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2013

  • 7 min read

Connecting FEX (5k to 2k)

Nexus-PLineI was pretty excited to get my hands on some of the Cisco Nexus product line which focuses on switching in the data center. The gear I have is an evaluation unit so I made some notes and one thing I was impressed is how easy it is to connect a Nexus 5K to a Nexus 2k also known as a fabric extender. I have kept it simple as the gear I have is a single Nexus 5596 along with a single Nexus 224TP-E who needs redundancy right? So in this post I'll explain how to connect a 5k Nexus to a 2k extender. Let’s get started!

  • 2 min read

GNS3 1.0 Campaign

GNS3-logoIt's been almost 24 hours since GNS3 launched a campaign to bring in funds to support the open source network simulator and bring it up to version 1.0. A lot of new features are on the list, like switching, cloud processing, hassle free configuration, labs/training materials and 3rd party integrations. All of which are in the works for this new version added along with some pretty cool plug-ins. As of writing this post they are at $106,973 dollars which is 300 percent over funded!

  • 4 min read

Configuring EtherChannel (PAgb)

NetworkSwitchesBundling physical links into one logical link is a common practice to up the bandwidth between switches, you may have this also configured on a server to bundle connections as well. In this tutorial I have two 2960 switches both of them trunking all VLANs on two gigabit ports. So in the end game is get 2gbps instead of 1gbps between switches while using Cisco’s proprietary protocol PAgb.

  • 2 min read

CCNA 2-0 What's New?

Cisco-NetworkI brought this topic up in March of this year (See original post) but I wanted to re-post it to add some information because as of today this was your last day to pass the older CCNA exams. Cisco has a refreshed all the CCNA Routing and Switching exams. That includes the ICND1 (640-822), the ICND2 (640-816), and the all in wonder exam (640-816). You will notice some old references no longer mentioned on this refresh, so let's go over the differences and some of the changes Cisco has made to the associate-level certification track. Starting at the CCNA the refreshed exams are the following, 100-101 ICND1 (which replaces 640-822 exam), 200-101 ICND2 (which replaces 640-816 exam), and the all in wonder 200-120 CCNA (which replaces the all in wonder 640-802 exam). Like I mentioned earlier the last day to take these older exams are September 30th of 2013 so good luck :) What has changed:

  • 3 min read

Why Go Professional with Cisco Certs?

I have had the opportunity to take and thankfully pass Cisco certifications at the associate levels and there is one more associate exam, the CCNA Data Center which hopefully I will get later next year.  While looking at the CCNA Data Center exam I also glanced over the professional arena that Cisco offers and if you’re like me I always like learning new things especially in technical field. Getting those “aha moments” once in a while makes it worth it, but beyond just over all knowledge of additional technologies why would you go on taking a professional Cisco cert?

  • 5 min read

Copy Running-Config From PowerShell

powershell-logoI will be up front on this I really never had that much experience with power-shell scripts but I wanted a quick way to connect to routers and switches and issue the show run command and have that script output everything into one file. So some searching around I decided to drive into power-shell to see if I could get something to work. One of my first problems was to find a way to have power-shell SSH into my devices I found out about SharpSSH which look interesting but I also found SSH.NET. So I went with my second choice and decided to try the SSH.NET module. I would not of went that far if I did not stumble across this website which helped out a lot.

  • 4 min read

Is Your Network Healthy?

heart-healthy-netNetworks are becoming more "borderless" as Cisco likes to call it and it's definitely true. Having the ability to get access to resources remotely without having to be at our office physically is a nice touch, you may even notice higher productivity and who doesn't want that! Networks have to be in a healthy state in order for people remotely and people at the office to get their work done. An unhealthy network at a business usually loses productivity and customers which in the end comes down to money.

  • 2 min read

Look at GNS3 - New Version

Look at GNS3 - New Version: A new version of GNS3 released on July 5th 2013 is available for download. You can download GNS3 v0.8.4 at gns3.net. This release includes improvements and new features. Some of the important one are:

  • 2 min read

Passed 640-554!

Short story, I am proud to say that I passed! I have studied off and on in the beginning of the year but I did set a date to take the exam which was June 28th .As that date was getting closer I buckled down and reviewed the materials again and focused in on some areas that I knew I was weak in.

  • 9 min read

Site-To-Site VPN via CCP

security-gallery-01258I have ran through before on how to create a site-to-site VPN with Cisco SDM which sounds like a repeat but I thought why not bring CCP into light and since I'm studying the newly created CCNA Security (640-554) I figured let's create a tutorial on it. In this lab I am going to post the running-config of both locations so you can either run it through Packet Tracer or live equipment if you wish. I am running two Cisco 2811s with Advanced Security Version 12.4(24)T8. Let's do it!