So how does multiple spanning tree protocol work? The idea is to reduce the number of spanning tree instances operating in a switch network. Joe covers operational principles of MSTP, including the Common Spanning-Tree CST and Per-VLAN Spanning Tree models in this video, as well as the elements of MST regions.

Earn Your CCNP

Our series of CCNP Training courses will prepare you for each exam of the CCNP certification: SWITCH, ROUTE, and coming soon, TSHOOT. Learn all about the CCNP SWITCH exam topics and move one step closer to a bigger salary with Cisco expert & CCIE #14256 Joe Rinehart. In addition to MSTP, RSTP and CSTP, the course covers a wealth of topics:

• VLANs and VTP
• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Layer 3 Switching Solutions
• Everything to pass CCNP SWITCH Exam 642-813

Increase your salary by up to $20k this year with certified instruction and CCNP SWITCH Training.

Cisco CCNP SWITCH Training: Now Available

Cisco CCNP SWITCH Training covers all the Cisco switching concepts that you’ll need on the job and for the exam. Taught by Joe Rinehart, IT pro of over 14 years, this course will help you stay current with your skill set, while giving you the chance to make a splash in the networking industry. Here are the key topics routing explored in this course:

• Spanning-Tree (STP), Rapid Spanning-Tree (RSTP) and Multiple Spanning-Tree Protocol (MSTP)
• VLANs, Trunking and Virtual Trunking Protocol (VTP)
• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Layer 3 Switching Solutions
• High Availability Features

Read a letter from Joe Rinehart about the benefits of a career on the CCNP track.

Students will also learn about switch-based security considerations, interface & port configuration, and more. All the lessons are outlined to provide exam coverage for Cisco’s 642-813 CCNP SWITCH Exam.

Certified Instruction

In addition to authoring ROUTE, CCNA Wireless, and CCNA Voice courses, Joe has developed courses for colleges and implemented networking technologies for Fortune 500 companies. He’s also a speaker and published author, so his perspective is always at the forefront of IT.

Earn your CCNP and increase your salary this year with Cisco CCNP SWITCH Training.

One of the many things that must be known in order to be a successful CCNA wireless candidate is an understanding of the basics of spread spectrum technologies. This is important because many of the most commonly used wireless technologies in use today take advantage of spread spectrum techniques. This article takes a high-level look at how spread spectrum technologies work and where they are in use in today’s modern networks.

What does Spread Spectrum Mean?

Simply put, Spread Spectrum is the use of a technology that spreads a signal over a frequency spectrum. For example, 802.11b uses the 2.4 GHz band (2.4000–2.4835 GHz) and utilizes channels that are 22 MHz wide with a defined center frequency. The signal is able to be spread across that entire 22 MHz area.

Spread Spectrum Technologies

When dealing with modern wireless networks there are a number of different technologies that are in use. This section takes a look at the different technologies in use on modern wireless LAN networks, specifically 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g and 802.11n. In other words, let’s take a look at the different encoding and modulation techniques that are used by these four and how they are used to achieve greater bandwidths.

At the low end of the bandwidth spectrum are the 1 and 2 Mbps options that are available in the 802.11b and 802.11g standards (Originally standardized with 802.11 prime). The encoding method in use at these bandwidths is the Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) technique using Barker 11 code. The modulation method is Differential Binary Phase-Shift Keying (DBPSK) for 1 Mbps and Differential Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (DQPSK) for 2 Mbps.

The next step-up in bandwidth was initially defined in the 802.11b standard and is also used with 802.11g, these options include 5.5 and 11 Mbps. To achieve these rates the same two modulation methods (DBPSK and DQPSK) are used but are paired with a different encoding method. To achieve the 5.5 and 11 Mbps rates, the Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) technique is used with Complementary Code Keying (CCK).

The 802.11a, 802.11g and 802.11n standards utilize the Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technique offering a variety of different bandwidth options depending on the modulation technique. 802.11a and 802.11g both utilize OFDM to provide bandwidths from 6 Mbps through 54 Mbps. 6 and 9 Mbps are provided by using Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK), 12 and 18 Mbps are provided by using Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK), 24 and 36 Mbps are provided by using 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16-QAM), and 48 and 54 Mbps are provided using 64-QAM. The difference between the 802.11a and 802.11g implementations is the frequency band being used; the 802.11a standard utilizes the 5 GHz band while the 802.11g standard uses the 2.4 GHz band.

802.11n introduces a number of different features that allow it to not only utilize some of the features of all the other standards, but also reach very high bandwidth potentials. One feature is the ability to utilize 40 MHz channels instead of the 20 MHz channels used by the 802.11a, b and g standards. Unfortunately this can be a blessing and a curse, as the 802.11n standard supports the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency bands. When using 40 MHz channels, two 20-MHz channels are combined and their combined frequency space is used to provide a single channel. If implementing 40 MHz channels using the 2.4 GHz band, the amount of space and interference can quickly become a large issue, making expansion almost impossible. The other major feature that was introduced in the 802.11n standard is multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO); MIMO provides the ability to utilize multiple spatial streams that can each provide bandwidth numbers equivalent to previous standards. The table below shows the average speeds that are available using a single spatial stream:

Table 1 – 802.11n Speeds and Modulations

There are a number of different 802.11n devices out there that support 2, 3 and 4 spatial streams offering a total theoretical bandwidth of ~600 Mbps with 4 spatial streams.

Summary

There are a number of techniques that can be used to offer various amounts of bandwidth depending on the application; this article simply takes a look at the ones that are used on modern Wireless LAN networks. As the different wireless technologies evolve other new techniques will be developed to squeeze more information into a wireless signal. Hopefully this article gives a good look at what technologies are involved, and offers a starting point for further researching each of these different technologies.

I love numbers. So when the end of year arrived I thought it would be interesting to look at some TrainSignal numbers. Below are three of our most popular courses, and probably the most popular IT certifications on the market, and the five states that purchased the largest percentage of them.

Do you live in one of these tech-savy states? Or are you one of the few IT gurus from one of the other 45?

Cisco CCNA

The Cisco CCNA is One of the Most Popular Certifications in the IT industry. It lets people know you have the knowledge to work with Cisco routers and switches, the most popular on the market. This graph below shows the states that bought the most copies of our CCNA course in 2011:

Microsoft MCITP Enterprise Administrator

The Microsoft MCITP Enterprise Adminsitrator is one of the toughest certifications a person can get. With five certifications under your belt, it lets someone know you are the master of all things Windows Server 2008:

CompTIA A+

The CompTIA A+ is the original gangster of IT certifications. It’s where most techs start and it lets people know you have the knowledge to fix most problems that can come up on anyone’s computer:

There are certainly a large number of topics that need to be studied to successfully ROUTE exam to help you better prepare for this portion of the 642-902 exam.

I hope that this article will give you some direction when studying IPv6 for the Cisco ROUTE exam. Let’s take a brief look at the main topics that you will have to be familiar with to be successful with the IPv6 material that is covered on the ROUTE exam.

IPv6 Address

The IPv6 address is a whole new beast compared to the much more familiar IPv4 address that has been used for the last 30 years; it is 128 bits, is notated in hex and just looks confusing. When studying for the ROUTE exam, it is very important to be familiar with the IPv6 address, its structure and how it can be notated; keep in mind a single IPv6 address can be notated a number of different ways using substitution and omission rules. Be familiar with all of these as questions will be asked about this specifically.

The other part of IPv6 addresses that will definitely be on the ROUTE exam is how to enable IPv6 routing and configuring IPv6 addresses (statically and dynamically). IPv6 addresses can be assigned in a number of ways including methods that are not provided with IPv4 (stateless autoconfiguration), make sure to be familiar with these for the exam.

IPv6 Address Types

If you’re familiar with IPv4, then you’re used to seeing unicast, multicast and broadcast address types. IPv6 makes use of the unicast and multicast address types in the same ways as IPv4; it does however differ in that it does not support broadcasts. The duties that have traditionally used the broadcast address type in IPv4 have been substituted either by directed unicast or the new Anycast address type. The Anycast address type is used to locate and use the closest device utilizing the anycast address.

Inside these three main address type categories there are also sub-types that a candidate must be familiar with including: Global Unicast Addresses, Link-Local Addresses, and Site-Local Addresses.

IPv6 Routing Protocols

Just as a candidate must be familiar with IPv4 routing protocols they must also be familiar with IPv6 routing protocols. Most of the concepts that have been learned for these protocol implementations using IPv4 are the same so learning the additional requirements for an IPv6 implementation should not be that much of a stretch. Make sure to reserve some amount of time to configure these concepts in a lab environment (or dynamips).

IPv4/IPv6 Address Transition

Part of a wider scale implementation of IPv6 is transitioning IPv4 networks to IPv6 and providing a communications method between IPv4 and IPv6 devices. There are a number of different methods that can be used to provide this capability; many of these are covered in the ROUTE exam. The following topics are covered on the exam; ensure a familiarity with the concepts and application (configuration) of these concepts.

• Dual Stack
• Manual IPv6 Tunnels
• GRE Tunnels
• 6to4 Tunnels
• IPv4 Compatible Tunnels
• ISATAP Tunnels
• NAT-PT

Summary

Hopefully, the content in this article will help you get a good direction when studying for the IPv6 portion of the Cisco ROUTE exam. Keep in mind that while there is a lot of material covered on this exam, it is an achievable task and can be completed successfully.

Implementing Cisco UCS Training

Installing and configuring UCS blades like Jason Nash is not a process made for newbies, but with some solid knowledge of Cisco networking and VMware virtualization learning the skills of a Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Support Specialist is definitely feasible. Jason’s Cisco Unified Computing System training will show the IT pro with a diverse skill set how to implement with UCS technology from start to finish. Here are some highlights:

• Configuring LAN & SAN Connectivity
• Pools and Service Profiles
• UCS Architecture and Components
• DCUCI Exam Coverage

Capitalize on your cross-platform skill set with Implementing Cisco UCS Training.

Implementing Cisco Unified Computing System Training: Available Now

This course has benn authored by VCDX #49 and vExpert Jason Nash to train professionals that are already using Cisco and VMware in an emerging technology. Implementing Cisco UCS Training will expand cross platform skill sets to help experienced IT pros turn into sought-after, certified experts.

The course is aimed at preparing students for the Cisco Data Center Unified Computing Support Specialist exam (642-994). Video lessons address Cisco UCS concepts in the context of GUI and command line, and Jason Nash even demonstrates in a live server room how to work with UCS server blades. Students ultimately learn the best practices of Cisco UCS implementation from start to finish. Here are some of the key lessons:

• UCS Architecture & Components
• Configuring Connectivity
• Routine & Advanced Management of UCS
• Pools and Service Profiles

Certified Instruction

Instructor Jason Nash holds over 15 years of experience in IT and also made our vSphere Security Design Training course. As a recognized leader in the virtualization field, Jason’s learning environment combines networking expertise with critical business awareness in order to emphasize the opportunities provided by knowledge in multiple fields. Watch a video where Jason Nash explains the future of IT specializations.

If you are looking to take your Cisco and VMware experience to the next level, this cross-platform Implementing Cisco UCS course will help distinguish you as a certified expert who is competitive in the job market.

The purpose of this article is to give you some direction when studying some of the hardest topics tested on the CCNP ROUTE exam. Of course, the selection of the five most difficult topics is very subjective; the topics selected here are based on an observation of the most discussed topics.

5. EIGRP Advertised Distance and Feasible Distance

When preparing for the ROUTE exam, an understanding of EIGRP theory is essential. One of the concepts that seems to be the most misunderstood is the difference between feasible distance and advertised distance.

To explain the difference between the feasible distance and the advertised (sometimes called reported distance) is easy, but many times it is overthought and ends up confusing people. Simply put, the advertised distance for a specific route to a destination must be less than (<) the feasible distance for that network (the best route to the destination). When there is only one path to a destination, the advertised distance will always be less than the feasible distance, but when there are multiple paths this condition must be considered to avoid loops.

For additional clarification, take a look at the example below.  Figure 1 shows a simple lab that includes two routers that are connected and have an EIGRP neighborship between them.

Figure 1 – Simple Lab

Figures 2 and 3 shown below display the status of these router’s EIGRP topology tables.

Figure 2 – R1′s EIGRP Topology Table

Figure 3 – R2′s EIGRP Topology Table

The display from Figure 3 shows that from R2 the feasible distance to the 20.20.20.0/24 network is 28160, when advertising this network to the neighboring R1 router this same number is used. When R1 receives this advertisement, it compares it against any existing known routes to the same destination to ensure it meets the feasibility condition.  If it does meet this condition, R1 will add the additional cost of its interface to the neighboring router (R2) and enter it into the local EIGRP topology table; this is shown as 30720 (feasible distance)/28160 (advertised distance).

4. OSPF LSAs

Another difficult topic on the CCNP ROUTE exam is OSPF LSAs (Open Shortest Path First Link-State Advertisements); this topic is not only very helpful when it comes to the ROUTE exam but is vital when trying to understand the concepts of stub areas. There are a number of different Link State Advertisement types that exist within OSPF; for the purposes of this article, we’ll take a look at the most common: LSA type 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

LSA Type 1

The LSA Type 1 or Router LSA is sent by every router within an area to describe the state of the each interface connected to the area.

LSA Type 2

The LSA Type 2 or Network LSA is sent by the Designated Router (DR) for a specific multi-access network and describes the set of routers attached to the network.

LSA Type 3 & 4

Both LSA Type 3 and 4 are considered Summary LSAs which are sent by the Area Border Router (ABR). An LSA Type 3 is used to describe the routes to the area’s networks and an LSA Type 4 is used to describe the routes to Autonomous System Boundary Routers (ASBR). An LSA Type 3 is used when summarizing routes from one OSPF area to another.

LSA Type 5

The LSA Type 5 or Autonomous System External LSA is used by the ASBR to advertise routes that are external to the OSPF network. Unlike the other LSA’s, this type is sent everywhere within the OSPF network regardless of area with the exception of stub networks.

3.OSPF Stub Areas

OSPF stub areas limit the parts of the network where specific LSAs are allowed. The idea being that if an OSPF router receives an LSA it must process it, which takes a certain amount of processor and memory resources. By limiting the types of LSAs that can reach specific networks, the devices within these stub areas do not have to be as powerful but still retain reachability to the rest of the OSPF network.

There are three main types of OSPF stub areas:

• Stub Areas
• Totally Stubby Areas
• Not So Stubby Areas

Stub Areas

An area that is configured as a stub is able to receive all types (as discussed above) of LSA except an LSA Type 5. Any routes that are destined for external networks are forwarded using a default route that is injected into the network in place of the LSA Type 5.

Totally Stubby Areas

Like a stub area, a totally stubby area is unable to receive LSA Type 5 packets. Along with this, the area is also unable to receive LSA Type 3 packets that include network advertisements (Not External) from other areas. Again, like a stub area, all traffic that is destined for these networks (both internal and external networks outside the area) is destined for a default router that is injected in place of both the LSA Type 3 and Type 5.

Not So Stubby Areas (NSSA)

A NSSA is almost exactly the same as a normal stub area but allows an ASBR (Autonomous System Boundary Router) to exist within the area. With a typical stub area, it is not possible to locate an ASBR inside the area as LSA type 5 packets are not allowed. A NSSA gets around this by using an LSA Type 7 packet in place of the LSA Type 5 packet within the NSSA; once this traffic from the ASBR exits the NSSA it is converted to an LSA Type 5 for transmission to the rest of the OSPF network.

2. Redistribution

At its simplest, the idea of redistribution is easy. Simply take networks that exist within one routing protocol and place them in another. For example, it is common to see OSPF networks redistributed into EIGRP or vice versa. It is also possible to redistribute networks from one like network to another; for example, from one OSPF network to another separate OSPF network.

There are two issues that typically can become large issues when dealing with redistribution. The first being what happens when using two-way redistribution and the other is related to metrics. When performing redistribution, it is easy to simply configure both networks to redistribute routes to the other; however a problem that can occur is when one network advertises routes that it just learned back into the initial network with a different metric. For example, what if an OSPF and RIP network are being redistributed into each other using multiple routers; it is possible for a RIP route to be redistributed into OSPF and then have that same route be redistributed back into RIP with a different metric on the other redistributing router, now the redistribution configuration has created a loop. While this issue is covered in the ROUTE exam it is covered in much more detail with the expert level certifications and should be well tested and understood before being configured in a production network.

1. BGP Best Path Selection

Unlike other Internal Gateway Protocols (IGP), BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) requires that a single best path be selected for insertion into the routing table. To find this one best path, BGP has what can be a confusing stepped decision process. The following table shows the steps that are used in this process and how they are considered.

Summary

There are certainly a large number of topics that are integrated into the Cisco ROUTE exam, choosing which ones specifically are the “hardest” is a bit of a challenge and very subjective. Hopefully the content covered in this article will at least make these specific topics a little clearer and make passing the ROUTE exam a little easier.

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TrainSignal’s brand new CCNP ROUTE Training is taught by by CCIE (#14256) Joe Rinehart and offers complete exam coverage of the challenging 642-902 ROUTE exam.

Developing top-notch networking skills is not easy. It requires a solid learning blueprint and a great instructor. Joe’s new course offers both and it will help you master EIGRP, OSPF, BGP, IPv6 and more.

Open doors to new career opportunities and get started on your CCNP certification with TrainSignal’s Cisco CCNP ROUTE Training.

This article takes a look at the changes that have been introduced in the new CCNP ROUTE 642-902 exam providing you with some tips and tricks on how to prepare and pass the challenging exam.

CCNP ROUTE Exam Changes

What we’ll review first are the changes that have been introduced in the ROUTE exam; these include a focus on design and implementation tasks. Previous CCNP exams focused almost exclusively on the technological theory as well as the configuration/troubleshooting Command Line Interface (CLI). A knowledge of the tasks required for both implementation and verification plans is required to pass the newer exams and should be an integrated part of the preparation process.

The hard part is not overthinking what this means; an implementation plan is very simple as it is followed by everyone regardless of whether it is written down or not. An implementation plan is simply a detailed list of tasks that are required for a specific feature to be implemented. For example, how does someone change a flat tire. First, locate spare… second, locate jack and method of tire lug nut removal… third, jack up the car… fourth, remove flat tire… fifth, install spare… sixth, lower car and remove jack… seventh, stow old tire and continue trip.

The same is true for the verification plan, just think of what steps are required to verify that something is fixed or if the problem has been resolved. Using the same flat tire analogy, the person changing the tire would want to make sure that the lug nuts are tight and the tire has sufficient pressure before continuing down the road. When starting to drive down the road on the spare tire the driver would want to ensure that everything “feels right” running on the spare before going on and driving as normal.

CCNP ROUTE Study Direction

So what is the magic bullet for passing the Cisco ROUTE exam? This is simple: Don’t overthink the exam. There are seven high level categories that the ROUTE exam is split into:

1. EIGRP: Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol
2. OSPF: Open Shortest Path First
3. eBGP: External Border Gateway Protocol
4. IPv6: Internet Protocol version 6
5. IPv6/IPv4 redistribution
6. Layer 3 Path Control
7. Teleworker and branch services

Take each category and focus on it by itself until the material is very familiar. Don’t worry about being familiar with absolutely everything; this is what gets many candidates in trouble. You want to know enough to be comfortable with the material, so that each concept makes sense; you don’t have to know everything that’s written in your CCNP ROUTE book like the back of your hand.

If you don’t have a great deal of Cisco work experience, take advantage of video training (like TrainSignal’s CCNP ROUTE Training or physical classroom instruction. For those candidates with more job experience, the use of video and physical training may not be required. All candidates should take advantage of the self-study materials that exist from a variety of providers; these materials solidify the concepts and provide a continued method of review.

Practice exams in particular are a great resource because they help you not only validate your knowledge before attempting the exam, but also practice taking the exam and getting used to the types of questions that are being asked.

Summary

When it comes down to it, the methods that are used to successfully study for any exam, including the CCNP ROUTE exam, are subjective and highly dependent on the your learning style. However, when it comes down to it, the material is the same and many resources utilize techniques that allow you to learn the concepts regardless of learning style.

Most candidates will find out early in their professional careers which training series/publisher/author/instructor best fits into their specific learning style and will stick with them as long as they provide up-to-date coverage of the new material as it is released. But if studying from a book didn’t go so well last time around try a class or video training instead and see if it works better for you.

The biggest tip is to be well rested the night before the exam and to avoid cramming the night before, this almost always ends up being counterproductive. Give yourself plenty of time to prepare for the exam and make sure that you’re walking into the testing center confident and ready to tackle the exam.

Good luck!

IPv4 has essentially run its course, as no significant changes have been made since the 1980s, and this creates a plethora of problems (security, scalability, etc.). The worldwide use of mobile devices has caused the available address space to quickly shrink. Joe discusses the part IPv6 will play moving forward.

CCNP ROUTE Training: IP Addressing, EIGRP, BGP & More

The CCNP ROUTE Training course from Cisco pro Joe Rinehart covers the wide range of networking topics covered in the ROUTE exam required for the CCNP. His stacked lesson plan goes in-depth with planning & design, configuration and troubleshooting with OSPF, EIGRP & BGP.

It’s time to advance your career and see the impact on your salary. Work towards a valuable certification with CCNP ROUTE Training.

Now Available: Cisco CCNP ROUTE Training

This comprehensive Cisco CCNP ROUTE Training course is designed to guide you on everything you need to know to pass the Implementing Cisco IP Routing (642-902) exam. Instructor and CCIE Joe Rinehart covers all of the knowledge and skills to ensure your success as a Cisco networking pro. In addition to the applied practice found in the lab, the course includes specific tips and advice for passing Cisco exams by being as prepared as possible.

Students can expect to engage with an in-depth series of exercises on EIGRP, from the fundamentals, to planning and design, advanced options, and troubleshooting. Additionally, OSPF is covered to the same extent and with equal breadth. Some of the other hot topics you’ll learn about include:

• IP Routing Fundamentals
• IPv6 Routing
• Enterprise Branch Office Operations
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP): Planning & Design to Troubleshooting

These core concepts are crucial for passing the CCNP ROUTE exam, 1 of 3 exams required for the full CCNP certification. The better you’re prepared, the better your chances of passing, and the sooner a Cisco certification will have an impact on your career. A survey from TechRepublic’s IT Skills and Salary Report found that the average professional holding a CCNP earned close to $20,000 more per year than someone holding only a CCNA. According to Indeed.com, the average CCNP salary is $27,000 more per year than a CCNA salary. These certifications collectively allow you to validate your skills and hard work in a way that has a positive effect on your career.

Watch a demo from instructor Joe Rinehart on IPv6 planning to get a glimpse of our new CCNP ROUTE Training.

The course’s instructor, Joe Rinehart (CCIE #14256, CCNA, CCNP), has over 14 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies deploying a variety of technologies including routing, unified communications, security and more. On top of that he’s a professional trainer and published author, bringing a savvy perspective to students looking to improve their networking knowledge.

Give your skills and potential some backup. Step toward earning your CCNP and build upon your past experiences and certifications. Take your career to the next level with a new certification and Cisco CCNP ROUTE Training.

Wireless Router Configuration

Configuring the wireless security on a router can vary from router to router but the general options are the same. There are three main security options that typically are supported on modern routers, these include (listed from least to most secure):

• Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
• Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
• Wi-Fi Protected Access2 – IEEE 802.11i (WPA2)

WEP typically requires that a key be entered on the router that will also be configured on the endpoint wireless devices. Routers that support WPA and/or WPA2 typically support two modes of operation: Personal Mode and Enterprise Mode. Personal Mode utilizes a passphrase (Pre-Shared Key – PSK) that is entered at both sides and is used to encrypt the connection. Enterprise Mode utilizes a connection to a remote authentication server which governs access onto the wireless network.

This article takes a look at the configuration of WPA2-Personal configuration on a Linksys WRT610N router. This router supports only WPA2 (with the current firmware) and this is the configuration that will be shown.

Configuring a Linksys WRT610N Wireless Router

The first step is to log in to the router and to click on the Wireless option and from here navigate to the Wireless security tab; the Wireless Security tab screen is shown in figure 1:

Figure 1: Wireless Security Tab Screen

On this screen, we are able to choose the security mode that is being configured. On this router WEP, WPA and WPA2 are supported; these options are shown in Figure 2:

Figure 2: Wireless Security Modes

As stated previously, we will focus on the configuration of WPA2-Personal. Once the WPA2-Personal security option has been selected, what type of encryption to use needs to be determined. The two options on this router include:

• Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)
• Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

Figure 3: Wireless Encryption Options

Once the encryption option is selected, a passphrase is entered which is also used by the wireless client devices; typically it is best that this passphrase is complex.

Windows 7 Wireless Configuration

When configuring a wireless connection on a Windows 7 machine, there are two different methods that can be used to set up the connection and choose an encrypting method. The first connection uses the parameters transmitted from an existing wireless router and the second connection is configured in preparation for a future connection to a wireless router and requires some additional configuration. Let’s take a look at both.

• Connecting to a Broadcasting Wireless Router

When a wireless network is broadcast from a wireless router and within range of a Windows 7 computer it is shown as a System Tray option, as shown in Figure 4:

Figure 4: Available Wireless Networks

As shown in Figure 4, there are two networks that are within range of this Windows 7 computer; when a specific wireless network is selected the option to connect is offered. If the connection is to be repeatedly used, a wireless network can also be set up to connect automatically.

Once the connect button has been selected, a dialog will be shown indicating the device is getting information from the wireless router; this dialog is shown in Figure 5:

Figure 5: Getting Information Dialog

In this example, the wireless router has already been configured with a passphrase (security key).  The dialog shown in Figure 6 will be displayed asking for this passphrase to verify permission to connect to the wireless network. When using this method of wireless network connection, the specific security mode is automatically gathered with the initial connection to the wireless router.

Figure 6: Passphrase Entry Dialog

Once the client has connected to a wireless network, it will be displayed in the System Tray; this is shown in Figure 7:

Figure 7: Connected Wireless Network

• Configuring a Non-Local/Not Broadcasting Wireless Network Connection

The second method that is used to configure a wireless network connection is to manually configure a device to connect to a specific wireless network that is either not local or is not broadcasting. The intial setup for this type of configuration is to goto the Network and Sharing Center; this is shown in Figure 8:

Figure 8: Network and Sharing Center

From this screen, the Manage Wireless Networks option in the upper left corner needs to be selected; this will bring up the screen shown in Figure 9:

Figure 9: Manage Wireless Networks

From this screen, a Windows 7 device can be configured to support a number of different wireless networks. To configure a new network select the Add option; once this is selected the screen shown in Figure 10 will be displayed.

Figure 10: Add a Wireless Network

Once this screen is displayed, select the option to Manually Create a Network Profile; once this is selected the screen shown in Figure 11 will be displayed.

Figure 11: Manual Wireless Connection Options

Once this screen is displayed, the wireless network name and security settings will be configured; the available security type options are shown in Figure 12:

Figure 12: Manual Wireless Connection Security Type Options

The settings that are configured on this screen must match those already configured on the connecting wireless router or a connection will not be established. Windows 7 supports all of the available wireless security types and can be configured to connect to any standard router.

Summary

The configuration of a wireless connection with proper security can be daunting for the inexperienced user.  With modern standards, the use of a passphrase that can be entered rather simply on both the wireless router and the end device allows anyone the ability to properly set this up within a short period of time. Hopefully, the steps outlined in this article enable this process to be even easier and provide a more secure wireless option.

To celebrate the release of our Cisco CCNA Wireless Training course, we wanted to have some fun while rewarding your comedic intuition.

Every now and then we see some funny Wi-Fi network names that pop-up when trying to connect to a wireless network. Take a picture of the funniest Wi-Fi network name you’ve seen, and post it on our Facebook wall. One lucky winner will be picked on Friday, November 4 to win our Cisco CCNA Wireless Training course.

Good Luck!

Make sure to post your pics on the TrainSignal Facebook page. Any submissions containing profanity or slurs will be removed.

UPDATE–Congrats to Paul S. on finding not one, but TWO crazy networks near him. Thanks to all who entered, you can view the submissions here: Funniest Wi-Fi Contest Submissions

There are three things to keep in mind regarding redundancy:

• Access Point Redundancy: AP coverage through good wireless design
• WLAN Controller Redundancy: N+1, N+N and N+N+1 Controller Redundancy
• Infrastructure Redundancy: LAG (Link Aggregation), Path Redundancy, Routing Redundancy and Disaster Recovery Sites

Joe has close to 15 years of experience deploying networks with Cisco equipment for Fortune 500 companies, and also using that real-world knowledge in training settings. This lesson offers a perspective on how these vital wireless network redundancy principles take effect in physical environments.

Accelerate Your Career with CCNA Wireless Training

Our Cisco CCNA Wireless Training course offers certification-ready instruction in a specialized avenue of Cisco netwoking. As more organizations are looking to expand infrastructures to accomodate users with secure wireless networks, certified wireless pros are sought after the overwhelming majority of the time. This course not only prepares you for the topics covered in the CCNA Wireless exam, it focuses on a foundation in wireless LAN fundamentals & practical application:

• Wireless Seceurity Considerations
• Wireless LAN Design Principles
• Cisco Wireless Architecture
• WLAN Troubleshooting
• Exam Prep: Implementing Cisco Unified Wireless Network Exam (IUWNE) 640-721

Find out how you can set yourself apart by studying with Joe Rinehart and Cisco CCNA Wireless Training.

Available Now: Cisco CCNA Wireless Training

Create a spot on your resume as a network administrator specializing in implementing wireless networks with Cisco CCNA Wireless Training. A professional certification track leading to a proficiency with wireless technologies is worth considering, especially if you already have Cisco experience and the CCNA certification.

This course delivers a foundation of WLAN and RF theory before showing you how to set up your own simple lab to develop a familiarity with the Cisco Unified Wireless environment. The course focuses on a solid fundation intially because according to instructor Joe Rinehart, “if the network isn’t stable and operational, working the way it needs to, then introducing wireless onto it is going to be more difficult.” Watch a video interview with instructor Joe Rinehart to learn more: Joe Rinehart talks about his CCNA Wireless training.

If you’re looking for a useful avenue that will benefit your career, a CCNA Wireless certification can set you apart from the competition.

In our latest Cisco CCNA Wireless Training course, students can expect practice with wireless architecture, system configuration and operation that also serves as prep for the Implementing Unified Wireless Network Essentials (IUWNE) 640-721 exam. The key fetures covered in the course’s 15 lessons include:

• Wireless LAN Fundamentals
• Wireless Security Considerations
• Wireless LAN Basic Design Principles
• WLAN Maintenance and Troubleshooting
• Overview of CUWN Products
• Exam Prep for CCNA Wireless 640-721 Exam

Certified Instruction

CCNA Wireless Training instructor Joe Rinehart (CCIE #14256, CCNA, CCNP, CCDA, CCDP, CCVP, MBA) has over 14 years experience with Cisco technology deploying for Fortune 500 companies, and training in business and educational settings. Joe also developed our CCNA Voice Training and runs a Cisco User Group in Seattle, so he understands what different users are experiencing working with Cisco.

Enhance Your Skills by Learning Cisco Wireless

This course will teach you how to implement a Cisco Unified Wireless Network with enough confidence to pass the 640-721 exam. Learn more about how to take your professional skills to the next level with Cisco CCNA Wireless Training.

To provide redundancy at the network layer a few approaches can be considered. The most famous protocols used for router redundancy are Cisco’s proprietary HSRP: Hot Standby Routing Protocol and IETF standardized VRRP: Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol. Both protocols have the same concept. They utilize virtual IP addresses shared across several gateways within a network. Only a single gateway at a time can acquire and utilize a virtual address. In case of failure, the virtual address is undertaken by another gateway so that service is never discontinued.

In the past I have described in detail the HSRP protocol. You can refresh your memory and learn more about it in my article on how to achieve network redundancy with HSRP.

In this article we will focus on VRRP which is a standardized protocol used across multivendor routers, although Cisco also supports it. It is the only network layer redundancy protocol that can be used in a network with multivendor routers, so it is very important to get familiar with it.

VRRP Terms

The virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) is defined in IETF standard RFC 2338. Before looking into the details of VRRP’s functionality you should get familiar with the following terms related to VVRP:

• VRRP Router: A router that runs VRRP protocol. It may participate in one or more virtual routers.
• Virtual Router: From the Client’s perspective, the virtual router represents the default gateway for hosts within a LAN. It utilizes a Virtual Router Identifier (VRID) within a given LAN subnet and exchanges VRRP protocol messages with other Virtual Routers within the same LAN in order to decide upon the selection of Master and Backup Virtual Routers.
• IP Address Owner: The VRRP router that owns the Virtual Router’s IP address as real interface address and respond’s to clients ARP request for this address.
• Primary IP: VRRP Advertisements are always transmitted using this IP address as source IP address. It is the physical IP address assigned on an interface or VLAN participating in VRRP.
• Master VR: The Virtual Router that is currently elected as master. It is the Virtual Router that serves clients within the specific shared LAN.This VR is the current owner of the Virtual IP address.
• Backup VR: The Virtual Router or set of Virtual Routers that behave as backup routers for the IP address(es) associated with them. The Backup VR immediately takes over the responsibilities of the VR when the Master fails.
• VRID: The Virtual Router Identifier field of the VRRP packet. It has only local significance (within a single LAN) and it is only used for differentiating exchange of messages between Virtual Router instances in a given LAN. It can take a number between 1 and 255.
• Priority: The priority field within the VRRP packet indicates the sending VRRP Router’s priority for the Virtual Router. It can take any value between 0 (which means no participation in VRRP Master election) and 255 (which means that the router owns the IP address associated with the VR). The VR with the highest priority is elected as the Master VR. The default Priority for VRRP routers backing up a VR is 100.

VRRP Message Interaction

One major difference compared to HSRP which is worth telling is the fact that only the VRRP Master VR transmits periodic VRRP messages. This is a major difference compared to HSRP, where, the later specifies that both Master and Backup exchange VRRP messages. We should now examine the VR’s operation on both Master and Backup roles.

VRRP Master

While in Master state, the Virtual Router operates as the default gateway of end-users within the LAN. It responses to ARP requests for the IP address associated with the VR. While in Master state, the VR has to periodically send VRRP Advertisements. The Advertisement Internal is manually configured. By default the advertisement interval is set to 1 second. The Master VR, in case it receives a VRRP Advertisement, it performs the following:

• If the received Priority is greater than the locally configured Priority, transition to the Backup state occurs.
• If the Priority is equal to the local Priority and the IP address of the sender is greater than the local primary IP address, then transition to the Backup state is initialized.

VRRP Backup

While in Backup state, the VR does not participate in any way in normal traffic. It monitors VRRP announcements from the Master and performs the following:

• If an announcement is not received (after a predefined time interval) then, transition to the Master State is performed. To do so, the Backup VR, broadcasts a gratuitous ARP request containing the VR MAC address of the IP address associated with the VR so that layer 2 devices update their forwarding table. From that point onwards, the previously backup VR is now the current master VR.
• By default, if a Backup VR is elected as Master VR and the previously Master (with higher Priority) becomes available, pre-emption takes place, i.e. the active master gives its place to the previous master. Pre-emption can be disabled.

VRRP Message Format

They say that a single picture is equivalent to a thousand words. Well, that is partly true. In our case, I guess, the following picture tells everything about the VRRP packet layout.

Pay attention to the following major characteristics:

• Sender’s source MAC address has the format 00-00-5E-00-01-[XX], where the “XX” consists of a two digit hexadecimal value equivalent to the VRRP Virtual Router Identifier (VRID). For example, a VRRP interface assigned the VRID 12 would have a MAC address of 00-00-5E-00-01-0C.
• Destination MAC address is equivalent the well known multicast address defined for VRRP which is 00-00-5E-00-01-12.

I have included some notes next to the marked items on the above diagram. It is all that you need to know about VRRP message content.

Major VRRP Commands

I would like to close the discussion about VRRP with the major VRRP Interface commands.

Vrrp [VRID] priority [value]
e.g. vrrp 1 priority 110

Vrrp [VRID] timers advertise [msec] [interval]
e.g. vrrp 1 timers advertise msec 500
e.g. vrrp 1 timers advertise 1 …….(seconds)

Vrrp [VRID] ip[ip address]
e.g. vrrp 1 ip 10.10.10.10

No Vrrp [VRID] preempt
e.g no vrrp 1 preempt

In this article we will examine everything you need to know regarding error message logging, reachability and routing troubleshooting as well as technical information collection from Cisco devices. Cisco has incorporated this section into the CCNP TSHOOT exam because it is extremely important to know what your troubleshooting tools can do and how to benefit from them. Learn them now so that you can apply them in real life tomorrow.

Cisco devices are like people; you need to listen to them. They can tell you important things about their hidden thoughts and worries. Always monitor your device logs at frequent intervals. In general, logged messages will assist you in identifying future problems. They will indicate active running malfunctions or even disturbances that happened during your off hours.

Cisco Troubleshooting: Message Logging Levels

The level of message logging is configurable. There are eight distinct levels of logging based on severity. Higher severity messages are given a lower level number. The following table presents these logging levels:

Things to Keep in Mind:

• The highest severity logging level is the “Emergencies” (level 0)
• The lowest severity logs are the “Debug” (level 7)
• Enabling a logging level automatically activates logging of higher severity levels. For example if you configure logging level “3″ then all messages falling into levels zero (0) up to three (3) are logged.

Message Logging Methods

There are four different methods of logging messages in Cisco devices. By default, logging of messages is enabled on the Console and on the device’s internal buffer. The four logging methods are:

• Console
• Internal buffer
• Virtual Terminal ( telnet session)
• Syslog server

The format of the Cisco command to enable logging is:

Logging [method] [level]

The following list displays the commands you need to use to configure each logging method:

• Logging console [level]: This command enables console logging (enabled by default). Use the no logging console command to disable it.
• Logging buffered [level]: This command enables logging of messages to the internal buffer (enabled by default). Use the no logging buffered command to disable it.
• Logging monitor [level]: Use this command to enable logging of messages towards virtual terminal sessions. On your telnet session use the terminal monitor commands to enable the display of messages on your terminal. The command terminal no monitor disables this feature. Also the command no logging monitor disables this logging method.
• Logging [ip address]: This command enables logging of messages towards a syslog server. You can specify several syslog servers by issuing separate commands with the ip address of each syslog server respectively.
• Logging trap [level]: Use this command to specify the level of messages transmitted to the syslog servers. The no logging trap command disables logging of messages to syslog servers.

Display Logging Configuration and Status

To display the configured logging methods and logging messages, issue the show logging privileged executable command. An example is shown below:

Troubleshooting with PING and TRACEROUTE

Do not underestimate the power of the PING and TRACEROUTE commands. You need to know them for your exam preparation as well.

• With the PING command you verify reachability with the remote device. By default, PING sends five ICMP echo requests to the destination IP address expecting to receive an ICMP echo Reply within a time interval of 2 seconds to each request.
• With the TRACEROUTE command you find the path taken to reach a specific destination. It can be used to verify reachability as well. It can provide important information regarding possible network bottlenecks.

Take a look at my article on how to troubleshoot your connections with Ping and Traceroute to learn more.

Important “Show” Cisco Commands

When it comes to identifying hardware problems or service malfunctions, you need to know the basic Cisco commands to use in order to diagnose the problem. Moreover, these are the commands that Cisco experts would ask from you in case you have a maintenance agreement with them, so it is necessary to know them.

When suffering from performance degradation, the following commands are the first to consider:

• Show interfaces
• Show buffers
• Show processes cpu
• Show memory

When you come across IP protocol errors or connectivity errors, the outputs from the following commands need to be evaluated:

• Show ip protocol
• Show ip route
• Show ip interfaces
• Show ip access-lists
• Show ip traffic

There is a single Cisco command that collects a lot of information equivalent to issuing many “show” commands. I am talking about the show tech-support command.

There is another crucial command, a very important one. That is the show version command. This command provides the following important information:

• The installed IOS number and name.
• The system’s Bootstrap and installed BootLoader.
• The system’s uptime.
• The reason for the latest system’s restart.
• The date of the last restart.
• The image filename and stored location.
• Hardware information such as processor type, memory usage, controllers, DSPs, etc.
• The value of the configuration register.

Using Cisco Troubleshooting Tools

Cisco provides a variety of troubleshooting tools to help you identify and isolate potential hardware or software problems. Cisco expects know these tools inside-out. I have presented some of the basic troubleshooting commands in this article, but be sure to learn them well. You will definitely need them!

But, as in real life, “nothing good comes without a price.” Therefore, redundant links may cause frame loops within the network if there is no mechanism to detect these loops. One could ask: What are a few repeated frames within a segment? The answer is that they do not harm the network, but remember broadcast frames occur all the time in switched networks. These frames in bridging loops keep circulating forever. They are exponentially procreating, leading both network bandwidth and resources into starvation.

By the time you notice the problem, it’s too late, your infrastructure is falling down.

Prevent Loops with the Spanning Tree Protocol

IEEE standardized a solution (IEEE 802.1D) to prevent bridging loops in data networks and provide loop-free topologies. This standardized solution is called Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). In this Spanning Tree Protocol tutorial, I will present in simplest terms the operation of STP and indicate how this protocol prevents the creation of bridging loops.

What is Spanning Tree Protocol

As the name implies, STP, spans all switches in a network or subnet. All switches generate and process data messages called Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs). The basic idea behind the exchange of BPDUs is for switches to identify redundant paths and by using the Spanning Tree algorithm, to ensure that there is no loop path in the network.

The STP algorithm is responsible for identifying active redundant links in the network and blocking one of these links, thus preventing possible network loops. The operation of STP is as follows:

• STP enabled switches exchange BPDU messages between them to agree upon the “root bridge;” the process is called Root Bridge Election.
• Once the root bridge is elected, every switch has to determine which of its ports will communicate with the root bridge. Therefore Root Port Election takes place on every network switch.
• Finally, Designated Port Election takes place in order to have only one active path towards every network segment.

Root Bridge Election

Spanning tree enabled switches need to have a common view of the whole network topology. In order to achieve this goal, they communicate between each other using standardized data messages called BPDUs, which are being transmitted using the standardized multicast layer 2 address 01-80-c2-00-00-00. These BPDUs contain various fields.

For the election of the Root Bridge (bridge is equivalent to Switch), the one that will be the initial point of reference, switches manipulate and analyze the Root Bridge ID and Sender Bridge ID fields. Both of these fields consist of a six byte MAC address header and a two byte Bridge Priority header. The switch with the smallest Bridge Priority is automatically elected as the Root Bridge. If Bridge Priority is the same on all switches then the switch with the smaller MAC address is elected as the Root Bridge.

By default all catalyst switches have the same Bridge Priority value (32,768). Let us say that we have three switches as shown in the figure below. All have the same Bridge Priority of 32,768. All switches start by sending BPDUs with a Root Bridge ID and Sender Bridge ID equal of their own. After a few message exchanges, the root election process converges and the Switch with the lower MAC (00-00-00-01-01-01) becomes the Root Bridge.

Learn more about the process of Root Bridge Election in this video from CCIE Chris Bryant: Video: The Root Bridge Election.

Root Port Election

Now that the Root Bridge is elected, every non-root switch has to select a root port, i.e. a port that has the best path towards the Root Bridge. The election of the Root port is determined by the four byte Root path Cost field within each BPDU. Here’s how whole concept is comprised:

• Every switch port has its own path cost based on the port’s bandwidth (equal to 1000Mbps divided by the port bandwidth in Mbps as specified in the original IEEE 802.1D standard).
• The higher the bandwidth, the lower the path cost across the specific port.
• The Path Cost is added to the received Root Path Cost for each BPDU received. Root switch has Root Path Cost of zero (0) for all its ports.
• The port with the lowest resulting Root Path Cost on every non-root switch is finally elected as the Root Port.

Here’s a schematic representation to help clarify this concept.

Learn more about the process of Root Port Election in this video from CCIE Chris Bryant: Video: Root Ports and Designated Ports.

Designated Port Election

The final step of the Spanning Tree Protocol’s computational process is the election of one Designated Port on each network segment. The election of the Designated Port is also based on the Root Path Cost. In case the two or more ports have the same Root Path Cost, the switch with the lower Sender Bridge ID wins and its corresponding port is selected as the segment’s Designated Port.

Any port which is not a Root Port or a Designated Port moves into the Blocking State where it cannot receive nor transmit frames, ensuring that the network is loop-free. Keep in mind that all ports of the Root Bridge are considered Designated Ports and can not be blocked. In our sample network design, the election of the Designated Port on every segment is shown below.

Learn more about the process of Designated Port Election in this video from CCIE Chris Bryant: Video: Root Ports and Designated Ports.

STP Convergence

Traditional Spanning Tree Protocol, by implementation, takes about fifty (50) seconds to adapt and converge to topology changes. In simple words, whenever a topology change occurs in the network (e.g. a link goes down-up), no frame forwarding takes place for about fifty seconds until STP convergences. This is a lot of time of inactivity especially in large networks where topology changes may happen relatively often.

Therefore, great caution needs to be taken where to activate STP. As a rule of thumb STP should be disabled on access ports. To do that you should set all access ports as portfast (meaning that these ports should be put immediately back in forwarding state and avoid the 50 seconds of blackout) and also enable bpdufilter on those ports so that they do not participate in STP.

The necessary commands on interface configuration level, that you need in order to achieve this are:

• Spanning-tree portfast
• Spanning-tree bpdufilter enable

Spanning Tree Protocol Resources

Now that you’ve seen the overview of how you can prevent loops with the Spanning Tree Protocol, continue your learning with these STP Resources:

• Cisco Switching and Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Basics
• Video: So What Happens if I Turn STP Off?
• title=”STP in Action – STP Examples”>Video: STP in Action – STP Examples
• Video: STP Interface States
• Video: Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)

The installation of the Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) can seem like a daunting task. This article takes a look at the basic steps required to install the base operating system and the CUCM application on a new device.

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Installation

There are a number of caveats that need to be reviewed before a new CUCM installation. As there is a long list of things to be aware of, the easiest method of review is by reading the sections on these in the Cisco installation guide for the specific version of CUCM that is being installed. This article uses CUCM version 8.6(1) as its source, some steps may be slightly different depending on the version, this installation guide can be found here.

Step 1:

One option that is available is to create an answer file that is used for performing an installation unattended. If this answer file has been already created and copied to a USB key, insert it into the target device.

Step 2:

Insert the installation media into the target device and reboot.

Note: The operating system and CUCM application are installed using the same installation program.

Step 3:

The first thing that is prompted is a media check, this check verifies that the DVD media is intact and has no read problems. If this is the first time the media has been used, performing a media check is cheap insurance that everything will be installed correctly. If the media has been previously verified, this check can be bypassed.

Step 4:

This step checks to ensure that the hardware is correctly configured. Hardware configuration and additional reboots may be required.

Step 5:

The next thing that is prompted is product deployment selection, three options are possible, these include:

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM)
• Cisco Unity Connection (CUC)
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition 5000

As this article is focused on CUCM, this will be the product to select. Only products that are supported by the current hardware will be selectable.

Step 6:

The next screen is for the Platform Installation Wizard which will prompt to proceed with installation. This screen also offers other methods to proceed including unattended installation and to configure previously installed hardware. Simply select the method that is specific to the installation.

Step 7:

Another secondary step that is available is to upgrade to a more recent service release during the installation. If this is an option that is relevant to this specific installation select yes, the installation will continue on and eventually reboot (at the end of these steps), on reboot an Install Upgrade Retrieval Mechanism Configuration window will display and go through this process.

Step 8:

The next window will prompt for a timezone selection, select the correct timezone for the device.

Step 9:

The installation wizard will then prompt for Ethernet configuration settings including speed and duplex settings. Select either Yes (for autoconfiguration) or No and select the appropriate Ethernet settings.

Step10:

The next window will prompt for MTU configuration, if the default MTU on the network is different than default then enter the appropriate MTU. Typically, the MTU should be left at the default settings, incorrect configuration can affect network performance.

Step 11:

The next window will prompt for device network addressing configuration, the device can be configured to automatically obtain an address through a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server or it can be manually configured.

Step 12:

The next window will prompt for the device Domain Naming System (DNS) configuration information, enter the DNS information for this device. Once this step is complete the device will reboot with the configured settings. After reboot the device, the basic installation of the device will be complete and the specific settings will need to be configured depending on the specific application of the device, for example, is the device stand alone or is it part of a cluster.

Once the basic installation process has been completed the user can then configure the device with the settings specific for install. These options include whether the device will be included as part of a CUCM cluster.

Summary

This article reviews the basic steps that must be completed in order to build CUCM. There are a number of different configurations that can then be used to deploy the specific settings required for the specific installation. Hopefully this article can provide a base guideline for those looking to install CUCM in the future.