CCNP Certification - BSCI Exam Tutorial: EIGRP Stuck-In-Active Routes

Passing the BSCI exam and earning your CCNP is all about knowing the details, and when it comes to EIGRP SIA routes, there are plenty of details to know. A quick check in a search engine for "troubleshoot SIA" will bring up quite a few matches. Troubleshooting SIA routes is very challengin in that there's no one reason they occur.

View the EIGRP topology table with the show ip eigrp topology command, and you'll see a code next to every successor and feasible successor. A popular misconception is that we want these routes to have an "A" next to them - so they're active. That's what we want, right? Active routes sound good, right?

Well, they sound good, but they're not. If a route shows as Active in the EIGRP topology table, that means that DUAL is currently calculating that route, and it's currently unusable. When a route is Passive ("P), that means it's not being recalculated and it's a usable route.

Generally, a route shown as Active is going to be there for a very short period of time by the time you repeat the command, hopefully that Active route has gone Passive. Sometimes that doesn't happen, though, and the route becomes SIA - Stuck In Active.

A route becomes SIA when a query goes unanswered for so long that the neighbor relationship is reset. From experience, I can tell you that troubleshooting SIA routes is more of an art form than a science, but there are four main reasons a route becomes SIA:

The link is unidirectional, so the query can't possibly be answered.

The queried router's resources are unavailable, generally due to high CPU utilization.

The queried router's memory is corrupt or otherwise unable to allow the router to answer the query.

The link between the two routers is of low quality, allowing just enough packets through to keep the neighbor relationship intact, but not good enough to allow the replies through.

To sum it up, routes generally become SIA when a neighbor either doesn't answer a query, or either the query or reply took a wrong turn somewhere. I told you it wasn't the easiest thing to troubleshoot!

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Telecommuting Idea: Appointment Setter

Most small business owners are very busy people who don't have a lot of extra time on their hands. They will happily outsource some of their daily time-consuming tasks to a telecommuter. One of these time consuming tasks is setting appointments. Appointment setting is a perfect occupation for a telecommuter. The employer doesn't necessarily need a full-time employee to set his appointments, but at the same time needs someone that is available the majority of business hours in case his clients call in, or to make calls at different times of the day.

A telecommuter is the perfect candidate for this position. As a telecommuting appointment setter you can work with your employer's schedule. If he needs a few calls made in the morning and then wants you to be available for callbacks in the afternoon, you are there to help. Best of all, you are not limited to just one employer or client. You can easily work as an appointment setter for several business owners at the same time. This will allow you to make a fulltime income while allowing each employer to only pay you for a few hours per day or week.

Setting appointments is something you can easily do from home. All you need is a phone and some way to organize yourself. A computer with Microsoft Outlook, or an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your clients' schedules would work well. You could even do this with a good paper calendar at first.

You should have good telephone and written skills to work as an appointment setter. Previous experience as an administrativeassistant or secretary is not necessary, but is definitely a plus when it comes to the skills you need and when you are approaching prospective employers or clients. You should also be fairly organized to be able to keep up with multiple appointments for multiple clients each day.<



As an appointment setter you will be spending a lot of time both on the phone and on email. You will be checking in with your clients (the small business owners) on a daily basis and then spend the rest of your time contacting their clients, setting up and later confirming appointments. Of course you will also keep your own clients or employers informed of any changes or cancellations throughout the day.

If this is something you are interested in doing, here's how to start. Determine your hourly rate. You should take the going rate for a task like this in an office setting into consideration and then up it from there. Your employer does not have to provide you with an office, a computer, telephone or any other equipment. You are also most likely going to be an independent contractor, which means he does not have to pay for any of your benefits or taxes. You will be responsible for all this, keep that in mind when determining your rate.

Now it's time to approach small business owners in your area with what you have to offer and start building a client base. Once you have a few happy clients, word of mouth advertising should start to bring you even more business.

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Funky To 3D - All You Need To Know About Desktop Art!

One can select from a wide variety of desktop art that is available to make your computer look quite spiffy, and not boring and drab like it looked earlier. There is in particularly an essentially limitless supply of desktop wallpaper available on the internet. The fact is, basically any image that you find on the internet can easily be changed into desktop art and posted on your screen to present a decorative touch. It doesn't matter from where you get the desktop art, or whether it is big or small, free or copyrighted. If it is in the correct graphical format, it can be used as wallpaper for your desktop, easy as can be. On the other hand if it is not in the correct format, there are literally dozens of programs which can do the job of converting it for you.

The screen saver is the most important kind of desktop art. Depending on what type of desktop screen saver that you select, it can be either quite irritating, or a neat distraction. You can even choose to adjust, as in the case of the classical field where you can adjust the number of stars and the speed at which they whiz across your computer screen.

The truth is that, when you are tired and need a break from your work for just a couple of minutes, having an attractive and compelling screen saver to stare off into and daydream can be just do the right trick. And as is the case with a good number of desktop art, there are hundreds and hundreds of screen saversthat can be downloaded for free. Don't be a duped and waste your money on desktop art when so many people are just giving it away!



Evidently, the most novel form of desktop art is animation. Desktop animation is essentially little cartoons that go on in the background of your computer while you type. The most prominent example of this type of desktop art that I know of is the one with the wandering sheep that you have perhaps come across at some time. The ones who parachute down and then amble around your screen, doing all sorts of cute things while you work. But, of course there are many other types of desktop art animation for your entertainment, if sheep are not really your thing.

No matter what you enjoy looking at, from robots to swimsuit models, to flying robotic swimsuit models, someone has most likely designed a cute little desktop animation of it for your screen.

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Cisco CCNP - BCMSN Exam Tutorial: Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP)

When you're studying to pass the BCMSN exam on the way to earning your CCNP certification, you're going to add to your CCNA knowledgebase every step of the way. Nowhere is that more than configuring a trunk between two switches.

You know that IEEE 802.1Q ("dot1q") and ISL are your two choices of trunking protocols, and you know the main differences between the two. What you might not have known is that there's a third trunking protocol that's running between your Cisco switches, and while it's a transparent process to many, you had better know about it for your BCMSN and other CCNP exams!

The Cisco-proprietary Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) actively attempts to negotiate a trunk link with the remote switch. This sounds great, but there is a cost in overhead - DTP frames are transmitted every 30 seconds. If you decide to configure a port as a non-negotiable trunk port, there's no need for the port to send DTP frames.

DTP can be turned off at the interface level with the switchport nonegotiate command, but as you see below, you cannot turn DTP off until the port is no longer in dynamic desirable trunking mode. (Dynamic desirable is the default mode for most Cisco switch ports.)

SW2(config)#int fast 0/8

SW2(config-if)#switchport nonegotiate

Command rejected: Conflict between 'nonegotiate' and 'dynamic' status.

SW2(config-if)#switchport mode ?

access Set trunking mode to ACCESS unconditionally

dynamic Set trunking mode to dynamically negotiate access or trunk mode

trunk Set trunking mode to TRUNK unconditionally


SW2(config-if)#switchport mode trunk

SW2(config-if)#switchport nonegotiate

When you're working with Cisco switches in a home lab or rack rental environment, run IOS Help regularly to see what options are available for the commands you're practicing with. Cisco switch ports have quite a few options, and the best way to find them is with one simple symbol - the question mark!

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Introduction to Online Nursing Continuing Education

In order to maintain licensure or certification, those in the nursing profession need to complete continuing education courses, also known as CEUs, or Continuing Education Units. Many CEU programs are available online, which makes obtaining CEUs much easier for many people. If you are new to online education, this introduction to online nursing continuing education will point you in the right direction.

Organizations to Know

The first stop along the introduction to online nursing continuing education is important organizations to know. One is the American Nurses Credentialing Center, or ANCC. This organization is the leading nursing credentialing organization in the U.S. When investigating continuing education courses, whether online or otherwise, an ANCC certified program is a good option. Information is available at http://www.nursingworld.org/ancc/

Another organization with useful information for nurses seeking CEUs is the American Nurses Association, or ANA. Their website is http://www.nursingworld.org/.

Types of CEUs

The next stop in the introduction to online nursing continuing education is the available options. One of the more exciting parts about CEUs is that you can find courses on virtually any aspect of nursing. If you specialize, you can choose CEUs that are directly related to your field. This option also allows you to learn about areas where you are not as familiar and want additional information or a "refresher" course on a certain aspect of nursing.

Be advised, however, that some states require that you complete certain CEUs. Before you choose only programs of interest, check with your state to determine if you need to complete a mandatory program first.

Accreditation

When choosing online CEU options, choose a provider that is accredited. You also need to be sure you understand what is required to earn the CEUs. Some online providers offer CEUs free of charge, but before you choose one of these options, ensure that the course meets all of your requirements.

While you still need to conduct thorough research into any CEU provider you are contemplating, this introduction to online nursing continuing education will help you get started.

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Careers in I.T (Must See)

Career as a Network Administrator:-
Job Description:-


A Network Administrator is a professional in charge of the maintenance of the computer hardware and software systems that make up a computer network. This includes activities such as the deployment, configuration, maintenance and monitoring of active network equipment. Career Prospects:-


The Network Administrator is typically a mid to senior level of technical/network staff in an organization and is not typically involved with direct user support. The Network Administrator will concentrate on the overall health of the network, server deployment, security, ensuring network connectivity throughout and company's LAN/WAN infrastructure, and all other technical considerations at the network level of an organizations technical hierarchy. Network Administrators are considered Tier 3 support personnel that only work on break/fix issues that could not be resolved at the Tier1 (helpdesk) or Tier 2 (desktop/network technician) levels.

Companies that hire Network Administrators:
Cisco
Shared Technologies
eBay
Intuit
Apple
Amazon
NetApp
Qualcomm
Skills & Education Required:-


Training and certifications for Network Administrators:
Cisco CCNA
Cisco CCIP
Cisco CCNP
Cisco CCIE

Career as a Web Designer :-
Job Description:-


A Web Designer is a person that creates and arranges the pages that make up a website. Web Designers often have to balance how a page looks versus how a web page functions, which can involve some compromises.

Of recent importance is website accessibility; this refers to creating web pages that are accessible to anyone, no matter what device they are using. Website accessibility also stresses the importance of making a website accessible to those with any kind of disability.

Career Prospects:-

A Web Designer may progress in seniority within the Web Design function. They may also progress within a marketing communications function, depending on their skills and interests.

A Web Designer is very different from a Web Developer. A Web Developer works more on the server side development, web server configuration, and web server security. In order to become a Website Developer, a Web Designer would need to learn additional programming languages and methodologies, such as Object Oriented design and Java programming.

Skills & Education Required:-

Web Designers may or may not have advanced degrees. A degree in Computer Science or a marketing related degree (Business Administration or E-Commerce) is most common. Many Website Designers are self-taught, starting on their own and learning design skills and design languages as they develop pages.





Career as a Database Administrator:-

Job Description:-

Database Administrators use database software to store and manage information. They will often set up database systems and are responsible for making sure those systems operate efficiently (usually referred to as database performance tuning). They also make sure that the data they store is backed up regularly, stored effectively, and that the data is secure from unauthorized access. Ensuring the data is available, by maximizing database uptime, is also an important function of the database administrator.


Career Prospects:-

Database administrators often promote to a senior database administrator and then into a strategic management role within the company, such as a MIS Manager and eventually even on to a Chief Technology Officer role. Some DBAs specialize in a certain area, such as database security, and become experts in that particular area.

Skills & Education Required:-

Database Administrators often have a 4 year degree in Computer Science or Management Information Systems (MIS). Knowledge of business functions is also important, as is the ability to communicate with other employees in the company in both technical and non-technical roles.

Database administrators will also often hold a certification for a specific database software program. Oracle database certifications are very popular database certification programs, high in demand with employers. Another popular certification is for the Microsoft Certified Database Administrator or MCDBA. The MCDBA is also one of the highest paying technical certifications.




Career as a Chief Information Officer:-

Job Description:-

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a job title for the head of information technology within an organization. The CIO typically reports to either the chief financial officer or, in IT-centered organizations, to the chief executive officer.

A CIO is involved with analyzing and reworking existing business processes, with identifying and developing the capability to use new tools, with reshaping the enterprise's physical infrastructure and network access, and with identifying and exploiting the enterprise's knowledge resources. Many CIOs head the enterprise's efforts to integrate the Internet and the World Wide Web into both its long-term strategy and its immediate business plans.

Career Prospects:-

The prominence of the CIO position has risen greatly as information technology has become a more important part of business. The CIO may be a member of the executive board of the organization. While the CIO job title originated in the US, is slowly replacing IT Director as the senior IT executive title in Europe and Asia.

Skills & Education Required:-

While no specific qualification is typical of CIOs in general, historically many CIOs have degrees in computer science, software engineering, or information systems. CIOs are increasingly gaining an MBA to strengthen their business management skills. More recently CIOs' leadership capabilities, business acumen and strategic perspectives have taken precedence over technical skills. It is now quite common for CIOs to be appointed from the business side of the organization, especially if they have project management skills.

A CIO needs a solid foundation in information technology, project management, and business management. As such, some of the common components of a successful CIO might include the following:
Project Management
PMP Certification
MBA Programs
MIS Degrees
CIS Degrees
Information Technology Certifications

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