find something that just does that – and nothing else (no extra fluff, please!!). Look no further than this program, it is the one… I use this when upgrading software on network devices that need http sources to download their new code.
Network Protocol Analyzer: Wireshark (formerly Ethereal)
If you ever find youself troubleshooting a issue where you need to analyze the raw network traffic, this is the program. You might not find yourself using this everyday, but trust me, go ahead and load it now. It’s handy to have available when troubleshooting in that closet where you have no access to download something like this from the Internet.
Network Protocol Server: tftpd32
Tftpd32 includes DHCP, TFTP, SNTP and Syslog servers as well as a TFTP client. Anytime I need a quick DCHP server or am doing some Cisco IOS upgrades via tftp – this is the program in my toolbox that is used. nuff said.
Serial Port Terminal Emulator: Tera Term
I’m not a fan of using Hyperterminal for serial connections to network gear. Although it is very dated (well, I guess HyperTerminal is to through, right?), I prefer to use Tera Term. If you want one emulator that supports Serial, Telnet, and ssh communications then get the enhanced version on Tera Term from Ayera.
Telnet/ssh Client: PuTTY
This program provides a very nice interface when connecting to things using telnet or ssh. The only thing I wish it had was serial support – that way I wouldn’t have to use two different programs for connecting to various devices.
Oh, it’s been talked about for so long. The question is commonly asked: How much longer will this whole CatOS thing continue. Well finally there is a date – no more screaming from customers stating they just can’t let it(CatOS) go. Cisco is ready to put it to sleep…
Goodbye SET
Goodbye hesitant cli console
Goodbye to using session slot 15/16 to configure layer3 stuff
and all the other many quirks that I disliked about CATOS.
Now if we could just get the hardware folks to gut all the suff out that was designed around Layer2/3 separation. It would be very nice to have one flash per supervisor and one memory bank per supervisor.
Get the official news of the CatOS/Hybrid IOS death here:
The US military is to trial putting internet routers into orbit in an experiment that could have important implications for civilian applications.
The internet routing in space (IRIS) project will be run over three years in conjunction with Cisco and Intelsat. The system will carry network services for voice, video and data communications, enabling military units or allied forces to communicate with one another using internet protocol and existing ground equipment.
“The IRIS architecture allows direct IP routing over satellite, eliminating the need for routing via a ground-based teleport, thereby dramatically increasing the efficiency and flexibility of the satellite communications link, ” said Don Brown, vice president of Hosted Payload Programs for Intelsat General.
The router will cover layer 3 routing and can be reconfigured remotely for multicast distribution. Cisco is providing the software and a specialist company will be building the radiation hardened router and casing.
Rest of story
In a series that I am going to call ‘To Much Tech’, this example certainly qualifies for the first post of the category.
Excerpt:
Step down the stark, white stairs into Jeremy Mehrle’s basement and meet his Apple computer collection.
He’s got 99 computers. No, wait. Make that 100. He just got another last night, he said during a recent visit to his home about 55km west of St. Louis. Dozens of his Apple Macintosh computers are on display down here, a techie’s dream party pad.
Mehrle, 29, appears to recognize that there’s an inherent, well, geekiness to his computer collection, but he’s got a sense of humor about it. Perhaps at this level of commitment, it’s actually geek chic.
Rest of Story…
I just saw a great site with some networking how-to videos – one of them was based on an article I did on Windows Loopback configuration and working with Dynagen/Dynamips.