For CCNA and CCNP candidates, it's hard not to laugh the first time you hear the phrase "router on a stick". Let's face it, that's a pretty silly term. But as those who have passed the CCNA and CCNP exams know, this is a vital exam topic that you must know how to configure and troubleshoot.
Basic Cisco theory states that for hosts in different VLANs to communicate, a Layer 3 device must be involved to handle the routing between the VLANs. That device is a router, and there are special considerations that must be taken into account for both the physical router itself and the configuration you'll be writing.
The router will be connected to a switch via a FastEthernet port (or higher). The router port cannot be a regular Ethernet port, since the router port will need the ability to send and receive data at the same time.
The configuration of the interface is where things get interesting. Let's say we have two VLANs that will be using router-on-a-stick to communicate.
Here is the VLAN information:
VLAN 20: 20.20.20.0 /24
VLAN 40: 40.40.40.0 /24
The port on the switch that will be connected to the router's FastEthernet port must be in trunking mode, and you must know the trunking protocol in use. We'll go with the Cisco-proprietary ISL here.
The physical FE port on the router will not have an IP address. The use of router-on-a-stick mandates the use of logical subinterfaces. While we don't have to use the VLAN numbers for the subinterface numbers, I've found this helps you keep the interfaces straight. One subinterface must be given an IP address in VLAN 20, and the other will have an IP address in VLAN 40
After creating subinterfaces fast 0.20 and fast 0.40, the config looks like this:
interface fastethernet0
no ip address
interface FastEthernet 0.20
ip address 20.20.20.1 255.255.255.0
interface FastEthernet 0.40
ip address 40.40.40.1 255.255.255.0
Believe it or not, you're almost done! Now we need the encapsulation statement under each subinterface. The subinterface statement must reflect both the VLAN number and the encapsulation type being used. When we're finished, the config would look like this:
interface fastethernet0
no ip address
interface FastEthernet 0.20
ip address 20.20.20.1 255.255.255.0
encapsulation isl 20
interface FastEthernet 0.40
ip address 40.40.40.1 255.255.255.0
encapsulation isl 40
And that's it! Your hosts in VLAN 20 should now be able to communicate with hosts in VLAN 40, and vice versa.
A couple of final troubleshooting points - the most common error with router-on-a-stick is to put the wrong vlan number in the encapsulation statement. Also, make sure you have configured the router's IP address in VLAN 20 as the default gateway for hosts in VLAN 20, and do the same for VLAN 40.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at router-on-a-stick. While the name may get a chuckle out of you, it's still used in quite a few networks out there, and knowing how to configure and troubleshoot it will get you that much closer to earning your CCNA and CCNP.
Microsoft was long derided by its critics for having failed to fully grasp the Internet revolution. It was late in developing Net technologies such as a proprietary search engine and in coping with security threats propagated through the Web.
Not any more. Earlier this year MSN rolled out a great search engine and now Microsoft has fundamentally revamped its reference products. By committing itself to this overhaul, Microsoft embraced reality: nine out of ten children (between the ages of 5 and 17) use computers (USA figures) - and 85% of these get their information online.
The Microsoft Encarta Premium 2006 is a breathtaking resource. It caters effectively (and, at $50, affordably) to the educational needs of everyone in the family, from children as young as 7 or 8 years old to adults who seek concise answers to their queries. It is fun-filled, interactive, and colorful.
The 2006 Encarta's User Interface is far less cluttered than in previous editions. Content is arranged by topics and then by relevancy and medium. Add to this the Encarta's Visual Browser and you get only relevant data in response to your queries. The Encarta Search Bar, which was integrated into the product two years ago, and is resident in the Task Pane even when Encarta is closed, enables users to search any part of the Encarta application (encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, etc).
The Encarta's new Web Companion is a (giant) step in the right direction. It obtains search results from all the major search engines without launching any additional applications (like a browser). Content from both the Encarta and the Web is presented side by side. This augmentation explicitly adopts the Internet and incorporates it as an important source of reference.
It may raise important and interesting issues of intellectual property, though. Web content copyright-holders may demand royalties from Microsoft for the use it makes of their wares in its commercial products.
Encarta would do well to also integrate with new desktop search tools from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others. Users should be able to seamlessly access content from all over - their desktop, their encyclopedias, and the Web - using a single, intuitive interface.
The Encarta Premium includes a dictionary, thesaurus, chart maker, searchable index of quotations, games, 32 Discovery Channel videos, 25,000 photos and illustrations, 2800 sound and audio clips, hundreds of maps and tables, and 400 videos and animations. It incorporates numerous third-party texts and visuals (including hundreds of newspaper articles and a plethora of Scientific American features).
The Encarta is augmented by weekly or bi-weekly updates and the feature-rich online MSN Encarta Premium with its Homework Help offerings. Unfortunately, the Encarta still conditions some of its functions - notably its research tools and updates - on registration with its Plus Club.
The Encarta is the most comprehensive, PC-orientated reference experience there is. No wonder it has an all-pervasive hold on and ubiquitous penetration of the child-to-young adult markets. Particularly enchanting is the Encarta Kids interface - an area replete with interactive quizzes, pictures, large icons, hundreds of articles, and links to the full version of the Encarta. A veritable and colorful sandbox. Those kids are going to get addicted to the Encarta, that's for sure!
Encarta actively encourages fun-filled browsing. It is a riot of colors, sidebars, videos, audio clips, photos, embedded links, literature, Web resources, and quizzes. It is a product of the age of mass communication, a desktop extension of television and the Internet.
Inevitably, in such a mammoth undertaking, not everything is peachy. A few gripes:
Regrettably, installation is not as easy as before. The Encarta 2006 makes use of Microsoft's .Net technology. As most home computers lack it, the installer insists on adding it to the anyhow bloated Windows Operating System. There is worse to come: the .Net version installed by Encarta 2006 is plagued with security holes and vulnerabilities. Users have to download service packs and patches from Windows Update if they do not wish to run the risk of having their computers compromised by hackers.
Fully installed, the Encarta Premium 2006 gobbles up more than 3.5 Gb. That's a lot - even in an age of ever cheaper storage. Most homesteads still sport PCs with 20-40 Gb hard disks. This makes the Encarta less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops. Despite the hype, relatively few users possess DVD drives (but those who do, find the entire encyclopedia available on one DVD).
The Encarta DVD 3-D tours have improved but they still hog computer resources and are essentially non-interactive. Is it worth the investment and the risk to the stability and performance of the user's computer?
The Encarta tries to cater to the needs of challenged users, such as the visually-impaired - but is still far from doing a good job of it.
The atlas, dictionary, and thesaurus incorporated in the Encarta are outdated. Why not use a more current - and dynamically updated - offering? What about dictionaries for specialty terms (medical or computer glossaries, for instance)? The Encarta's New English Dictionary dropped a glossary of computer terms it used to include back in 2001. All's the pity.
But that's it. Encarta is a must-buy (especially if you have children). The Encarta is the best value for money around and significantly enhances you access to knowledge and wisdom accumulated over centuries all over the world. The amount and quality of content squeezed into a $50 package (before rebate) defies belief. I am a 44 years old adult but when I received my Encarta Premium 2006, I was once more a child in a land of wonders. How much is such an experience worth to you?
Most people don't like to have a boss, but not everyone can work on their own. But working from home can be fairly expensive. Anyone who has worked from home can attest to the high cost of home office equipment. Standard office equipment includes a fax machine to send and receive documents quickly, a copier for making multiple copies of paperwork, a scanner for uploading information, and a printer for a variety of paperwork-related tasks. Adding them all up can hit you hard in the wallet and clog up your workspace. Luckily for anyone with a home office, there is a simple solution: an all-in-one printer.
The greatest advantage of the all-in-one printer is that it integrates three sizable machines into one conveniently-sized device. The all-in-one printer can fit easily on the surface of a desk or shelf, freeing up surface space for other things. Installing the printer's software is simple to do, with easy step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process. Finding an all-in-one printer is as effortless as a quick trip to an electronics store like Best Buy, Circuit City, or Radio Shack.
Alternatively, you can shop online to find an all-in-one printer that's right for you. With so many currently available on the market, the competition between brands has made the prices fall greatly. Some reliable online stores include http://geeks.com, http://newegg.com and http://amazon.com. Each of these online businesses can offer product warranties that will protect your all-in-one printer from an early demise.
All-in-one printers usually sell for one hundred dollars or less, so the cost of the machine makes it a very practical investment for any home office. The added work space that the all-in-one printer allows you makes the purchase even more practical, because it helps you maximize your office's usable space. The additional convenience of having three devices in one is yet another clear advantage of buying an all-in-one printer.
Some all-in-one printers come with bundled software that allows the printer to serve as a fax machine in addition to its printing, scanning and copying duties. Buying an all-in-one printer with faxing capabilities will cost a little more, but the added convenience of being able to send and receive documents from home can make the additional expense well worth it.
You can benefit from investing in an all-in-one printer, even if you don't work from home running your own business. These all-in-one printers are perfect for anyone wanting to scan and save family photographs, make copies of personal documents, or print letters and greeting cards. All-in-one printers are inexpensive too, especially when comparing it to the combined prices of all the separate devices. Adding up the ease and convenience of owning one device that performs a variety of tasks makes obtaining one a practical and fine investment.
Blogging 101
If writing is an art, then, blogging is one way of using words to come up with an art. This is because people who are into blogging are the ones who are artistic on their own sense, carefully choosing words that would best describe their feelings, sentiments, wishes, desires, and everything.
Basically, blogs were first introduced as weblogs that refer to a "server's log file." It was created when web logging hit the virtual market. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, web logging gradually saturated the virtual community making the Internet a viable source of greater information.
However, with web logging, you still need a web site and domain names, but with blogging, you do not need anything just an account with blog providers. In most cases, these kinds of blogs are free of charge.
With the onset of blogging in the industry, personal journaling had been a common ground for people who wish to be known all over the world. However, not literally famous as this is not a case on being popular or well-known personality.
Generally, blogs are created for personal use. Like a journal, people can write their daily adventures, sentiments, and whatever ideas they want to express online.
Nevertheless, with the advent of the online businesses, blogs had gradually taken the limelight in providing businesses a chance to boost their productivity online. This is where the business blogs have taken the limelight.
Business blogs are, basically, created to advertise the services or products of a certain web site or online business in order to increase online sales.
Moreover, business blogs are also one way of promoting the company so that the other readers will know that a certain company exists online. With blogs, entrepreneurs are able to establish a name in the virtual market through articles that can be very useful in the reader's life.
From there, you can make money out of blogs by simply syndicating it to your business' web site. This can be done through the RSS technology.
So, if you are thinking to create a blog, whether for business or for pleasure, you need to know some tips that could help you get through and make your blog one of the interesting blogs online.
Here's how:
1. Consider your audience
Even if your blog is generally personal, still, it would be better to consider the minds of your readers. You have to think of something that would interest them.
After all, most of the reasons of people who write blogs are not at all confined to their own personal motives. Most of them would love to be "heard" (or read) and would love to be known, in some way or another, even for just a minute. Hence, it is very important to come with a write up that everybody can understand, not necessarily that these people can relate to it but they can understand it.
2. Pictures speaks a thousand words
To make your blogging worth the browsing effort of your readers, it would be extremely nice if you will put some pictures in it. It does not necessarily mean you have to place a picture of yourself. Any photographs will do as long as it does not pose danger or insult to anyone who will be reading your blog.
3. Make constructive and beneficial blogs
Even if you are free to write anything you wan to say to the world, still, it would be better to create some write-ups that would be beneficial to your readers.
After all, its information technology that you have there so better be inclined to provide information rather than sheer quirky entertainment.
4. Avoid making multifaceted and complicated blogs
In order to have an interesting blogs, try not to use some highly technical and highfalutin words. After all, it is not a science discourse or a debate that you are making, so better stick to simple facts and short blogs.
Bear in mind that most people who use the Internet usually do more scanning than scrutinizing each site word for word. Therefore, it would be better to come with blogs that will not bore your readers just because you have these lengthy articles.
5. Make it interactive
As much as possible and if your capacity will allow it, make your blog interactive. Yu can do this by placing some video or audio clips in your blog.
You can even place an area for comments or for some feedbacks. In this way, you can get some impressions or reactions of other people. Who knows, you might even gain some friends just by making them feel at home in your blog site.
Indeed, blogs are not created just for the mere fun of it. It also has its own purpose in the world of the Internet.
Therefore, for people who wish to harness their craft, as far as writing is concerned, blogs are the best way to do it.
As they say, blogging is the contemporary term of creative and commercial writing.
There are 4 color personality types. Red, Blue, Green and Yellow.
In a nutshell knowing what the different color personalities people have means you'll understand people better then they understand themselves.
At this point this tells you nothing. No worries it didn't mean anything to me when I first heard about personality colors. But man I wish I knew about this years ago, it would have saved me a ton of aggravation.
Everybody has a color type. And with that color type we act in a certain way. Certain things are important to us. We like to be talked to in a certain way. We like and dislike certain things.
Take me for example. Lets say you were calling me as a potential prospect.
What if you knew how I liked to be talked to? Knew what was important to me. Knew what I didn't like. Knew what I liked. Knew if I was over sensitive. Knew if I needed support. Knew if I like to have fun.
Knew if I would be teachable. Knew if I was money motivated. Knew if I would be a leader. Knew if I was creative. Knew if I needed all the facts and figures.... I could go on and on.
What if you knew all this information and soooooooo much more about me after only talking to me (anyone) for only a few minutes and then gained more and more insight to me the longer you talked to me?
Do you think this would impact your business and your personal life in a positive way?
If I have to answer that for you...honestly click away and go play a video game you're just wasting your time. (Sorry about that I had some guy tell me he saw no value in this. Gee no wonder he's not achieving all the success he could be.)
But for everyone else who sees the power of this. Would you not agree you'd have an unfair advantage on everyone else?
I can give you a brief overview of the four different personality colors. There is much more to learn but this will give you a good idea of the power of knowing color personalities. (They're in no particular order)
First there is Yellow. Yellow's make up 35% of the population and are open and indirect with their feelings. They are the best at using both sides of their brains. They are relationship and family orientated, logical, analytical and teamwork is very important to them. Their voice is soft and gentle and speak in relaxed tones.
Yellows have jobs like teachers, social workers usually any nurturing job. They like giving back to others. They don't like pushy people, aggressiveness, sudden change or animal cruelty.
Some of their weaknesses are. They are over sensitive, take things personally and will buy other peoples excuses.
Talk to a yellow slowly and relaxed and let them know they are appreciated.
Next is Blue (that's me). Blues make up 15% of the population. Blues are open and direct with their feelings. Very right brained, talk fast, very creative, must have fun doing things. Strong on family and relationships, spontaneous and enthusiastic.
Blues have jobs like sales (of any kind), singer songwriter anything that is creative.
They don't like not having fun they don't like facts and figures or being sold.
Their weaknesses are being unorganized, scattered and poor savers.
When you talk to a blue focus on fun, talk about excitement. Never try to sell a blue.
Next is Greens. Greens make up 35% of the population. They are indirect and self-contained with their feelings. Right brained, very logical, and analytical. Precise and need to have all the facts and figures. They are savers. Organized, task orientated and accurate. Let's get the kids to college. And they're the best negotiators.
Some of their jobs include, engineers, accountants, CPA, professor. Anything to do with logic and reasoning.
They don't like pushy people. Not having all the facts and figures. Not being on time, aggressiveness. Get depressed easily and are hard to please.
Some of their weaknesses are, they over analyze everything (to death). Hard to please and pessimistic about everything.
When speaking to a green, give them the facts and figures. You cannot overload a green with information.
And finally the Reds. Reds make up 15% of the population. Reds are direct and self-contained with their feelings. Reds are right brained. Their slogan is "It's my way or the highway" Forceful, stern and to the point. No chitchat, money is power, take action. Task orientated, Impatient, un-teachable, show me the money.
Their jobs consist of being CEO's, Attorneys, military leaders, and president of the bank.
Reds do not like losing control, indecision, small talk or crying. They don't like talking about time freedom, family or vacations.
Some of their weaknesses are having a big ego, domineering and un-teachable.
When you talk to a red you need to let them think you need them. They like being sold, close them, focus on money, and stroke their ego. Talk about your leaders income.
Now everything I just outlined about the different color personalities is not a judgment it's who people are.
Just imagine if you had this information the next time you talked to a prospect? How do you think your next call would go?
Learn this skill so the next time you're talking to someone and they say something in a certain tone or way or ask you a question. You'll know exactly why they're acting the way they are and why they are asking the questions they do.
Instead of taking things personally or getting frustrated, you'll say to yourself "Hey you're suppose to act like that or say that because you're a green" (pick a color)
Master this one skill and your business life and personal life will skyrocket. Guaranteed!!!
Until Next Time.
To your success,
Duffy Rogan
Well, talking about advancement in technology, it is true that there are many new technologies have come out or shall I say became known. Due to this innovation or through the fast change in our technology there are many old technologies are also becoming obsolete. Old model technologies are fastly phasing out. Today our technologies are becoming faster with its service and better with its production.
One has the fastest change in technology is in printing industry. No doubts that there are many printing companies are competing to each other. Most of these printing companies have their own advance printing technology and services that can offer you. The choice is yours. It's up to you which company you will entrust your printing projects.
Due to the advancement, more printing companies are using the service of the internet to be able to connect to their clients fast. The internet opens more options especially in terms of providing printing services. Online printing is perfect for any business with publishing needs. With today's cutting edge technology, it is easier and more efficient than ever to produce high quality documents that reflect the class and integrity of your business establishment. Given the widespread use and utility of business printing services, it is important to look for unequaled, complete online printing options.
One of the reasons behind of this fast popularity of online printing is the fast start of broadband, but uploading a batch of prints at modem speed can be impossibly slow, whereas with a good internet service provider the process can be much speedier.
Online printing services are really providing a huge service for the business and professional world. Not only do they offer great prices on all kinds of printing, but a good number also provide excellent customer service and websites that list all of their prices. Some online printers offer free shipping as well, so you don't have to worry about that.
Wasting a lot of time waiting for your printing project to be done in a printing shop is over. Printing your promotional items, company paper and other business documents is easy as reaching your pc. Print online is a one stop shop and a place cards print online for all your printing projects with state of the art equipment, digital print online and experienced staff to accommodate all your printing needs.
Microsoft Outlook is the de-facto standard for office communication. A typical office employee's entire workflow consists of tasks, contacts, and email exchange in Microsoft Outlook. But what happens if one day a system crash happens, or a hard drive fails, or some malware targets and corrupts your Outlook data? Does this mean the end of the day for your entire office?
Are you betting on the chance that corruption is unlikely to happen? Consider the following. In a typical office environment, Outlook PST and OST files that contain all email, tasks, appointments and contacts are the files accessed most frequently. Computers read and write to these files all the time during the working day, except for the lunch break. If there is one file that is likely to be damaged or corrupted during a power outage, that would be an Outlook storage container. If Windows crashes at the moment Outlook was accessing a PST or OST file, the corruption will occur almost inevitably. If that happens, Microsoft Outlook will not be able to access that data, and it will report a corrupt database.
Modern hard drives are made to barely survive through the warranty period. Chances of hard drive failure increase exponentially after about 3 years of use. Don't let a hard drive failure to get you unprepared!
Power outages, black-outs and brown-outs are becoming all too common. A UPS can save you from power outages, firewalls can protect against viruses and malware, and regular backups will get you back on track if the unpredictable happens. But what if the backup is a few days old, and you're in the middle of something important? What if you cannot afford to lose several days of work? Consider repairing the corrupt Outlook database to save you days of work!
Outlook has a built-in recovery mechanism. If Outlook detects corruption in a PST or OST file, it rejects the file automatically, not allowing you to continue your work.
Microsoft provides another level of recovery in the form of a special Inbox Repair Tool to recover corrupt databases called ScanPST.exe. It claims to recover corrupt Offline Folders (*.ost) and Personal Folders (.pst). Unfortunately, this level of data recovery can only cope with small problems, and frequently fails if more serious damage is done to the database. Even worse, sometimes its recovery attempt produces files even more damaged than the originals. Microsoft warns that using that tool can result in data loss.
If everything else fails, refer to a third-party solution such as Recovery ToolBox for Outlook http://www.recoverytoolbox.com/outlook.html. The product maximizes your chances of successful data recovery of your mailbox files with all email folders, tasks, appointments, contacts and any other data stored in the PST and OST files. Unlike many similar tools, Recovery ToolBox for Outlook can repair PST and OST files that are seriously damaged, and can even deal with the harsh consequences of running Microsoft ScanPST.
Recovery ToolBox for Outlook allows you to access PST and OST files directly, bypassing Microsoft Outlook completely. It implements its own algorithm of accessing Microsoft proprietary formats and optionally converting data into a set of regular .eml files. The toolbox is not limited to just data recovery, allowing you to convert your *.pst and *.ost files into a set of *.eml and *.vcf files, or convert *.pst files into *.ost format.
Download your copy from http://www.recoverytoolbox.com/outlook.html and keep it installed on all PCs in your office and at home to be able to get back to work instantly in case of an unpredictable event!
Today, Microsoft Excel clearly possesses dominant market share in the spreadsheet product market. Its proprietary XLS format is compatible throughout the range of Microsoft Excel versions, and is a de facto standard at home and in the office. It is hard to overestimate the number of spreadsheets and the amount of important data stored in XLS files all over the world. But what if your computer's hard drive fails and you lose access to all spreadsheets? Or what if you simply delete an XLS spreadsheet on which you've spent hours of work?
Don't panic! Everything may not be lost just yet, and you may be able to recover all information without a sweat. To maximize your chances of successful recovery, minimize your activity on the computer where the lost files were. While you cannot be completely sure that Windows does not write anything on the disk that stores your lost files, the goal is essentially to limit disk write operations until you get back all important data from that disk. Any data that's written on a disk that contains deleted or inaccessible data on it can, and probably will, overwrite the deleted files on the disk and destroy information that was stored in them.
Anecdotally, one of the worst things you can do is looking for a tool that will undelete or recover your XLS files, installing and trying out such tools in action. On a typical PC, any Web page you open in a browser will cause several file writes to a hard drive, reducing your chances of successful data recovery. Any program that you download or install is also written to your hard disk. Finally, as not all products are equal, running a wrong type of data recovery application bears an unacceptably high risk of losing your lost Excel spreadsheets forever.
DiskInternals Excel Recovery is designed specifically to find and recover Microsoft Excel XLS spreadsheets safely and securely, no matter how badly your hard drive or the file system are damaged. If you simply deleted an XLS file, DiskInternals Excel Recovery will look up the file system to find all XLS files that were deleted recently, and test each file for the possibility of successful recovery. In bad cases or if your hard drive crashed or the file system is corrupt, DiskInternals Excel Recovery will scan entire hard drive's surface in order to locate Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that aren't marked in the file system. The product uses a list of signatures associated with Microsoft XLS file format in order to detect precisely the beginning and end of each and every Microsoft Excel spreadsheet on your hard disk, extracts and validates their contents and metadata on the fly. This method works even on disks that are completely inaccessible in Windows!
The product matches the results obtained with the file system scan against those obtained by scanning surface of the hard disk, and displays the complete list of recoverable Excel spreadsheets along with their file names, metadata and contents, giving you the best possibility of successful recovery.
If you only need to recover the latest version of an Excel spreadsheet, you can use "On the Fly" filters that allow to only showing XLS files with specific title, created by specific author, or the files that contain certain text, are of a certain size, or are last saved on a specific date. The free version of DiskInternals Excel Recovery allows full file preview to ensure that you can recover exactly the files you need.
Download and try an evaluation version for free from http://www.diskinternals.com/. You only need to purchase when you see for yourself that DiskInternals Excel Recovery provides you complete recovery of your XLS files in your particular circumstances.
In your BCMSN / CCNP exam study, it's easy to overlook some of the details of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). After all, you learned all of that in your CCNA studies, right? Not necessarily! While some of the BCMSN material will be a review for you, there are some details regarding familiar topics that you need to learn. That includes the timers for STP - Hello Time, MaxAge, and Forward Delay.
You may remember these timers from your CCNA studies as well, and you should also remember that these timers should not be changed lightly. What you might not have known is that if you decide to change any and all of these timers, that change must be configured on the root bridge! The root bridge will inform the nonroot switches of the change via BPDUs.
Hello Time is the interval between BPDUs, two seconds by default.
Forward Delay is the length of both the listening and learning STP stages, with a default value of 15 seconds.
Maximum Age, referred to by the switch as MaxAge, is the amount of time a switch will retain a BPDU's contents before discarding it. The default is 20 seconds.
The value of these timers can be changed with the spanning-tree vlan command shown below. Verify the changes with the show spanning-tree command.
SW1(config)#spanning-tree vlan 1 ?
forward-time Set the forward delay for the spanning tree
hello-time Set the hello interval for the spanning tree
max-age Set the max age interval for the spanning tree
priority Set the bridge priority for the spanning tree
root Configure switch as root
SW1(config)#spanning-tree vlan 1 hello-time 5
SW1(config)#spanning-tree vlan 1 max-age 30
SW1(config)#spanning-tree vlan 1 forward-time 20
SW1(config)#^Z
SW1#show spanning-tree vlan 1
VLAN0001
Spanning tree enabled protocol ieee
Root ID Priority 32769
Address 000f.90e1.c240
This bridge is the root
Hello Time 5 sec Max Age 30 sec Forward Delay 20 sec
Bridge ID Priority 32769 (priority 32768 sys-id-ext 1)
Address 000f.90e1.c240
Hello Time 5 sec Max Age 30 sec Forward Delay 20 sec
Aging Time 300
Interface Role Sts Cost Prio.Nbr Type
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Fa0/11 Desg FWD 19 128.11 P2p
Fa0/12 Desg FWD 19 128.12 P2p
Again, you should always take great care in changing these timers. Those defaults are set for a reason - helping to prevent switching loops!
Technology has certainly come a long way in the past few decades. Gone are the huge contraptions that used to characterize computers. Nowadays, you can easily purchase a notebook computer that weighs in at less than 6 pounds. However, one thing hasn't changed. Hard drives still occasionally crash and frustrated users are left trying to figure out just how to do hard drive data recovery on their own.
Hard drives aren't perfect, although they're amazing examples of mechanical engineering. Physical damage can easily occur since these disks are spinning at such high speeds. The smallest interference while in use can cause damage in certain areas. Various features have been put into place to reduce the likelihood of a critical hard drive failure, but these are not 100% effective. Sadly, physical damage isn't the only reason why you may need to attempt hard drive data recovery. Many people accidentally wipe out their hard drives because they're not sure what they're doing.
If you do know a good deal about computers, and are not the one who messed up the hard drive in the first place, it may be possible for you to do your own hard drive data recovery. Keep in mind that to do this, you may need to fix your master boot record, or retrieve data from a physically damaged disk. If you can't do this, then you'll need to employ the services of a hard drive data recovery expert. Actually, if your system crashes and you don't actually recover data for a living, I'd suggest you go straight to a hard drive data recovery expert. One thing though…they're expensive. Come on, these guys are specialized in what they do. You didn't really expect that any hard drive data recovery expert would do it for free, did you?
You know what can really help you save money if your hard drive does crash? Backing up your data. It seems like such a sensible thing to do, doesn't it? Some users partition their hard drive. This makes it easy for you to do your hard drive data recovery because chances are only one partition will fail. If you've backed up your files, you can continue working or, better yet, you can save them to an external source and get a new hard drive. You should definitely invest in an external back up. Yes, it's an inconvenience to remember to back up important files, but at least you won't have to pay for a hard drive data recovery expert.
World of Warcraft has developed an enormous following since its release in November 2004. It has built upon its initial success to become an enduring and hugely popular title. The demand for the game has been stronger than its creators might have expected, and it is now a fully-fledged social phenomenon, attracting all kinds of people to its world.
World of Warcraft has enjoyed global success and acclaim. It seemed natural that it would do well in America, where there was anticipation for a new Warcraft title. The truth though is that it has taken off everywhere it has been released. It has been a massive hit in Asia, Australia, Canada, and Europe, and has many international fans and subscribers. The game has a simple, universal appeal that transcends language barriers and geography.
One of World of Warcraft's strengths is that it appeals to both casual gamers and more experienced players. The game has made the online multiplayer genre more accessible to people who might not normally play it. A lot of people who try the game may have regarded the genre as too complex or may not have played a role-playing game before. It is the quality of World of Warcraft and the buzz surrounding it that has drawn people's attention towards it.
World of Warcraft has a huge following on the Internet. There is an official site that is busy and informative and contains forums for the game's subscribers. There are many other fan sites as well. It has a keen fan base made up of a broad cross section of society. People enjoy the game for all sorts of reasons, with fans citing the gorgeous graphics, addictive gameplay and unique characters as elements they find appealing.
Although World of Warcraft has the visual style of a cartoon, it is a game that people of any age can enjoy. All age groups play it, from children to seniors. This leads to an interesting online environment, as younger players interact with older gamers. It is a real mix of people, as children and teenagers share the game's world with twenty year olds and more mature, middle-aged players and older. It is a friendly, lively environment and tends to be good-natured and welcoming.
The World of Warcraft universe is a happy, thriving community. There is a strong social aspect to it and players can become friends with each other. The game's world of Azeroth follows the real world's calendar and so they mark holidays and seasonal events in the game. On New Year's Eve in 2005 there were parties and celebrations in Azeroth that all players could attend. It is features like this that make its world much more vivid, colourful and convincing
There is a fan convention for World of Warcraft. The game's developer Blizzard held an event in October 2005 named BlizzCon, for fans of Warcraft and their other titles. World of Warcraft was a major part of this event, and one of the main attractions was a preview of the game's expansion, The Burning Crusade. Some 8,000 people attended the event, which is expected to become an annual occurrence. Families went together and fans dressed up in costume as their favourite characters from the game.
World of Warcraft has caught people's imagination and this has led to a variety of creative offshoots. One key sign of the game's popularity is the existence of Warcraft fan fiction. Players like to write fictional stories about the characters and events of the game. Fan art is also popular. People draw and paint images inspired by the game and post them in galleries online. Blizzard run their own Fan Art Program that fans can submit their art to for display. There is great creativity and beauty there.
The broad appeal of World of Warcraft is such that it has infiltrated popular culture. The game has been used as an answer on the quiz show Jeopardy. It also has celebrity admirers. The comedian Dave Chappelle is a fan. Chappelle talked about the game during a stand-up performance in San Francisco in 2005. "You know what I've been playing a lot of?" the comedian reportedly asked the audience, "World of Warcraft!" He praised the game and expressed his delight with it.
World of Warcraft then is a game that has broken new ground to appeal to a great number of people in society. With more than five million subscribers, it is now the most popular online role-playing game and has grown far beyond its cult origins. Its wide appeal speaks of the brilliance of the game itself.
The Answer To The Media Access Control Question
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Over the past few weeks I have received quite a few e-mails about Ethernet cards, both wired and wireless, and more specifically, about Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. I think the main reason I've received so many questions about Ethernet cards and MAC addresses is people trying to secure their home wireless networks and their desire to use MAC address filtering. This type of filtering in wireless networks can be configured to allow or deny specific computers to use or attach to the wireless network, based on the MAC address.
My first thought was to write an article just about MAC addresses and wireless Ethernet. After thinking about it I decided to expand on this and go over some specific information about Ethernet cards and communication.
Different Ways Of Finding Your MAC Address And More
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There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer's have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP "ipconfig" utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.
First, go to "start" -> "run" and type "cmd" without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type "ipconfig /all", again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your network cards. An example of what you might see by typing the "ipconfig /all" command is below with each item commented in green lettering:
Fault Tolerant And Highly Availability Computer Systems
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There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer's have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP "ipconfig" utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.
First, go to "start" -> "run" and type "cmd" without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type "ipconfig /all", again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your network cards. An example of what you might see by typing the "ipconfig /all" command is below:
OutPut Of The "Ipconfig /All" Command
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Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Home Computer
This is the name of your computer, typically defined during the windows installation. However, it can be changed after installation.
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : domain.com
If your computer participates in a network such as a Microsoft Windows domain this item may contain the name of the domain.
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
The Node Type may say Unknown, or peer-to-peer, or in some cases "hybrid". It is a setting that has to do with the Windows Internet Naming Services used in certain types of Windows domain networks.
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
This setting determines if Windows XP or 2000 will function as an IP router. If you have two or more network cards you can setup your system to act as a router, forwarding communications requests from one network to another. Windows 2000 can be configured to do this in a pretty straight forward fashion; Windows XP will need a registry modification.
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy is another setting that is related to the "Node Type" we discussed earlier. It is normally not a required setting in a home or small office network, or newer types of Microsoft Windows domains.
Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:
If you have multiple Ethernet (network) cards in your systems, as I do in this laptop, you will have multiple listings. This one happens to be the second Ethernet card, an internal wireless Ethernet card.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN
This is the description of the Ethernet card, usually the Name / Manufacturer and type of Ethernet card. In this case, it is a Broadcom wireless Ethernet card built into my laptop.
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-F1-6E-4A
And here we have the MAC address. The MAC address is a 48 bit hexadecimal code and is suppose to be a totally unique address. It is 48 bits because each number or letter in hexadecimal represents 8 bits. Hexadecimal numbers range from 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E, F. There are 6 alpha-numeric codes hence 6*8=48(bits). The first 3 codes identify the manufacturer of the card and the remaining codes are used to create a unique number. Theoretically there should never be a card with same MAC address on a local network. However, there are a few exceptions. There are software tools that allow you to change this code. In fact, this is a step some hackers take to attack other systems on a local network. I say local network because MAC addresses are not routable between network segments. By spoofing this address, you can impersonate another machine on the local network. Traffic that was bound for the intended target can be redirected to the hacker's machine. This is the address you would also use to populate a MAC address, or physical address table when setting up your wireless access point to support MAC address filtering.
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
DHCP, or the Dynamic Host Control Protocol, if enabled means your computers IP address is being provided by a DHCP server on you network. The DHCP server could be your wireless access point, cable/dsl router, cable modem, or a server on your network. Also, if a DHCP server is not enabled on your network, your computers Operating System will auto generate a random IP address within a certain predefined range. This means you could network a group of systems together without having to manually assign the IP settings.
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.117
This parameter provides you with your current IP address. The address listed above is what is called a "private" address. There are certain classes of IP addresses that have been set aside for private use. This means for your internal, local, or private network at home or office. These addresses are not, or should not, be routable on the Internet. The Internet routes what are called "valid" IP addresses. Your cable/dsl router or cable modem has a valid IP address assigned to its "external" network interface. The external interface may be your phone line or cable TV cable.
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
The Subnet Mask is a special number, or in some sense, filter, that breaks down your IP address, in this case private IP address, into certain groups. IP addresses and Subnet Masks can be a complicated matter and would take an entire article to go over.
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254
The default gateway, the IP addresses listed above, is the IP address of the device that will route your request, such as when you try to browse a website, to the Internet. It is a bit more complicated than that though as gateways or routers can route traffic to various different networks, even other private networks. At your home or small office, this gateway most likely is your cable/dsl modem or router.
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.49
The DHCP server, remember we talked a little about this above, is the device that assigns your computer an IP address and other information. DHCP servers can assign all kinds of information such as; Default Gateway, Domain Name Servers (DNS), IP address, Subnet Mask, Time Server, and much more.
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.49, 64.105.197.58
DNS Servers are internal or external servers that resolve Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN), such as www.defendingthenet.com , to IP addresses. This is done because computers don't actually transmit your requests using the domain name, they use the IP address assigned to the FQDN. For most home or small office users, the primary DNS server is the IP address of your cable/dsl router. Your cable/dsl router than queries an external DNS server on the Internet to perform the actual resolution of the FQDN to IP address. The address 192.168.0.49 is an internal private device on my network whereas the 64.105.197.58 is an external public Internet DNS server and is present just in case my router has trouble performing the DNS resolution tasks.
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 19, 2006 6:38:16 PM
This information tells you when your computer received its IP address and other information from a DHCP server. You will notice it says "Lease Obtained", that is because most DHCP servers only lease the IP address to you from a pool of available address. For instance, your pool may be 192.168.1.1 through 192.168.1.50. So your DHCP server has 50 IP addresses to choose from when assigning your computer its IP address.
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, March 29, 2006 9:38:16 PM
When the IP address, assigned by the DHCP server, lease expires it will attempt to lease you the same or another IP address. This function can typically be changed on the DHCP server. For instance, on some fully functional DHCP servers, you can configure the Lease to never expire, or to expire within 1 day and so on.
Why Are MAC Addresses So Important And How Do They Work
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To jump back to MAC address for just a bit. You may think that IP addresses are the most important thing when it comes to network communication. The reality is, MAC addresses are very important because without them computers would not be able to communicate over Ethernet networks. When a computer wants to speak with another computer on a local network, it will make a broadcast request, or ask a question, of who owns a particular IP address. For instance, your computer may say "Who is 192.168.0.254". Using the information above, my default gateway is 192.168.0.254 and will answer "I am "00-90-4B-F1-6E-4A" 192.168.0.254". It sends back its MAC address. That MAC address then goes into what is called a Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table on your computer. You can see this information by going to the command prompt like you did above and typing "arp –a". You will get information like the following:
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.0.49 00-12-17-5c-a2-27 dynamic
192.168.0.109 00-12-17-5c-a2-27 dynamic
192.168.0.112 00-0c-76-93-94-b2 dynamic
192.168.0.254 00-0e-2e-2e-15-61 dynamic
How A Hacker Can Use MAC Addresses In An Attack
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You will notice the IP addresses and to the right of them the MAC addresses. Without this information, without the MAC address, you would not be reading this article right now. MAC addresses are not routable like IP addresses. They work on your local or private network. However, devices on the Internet perform the same tasks. Routers and switches maintain a list of their peer devices MAC address just like your computers and devices on your home or office network. I mentioned above that MAC addresses can be changed in order to redirect requests. For instance, if I were on your office network and you had an internal web server that took personal information as input, I could tell your computer to go to my laptop for the web site by broadcasting my MAC address tied to the real web servers IP address. I would do this when you computer asked "Who is the "Real Web Server"". I could setup a fake web server that looks just like the real thing, and start collecting information the real web server would normally collect. You can see how dangerous this can be.
Conclusion
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There are several other easy ways you can find your MAC address but they can be a little confusing if you have more than one internal network card. Most external USB, or PCMCIA wired and wireless Ethernet cards have their MAC address printed on them. In cases where the wired or wireless network card are inside your computer, such as in laptops, the MAC address is sometimes printed on the bottom of the laptop. Even Desktop systems cards that are inserted in PCI slots have the MAC address printed on the Ethernet card.
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