Cisco's Security Device Manager (SDM) now boasts the Firewall Policy Wizard, which you can use to create a firewall. David Davis walks you through the process.

The best way to manage the Cisco IOS is through a terminal emulator using the command-line interface (CLI). What's the best terminal emulator to use? David Davis asked TechRepublic members, and he's got five options for you to choose from.

Default routes tell routers and switches where to go to if they don't have a specified route in their routing table. David Davis reviews the basics of default routes, explains how to configure a static route, and tells you how to distribute a default route.

In a typical IP address spoofing attempt, the attacker fakes the source of packets in order to appear as part of an internal network. David Davis tells you three ways you can make an attacker's life more difficult—and prevent IP address spoofing.

Using quality of service (QoS) on Cisco network devices helps provide both bandwidth and priority to certain types of network traffic. In this edition of Cisco Routers and Switches, David Davis walks you through the basics of configuring QoS on a Cisco router and shows you how our downloadable template makes it easier.

Does setting the correct time on a router really matter? Actually, it does. In this edition of Cisco Routers and Switches, David Davis reviews the benefits of setting the correct time on your router, and he walks you through the three-step process to configure the correct time.

If you don't know what's really going on with the interfaces on your Cisco routers, then you likely don't know which changes you need to make. In this edition of Cisco Routers and Switches, David Davis introduces you to the show interfaces command and its many options, which you can use to find the information you need to know about your interfaces.

David Davis has recently noticed that there seems to be some confusion out there about Cisco's bandwidth command, and he wants to set the record straight. In this edition of Cisco Routers and Switches, find out what the bandwidth command does—and doesn't—do.

Users want to be able to access your network from home or the road using VPN. You want to make sure your network stays secure. Here's how a VPN Security Policy can help.

At some point in your career as an administrator, it's a good bet that you've used a script to automate some common task. To assist with such tasks, Cisco added the Tool Command Language (TCL) with the Cisco IOS 12.3(2)T release. In this edition of Cisco Routers and Switches, David Davis tells you what you need to know about TCL.