Getting Started With HSRP

Defined in RFC 2281, HSRP is a Cisco-proprietary protocol in which routers are put into an HSRP router group. Along with dynamic routing protocols and STP, HSRP is considered a high-availability network service, since all three have an almost immediate cutover to a secondary path when the primary path is unavailable. One of the routers [...]


Cisco CCNA Certification Exam Tutorial: RIP Details You Must Know

RIP isn’t exactly the most complex routing protocol on the CCNA exam, but that makes it easy to overlook some of the important details you must keep in mind in order to pass the exam! To help you review for the exam, here are just a few of those details! RIP’s default behavior is to [...]


Cisco CCNP / BSCI Exam Tutorial: OSPF Route Redistribution Review

OSPF route redistribution is an important topic on the BSCI exam, and it’s a topic full of details and defaults that you need to know for the exam room and the job. To help you pass the BSCI exam, here’s a quick review of some of the OSPF route redistribution basics. To see if a [...]


How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network with Windows XP

In my experience as a computer support tech for residential customers I would estimate that 9 out of 10 home wireless networks are not properly secured and left open for anyone in range to use the internet connection or worse, hack into the files. Most people don’t even realize that their network is not secure. [...]


Cisco CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: The HSRP MAC Address

To pass the BCMSN exam and earn your CCNP, you’ve got to know HSRP inside and out! Part of that is knowing how the MAC address of the virtual router is derived, and another part is knowing how to change this address. We’ll look at both features in this tutorial. We’ve got two routers on [...]


Writing QoS Policy

QoS – Quality of Service – is a huge topic on both the BCMSN exam and real-world networks. QoS is so big today that Cisco’s created separate specialist certifications that cover nothing but QoS! It can be an overwhelming topic at first, but master the fundamentals and you’re on your way to exam and job [...]


The HSRP MAC Address

To pass the BCMSN exam and earn your CCNP, you’ve got to know HSRP inside and out! Part of that is knowing how the MAC address of the virtual router is derived, and another part is knowing how to change this address. We’ll look at both features in this tutorial. We’ve got two routers on [...]


Comparing IRDP And HSRP

To pass the BSCI exam, you need to know the difference between IRDP and HSRP. While they have the same basic function, the operation and configuration of each are totally different. The aim of both is to allow hosts to quickly discover a standby router when the primary router fails. IRDP is commonly used by [...]


Cisco CCNP Certification / BCMSN Exam Tutorial: Writing QoS Policy

QoS – Quality of Service – is a huge topic on both the BCMSN exam and real-world networks. QoS is so big today that Cisco’s created separate specialist certifications that cover nothing but QoS! It can be an overwhelming topic at first, but master the fundamentals and you’re on your way to exam and job [...]


Creating a Fool Proof Data Archive System with a Magnetic Tape Library

Most businesses have laws and regulations for how long specific data must be stored, but still many companies don’t have a tape drive, tape libraries, secondary storage or any plan for archiving data. Even if your industry doesn’t have specific requirements, keeping a well documented business information library is a safe bet. Recently, the residential [...]