While you may not have a network as large or as critical as YouTube to manage, unexpected network downtime or lost network traffic is never a good thing. That’s why you should understand what a black hole route is, how it can help you — and how it could hurt you.
Once you’re ready to make the jump to a more sophisticated switch, what do you need to know? Let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions and explore the basic configuration of Cisco IOS switches.
With a simulator, there are always missing commands and programming errors, and it can never really be as complete as the real IOS. However, because an emulator runs the IOS, you get every feature that the real IOS has.
All Cisco routers have two special types of lines, and many Cisco routers have a third. What are these lines, and how do you configure them? These are things that every network admin should know.
A TechRepublic reader recently e-mailed me to ask about limiting the bandwidth on a Cisco Catalyst switch port. In fact, there are a number of uses for this configuration. Let’s take a closer look.
One way to boost network security is to use Cisco’s Port Security feature to lock down switch ports. Learn the basics of port security, and find out how to configure this feature.
When working with the Cisco IOS, it’s very important to know your TCP and UDP port numbers. This is especially true when creating IOS access control lists (ACLs). Let’s take a closer look. What’s a port number? Most of you likely know what port numbers are, but here’s a brief overview just in case: Port …
While recently talking with a fellow network admin, I learned about Nipper. While there are many tools available to perform security audits of network devices, Nipper is unique. Let me show you why. What is Nipper? Short for Network Infrastructure Parser, Nipper is an open source network devices security auditing tool. One benefit of being …
Some time ago, ZDNet’s George Ou wrote an innovative article for TechRepublic about using USB flash drives or compact flash (CF) cards to upgrade a router. This week, I want to take that article a step further. Here’s how I used my USB flash drive with my Cisco 871W router. A little background Before we …
The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a necessary tool for every network administrator. You can easily configure it with just a few commands. SNMP is still the most popular way to monitor the performance of network devices, including Cisco routers and switches. With an SNMP management station, you can graph the performance of network …
