Cisco’s Embedded Event Manager (EEM) is a powerful tool that can be configured to detect specific events and respond to those events in specific ways. EEM was introduced in the early 2000s and is one of the earliest attempts at network automation. Even so, it is still used extensively today and remains a versatile tool […]
Monitoring Cisco Network Infrastructure: What to Look for in an Ideal Cisco Monitoring Tool
Cisco is the sought-after vendor for solutions for most IT networking challenges, be it involving hardware, software, the cloud, or virtualization. In 2022 alone, Cisco had a whopping 41% share in the network infrastructure vendor market, bigger than the combined share of the next six vendors on the list. Cisco has an extensive offering of […]
How to Reset Cisco Router or Switch to Factory Settings
If you have had any experience with Cisco switches or routers, you know there are situations where a factory reset of the device is needed. Whether you want to reconfigure a device from scratch to get a clean configuration or repurpose a device to play a different role in the network, it’s always a good […]
Comparison of LLDP vs CDP on Cisco Networking Devices
Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) and Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) are network discovery protocols that perform similar functions. These protocols operate at the Data Link layer and are used by network devices to discover information about neighboring devices connected to a local network. Although LLDP and CDP operate in a similar manner, they differ in […]
Comparison of BGP Confederations vs Route Reflectors
When deploying excessively large Autonomous Systems or ASes in BGP, it is necessary to overcome the limitation introduced by the iBGP full mesh peerings required within the AS in question. There are two primary ways this can be achieved, using either BGP’s Route Reflector feature or BGP confederations. In this article, we’ll examine these two […]
What are BGP Confederations-Explanation and Discussion (With Cisco Example)
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the de facto routing protocol that is deployed on the Internet at large. BGP is ideal for the Internet because of its scalability. One of the many characteristics of this routing protocol that make it so scalable is what is known as BGP confederations. In this article, we’ll discuss what […]
What is BGP Route Reflector – Explanation and Discussion (with Cisco Example)
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is the protocol of choice for routing on the Internet. BGP is also often used on the edge of corporate networks and is often the routing protocol of choice for large private enterprise networks. BGP needs to be extremely scalable to respond to these requirements. One of the ways that this […]
Guide to Cisco Bandwidth Command Parameter (With Configuration Example)
If you’ve been experimenting with Cisco switches and routers, and searching out their various capabilities, you may have come across an enigmatic feature on the interfaces of these devices. Specifically, you can adjust an interface’s “bandwidth” parameter to a value of your choice, within a particular range. Now if you’ve tried this strange parameter, you […]
What is a Wildcard Mask – All About Wildcard Masks Used in Networking
A wildcard mask is a bitmask used with IPv4 to specify ranges of IP addresses, which are then leveraged by various features, including access control lists and routing protocols. There’s a lot more to wildcard masks than meets the eye, and they’re a lot more powerful than you may initially think. In this article, we’ll […]
All About the “ip helper-address” Command on Cisco – Configuration and Explanation
In the world of networking, managing and configuring devices to work efficiently across complex networks is crucial for administrators. One useful and important feature in Cisco networking devices (primarily Layer 3 devices) is the IP Helper Address. The “ip helper-address” Cisco command provides a solution to forward broadcast traffic between Layer 3 network subnets, particularly […]
How to Find IP Address From MAC Address on Cisco Devices
Troubleshooting a network requires many different investigative skills, tools, and methodologies. One procedure that is particularly useful when investigating various network problems is being able to determine the IP address of a host on the network when given only its MAC address. In this article we’ll take a look at how to find an IP […]
Cisco Command to Test a Copper UTP Ethernet Cable on a Switch
Troubleshooting physical layer problems on UTP Ethernet cabling can sometimes be a nightmare. Dealing with patch cables is a snap, but what happens if your structured cabling has a fault, or if a newly created UTP cable results in intermittent connectivity? Further still, what if you don’t have direct access to the faulty cabling because […]
What is Cisco Meraki ? Some FAQ About Cisco Meraki You Need to Know
The company Meraki was founded in 2006 and started out as a research project called Roofnet within MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) which had the aim of providing outdoor Wireless Internet access to the City of Cambridge. In this article we will discuss the Cisco Meraki brand and answer some Frequently Asked Questions that many […]