Adv Technologies: EIGRP

#########EIGRP Authentication########
Takes some time, so will need to be patient. Need to chage system clock (clock set 00:22:00 1 Feb 2007) for Auth to kick in
OR
clear ip eigrp neigh will do


Also there is a typo, can u spot the mistake ?




key chain EIGRP
key 1
key-string CISCO123
accept-lifetime 00:00:00 Mar 1 2002 00:15:00 Jan 1 2007
send-lifetime 00:00:00 Mar 1 2002 00:00:00 Jan 1 2007
key 2
key-string CISCO456
accept-lifetime 23:45:00 Dec 31 2006 infinite
send-lifetime 00:00:00 Jan 1 2007 infinite



Rack1R4#sh key chain
Key-chain EIGRP:
key 1 -- text "CISCO123 "
accept lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Mar 1 2002) - (00:15:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Mar 1 2002) - (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
key 2 -- text "CISCO456"
accept lifetime (23:45:00 UTC Dec 31 2006) - (infinite)
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) - (infinite)
Rack1R4#


Rack1R5#sh key cha
Key-chain EIGRP:
key 1 -- text "CISCO123"
accept lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2002) - (00:15:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2002) - (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
key 2 -- text "CISCO456"
accept lifetime (23:45:00 UTC Dec 31 2006) - (infinite) [valid now]
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) - (infinite)
Rack1R5#


Ans: in R4 router, there is an additional space in the Key 1 "CISCO123 "



#########EIGRP Stub########

From Non Stub router only UPDATES are sent out to stub neighbor, no QUERIES sent to stub
But a Non Stub router will receive QUERIES from stub neighbor and will reply to the same.


########### Leak-map ########################
ip summary-address eigrp 100 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 leak-map LEAK

The benefit of route leaking (advertising a route) is that the leaked route is more specific than a summarized route and is therefore the preferred route.

#######How To ############
Configuring an EIGRP Summary Address to Leak a Component Route


There might be times when you have summarized routes, but you want a particular route to be advertised. The benefit of route leaking (advertising a route) is that the leaked route is more specific than a summarized route and is therefore the preferred route. Perform this task to leak an EIGRP route that would otherwise be suppressed by a summary route.

In general, leaking an EIGRP route is achieved by defining a standard IP access list (or IP prefix list) to identify the component route as a source address. Then the access list is referenced in a route map (in a match ip address command), and the route map is referenced by the leak-map keyword in the ip summary-address eigrp command.

You can use a single access list to permit all the routes that you want to leak through a single summary.



##Behavior if EIGRP Route Leaking Is Configured Incompletely##

The following default behavior occurs if the ip summary-address eigrp command is configured using the leak-map keyword and either the route map or access list is not configured:

--If the leak-map keyword is configured to reference a nonexistent route map, the configuration of this keyword has no effect. The summary address is advertised, but all component routes are suppressed.

--If the leak-map keyword is configured, but the access list does not exist or the route map does not reference the access list, the summary address and all component routes are sent.


###############ip default-network ############################
When deciding whether to use a default static route or a default network, keep in mind that if you want the routing protocol to propagate the default route, the ip default-network command will do that for you. But if you want only the local router to have the default route, a static IP route is the way to go.

http://blog.internetworkexpert.com/2008/01/15/issues-with-the-ip-default-network-command/


##############Changing Internal and External AD of EIGRP Routes ############
NOTE: We can not change distance for individual external EIGRP prefixes
distance eigrp 99 200
e.g all internal routes set to AD99 and external routes set to AD200
However we can still change {selectively} AD of internal routes from 99 to something else as shwon below, but cannot {selectively} change AD of external routes

NOTE: that you specify neighbor’s IP address (like with RIP and unlike OSPF)
when you fine-tune AD based on access-list
"distance 199 155.1.45.5 0.0.0.0 10"

e.g: This will set the routes recd from source-ip 155.1.45.5 to AD 199 if the routes match that in ACL 10

#################Filtering with Distribute Lists ############
router eigrp 100
distribute-list 99 in Serial 0/0
distribute-list 99 in Serial 0/1


A bit advanced distribute-list with route-map
router eigrp 100
distribute-list route-map FILTER_EIGRP in serial 0/1
distribute-list route-map FILTER_EIGRP in serial 0/0

Where all the magic happens in FILTER_EIGRP route-map to match against tag 100 and then selectively permit only those routes in, rest are filtered#########EIGRP AUthentication########
Takes some time, so will need to be patient. Need to chage system clock (clock set 00:22:00 1 Feb 2007) for Auth to kick in
OR
clear ip eigrp neigh will do


Also there is a typo, can u spot the mistake ?




key chain EIGRP
key 1
key-string CISCO123
accept-lifetime 00:00:00 Mar 1 2002 00:15:00 Jan 1 2007
send-lifetime 00:00:00 Mar 1 2002 00:00:00 Jan 1 2007
key 2
key-string CISCO456
accept-lifetime 23:45:00 Dec 31 2006 infinite
send-lifetime 00:00:00 Jan 1 2007 infinite



Rack1R4#sh key chain
Key-chain EIGRP:
key 1 -- text "CISCO123 "
accept lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Mar 1 2002) - (00:15:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Mar 1 2002) - (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
key 2 -- text "CISCO456"
accept lifetime (23:45:00 UTC Dec 31 2006) - (infinite)
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) - (infinite)
Rack1R4#


Rack1R5#sh key cha
Key-chain EIGRP:
key 1 -- text "CISCO123"
accept lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2002) - (00:15:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2002) - (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) [valid now]
key 2 -- text "CISCO456"
accept lifetime (23:45:00 UTC Dec 31 2006) - (infinite) [valid now]
send lifetime (00:00:00 UTC Jan 1 2007) - (infinite)
Rack1R5#


Ans: in R4 router, there is an additional space in the Key 1 "CISCO123 "



#########EIGRP Stub########

From Non Stub router only UPDATES are sent out to stub neighbor, no QUERIES sent to stub
But a Non Stub router will receive QUERIES from stub neighbor and will reply to the same.


########### Leak-map ########################
ip summary-address eigrp 100 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 leak-map LEAK

The benefit of route leaking (advertising a route) is that the leaked route is more specific than a summarized route and is therefore the preferred route.

#######How To ############
Configuring an EIGRP Summary Address to Leak a Component Route


There might be times when you have summarized routes, but you want a particular route to be advertised. The benefit of route leaking (advertising a route) is that the leaked route is more specific than a summarized route and is therefore the preferred route. Perform this task to leak an EIGRP route that would otherwise be suppressed by a summary route.

In general, leaking an EIGRP route is achieved by defining a standard IP access list (or IP prefix list) to identify the component route as a source address. Then the access list is referenced in a route map (in a match ip address command), and the route map is referenced by the leak-map keyword in the ip summary-address eigrp command.

You can use a single access list to permit all the routes that you want to leak through a single summary.



##Behavior if EIGRP Route Leaking Is Configured Incompletely##

The following default behavior occurs if the ip summary-address eigrp command is configured using the leak-map keyword and either the route map or access list is not configured:

--If the leak-map keyword is configured to reference a nonexistent route map, the configuration of this keyword has no effect. The summary address is advertised, but all component routes are suppressed.

--If the leak-map keyword is configured, but the access list does not exist or the route map does not reference the access list, the summary address and all component routes are sent.


###############ip default-network ############################
When deciding whether to use a default static route or a default network, keep in mind that if you want the routing protocol to propagate the default route, the ip default-network command will do that for you. But if you want only the local router to have the default route, a static IP route is the way to go.

http://blog.internetworkexpert.com/2008/01/15/issues-with-the-ip-default-network-command/


##############Changing Internal and External AD of EIGRP Routes ############
NOTE: We can not change distance for individual external EIGRP prefixes
distance eigrp 99 200
e.g all internal routes set to AD99 and external routes set to AD200
However we can still change {selectively} AD of internal routes from 99 to something else as shwon below, but cannot {selectively} change AD of external routes

NOTE: that you specify neighbor’s IP address (like with RIP and unlike OSPF)
when you fine-tune AD based on access-list
"distance 199 155.1.45.5 0.0.0.0 10"

e.g: This will set the routes recd from source-ip 155.1.45.5 to AD 199 if the routes match that in ACL 10

#################Filtering with Distribute Lists ############
router eigrp 100
distribute-list 99 in Serial 0/0
distribute-list 99 in Serial 0/1


A bit advanced distribute-list with route-map
router eigrp 100
distribute-list route-map FILTER_EIGRP in serial 0/1
distribute-list route-map FILTER_EIGRP in serial 0/0

Where all the magic happens in FILTER_EIGRP route-map to match against tag 100 and then selectively permit only those routes in, rest are filetered (denied)
(denied)

Day3: OSPF

Day 3
OSPF


Process ID is LOCALLY Significant
Must have atleast one UP/UP inerface trunning IPV4 for router OSPF to pick it as Router-ID


Network Statement : Misconception: Network Statement relates to Subnet Mask of the network that you are trying to oroiginate
network Statement only is used to pick interface that matches the network statement
For e.g : network 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 area 0 ==> ALl interfaces , does not mean that we are originating the Default nwk


In older IOS, the order of entering the network statements were significant, NOt anymore, the newer IOS reorders the network statement to order more specific match first


Forming Adjacencies
########Must Match ####
-area
-hello/dead timers
- MTU
-(OR) ip ospf mtu-ignore
-compatible network types
-stub flags
-authentication

#########Must be unique #########
-Intf IP Address
- OSPF Router-ID


When doing OSPF Adj, chk sh system mtu, it must match one witht he router or use "ip mtu" cmd to change the MTU on rtr on certain interfaces

RECOMMEND: Manually define router-ID, assuming addressing is globally unique, but if u use Anycast IP, then u can have IP duplicates
RECOMMEND: Avoid using Rtr-ID 1.1.1.1 or 2.2.2.2 or like, cos BBRs (backbone routers )cud be using the same, and this can casue inconsistencies in the OSPF Databases.


###############Types###############################
-Broadcast
-Non-Broadcast
-Point-to-Point
-Point-to-Multipoint
-Point-to-Multipoint Non-Boradcast
-Loopback



-Broadcast
-Send Hellos as multicast
-224.0.0.5 (all ospf rtrs in seg ) /224.0.0.6 (all DR/BDR rtrs in the seg)
-uses DR/BDR, to minimise LSA Replication 9Like BGP Router Reflector)

in FR Hub and spoke env
- interface level cmd: "ip ospf network broadcast" on all neighbor's interfaces required.
- ip ospf prio 0 req for spoke sites, so as to avoid them becoming DR/BDR
- no neighbor cmds required on hub
- frame-realy map stmts need broadcast keyword
- If you notice: Next HOp Modification doesn't happen.
- if you notice: DR/BDR are elected.

DR/BDR Election
-Priority, 0 ==> wont participate in election, 255 is max and its best
-No premption in DR/BDR election
==> once DR/BDR are elected, later on a higher prio rtr cannot preempt the DR
-Router-ID
if all teh devices in the segment have the same priority, thena the router0-d wil be chosen
Higer rtr-id is better
Rtr-ID doesnt need to be a valid IP or valid routeable Number, its can be any number in dotted decimal format, for e.g 255.255.255.255 will be the most preferred rtr id
-- Caveat: DR/BDR also depends on whiuch Router is configured first and whose OSPF process converges faster.



#########Debug OSPF####
access-list 100 permit 89 any any
debug ip packet 100


How to find who is the DR in Broadcast/NBMA segments using sho ip ospf Database cmd ??????????
Ans:--The "Net Link States" table shows Who is the DR (BDR cant be found) in teh Adv Router Column for the given Segment as represented by the Link ID



Network Type : NBMA (Updates sent as Replicated Unicast) Has DR/BDR Election, but needs neighbor stmts to be added for Updates to be sent to it as unicast
Hello = 30s , Dead = 120s
FR Main Int
FR multipoint sub-int
ATM interfaces

in FR Hub and spoke env
- Default Network Type for FR (NBMA)
- neighbor cmds under ospf process required on hub, since updates sent as Unicast
- frame-realy map stmts DON'T need broadcast keyword
- ip ospf prio 0 req for spoke sites, so as to avoid them becoming DR/BDR
- If you notice: Next HOp Modification doesn't happen.
- if you notice: DR/BDR are elected.


#################OSPF Network Point to Multipoint #####################
-Not a default Option , need to ue intf cmd "ip ospf network point-to-multipoint"
-Sends hellos as Multicast on 224.0.0.5
-Modifies the next hop
-No DR/BDR elecetion


-Adds in routing table Host /32 route for end points of the links, then uses recursive looksups to find the interface.
-Ensure that you have a broadcast keyword in frame-relay map cmd to allow multicast traffic
-U need to have ONLY 1 Mapping from Spoke to HUB. Rest of L2 mapping is taken care at L3 via OSPF mulitpoint technology


The functional difference between OSPF network type point-to-multipoint versus
broadcast and non-broadcast network types is how point-to-multipoint deals with nexthop
resolution on a non-broadcast media. OSPF network type point-to-multipoint treats
the network as a collection of point-to-point links instead of one flat broadcast network.
With the network types non-broadcast and broadcast, OSPF does not understand that
the underlying layer 2 topology may not mirror a flat layer 3 network. With OSPF network
types broadcast and non-broadcast, next hop values are not modified when updates are
transmitted across an NBMA media. This implies that devices on the NBMA cloud
require layer 3 to layer 2 resolution for any endpoint injecting routes into the network.
With OSPF network type point-to-multipoint, next hop values are modified to the address
of the directly connected neighbor when they are advertised across the NBMA cloud.
This implies that routers on the NBMA network only need layer 3 to layer 2 resolution for
directly connected neighbors when running OSPF network point-to-mulitpoint.


in FR Hub and spoke env
- NOT a Default Network Type for FR
- NO neighbor cmds under ospf process required on hub, since updates sent as multicast
- frame-realy map stmts need broadcast keyword, but only "ONE" map stmt to the HUB, rest are resolved by
- ip ospf prio 0 NOT req for spoke sites, NO DR/BDR in this TYpe
- If you notice: Next HOp Modification DOES happen. There are /32 Routes added for the Link address and the Remtoe networks are pointed to this Link /32 Address.
- if you notice: DR/BDR are NOT elected ( Not supported).

#################OSPF Network Point to Multipoint NonBroadcast #######
-Not a Default Option, use intf cmd "ip ospf network point-to-multipoint non-broadcast"
- Sends hellos as unicast
-neighbor stmts required
-no DR/BDR electioin
- Modifies next-hop

-Can be used when we have PVCs with different costs
-in ethernet : diff BW values for diff neighbors in the link

in FR Hub and spoke env
- NOT a Default Network Type for FR
- Neighbor cmds under ospf process required on hub, since updates sent as unicast
- frame-realy map stmts DON'T need broadcast keyword, AND only "ONE" map stmt to the HUB, rest are resolved by L3 (OSPF)
- ip ospf prio 0 NOT req for spoke sites, NO DR/BDR in this TYpe
- If you notice: Next HOp Modification DOES happen. There are /32 Routes added for the Link address and the Remtoe networks are pointed to this Link /32 Address.
- if you notice: DR/BDR are NOT elected ( Not supported).
- if you notice: ONLY this Network Type, allows COST to be modifed under OSPF process when defining neighbors. => neighbor 10.0.0.4 cost 50 , etc


##########How to change the Cost of a Link ? #########################
Typically to be used in scenarios where u have links > 100mbps , for e.g gig, 10g, OC3, etc

- Interface"Bandwidth"
- Interface "ip ospg cost"
- Process "auto-cost"
-Process "neighbor w.x.y.z cost" ==> used in Multipoint



TIP: How to calculate the Cost of an OPSF Link without using the formual ourselves ?
Ans: Configure on of the physcial lkinsk and change their BW in kbps and then type "sh ip ospf interface" to get its cost


############Point to Point #########
-no DR/BDR
-Update sent as Multicast

"ip ospf 1 area 0 " ==> Eabled at Interface level means that we include the interface for a given area, and ALSO, the secondary addresses if any configured on the itnerface are also enabled for OSPF
This means the secondary addresses will also send out "hello" and form adj


in FR Hub and spoke env
- NOT a Default Network Type for FR
- NO Neighbor cmds under ospf process required on hub, since updates sent as multicast
- frame-realy map stmts need broadcast keyword, since only 1 neighbor, only 1 MAP stmt
- ip ospf prio 0 NOT req for spoke sites, NO DR/BDR in this TYpe
- If you notice: Next HOp Modification DOES NOT happen.
- if you notice: DR/BDR are NOT elected ( Not supported).


Summaray: OSPF network Types
Broadcast can be adj to Non-Broadcast as they both have DR/BDR concept, however we need to ensure tha the Hello/Dead timers are matched

Point-to-point can be adj with Point-to-Multipoint OR adj with point-to-multipoint non-broadcast, as they dont have DR/BDR concept, however we need to ensure tha the Hello/Dead timers are matched


V.V IMP: What gets affected with non-compatible nwks but it appears that u are formining adj , but actually its a neighbor relnaship but not truly adj
-unicast/multicast
-DR/BDR Election
-Next-hop processing

######### OSPF fast Hellos ##############
ip ospf dead-interval minimal hello-multiplier 5

- interface level cmd
- dead int = 1s , hello= 200msx5=1000ms =1s
-so hello sent out every 200ms

Day 2: IP Routing, PPP, RIP

CCIE IE CoD IP ROuting
31/03/2008

####Load Balancing occurs at L2 #######
For e.g U might see multiple enteries in routing table for a particular detination
However, we might not have enabled the Load Balancing on L2, i.e CEF disabled

####Can we debug Traffic ? #########
UNless traffic is process switched, we will not see its debug on deb ip packet o/p
Also traffic LOCALLY destined to and from the router is always process switched
Thus to disable CEF, do no ip mroute-cache (for multicast) no ip route-cache at interface level to debug transist traffic
If at any stage in debug messages, if we see, encapsulation failed, ==> no L2 to l3 Mappings are available (true for Ethernet/FR)

########Floating Static ROute ############
Frame Relay: Main Interface Status ( UP/UP, etc) is based on LMI whereas
Sub-Interface Status is based on the PVC status

Hence route Pointed to Main Interface never goes down as long as the LMI from Switch are recd by the Router
==> Floating Static ROute with Higer AD never gets installed as the primary static route is never removed

For Point to Point Subinterface: If PVC goes down, then implicitly Main intf goes down as well
For Multipoint Subinterface: If PVC goes down, Sub iNtf goes down, but for Main intg to go down we need all the DLCI to go down


############GRE ######################
IP Protocol 47
has ability to do end to end keepalives
tunnel dest must not recurse out the tunnel interface, use one of the physical interfaces...


##################RIP ###################
RIP v2 works overs Multicast 224.0.0.9, but provides an option on chaninging it to Broadcast using cmd "ip rip v2 broadcast"
So why shud we know this ? Cos in LAB when we asked to FILTER (ACL) we can use Log stmt so tht we can see if it breaks RIP in the DENY Log

RIPv1 is not UNofficially a topic in LAB, but can exspect to be asked to support Rece or Send of RIP v1
RIPv2 might appear in LAB


no auto-summary is not always need to be applied, so dont make it a habit

wht's done at interface level overrides the stuff done at routing (global) level

default:send v1, rec v1 and v2 , but if we cchange this in routin proc, it changes the interface level stuff to send --v2 and rec -v2

Split Horizon: Enabled for all interfaces except for main int in FR
"ip spilt-horizon"

affects FR Hub and Spoke , so we need to disable under a FR sub-interface
If its main interface, split-horizin is disabled automatically

NOTE: For SVI, split-horizon is enabled

For EIGRP: Look into sh run to chk if its disabled or not
"sh ip interface" will show only for RIP




Under Router Rip, when u give a network cmd
==> it automatically advertises the Network is included under that network

To avoid that use Passive interface to disable sending the updates, but cannot stop receiving the updates and advertsing tht network via other interface

To avoid sending out (advertising) the network via other interfaces, use distribute list
If u dont want to rec updates, use ACL or use Authentication ON, and fail them (but this needs to set receive-ver v2),
OR, use neighbor cmd on the routers and on the switch black-hole the MAC address used by the Multicast Address
OR, use distance and set it to 255, but can only affect inbound routes not for outbound routes


Offset-list
Can be used to increase (cannot decrease) the metric along with an ACL
if access-list "0" is provided mean all routers

Can be used also for RIp by {Poisoning} by setting unusable routers by adding offset to 15 or 16, need to find in REAL LAB. Think about the HOP count already received by you. No HARD Coded Rule

Access-list used for Offset List need to be such that it doesnt look at the subnet mask, it only needs to look at the NETWORK portion of the route only.
for e.g : /24 route , access-list 1 permit 150.1.5.0 0.0.0.0 and not 0.0.0.255

o validate-update-source. ==>Disable the validation of the source IP address of incoming RIP routing updates.



REMEMBER: CCIE Test is not a test for Best Practise and Design, So even though ur traffic takes a sub-optimal routing, U DONT CARE, UNLESS THEY ASK U TO WORRY ABT IT
REMEMBER: Similary for REDUCNDANCY case. If they dont explicity ask, we dont worry abt it


#################### PPP ###################################
Features as compared v/s HDLC
-Authentication
-Multilink
-Reliability (RFC 1663)
-ppp reliable-link
-Error Thresholds
-ppp quality percentage
-Optimised PPP Negotiation
-ROuting
-peer neighbor route (ON by Default)

##peer neighbor route##
-Used to provide reacability whe both ends of the PPP link are not on the same logical subnet e.g ip Unnumbered
-Can be safely disabled when both ends of the link are on the same logical IP subnet
- Only needed if using ip unnumbered



NOTE: Subnet mask is not learned with PPP, So it can cause routing issues, Beware.



IN REAL World: Either FR or PPP or HDLC , in WAN Env, you cannot ping yourself
Cos the Ping Packet is placed on the Wire, if the Link's down and if the Remote End is down, then
u cant ping remote end and u cant ping urself, since the packet it sent across the wire. Even if u ping urself, the Packet is sent across the wire


REMEMBER: For PPP Authentication PAP (or CHAP) password must be saved using useranme ... password 0 (or 7) ......
Dont get trapped into using username .... secret ......
Since secret == mean encrypt using MD5,
==> PAP/CHAP cannot work with this HASH value, they need the clear text value to generate their own HASH




###################Policy ROuting ########################
NOTE: When creating new access-list, alwasy ensure that its not already created for some other task
by issuing sh ip access-list.

Power of Positive Talk !

(Via an Email )

Power of Positive Talk


I remember my dad teaching me the power of language at a very young age. Not only did my dad understand that specific words affect our mental pictures, but he understood words are a powerful programming factor in lifelong success.

One particularly interesting event occurred when I was eight. As a kid, I was always climbing trees, poles, and literally hanging around upside down from the rafters of our lake house. So, it came to no surprise for my dad to find me at the top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. My little eight-year-old brain didn't realize the tree could break or I could get hurt. I just thought it was fun to be up so high.

My older cousin, Tammy, was also in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big limb, about ten feet below me. Tammy's mother also noticed us at the exact time my dad did. About that time a huge gust of wind came over the tree. I could hear the leaves start to rattle and the tree begin to sway. I remember my dad's voice over the wind yell, "Bart, Hold on tightly." So I did. The next thing I know, I heard Tammy screaming at the top of her lungs, laying flat on the ground. She had fallen out of the tree.

I scampered down the tree to safety. My dad later told me why she fell and I did not. Apparently, when Tammy's mother felt the gust of wind, she yelled out, "Tammy, don't fall!" And Tammy did… fall.

My dad then explained to me that the mind has a very difficult time processing a negative image. In fact, people who rely on internal pictures cannot see a negative at all. In order for Tammy to process the command of not falling, her nine-year-old brain had to first imagine falling, then try to tell the brain not to do what it just imagined. Whereas, my eight-year-old brain instantly had an internal image of me hanging on tightly.

This concept is especially useful when you are attempting to break a habit or set a goal. You can't visualize not doing something. The only way to properly visualize not doing something is to actually find a word for what you want to do and visualize that. For example, when I was thirteen years old, I played for my junior high school football team. I tried so hard to be good, but I just couldn't get it together at that age. I remember hearing the words run through my head as I was running out for a pass, "Don't drop it!" Naturally, I dropped the ball.

My coaches were not skilled enough to teach us proper "self-talk." They just thought some kids could catch and others couldn't. I'll never make it pro, but I'm now a pretty good Sunday afternoon football player, because all my internal dialogue is positive and encourages me to win. I wish my dad had coached me playing football instead of just climbing trees. I might have had a longer football career.

Here is a very easy demonstration to teach your kids and your friends the power of a toxic vocabulary. Ask them to hold a pen or pencil. Hand it to them. Now, follow my instructions carefully. Say to them, "Okay, try to drop the pencil." Observe what they do.

Most people release their hands and watch the pencil hit the floor. You respond, "You weren't paying attention. I said TRY to drop the pencil. Now please do it again." Most people then pick up the pencil and pretend to be in excruciating pain while their hand tries but fails to drop the pencil.

The point is made.

If you tell your brain you will "give it a try," you are actually telling your brain to fail. I have a "no try" rule in my house and with everyone I interact with. Either people will do it or they won't. Either they will be at the party or they won't. I'm brutal when people attempt to lie to me by using the word try. Do they think I don't know they are really telegraphing to the world they have no intention of doing it but they want me to give them brownie points for pretended effort? You will never hear the words "I'll try" come out of my mouth unless I'm teaching this concept in a seminar.

If you "try" and do something, your unconscious mind has permission not to succeed. If I truly can't make a decision I will tell the truth. "Sorry John. I'm not sure if I will be at your party or not. I've got an outstanding commitment. If that falls through, I will be here. Otherwise, I will not. Thanks for the invite."

People respect honesty. So remove the word "try" from your vocabulary.

My dad also told me that psychologists claim it takes seventeen positive statements to offset one negative statement. I have no idea if it is true, but the logic holds true. It might take up to seventeen compliments to offset the emotional damage of one harsh criticism.

These are concepts that are especially useful when raising children.

Ask yourself how many compliments you give yourself daily versus how many criticisms. Heck, I know you are talking to yourself all day long. We all have internal voices that give us direction.

So, are you giving yourself the 17:1 ratio or are you shortchanging yourself with toxic self-talk like, " I'm fat. Nobody will like me. I'll try this diet. I'm not good enough. I'm so stupid. I'm broke, etc. etc."

If our parents can set a lifetime of programming with one wrong statement, imagine the kind of programming you are doing on a daily basis with your own internal dialogue. Here is a list of Toxic Vocabulary words.

Notice when you or other people use them.

ؠBut: Negates any words that are stated before it.
ؠTry: Presupposes failure.
ؠIf: Presupposes that you may not.
ؠMight: It does nothing definite. It leaves options for your listener.
ؠWould Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen.
ؠShould Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen (and implies guilt.)
ؠCould Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen but the person tries to take credit as if it did happen.
ؠCan't/Don't: These words force the listener to focus on exactly the opposite of what you want. This is a classic mistake that parents and coaches make without knowing the damage of this linguistic error.

Examples:
Toxic phrase: "Don't drop the ball!"
Likely result: Drops the ball
Better language: "Catch the ball!"

Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't watch so much television."
Likely result: Watches more television.
Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"

Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any Toxic self-talk that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you will begin to catch yourself as they occur and change them.

Regards,

--
Do forward it to your friends wherever you can to spread the knowledge. You will surely be remembered for Good.

Regards,

About the Writer

By qualification the writer is a B.tech(CSE), MBA(Finance), CFA, CFP, NCFM (All modules), AMFI (advisors) and expert Technical and Fundamental Analyst.


The writer of this article(technicals.expert@gmail.com) is a technical expert and the purpose of whom is to educate the investors/traders/students with the expert stock market terminologies and knowledge so as to equip them with the right arms to battle in the stock market or their career.

Remember "Free Tips" are for today which may work or not but KNOWLEDGE is a tip forever which will never fail.

The writer has recently started an educationary group http://groups.google.com/group/stock-market-experts for making people aware of technical and fundamental analysis and the software training/softwares used in the stock market.

Realty Check, Two Weeks into Preparation

Its time for a quick realty check. Its been over two weeks since I started preparing for the LAB.

Honestly, as per my original strategy, I was supposed to devote 3 hours per day until end of May08. However If I look back at the past 2 weeks, I don't really think I have been able to do that.

Is procrastination catching up on me ?
I am looking for excuses here. I know, I am not able to gain momentum. But I want to be able to give myself 2 more weeks from today before I panic.
At the moment I am taking it easy. Yes I am running LATE. I hope to cover up on lost hours. I don't know how though !

I still cant seem to get over my need to sleep for 8 hours or more. I tried a couple of times to get up early and sit back late. But its sapping my energy out the next day. I look Jaded and can't concentrate. I fell sick and had acidity and indigestion issues.

I still cant seem to gather the necessary concentration to be able to sit for hours reading/viewing Technical Content. The mind starts to wander off in 25-30mins and the lapses are concerning to say the least.

Do I need the whip to keep myself on track ?
I reacll back in schooling/engineering days, I was not like this. If I can only find the difference in such a large change in attitude it will help.

All I need is the concentration and commitment. I have the ability.

As far as reading the CoD goes, I am still at Day 2 and this part of the CoD is the easiest. I wonder what will happen when i reach the difficult sections , BGP/Multicast/IOS Security/..........

Its frustrating to let my own self down. But life (procrastination) has made me learn to get comfortable with it and forget. I dont want to procrastinate.

I want to wake UP.
The time is NOW !

As time goes by !

Today I have finished a Year at Cisco.
Yes its been a roller coaster ride.
The key achievements that I can put forth are
### Professional ###
1) Went to Colombia, my FIRST Overseas Engagement and got a CAP award on my very FIRST assignment
2) Bought a Maruti Swift VXi, my FIRST CAR
3) Completed a Major ISC Upgrade at India's Largest Tier-1 ISP, my FIRST interaction with Indian ISPs

### Personal ###
3) Became a Proud Father, my FIRST child
4) Completed CCIE Written, my Certification for a long long time
5) Chasing CCIE Lab
6) Living my DREAM !

So what holds for me in future ?
1) CCIE LAB
2) More Onsite Engagements ?

So as you see, I haven't particularly managed to amass tons of money, but i did chase quite a few FIRSTs.
I sleep well at nights, and for me, if at the end of the day, if you can sleep well, you have done a satisfying job at work.

I really haven't got to a stage where I can see myself one year down the line in Cisco. Honestly, there has been a lot happening at Personal Front to take my focus off.

lets see how it all goes.
Happy Anniversary Dharmesh@Cisco.

My Top 5 Signature Themes

My Top 5 Signature Themes

Actually I have been nominated by my manager to attend a 1 day course on finding my strengths.
The part of the preparation for this course means that i have to read through atleast the first three chapters of their book " NOW , Discover your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. Then I am supposed to take an online survey at www.strengthsfinder.com which spit out the following results:-

So my question to you all who know me so far: 1) Do you agree to what this survey says as my top 5 Strengths are?

They are listed below:
--Deliberative
--Significance
--Harmony
--Competition
--Consistency

Pls leave your comments on the blog.

######Results from the Survey ##########
Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors
Your Signature Themes

Dharmesh Shah

Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.

Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your "top five."

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Deliberative
You are careful. You are vigilant. You are a private person. You know that the world is an unpredictable place. Everything may seem in order, but beneath the surface you sense the many risks. Rather than denying these risks, you draw each one out into the open. Then each risk can be identified, assessed, and ultimately reduced. Thus, you are a fairly serious person who approaches life with a certain reserve. For example, you like to plan ahead so as to anticipate what might go wrong. You select your friends cautiously and keep your own counsel when the conversation turns to personal matters. You are careful not to give too much praise and recognition, lest it be misconstrued. If some people don’t like you because you are not as effusive as others, then so be it. For you, life is not a popularity contest. Life is something of a minefield. Others can run through it recklessly if they so choose, but you take a different approach. You identify the dangers, weigh their relative impact, and then place your feet deliberately. You walk with care.
Significance
You want to be very significant in the eyes of other people. In the truest sense of the word you want to be recognized. You want to be heard. You want to stand out. You want to be known. In particular, you want to be known and appreciated for the unique strengths you bring. You feel a need to be admired as credible, professional, and successful. Likewise, you want to associate with others who are credible, professional, and successful. And if they aren’t, you will push them to achieve until they are. Or you will move on. An independent spirit, you want your work to be a way of life rather than a job, and in that work you want to be given free rein, the leeway to do things your way. Your yearnings feel intense to you, and you honor those yearnings. And so your life is filled with goals, achievements, or qualifications that you crave. Whatever your focus—and each person is distinct—your Significance theme will keep pulling you upward, away from the mediocre toward the exceptional. It is the theme that keeps you reaching.
Harmony
You look for areas of agreement. In your view there is little to be gained from conflict and friction, so you seek to hold them to a minimum. When you know that the people around you hold differing views, you try to find the common ground. You try to steer them away from confrontation and toward harmony. In fact, harmony is one of your guiding values. You can’t quite believe how much time is wasted by people trying to impose their views on others. Wouldn’t we all be more productive if we kept our opinions in check and instead looked for consensus and support? You believe we would, and you live by that belief. When others are sounding off about their goals, their claims, and their fervently held opinions, you hold your peace. When others strike out in a direction, you will willingly, in the service of harmony, modify your own objectives to merge with theirs (as long as their basic values do not clash with yours). When others start to argue about their pet theory or concept, you steer clear of the debate, preferring to talk about practical, down-to-earth matters on which you can all agree. In your view we are all in the same boat, and we need this boat to get where we are going. It is a good boat. There is no need to rock it just to show that you can.
Competition
Competition is rooted in comparison. When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how worthy your intentions, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. Like all competitors, you need other people. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win. And when you win, there is no feeling quite like it. You like measurement because it facilitates comparisons. You like other competitors because they invigorate you. You like contests because they must produce a winner. You particularly like contests where you know you have the inside track to be the winner. Although you are gracious to your fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, you don’t compete for the fun of competing. You compete to win. Over time you will come to avoid contests where winning seems unlikely.
Consistency
Balance is important to you. You are keenly aware of the need to treat people the same, no matter what their station in life, so you do not want to see the scales tipped too far in any one person’s favor. In your view this leads to selfishness and individualism. It leads to a world where some people gain an unfair advantage because of their connections or their background or their greasing of the wheels. This is truly offensive to you. You see yourself as a guardian against it. In direct contrast to this world of special favors, you believe that people function best in a consistent environment where the rules are clear and are applied to everyone equally. This is an environment where people know what is expected. It is predictable and evenhanded. It is fair. Here each person has an even chance to show his or her worth.

CoD: Frame Relay

1) Multipoint Interfaces
Assign MAP statements automatically assigns Circuit (DLCI) to the interface.
So frame-relay map ... config applied ==> No need to do frame-relay interface-dlci .....

2) Layer 3 to Layer 2 Resoultion is only Locally Significatnt.
==> You can use IARP at one end and frame-relay map at other and viceversa

3) sh frame-relay map cmd o/p on Point-to-point interface
When the configuration is verified with the show frame-relay map command, a unicast
layer 3 address is not associated with the DLCI. Instead, the output point-to-point dlci
indicates that any traffic transiting the subinterface will use the DLCI specified on the
interface. In addition to this, broadcast support is automatically enabled on point-to-point
NBMA circuits. This can be seen by the output of the show frame-relay map command,
as the broadcast keyword is associated with the mapping.

4) Not only is layer 3 to layer 2 resolution only locally significant, the type of interface,
whether a main interface, multipoint subinterface, or point-to-point subinterface, is also
only locally significant.

5) no frame-relay inverse-arp ip 405 ==> to remove Mappings for Unused DLCI

6) V V IMP: Minimise Redundant Broadcast Between Hub-Spoke

--Note that on R4 and R5, multiple mapping statements resolve to the same layer 2
address. This is due to the fact that in order for traffic to pass between R4 and R5, it
must first transit R1. Also, note that the broadcast keyword on the end of their frame relay map statements is only used on one mapping. This prevents the spokes from
duplicating the same broadcast or multicast packet that is sent to the interface out the
same circuit.

--Note that the mapping that the broadcast keyword is associated with is
arbitrary, and could be moved to the mapping for R4 and R5's addresses respectively.
This is due to the fact that the broadcast resolution does not relate to the unicast
address, but instead only relates to the layer 2 circuit address.

I don't want to pass !

I remember a good friend of mine telling this to us when he organized a small session on the most coveted CCIE some 6months ago
" I Don't Want to PASS ! "

Well his opinion was that when you are too much focussed on the final result, i.e get your CCIE, you take too much stress and start to falter.
He felt that if you take this Exam as just another day to work, You possibly have better chances of passing.

But if you are hell-banked on passing. Chances are that you will NOT.

His opinion was that I don't want to pass at the same time I want to ensure that I fail with the least margin. I don't want to be under prepared.

He said all is possible if you let go the notion of PASSING.
He said that What would happen if we FAIL ?
1) Lose out on Rs 2,50,000 INR (Indian Rupees) in Lab fees, Travel, Hotelling, VISA Study Material!

But indeed, If you look at it from his Point Of View:-
1) That it is
2) You still will have the learning from the training that you could use for Life
3) With Failure, I am not going to lose my Job/Life
4)Its not War, that I am going to lose a limb, I will always have a second chance, and a third.....
5) Failure in CCIE is not a Taboo. More people fail than pass.


So as I begin my journey to CCIE......... "I Don't want to Pass"

Thanks Anand D.

The Strategy !

#########What I will miss##############
1) 2nd Anniversary
2) Play Time with the new born kid ! He will be 7 months Old when I attempt the lab !
3) Socialsing with family .
4) > 8 hours of sleep / day


##########What I will need to do#############
1) Get over my procrastination
2) Read a lot
3) Practise a lot
4) Compensate my time spent in Travel to Siddhivinayak every Tuesdays ??
5) Eat a lot of low fat and low spiced food, Get over Acidity !


SO i will have how many days to do it ? ( Considering this from 24March08)
8 x march08
30x april08
31xmay08
30xjune08
17xjuly08
_________
116 days



#########How Will I do it ?#####################

Now assuming I will put in roughly 5 hours a days until End of May08
==> 69 days x 5 hours = 345hours
==> Will need to be able to finish
1) IEWB CoD
2) Know how to navigate Doc CD
3) IEWB Advanced Technologies Lab

Now assuming I will put in 12 hours a day from June08 till 17th July 08
===> 47 days x 12 hours = 564 hours
===> Will need to be able to finish
1) 10 labs from IEWB VOl2 Workbook / OR / 10 Labs from IEWB Vol 1 Workbook
2) 10 labs from IEWB Vol3 Core Workbook
3) Narbik's Soup to Nuts CCBootcamp Vol1 to Vol3

############Where will i do it ? #######################
1) In my own house and at Work on my laptop running dynamips

###### What Will I get ? ##########################
1) CCIE (Probably)
2) Got over my Procrastination
3) Proved myself that I am still good for the hard stuff
4) Learnt a lot more than I would have ever imagined !
5) Live my dream !

Cleared CCIE R&S (350-001) Qualifying today.

Folks,
I would like to share my good news with you today.
I cleared my CCIE R&S (350-001) Qualifying Exam today with 95% score.
This is what I used for preparation:-
1) Cisco.Press.CCIE.Routing.and.Switching.Exam.Certification.Guide.3rd.Edition.Nov.2007
2) Pass4Sure v2.83

I would highly recommend the above two combinations for your preparation to CCIE Written Success.

Now that once hurdle is crossed, over to working towards the final frontier.
The LAB.
I have set myself a soft date of Mid June 2008. Lets see if I make it.

Until then ciao

Greeted with a smile!

Today I was late to Siddhivinayak Temple. Around 1 Hour Late. I reached there at 9:20AM IST.
This meant the day was a buzz with people wanting to reach work places.
This also meant that the share a cab that I usually take from Dadar (w) Rly station to Siddhivinayak was going to be like a prized win !!! Indeed, with stream of people wanting to reach temple earlier than the others and no queue management, there were fights all over the place, among devotees, among the cab drivers, and among the hawkers trying to sell their wares.........

It took me around 15min of struggle and battling with other devotees before i managed to creep into a taxi.

Unfortunately for me today cabbie took me to the temple in a different way than the usual, that meant my walk to VSNL to keep the laptop and return back to temple was going to be long. As usual being lazy, I went over to the HDFC Bank ATM and requested the guard to hold on to my laptop for just 10mins.

But since it was already banking hours, and the staff and customers started to come in. He refused this time. Than I offered to talk to the staff that I am a account holder with the bank and that I do this all the time. Its just that I am late today.

So the confused staff consulted their Branch manager to seek permission. The Branch manager as usual refused. I than personally requested the Branch Manager and he said this will be the first and the last time that he will allow me this as a personal favour....

I gleefully accepted and kept the laptop with the guard and rushed off for the darshan and returned back in about 15mins. I thanked the staff and the guard, collected my laptop and as a small token of thanks, gave a chocolate to the staff person near the door.

She smiled and I felt a million dollars. HDFC Bank is the best bank to bank with.
The people there made me comfortable. Even if they would have refused, I am sure, I wouldn't have a different opinion about them..

Thanks HDFC Bank Prabhadevi.... i owe you one.

All in a days work !!

I feel powerless......today i was 30 min late into taking my regular train from kandivali to Bandra to reach work.

And boy does the rush hour kick in. I managed to get 4th seat even when I return from kandivali to Borivali.The rush from Borviali was also huge. I mean they filled in the standing space with 5 people in each row between the seats.There was hardly any air flow. The kind of feeling that you are locked in a Jar.

However the train departed at 8:35 AM from Borviali for Churchgate. It was a fast train. And as the stations arrived, more and more people squeezed in.......All routing you may say in the life of a mumbaikar.

Then at 9AM, Andheri station arrived and people boarded/Alighted. The rush eased a little and I could barely rest my ass on the 4th seat, so I got up and started moving towards the exit to alight at Bandra. Just when Vile Parle passed by a guy right behind me, fainted due to heat stroke...and all people around him in a periphery couldnt do anything to lift him up. The Train was jam packed, I could hardly move a step, I had a 5Kg Laptop in one hand and the other hand was latched on to the bars to support me from crowd pressure. All of us murmured a little to each other that someone should lift him and help him get out of the train when Bandra arrives. And all of us Helplessly, couldn't do anything. I was really SAD today. I could picture myself in that guys position and feel really worried, that there is absolutely no one who could help me when I might need it....

Alas in another 10mins time Bandra station arrived and we all except the fainted guy got down and moved on with our stinking lives. God help him !. All in a day's work you say ?

Then it was time to take on next hurdle towards reaching office. I have to board a 310 Best Double Deckker BUS opposite the Railway station. Its around 9:30 AM and the queue is 500 people long, long enough to stack 3 double decker buses and yet I wouldn't get my turn. Luckily the queue is well managed by BEST TCs and the buses ply every 2-5 mins during rush hour. So my turn to board the bus arrived at 9:45AM.

But again, all in a day's work.... Today someone must have complained to BEST , so there was a Special Officer, the one who wears the green uniform, also waiting at the BUS Stand. And there was a lady from the PRESS quibbing about lack of SPECIAL 390 route buses during the rush hour. The 390 Route buses are special buses which take the interior route once it passes Tata Colony, so people wanting to reach all those Banks, (SBI, BoB, Dena Bank, etc) typically 90% crowd in the bus can get off there.

The bus wasn't 390 route bus, but on constant nagging from the PRESS lady, the Special Officer instructed the Bus driver and Conductor to take the 390 route.All were happy I say...even if it saves those lame asses walk of some additional 10mins only. I honestly never realized any value with the 390 route.

The bus was so Jam packed that including me there were people standing on the stairway leading upto the upper deck....It was extremely uncomfortable, with bus turning and winding and also during bus stops where people wanting to alight and trying to nudge past you through the stairway to exit......

I wonder that 30 additional minutes that I spent home toady were worth all the pain....
Indeed in retrospect they weren't.
I am already sore near the shoulders and arms and my clothes are all wrinkled.
Shoes are all soiled with people stepping on my foot all the time.
All in a days work you say!

I now will always leave home by 7:10AM IST....else I need to formalize my plans on using my brand new Swift to work. Either ways those additional 30min spent back home were not worth it.....

I wish I was a Spaceman....to ride the fireball

Well today i want to go back to nostalgia.
Long long time ago around 1990, there was a TV series being aired on Doordashan at arou nd 7-8Pm IST.
I was so darn fascinated by the whole plot. It was so amazing then to see talking robots and flying spaceships....

In particular I loved their theme song. "I wish I was a Spaceman......."
I was such a nice song that whenever I am in mood, this song comes to my mind.
Infact I love to humm that song when I crack a difficult problem at work or in life.
Its just wonderful memories associated with this song.

To find out more on Fireball check here http://www.amazon.com/Fireball-XL5-Complete-Paul-Maxwell/dp/customer-reviews/B00007J6DN

and here
http://www.sfwriter.com/2007/03/i-wish-i-was-spaceman.html

Infact there is so much fan following for Robert the ROBOT, that some one has even built the same here http://www.hobbyshed.co.uk/model_kit_modelmaking_gallery_fireball_XL5_robert_robot.htm

Laptops not allowed in Siddhivinayak Temple: Prabhadevi !

Whilst I knew the security paranoia had caught onto Siddhivinayk Temple's Trustees, I didn't know that they would be fucking dumb in the name of security.

I mean whilst they hoisted a huge wall around the main entrance of Siddhivinayk Temple, tons of people protested..after all its still a nuisance to people walking by and to traffic passing by.....But all in the name of God and Security is allowed......

Also they installed Metal Detectors and X-Ray machine with plenty of police men around....all in the name of God and Security..........

Then suddenly due to whims and fancies of the trust of mumbai policie, Coconuts were not allowed inside the temple...until a huge political scene was created by ShivSena, Congress and Maharashtra Nav Nirman parties, all claiming to have spoken to the trust and Mumbai Police and having convinced them to allow the same.

While all this nonsense was going on, life kept trickling by until today.......

When I was refused to allow Laptop inside the temple. This is despite the fact that the have X-Ray machine and metal detectors to screen it...Why ???

Don't the fucking trustees or the mumbai police know that, If really someone wants to bomb the temple he can very well do so with a device implanted in his cellphone,wristwatch,garlands,shoes,blackberry,mp3 player,etc why carry a laptop ?

All in the name of God and Security I say.........

So the guard close by asked me to handover the laptop to closeby Flower Garlands Stall in liue of purchase of some garlands......So I asked, give me the cheapest one...and he said in lieu of laptop, you have to purchase a garland worth rs 51 (approx 2.5USD)....

The reason provided, We are holding onto your precious laptop, we ought to charge you for that !!!

Again, I didn't want to quarrel with either the guard at the gate or the garland store. I just wanted to get the darshan done and move on... Arguing with them is in vain as they are mere pawns in the game. They are just following the instructions...

So I decided to cross the road and request the Security sitting outside the HDFC bank ATM. I requested him that I'll be back in 10mins and he obliged.

I didn't even ask him name, I had to trust him over my Laptop, USB devices and Rayban Sunglasses....

I hastily sought siddihivinayak's darshan over the constant thought that I might have not done the wisest of things by trusting my laptop to the security......I must admit, I took a big risk, Undue Risk at that.......

So amidst all this churn in my mind, I got out of the temple and hastily walked over to the HDFC bank ATM...

And to my relief, Indeed the Security Officer was still there and handed over the laptop to me instantly. I sought to verify the contents of the Laptop bag before leaving. He didn't protest, infact he said I just kept it aside, so I havent opened it as well....Indeed, all the stuff was intact and I was so darn relieved.

Just before leaving, I profusely thanked him and gave him all the change and chocolates I had in my side pocket. Again the officer refused, but I insisted and thanked him again and left to reach office.

So the moral of the story is : 1) If you cant beat them F* them !
2) What goes around , comes around.. I had a bad experience at the Temple gate with the garland wala and very pleasant one at the HDFC Bank ATM....All in the days work I guess..........

I got a CAP Award on my very first Assignment

Today would have been a very routine day for me. Infact the one which I would have wanted to end very quickly to rest on weekend after a very tiring last week.

But destiny had different ideas.
My Project Manager surprised me by awarding me Customer Appreciation Award.
That is one the very highly appreciated accolades in Cisco.
This means that the client that I am working for has written to Cisco and appreicated my work towards satisfying their needs. And such Cisco values Customer Satisfaction the MOST.

Needless to say I am over the top today. I am overjoyed. I always dreamt of getting a CAP. But to get it on the first assignment is golden.

The job in Cisco has turned out to be a Sweet Dream so far.
I hope the dream doesn't come to end .... atleast not too soon.

I received a Certificate of Recognition and some Cash Incentive.
But what matters to me the most, is the RECOGNITION. I had mails from very senior management flowing into my mail box applauding my work.

Today is indeed special. A day to remember. A day when I got my first CAP.

I hope to write to you soon on my future CAPs.

Until then be part of my success and celebrate.

Cartegena de India: Mucho Bonito

Well the heading says it all.
It means Cartegena ( located in Colombia, as there is one more in Spain) is very beautiful.

To begin with its like a typical tourist spot with tall skyscrapers facing the sea, plush emerald water and crystal white sand beaches, lots of friendly people always willing to help, lots of history and lots and lots to see.

I feel one should stay in Cartegena for altleast 3 days.
First day for local sight seeing
Second day for a trip via Boat to Isla de Rosario ( around 3 hour trip by sea) to a less crowded and very very beautiful island.
Third Day again for local sight seeing, but this time in the evening to see the lights of various monuments.


So heres what i did in Cartegena:-
1) Day one arrived on 17th Aug 07 Friday evening at around 7PM local time from Barranquilla to Cartegena. The Rain Gods poured over Cartegena. It flooded the narrow streets and there was watter logging upto 4 feet at several parts of the city. The view was Bad and Sad atleast for the tourists who expected to see bright sunshine.
Nonetheless the locals welcomed the rain,as it was very hot for past few days.
The traveled in a mini bus (20 seater, fully air-conditioned at full blast) for around 18,000 pesos. The Bus Operator was Carribeana. There are several others,however my Comcel Colleagues told me to pick this one.

So at the Hotel El Dorado, I checked in, the Lobby Receptionist "Shirly" doesn't speak fluent English, but enough to have a fruitful conversation. So I was assigned room No 1027 on 10th Floor. The view from the room wasn't breathtaking. I could see the sea completely, but I did see it. The view for me didn't matter much honestly as i had a very tight sightseeing itinerary anyways!! The rent per night is 140,000 Pesos and is inclusive of all three meals ( breakfast, Lunch, dinner) and Taxes. What more the rent also includes free National Liquors and Soft Drinks. You can drink as much as you want. There are evening shows with some local band playing their local music. Nice place to relax after a tough day over dinner.

Over dinner, I had a tough time talking to the waiters. However I did let them know that I am looking for 100% vegetarian food, excluding eggs and other non-veg.
SO they guided me to the buffet where I could choose from salads, plain rice, and juices. So I did. Not only that, the waiter got me some hot cooked vegetables in salt. So that was nice. I ate those with some tomato ketchup. Over the dinner I met a guy named Freddie. He is from Santadander, a local place not very far from Cartegena. he works for Nursing and Hospitality Business ans was here for a days work. We ate dinner in hotel together and then listened to the live band play over some drinks.

He was so helpful to me at all times. He didn't speak fluent English. But enough to strike and maintain interesting conversation. He taught me some Spanish words and I taught him some English words. What was so informative to know from Freddy was that he knew a lot of local music, So whilst the band was playing variety of local musica, like reggaeton, colombian salsa, panama slasa, chile salsa and jazz, he would help me make the distincition and also for certain songs explain the lyrics. WE had enough for the night, time to head for bed. it was 10 PM when we called it a day.

Day 2: 18th August 2007:
I arranged with the local Tourist Operator "Mary Tours" for a visit to Isla de Rosario. They charged me 60000 Pesos for a pickup from Hotel to the Harbour. The fee also included lunch at the beach and boat ride. What it didnt include was the Harbour Entry Fee. I had to pay 9000 Pesos for the same. The Boat was a two tiered mini which can accommodate around 100 people. The top deck was for the suntan enthusiastic ones with Open Top and the lower deck was lot cooler. The boat departed at 9AM and reached Isla De Rosario at about 12PM. I was clubbed with a huge group of tourists who had from various parts of the country and also from abroad. They were mostly older people roughly in their forties. There were around 10 odd people who were young around in their twenties. So it was cool to hang out with them. Over the trip they realised that I was a Alien and had no knowledge of Spanish. Yet it seems to be the nature of Colombian people not to embarrass you. They didn't speak fluent English, but were nice enough to help me get my way. The waters were a sight to behold. Absolutely clean emerald waters. The Coral beneath made the water look blue and green, like the types that we see in movies. It was amazing. En route, we also dropped off to another island which hosted a Aquarium, but this one is different from ones that I have seen in India. This one had huge > 3mts Fishes in LIVE sea waters. They had no glasses. The fish were encompassed in a large netted cage so that they cant run away and at the same time have live sea current waters to keep the water fresh. It was like an extension of the sea itself, only lot restricted for the fishes. The local Guide at the aquarium explained us about ( in Spanish ONLY) about various breeds of the fish. The entry fee to the Aquarium is 12,000 Pesos. There also was a Dolphin Show where they illustrated dolphin to perform acrobats in Air to touch a Ball hosted some 20 feet in air. Overall it was a nice show.

Now time back to head to Isla de Rosario, everyone was low on energy as it was close to lunch hour. I wasn't particularly hungry as I kept munching on the fruits and packaged Milk Shakes that I carried from Home. so for about 30 more minutes we finally reached isla de rosario, we were escorted off the boat into cool and serene island. Everybody jumped into the buffet and devoured a lot of food. I too luckily had enough of vegetarian food to keep me happy. I was pleasantly surprised. They had a local fish, salads, masala rice with coconut, Fried banana chips and Some other Fired Vegetable in lunch. Overall it was a very satisfying lunch. Enjoyed it.

Now it was time for the people to hit the beach. They quickly changed into bikinis and swimming suits and jumped into the sea. I didn't go bathing as I didn't want to. But people had funs. I watched from the shades beautiful ladies bathe in beautiful waters.

It was 3 PM and time to head back to home. Everybody was tired after their excursions on and off the sea. The boat took the shorter route this time and reached us the Cartegena Harbor at around 5:45PM. I and many others dozed off for a quick nap in the boat. IN this trip itself I had made my self friends with the entire groups. I requested them to offer help for a City Tour. Much to my amazement, they said that there were two city tours organized in a day, one at 9Am and other at 2PM.
I said I wanted to go for the 9AM one tomorrow.I asked them where and how I could fix the same. But again the helpful nature of Colombians showed, not only they offered me a FREE (repeat FREE-no strings attached)City Tour with them but also made me extremely comfortable. Just Like I was family. So I took directions to reach the pickup point from Virginia (their lead person) and agreed to meet them in their hotel ( Hotel Corsa de Sal) which is about 30mins walk along the beach or 5 minutes in Cab.

In the evening, I had dinner at the hotel along with a elderly couple in their 70ties who were with me in the Boat Tour. They helped me pick vegetarian food. I was again happy with the menu, it had enough to fill my stomach. Cant say it was delicious. But then i was ready for the worst.

So I had some time to kill, dinner was over at 7.30PM, what to do after that till 10PM ? I had some ideas from my client about splendid night life in Colombia downtown. So I asked Hotel Reception what i could do in the this time. They offered me excellent advice. They said I should try the horse carriage which takes around 1 hour tour of the city. It cost me 45000 Pesos but was worth it. They city is 100 times more beautiful in the night. Thank GOD the rains didn't fall the entire day.
Whilst I arranged for the horse carriage ride, I asked the old couple if they wanted to accompany me. I was going to pay in any case for the ride and there was space in the carriage. They were so overwhelmed by the offer. They thanked me profusely and hopped in. We had a good time. I have never been in a horse carriage for such a long journey. It was marvelous to see various monuments in the night. I mean beauty was over flowing from all places. The old Spanish Colonial Constructions lit by very low intensity lights make you feel you have transformed into a different era.

It was around 9:15PM and we sat over the drinks to listen to the live band play at the hotel. At about 10PM it was enough for us for the day, so we hit the bed. Overall it was a very fun filled day with a lots to write and talk about.

Third Day: 19th August 07:
Local City Tour
I got up at 6AM,had shower and packed up all the bags to reach the reception at around 8AM. I was horrified to see the crowds. I mean it felt like there were hundreds of people swarming all around with total chaos. I must be due to the fact that Monday 20th August is a public holiday in Colombia. Hence the Hotel Reception was way too overwhelmed checking in people, and obviously didn't pay attention to check-outs. Whilst the bell boy was retrieving my luggage and the Reception was finalizing my bill the Power Failed. The bell boy and around ten more people were stuck in the elevator. Poor them and even poorer me... My checkout was delayed, which meant I probably wouldn't make it on time at 9AM to Virginia's Hotel. Panic struck me, amidst all this heavy rain fall started. But luckily at around 8:45 AM power restored and I told the reception to keep my Bag and laptop in safe custody until I finish the City Tour and return at around 1PM. So they did. I ran to the exit and took a CAB to Virginia's Hotel with heart beating fast, cos it was precisely 9AM and I was thinking I might miss the bus. However when I entered the reception I met all the people that I was with yesterday in the boat tour. MY nerves calmed down and I sat with them waiting for around 15mins for the Tour Bus to arrive.

The Bus was a large fully air-conditioined 40 Seater Luxury bus. With a Tour Guide.
The Tour Guide's name was Incarnation. He greeted me and asked me if I understood Spanish if he spoke very slowly. I denied and he JUST for me explained the entire site seeing in ENGLISH as well as in SPANISH for rest of the crowd. It was more then happiness that I could take. First the City Tour was free for me and then the guide to explain it to me in English. All that made it the day so so special.

The tour took us at three places and was for about 3-4 hours
1) Fort......
2) Cartagena View from the Top of a Local Mountain
3) Old Colombia Walled City with 100s of old Colonial Houses to see.

The tour was very very full filling, the history at the fort and other two locations is frankly way too much to gorge in few hours. But nonetheless very educating to understand what Spanish people did 400 years ago. There is way too much on History of Cartegena to write about. So I leave that as an exercise for the interested.

Time to hit the hotels, We arrived back to our hotels at about 1:15 PM. I already had checkout so I had a quick bit on lunch, luckily again I caught up with the old couple. Their City Tour was with the same operator but at 2PM instead. So in our Broken English-Spanish conversation I explained them how exhilarating it was and tipped them about carrying adequate water, food for the road.

I reached the lobby and collected my bags and headed for the taxi. I took the taxi for 14,000 Pesos and reached the airport in about 15 minutes.

Took my boarding pass and checked in.
The airport is a marvel in its own. It very very small one, but yet so well architected that it makes you feel you have landed in some African Jungle. It has glasses in all fours sides from which you look into the beautiful Palm trees. The seats in the waiting lounge are also not the conventional ones, they are wooden with Chrome YELLOW Lacquer, The entire feel of the Airport is of a retro one. It feels that you are in some past. Also like Medellin and Bogota, it has free Internet.

Trust me, I didn't have internet for two long days in the Hotel, and have same at the airport.

Enough of blogging now, I am sure you must be bored reading. I sure am bored writing.
The announcement to board the flight has been made, its 16:03PM now and I am taking the Copa Airlines Plane for 16:40 to Bogotá.

So until my next blog,
ciao..................

I tore another Allen Solly Trouser:

Well at one side I received news that my LOST trouser in Cali is FOUND again........On the other side, I tore (suspected) my Allen Solly USD 50 Bottle Green Trouser.

This entire Colombia tour seems to have something against my trousers. One by one, I seem to be losing my trousers.

And its not helping either... I don't know what to do...
The new ones here are darn expensive. If I were to buy them in Colombia it would cost me over USD 60 for a brand like Van Heusen or Allen Solly.

Lets see, I plan to buy atleast one when I reach Bogota next week.

How Cruel Is Life !!

Time for Sorrow:
I was made to miss my flight today because I was ten minutes late at the airport. I was told company cannot delay hundred passengers for just an individual. I accepted the decision meekly.
I had to pay USD 20 for re-routing. I had to wait at Cali for over 4 hours.

Time for joy:
But then the Avianca Supervisor at Cali escorted me to VIP lounge and I had free food and Internet Access. I had comfortable seating and was able to Listen to BBC Radio ( ENG-IND last Test Match). It was all well. Time passed by very quickly. It was time to leave the lounge and go to Boarding...Gate 8.

Time for Sorrow:
The Flight Cali-Bogota was delayed by HOUR !!!. I had to wait sitting in General Area without all the VIP treatment. How Cruel Life can be ? I mean if I am late by 10 minutes I get penalized. If they are late, that too by an Hour, no penalties for them ? I mean there were hundreds of passengers, some handicapped, some elderly, some with infants...All had to suffer along with me. But we all accepted Avianca's decision. Why ?? Because the Global Rule Applies "Survival of the Fittest and the Best" Avianca in this case was Fittest and the best compared to us.

Time for Joy:
After one hour of wait we finally boarded the plane. But BOY was I pleasantly surprised by the SAME royal treatment that I got from the Avinaca Air hostess !!!!
She (Air Hostess) vaporised all my anger in a split second with her Angelina Jolie type smile.. And to top icing on the cake, the (Co)Pilot was a beautiful female. I took her pictures as well. Then I met Angelina Jolie ;-) and let her know profusely. I took her pictures as well. Complimented her for her gorgeous beauty.

Time for Sorrow:
Back to waiting in the Bogota Airport for connecting flight to Barranquilla. Its going to be tough. This time no VIP lounge to be peppered with. Only the general waiting area with hard seats and only snail speed Internet Access. I have a headaches now. Feeling the stress of today's marathon. Hopefully I don't fall sick. Have to begin TOI tomorrow at Barranquilla.

Bad Karma or Bad Place to be in !

Today morning I had a 6:21 AM flight to board from Cali to Barranquilla. So I went to the hotel reception and checked out at 5AM. Whilst I was trying to pay my dues, it was revealed to me that I was running low on Credit on my Corporate Travel Credit Card.

Also in trying various options, like paying the amount in two halves and also trying differnet swipe machines, the receptionist consumed very critical time. He too one hour from 5AM to 6AM.

I had measly 20 odd minutes before the flight took off. I told the escort from the Client to drive as fast as could. And that he had ten minutes to reach the airport.
He drove fast and furious, at 120Kmph and we travelled approx 40kms in ten minutes.
I arrived at the Airport Checkin at 6:10AM. The Ground hostess denied me the borading pass. She said the last checkin was at 6AM. The doors of the plane are closed and that nothing can be done now. The Company Policy states that they cant delay the flight for just one passenger.

So here I was begging (literally with my folded hands and requesting her to make an exception) but to no avail. She said rules are rules.

So I asked her what best she can do for me. So she said We will put you on the next flight to Barranquilla. The only problem is that it is not a direct flight. I will now need to take the Cali - Bogota - Barranquilla flight.
The Cali to Bogota Flight is at 10:30 AM, so a wiat of 4 long hours at Cali.
The Bogota to Barranquilla Flight is at 2:30 PM, so a wait of 3 long hours at Bogota.

Also I had to shell out USD 20 (approx) for Cancellation of existing ticket and rerouting.

However as I write, not is all BAD here. During all my turmoil at Cali Airport (unlike Milan Airport), I was escorted ALL the time by a very beautiful and fluent English Speaking Ground Hostess. Her name is Lina Maria. She took me to a place where I could get the rerouting of tickets done and waited with me whilst the tickets were reissued. Then I asked her what will I do without Internet Access for another 4 Long hours. She said let me do a favor. She took me to the VIP lounge, where I met even more beautiful Women, and was treated like a VIP. I mean I had FREE internet Access, Access to Free Cold Drinks and Hard Drinks ( Beer and Expensive Wine), Warm breakfast( had some Non-Veg) .A very comfortable Chair and Table to rest the laptop.

Except for the internet and some fruits I didn't consume anything else as I am a strict Vegetarian, and also I don't drink. But that's besides the point.

The ROYAL treatment that I received from Avianca despite being a defaulter is something that I will associate with Cali now for rest of my life.

Four Point Sheraton:Cali: Lost (Misplaced) my brand new 100 USD Van Heusen Trouser

Yesterday, just one day before my checkout from Four Point Sheraton Cali, I was horrified to find out that the Hotel Laundry lost (misplaced) my brand new 100 USD Van Heusen Trouser.

I have written to the hotel Manager about the same. They tell me that they will search for it again on Monday as this is a weekend and will let me know.

If they find it, they will courier it to my Bogota Address else reimburse me with for the loss.
But I am not sure how much. The Hotel Policy vaguely tells that the reimbursement will be roughly 10 times the washing charges. That is paltry 32 USD.

Lets see what happens.

In my honest opinion Hotel Four Point Sheraton - Cali is not worth the price that you have to shell out. And in the end face all the inconvenience.
The Hotel has really left a sour taste in my mouth for Cali.

Its like 100 good things and one screw up can undo all the good. This is precisely I feel about this hotel.

Four Point Sheraton:Cali

Today I took a flight from Medellin to reach Cali.
I checked out of the Affinity Hotels in Medellin and took a cab from Medellin to the local Airport.
The Airport is on the mountain top some 50kms away. It took us 1 hour around a spiral path. But the view is breath taking. You can smell the fresh air and the greenery all around is amazing. The view from the top of the Medellin City also is a sight to behold.

The flight was by far the best. Avianca seems to be winning all the coupons from me so far. Every experience with Avianca (on and off the plane) is so so pleasant. The moment I was standing in the checkin counter. I was greeted with a smile by a very beautiful ground hostess. She was darn beautiful. I just couldn't believe that I was in Medellin Airport.
She pleasantly went through the formalities and gave me my boarding pass. I am certainly going to remember her smile for a long long time.

So after just about 40 minutes in air, it was a time to land. My flight had a lot of families with kids. So the moment we landed they all aplauded, like thanking the pilot for safely landing them .
At Cali, I was not so warmly greeted by a Comcel Colleague.
Maybe he was apprehensive about his English. Maybe he wasn't too confident. Maybe he was too tired from his last night planned activity which lasted until 3AM. Maybe today is Sunday and his boss made him receive me on his day-off. Maybe he is just like this.I wouldn't know.

In any case we drove in his car for about 20kms until we reached the Four Points Sheraton Hotel where my office has made my reservations. The road from the Airport to a stretch of about 15kms is like a National Highway and unbelievable straight. No curves until you exit the highway to enter the city. I mean you could have your foot down on the accelerator and drive at 120kmph without a hitch. But the moment you enter the City you are immediately reminded of MUMBAI. The roads are broken with huge pot holes. I haven't seen these in Bogota or Medellin.
So when i inquired politely to my Comcel Colleague, he told me that the Municipal Corporation here doesn't do much to fix the roads and that their earlier mayor was a blind guy and a very poor administrator.

Alas we reached the Hotel. The Reception was warm in welcoming to Hotel. Thank God they speak English. Even the housekeeping folks speak English. The mini restaurant bearer also speaks English. So that helped me get lunch (remember VEGAN, no eggs, no beef, no ham, no pork, no chicken, no fish...) I had some beans, rice and fried banana.

The Aura that I get from this hotel is negative. The entire hotel is ill lit. The moment you enter the reception area, you feel the dullness, the darkness. Its terribly cramped for space. INMHO, the entrance to a hotel should be very grand. There is absolutely no way that the natural sunlight can enter the premises. The artificial one is clearly not been done for the present.It feels that I don't want to stay here.

The room for approx USD 100 per night feels lot cramped up for space. After the bed there is just about 3 feet of place around it for a person to walk around.

There is no wifi in room. But I do have Cat5 Connectivity which after reasonably large tinkering by myself and the local bellboy seems to be working.

There is huge construction going on in 4 Points Sheraton -Cali right now. That probably makes you feel even more uncomfortable. It doesn't affect me directly though.......

The view is pathetic to say the least. I stare directly outside the Car Parking Lot.
Would you believe it !!! I certainly don't. But then I am willing to compromise. In any case from Monday onwards my day will begin at 7AM in office and will end at around 5PM.
So I wont be doing much in Hotel in any case except to having a bath and nights sleep.

The bed here also hurts. The whole place is so yester year type.
The toiletries leak, The shower doesn't have enough water pressure. The bed is so damn hard, the tapestries seem old, feel that they haven't been changed for last 10years at least.

The whole Aura in the room feels like you have entered a sick room. Wanting and pleading you to make changes to it. Add some life to it.

Maybe I am thinking too much. But I can assure you I am not coming back to this hotel ever again.

Thats it for now. These are my first impressions of the place. Maybe they will change if I experience this place longer. Maybe they might be reinstated.

Dominos Pizza...Bitter Sweet Experience

Today i went to Domino's Pizza in Medellin Colombia. I ordered a Pizza with no NON-VEG toppings. i.e no egg, no meat, no fish, no pork, no beef, no ham, no carne........
But the lady taking the order didn't understand the request.

Hence the delivery was with NON VEG: With Pork and with Salami.

So i complained to their Manager in a polite way.

Immediately they took back the non-veg pizza and gave me a VEGATRIAN one..

All issues resolved ?? Even I thought so...

But I was sweetly surprised......They also offered me a custom made VEG pizza for FREE to correct their mistake.

It seems some ISO process is ticking (un)well in these companies.

Sight Seeing in Medellin!

Today I went Sight Seeing in Medellin..
So I took a City Sight Seeing Tourist bus, named TuriBus.
It starts from park pablado at sharp 9AM.
It takes u along a guided tour of the Medellin with a tour guide who explains the history of various locations as they come along while the bus is in motion.
But here's a catch !. the Guide only speaks SPANISH ........so for me its all gibberish and sheer waste of time.

None the less I caught up with three people who were in the same bus as I was and luckily for me they spoke ENGLISH and SPANISH..

So I hung around with them until we reached the last tourist destination--Publito Paisa (aka People of Medellin).
It's a small setup on a mountain top with a small self sustained colony. Its used to represent the original Indians living in Medellin.
It has a small bar, small church, small school and small houses with typical Colombian getto.

So I did take lots of pictures and then we had a sort of lunch at the only ( aka very expensive) restaurant on the mountain.

From thereon we went to the closest Metro Station - "Industrialis"
We took a train to a station named "Acevedo"
From there we had a Joy ride on the Rope Way (aka Cable).

We got down on some Poor area in Medellin...forgot the name.
But it had some mini FAIR going on with 100s of stalls put up on the street.

So we walked around, until We found one very intresting stall with lots of hand made wooden artifacts. It had a wooden Harley, old vintage car, old trucks ..etc

My co-tourist friends from ARUBA seemed to like the genuinity of it and bought one Harley Bike wooden artifact. It cost them 40,000 COP.











I too was attracted towards one of the vintage cars. It was for 22,000 COP. I bought it eventually.

From there on, we took a return train back to a station closest to my hotel (Hotel Affinity)
The station was "Poblado"

So while I was asking for instructions on how to reach the hotel, there was a OLD VINATAGE car road exhibition in which over 1200 cars participated from all over Colombia.

So I spent about 2 hours clicking over 400Mb of Pictures of old cars.


The show got over at around 6PM.
From there it was to head home.






And now I am at the hotel, writing my experience to you.
Overall it was a memorable day. I will indeed remember Medellin, more for good reasons then bad.

Tomorrow I have a flight to catch to CALI.
Will write up the same soon.
Until then ciao
Buneous Notches

In Colombia:Medellin

Well friends,
First pardon me for not blogging enough.
Its been that kind of time.
I have lots of good news for you.
1) I have joined my dream job in Cisco India.
2) I have been assigned a very tough MPLS TE project for a GSM Customer in Colombia.
3) I have bought a brand new spanking RED Maruti SWIFT Vxi

All this has kept me busy. I have had to completely revamp myself in lots of ways.
1) I've had to gear upto Cisco Standards. I have had to undergo several official and several Self-Paced Trainings to come upto to Speed with MPLS and MPLS TE.

I am writing to you after such a long time sitting in a Hotel Apartment in Colombia Medellin.
Today was one of my lean days when I finished a very grueling TOI on MPLS TE and ISC to the Customer in Medellin.


Now I have two days in Medellin before I fly on Sunday to Cali.
From thereon, Monday onwards, it would be a week long TOI to Customer in Cali.


But i sincerely intend to blog, daily. .......maybe not realistic...maybe once a week and try to share my experiences with personal and professional life.

Last few months since I joined Cisco have been a roller coaster ride.
Every single day was a lesson learnt the hard way. The school of hard knocks!.

I have so much to share with you all , Just at the moment I am not even sure where to begin.
But maybe it would be a good idea if i just started a fresh outlook to my blog.

And maybe I should start posting my future experiences more often..
Let's wait and watch, Time will be the best judge to decide if I blog often.

Until my next post ciao. Buneous Notche

Reliance E1 Links with Loop Convertor needs to invert clock at times to work properly with Cisco routers V.35 cards.

We had an E1 from Reliance in North India- Delhi.
This was provided on their MUX located at both the ends. So effectively there was no copper on the path.

Both the end terminals (DTE) were Cisco routers with V.35 interfaces.
At end A the modem used was: Loop 1510-S-11-120-AC
At end B the modem used was: Loop 1510-S-11-120-AC

We were seeing heavy CRC errors on the Link once they were connected to the cisco routers. whereas the BERT run from a loop given at one end and tested on a BERT meter for over 24 hours was error free.

So Reliance, arrogantly at that , insisted that there was no problem at their end and that we need to call the cisco vendor to get the DTE (routers, cables, cards) tested.

however we did all that we could do at the Cisco End, we swapped cables, cards at both ends & still had the same CRC errors problem.

After which we contacted Reliance Mumbai engineer. He suggested we try toggling the CRC & the Clock DIP switches located on the rear of the LOOP modems.

It has been noticed that some cisco gear invert the clock and hence modems need to counter the same.

Thus we toggled the following DIP switch(es) on the LOOP modem(s)
Clock Switch: 7th DIP Switch at End B
CRC Switch: 3rd DIp Switch to set CRC OFF: at End A and End B.

And Voila, the Link is stable now.
Pls find below the o/p of various cisco commands which might help you troubleshoot a similar problem



*******At End A*****
#sh int s0/0/0
Serial0/0/0 is up, line protocol is up
Hardware is GT96K Serial

Cisco IOS Software, 3800 Software (C3845-ENTBASEK9-M), Version 12.4(5a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc3)

*******At End B********
#sh int s0/1/1
Serial0/1/1 is up, line protocol is up
Hardware is GT96K Serial

Cisco IOS Software, 2800 Software (C2800NM-ENTBASEK9-M), Version 12.4(5a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc3)

c3845 with NM-1A-OC3-POM needs a 10db attenuator to work with Nortel Passport Card 2pOC3SmAtm2

We had a cisco 3845 router for which we ordered NM-1A-OC3-POM for our connectivity with Nortel Passport.

Our Nortel Passport interfaces with service providers MUX to provide L2 connectivity over ATM/FR.

Now we realised that the Nortel Passport card was a LR (Long Reach one) whereas the SFP for c3845 (POM) that we ordered was a IR (Intermediate Reach).

Thus either we had to replace the card on the passport or the SFP on the C3845.
Both were difficult to do. Considering not readily available in India and the high price.

Luckily when we approached Cisco TAC and provided them details with Nortel passport's Power Details, the TAC confirmed that the Passport was transmitting too high a power for c3845 IR SFP to handle and hence was loading it.

Thus Cisco TAC recommended we use a 10db attenuator to circumvent the power problem.
Once we did that, our Links came UP.

Thus next time you try doing inter vendor operability, pls ensure that:-
1) You consult the vendors before placing the orders.
2) Review the Technical Specifications

unfortunately we didn't do the above and had to suffer at least 1 month of delay to get the circuits up.

I paste below the Snippet of the various outputs from the c3845

Cisco IOS Software, 3800 Software (C3845-ENTSERVICESK9-M), Version 12.4(5a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc3)
Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
Copyright (c) 1986-2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Sat 14-Jan-06 02:38 by alnguyen


ATM OC3-POM (SMIR) Port adapter, 1 port
Product (FRU) Number : NM-1A-OC3-POM

interface ATM2/0
description : Connect to Nortel Passport
no ip address
no ip redirects
no ip proxy-arp
atm sonet stm-1
no atm ilmi-keepalive
end

Nortel Passport Chassis:-
nortel passport 7480

Nortel Passport Card Used:-
Card type:- 2pOC3SmAtm2 and productCode NTNQ66AA-21

TATA/TTML/TPBC/etc and E1 Woes Continue

HI All,
As i keep saying TATA/TTML/TPBC and thier E1 have given us horrid times.
Their link commissioning has been a real nightmare with over 200 man hours spent on every link that we took from them.

The problem:
1) End to End BERT from TATA/TTML/TPBC comes errors free when run over hours/days/etc.
However the moment its put up on our Cisco Routers the Links shows heavy input errors, CRC, Runts , Frame errors and et all.

2) Extended Ping using point to point serial IP with data pattern 0xFFFF tests 100% successful. However Extended Ping using point to point serial IP with data pattern 0x0000 tests miserabley. Sometimes below 85%

Observation:
TTML did try a lot of things including changing modems at both ends, changing last mile access, changing the tranmission path to include Tejas Networks Mux at both ends. However nothing succeeded.
At the end TATA/TTML/TPBC escalated the problem to their Modem Vendor (Loop).
Basically Loop provided a different firmware enabled modems. Yet no luck.

At the end Loop provided a Cisco Document to TATA/TTML/TPBC which mentions about Cisco manufacturing the Serial Port Cards (WIC-2T, NM-4T, etc) out of two locations , one in Singapore & other in China.
We are still to get hold of this doc as yet.
However the China Cards can only support an E1 upto 1984Kbps whereas the Singapore Cards can support upto 2Mbps.
Thus if you have a China Card at one End and a Singapore Card at the other & if the Link and the Modems are configured at 2Mbps Unframed....You are in a soup. The Link gives heavy errors.

Thus TATA/TTML/TPBC configured the Loop modems for 1984Kbps framed with TTM option ON on their Loop modems to give us the E1.

phew, such a lot of pain for the customer. Not to mention the time and money lost of the delay in delivery. Moreover there is no way to identify your card make once the card is installed.

Now if you were unlucky enough like we were, and if you have a G.703 (E1/T1 controller at one end), then you need to configure the controller in frmaed mode as well
I paste the config below for all to use.

controller E1 3/2
framing NO-CRC4
channel-group 0 timeslots 1-31
!
interface Serial3/2:0
ip address 10.10.10.10 255.255.255.252
no ip proxy-arp
end

IPSEC Tunnel with two Cisco Routers

1) Well this config is mostly leeched from Cisco.com.
This is the lab scenario where two rotuers are connected via ethernet usign a cross cable.
The idea is to encrypt traffic over the link connecting Delhi & Mumbai Routers, only for the traffic between Ram and Sita. All other traffic flowing between Delhi & Mumbai goes unencrypted.



******At Delhi*************
version 12.4

hostname Delhi
!

!

enable secret cisco
!
!
ip cef
!
!

!
!
username cisco password cisco

!
crypto isakmp policy 1
encr 3des
hash md5
authentication pre-share
group 2
lifetime 28800
crypto isakmp key cisco12345 address 10.10.10.6

crypto ipsec security-association lifetime seconds 28800
crypto ipsec security-association idle-time 120
!
crypto ipsec transform-set vpn esp-3des esp-md5-hmac
!
crypto map vpnns local-address GigabitEthernet0/1
crypto map vpnns 1 ipsec-isakmp
set peer 10.10.10.6
set transform-set vpn
match address 110
!
!
!

interface GigabitEthernet0/0
description : Connect to LAN
ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.252
no ip redirects
no ip proxy-arp
ip accounting access-violations
duplex full
speed 100
ntp disable
!
interface GigabitEthernet0/1
description To Mumbai
ip address 10.10.10.5 255.255.255.252
no ip redirects
no ip proxy-arp
ip route-cache flow
duplex full
speed 100
crypto map vpnns
!

router eigrp 1
passive-interface default
no passive-interface FastEthernet0/1
network 10.0.0.0
no auto-summary
!
access-list 110 permit ip host 10.10.10.2 host 10.10.10.10

!
line con 0
exec-timeout 5 0
login local
line aux 0
no exec
line vty 0 2
exec-timeout 5 0
login local
transport input telnet
line vty 3 4
exec-timeout 0 1
login local
no exec
transport input none
!
end

*********At Mumbai********

version 12.4
!
hostname Mumbai
!

!
enable secret cisco
!
no aaa new-model
!
ip cef
!
!
!
!
!
!
username cisco password cisco
!
!
!
crypto isakmp policy 1
encr 3des
hash md5
authentication pre-share
group 2
lifetime 28800
crypto isakmp key cisco12345 address 10.10.10.5
!
crypto ipsec security-association lifetime seconds 28800
crypto ipsec security-association idle-time 120
!
crypto ipsec transform-set vpn esp-3des esp-md5-hmac
!
crypto map vpnns local-address FastEthernet0/1
crypto map vpnns 1 ipsec-isakmp
set peer 10.10.10.5
set transform-set vpn
match address 110
!
interface FastEthernet0/0
description : Connect to LAN
ip address 10.10.10.9 255.255.255.252
no ip redirects
no ip proxy-arp
ip accounting access-violations
speed 100
full-duplex
ntp disable
!
interface FastEthernet0/1
description To Delhi
ip address 10.10.10.6 255.255.255.252
no ip redirects
no ip proxy-arp
ip route-cache flow
speed 100
full-duplex
crypto map vpnns
!
!

router eigrp 1
passive-interface default
no passive-interface FastEthernet0/1
network 10.0.0.0
no auto-summary
!
access-list 110 permit ip host 10.10.10.9 host 10.10.10.2

!
line con 0
exec-timeout 5 0
login local
line aux 0
no exec
line vty 0 2
exec-timeout 5 0
login local
transport input telnet
line vty 3 4
exec-timeout 0 1
login local
no exec
transport input none
!
end
********************************