CertTutor.net Live! UPDATE—brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine Networkand CertTutor.net.
http://www.certtutor.net
CertTutor.net Live! UPDATE contains the best of CertTutor.net Live!, the Internet's number-one certification discussion board. CertTutor.net Live! UPDATE features interesting posts and shares valuable information about how to make the most of the forums. Enjoy!
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November 22, 2002—In this issue:
1. COMMENTARY
- Troubleshooting 101
2. NEWS & VIEWS
- Cisco Announces New Certifications
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- The Microsoft Mobility Tour Is Coming Soon to a City Near You!
- Planning on Getting Certified? Make Sure to Pick Up Our New eBook!
4. WHAT'S NEW FROM CERTTUTOR LIVE!
- FEATURED THREADS
- Sysprep and Plug and Play
- Subnetting for the CCNA
- Virtual Cluster
- HOT THREADS
- Accessing My Home Network Remotely
- Network Group Policy to Give End Users Admin Rights?
- CCNA—Sybex Virtual Trainer
5. RESOURCES
- Link of the Week: Cisco's Learning & Events Page
- Tip of the Week: Using Dial-Up Internet Access as a Tool
- Question of the Week: Exam 640-607
6. NEW AND IMPROVED
- Earn 5 Certifications
7. CONTACT US
See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
1. COMMENTARY
(contributed by Gregory W. Smith for Nortec Communications)
Whether you're working as an IT professional or training to enter the field, you've evaluated numerous products and sat through several training programs, and you probably hold one or two vendor certifications. Eventually, you'll face a crisis situation that will require you to put all this knowledge to use. In such situations, nothing screams "paper MCSE" more than panic. What you need is a plan of action.
The first thing to remember in troubleshooting situations is to stay calm. Whether the CEO is breathing down your neck or you're stressing yourself out, remember that such pressures aren't going to help you resolve the situation any faster. You must get past the initial panic as quickly as possible while maintaining an appropriate sense of urgency about the situation.
In hospital emergency rooms, triage is a process wherein medical professionals assess the injured and prioritize them based on the severity of their injuries. If you face a situation in which multiple problems are developing at once, you might find that you need to employ a similar triage process. When you've isolated one problem that you can concentrate on, take the time to understand how everything should be working, then break down the problem itself. Determining the extent of a problem on one machine might be relatively simple, but determining the extent of a problem on a network is usually complicated—especially because many end users seem to assume that you know when problems occur and so don't bother to report them. Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services, Symantec's pcAnywhere, VNC, and other remote control software can help you test for trouble on remote servers and clients, assuming you can connect to them. Of course, the inability to connect can also help you determine the extent of the damage.
Network problems can affect external clients. Whether your problem is a DNS entry that has become corrupt or a downed router, determining who is affected and who isn't goes a long way toward isolating the source.
Find out how to duplicate the problem. With this information, you can accurately determine whether a proposed solution works as expected. If you can't duplicate a problem reliably, then proposed solutions will address only the most likely causes of the problem, not necessarily the actual causes. The most difficult problem to troubleshoot is a seemingly random incident. In such cases, gather as much applicable information as you can. After the problem recurs a few times, you might have enough data to correlate common information and pinpoint causes.
After you isolate the likely source of the problem, you can begin testing solutions. If time is crucial, a shotgun approach—addressing all the most likely causes—improves your odds of fixing the problem but increases your chances of inviting unwanted side effects. If possible, avoid the shotgun approach unless you're aware of the consequences of your actions and potential interactions. If time permits, make only one change at a time and record the effects until you resolve the problem.
Use appropriate urgency in dealing with your problem. If necessary, use spare equipment to replace failed equipment until you can schedule downtime. Be aware that a "temporary" fix that works often becomes the permanent fix, so try to ensure that your temporary fixes are solid. Troubleshooting is an art, and finding the balance between simply making things work and making them work properly is a talent that you must refine over time.
2. NEWS & VIEWS
Cisco Systems announced a new security certification, the Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP), and three new specialist-level certifications that address firewall, VPN, and Intrusion Detection System (IDS) technology. The new security certification requires that candidates hold a current Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)—or more advanced—certification and pass five exams. Cisco says this certification is at a similar difficulty level as the company's other professional-level certifications, such as the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and the Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP). Like the CCNP and CCDP, the CCSP will be valid for 3 years after the candidate passes the final exam. For more information about the CCSP, visit the Cisco Web site and select CCSP from the list of professional-level certifications.
http://www.cisco.com/go/training
You can also visit the following CertTutor.net Live! thread to find out more about this new certification.
http://certtutor.net/Forums/messageview.cfm?catid=76&threadid=36388
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
(brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners)
Brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine, this outstanding seven-city event will help support your growing mobile workforce! Industry guru Paul Thurrott discusses the coolest mobility hardware solutions around, demonstrates how to increase the productivity of your "road warriors" with the unique features of Windows XP and Office XP, and much more. There is no charge for these live events, but space is limited so register today!
http://www.winnetmag.com/seminars/mobility
"The Insider's Guide to IT Certification" eBook is hot off the presses and contains everything you need to know to help you save time and money while preparing for certification exams from Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and CompTIA and have a successful career in IT. Get your copy of the Insider's Guide today!
http://winnet.bookaisle.com/ebookcover.asp?ebookid=13475
4. WHAT'S NEW FROM CERTTUTOR LIVE!
CertTutor.net Live! is the Internet's number-one training and certification discussion board. Each week, CertTutor.net Live! receives thousands of posts about Windows XP, Windows 2000, Cisco Systems, and more. We've selected three of these posts to feature here in CertTutor.net UPDATE. To join in the conversation at CertTutor.net Live!, register at the following URL:
http://www.certtutor.net/registration/index.cfm
FEATURED THREADS
The CertTutor.net Live! forums are a great resource to turn to when you encounter study guide information that confuses you. In this thread, Kyller seeks advice about the default behavior of the Sysprep image upon first boot.
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=14&threadid=36321
How many hosts can dance on the head of a pin? OK, Cisco Systems exam questions aren't that tough, but you must know your subnetting inside out. See this thread for some tips.
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=76&threadid=36350
Last week's CertTutor.net UPDATE commentary about virtual computing inspired forum member Mohareb to attempt his own cluster setup with virtual machines. The experiment was a success, and he's now thinking about Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Exchange Server clusters.
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=53&threadid=35693
HOT THREADS
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=36359
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=36283
http://certtutor.net/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=76&threadid=36131
5. RESOURCES
See the Cisco Systems Learning & Events page for information about all the offerings in Cisco's program.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/learning/learning_certification_program_updates.html
If you're shopping for broadband Internet access, one feature to look for is dial-up capability for those times when the broadband access goes down. A dial-up line is also handy when you're traveling and when you want to test external access to your network. If you already have broadband access, check to see whether you have dial-up capability. If so, enter the settings into your workstation or laptop and test them so you're ready to go when the need arises.
This week's question will help you prepare for the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) exam (640-607).
QUESTION
The ISP you work for has divided the public address space 128.250.212.0 /24 into seven networks:
- Subnet Seldon: 128.250.212.0 /26
- Subnet Brano: 128.250.212.224 /28
- Subnet Terminus: 128.250.212.128 /27
- Subnet Trantor: 128.250.212.64 /26
- Subnet Trevize: 128.250.212.192 /27
- Subnet Foundation: 128.250.212.160 /27
- Subnet Farstar: 128.250.212.240 /28
Each subnet contains the following number of hosts:
- Seldon: 50 Hosts
- Brano: 15 Hosts
- Terminus: 19 Hosts
- Trantor: 35 Hosts
- Trevize: 14 Hosts
- Foundation: 9 Hosts
- Farstar: 11 Hosts.
A new client has come on board, so you must rationalize the current set of subnets, splitting one of them to making a new one, Caladan. The Caladan subnet must be able to support 10 hosts. Which of the subnets can you split and use the freed-up space to create subnet Caladan? (Choose all that apply.)
- Subnet Seldon
- Subnet Brano
- Subnet Terminus
- Subnet Trantor
- Subnet Trevize
- Subnet Foundation
- Subnet Farstar
ANSWER
Subnet Trevize has 30 possible host addresses but only 14 hosts allocated. You can shift Trevize from 128.250.212.192 /27 to 128.250.212.192 /28, which would free up 128.250.212.208 /28 for subnet Caladan. Subnet Foundation also has 30 possible host addresses but only 9 allocated. You can split Subnet Foundation into 128.250.212.160 /28 and 128.250.212.176 /28 to leave space for subnet Caladan. The correct answers are E—Subnet Trevize; and F—Subnet Foundation.
6. NEW AND IMPROVED
(contributed by Carolyn Mader, [email protected])
TestOut released the TestOut Library Suite, which contains all versions of TestOut's certification suite. You can earn the following certifications: Windows 2000 MCSE, Novell CNE 5, Cisco Systems’ Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), the Computing Technology Industry Association’s CompTIA A+, and CompTIA Network+. Each product in the TestOut Library Suite comes with a TestOut Exam Pass Guarantee so that if you don't pass, TestOut pays. Pricing for the TestOut Library Suite is $2495. Contact TestOut at 800-877-4889.
http://www.testout.com
7. CONTACT US
Here's how to reach us with your comments and questions:
- ABOUT THE COMMENTARY — [email protected]
- ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER IN GENERAL — [email protected]
(please mention the newsletter name in the subject line) - TECHNICAL QUESTIONS — http://www.certtutor.net/forums
- QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CERTTUTOR.NET LIVE! SUBSCRIPTION?
Customer Support — [email protected] - WANT TO SPONSOR CERTTUTOR.NET LIVE! [email protected]
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