Basic Switch Login Tidbits

• console access to switch is allowed by default


• console users can enter the enable command without setting an enable password or enable secret
  
• vty users cannot remote into a switch without login security on the vty lines configured.


• vty users cannot get in the enable mode without enable password or enable secret.

Exex-timout Command

Here's another useful one I like. When I'm connected to my switch or router while practicing a lab, sometimes when I turn my attention to a certain topic for quite a while and my telnet connection remain inactive for over 5 minutes, it will suddenly disconnect. To prevent that from happening:

Router(config)#line vty 0 4 - sets time limit on vty session 0 to 4
Router(config-line)#exec-timeout 0 0 -- 0 minutes and 0 sec, telnet never logs off
Router(config-line)#

Logging Synchronous

Quite often when I'm trying to practice several commands on a router or a switch and all of a sudden, while in the middle of typing a command - a sh run after I changed an IP setting, for example - I get this syslog message on the console as I'm typing my next command. It is quite annoying sometimes.

Well it turns that these messages are there by default and cannot be turned off. However there is a way to make it so the messages don't interrupt you while in the middle of typing something at the prompt. You can actually change the setting so that the message appears at a more convenient time. To do this you can use the logging sychronous command.

What is does is it will tell the router that if any informational items need to be displayed on the screen, your prompt and command line should be moved to a new line. This will prevent the message from being displayed in the middle of what you are typing.

Router(config)#line con 0
Router(config-line)#logging synchronous

TCP/IP and OSI Networking Models...

... go together like horse and carriage. or something like that.

There's no doubt the OSI and TCP/IP networking models are important in all aspects related to networking. No matter what platforms, OSI and TCP/IP are a mainstay in the industry and you have to know and understand what it is, for troublshooting purposes, testing purposes, and for cocktail hour discussion.

Here are some notes and multitudes of sources I use to supplement the information I have from my CCNA exam guide:

1.) TCP/IP Model from Wikipedia
2.) OSI Model from Wikipedia
3.) Need I use more sources than the mighty wiki?

For more info, I just go to the bottom of each pages of the above sources and follow additional links.

Of course, it wouldn't be complete without the obligatory, accompanying images:

I kinda like this one cause it has the encapsulation headers on the layers

Here's a comparison of OSI to TCP/IP model

Images stolen from: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/classes/a338/misc.html

Study Materials

This is the primary study material I'm using for my CCNA preparation. It's a set of two books that covers the ICND1 640-822 and ICND2 640-816 exams.

I don't really have a specific reason for picking this set of books. Being new to this, I don't really know what a good resource is. All my research just made me even more confused about what the right study material is. So, instead of getting a migraine trying to decide which materials to go for, I thougt a Cisco Press publication can't go too wrong.

After all I read in some forum that most of these books (primarily the sybex and cisco press sets) pretty much cover everything you need to know to pass the test. How well I do will really depend, not on finding the perfect study guide, but the method and system I use to study. So far, the book has been pretty straight-forward and very easy to understand. It is as lay as laymen can be. ;) Although I wouldn't mind getting a little bit more technical being this is a technical subject.
Anyway, I'll post more thoughts as I progress through the book in the next few weeks.

The Beginning of Good Things to Come

Ok well, maybe. But I'm here aren't I. And hopefully for the next few months (or years) I'll still be here.

So I'm taking the plunge towards attaining a CCNA certification and hopefully proceeding to the professional level after that.

A little bit background about myself: I'm Aragoen Celtdra and I have been in the IT industry for about 9 years now. My path towards this industry did not arise from a conscious decision to pursue technology but rather, more of a response to a trend that we all infamously call the dotcom era. I graduated college in 2000, and not knowing what to do with my life, and still "searching" for my "true calling", I found it very easy to land a job in the technology field. Back then anyone and everyone who can say "comp-yu-ter" could easily get their foot in the door. And so that's what I did. With a minimal experience working as a PC technician in my university computer store, I had lined up 3 jobs with dotcom companies 2 months before I even graduated. My first job was a dsl installer. I was a dsl "cable guy". =) I didn't know anything about telecom or networking back then, so they trained me.

Fast forward to today, I still don't know anything. So, that brings us to the overall purpose of this web/blog page. I plan to train myself with more advanced knowledge with a goal of landing a higher level position in this industry we love and hate - maybe I'll post a little something about this love/hate dichotomy. ;) My plan is to take over the world. Not really. Truth be told, I've been more or less relegated to what you equate to "mop up" duties in my support position. I've been doing tech support for over 6 years now and yet there doesn't seem to be a way out for me. It's not that I don't have any technical acumen or anything - I created this website just by thinking it, didn't I? It's just that I've never really set out to pursue a deliberate and stated goal or purpose. I was always content where I was. No, change that. I was always content about complaining where I was. Then I decided it's time to stop complaining and bitching and start doing something. Most of what happens in our lives are not caused by other people's actions or influence. Where we are in life is usually a result of our thoughts, decisions, and actions. I decided to change that. I'm no longer going to be a lowly tech. I'm gonna be a rock star of tech. And it begins with this journey....