Networking

HOW TO

Wireless reconnaissance with my Berry

Check how I use my WIFI Blackberry Curve to do a mini wireless survey

Network Janitor - Wrapping it Up

Here I write about the final work in one of my network cleanups

Baselining Example - File Copy

Baselining should take days or weeks, here's an example of a file copy baseline.

MRTG

I've received many emails on how to get up and running quickly with MRTG, so here's my tips.

Install ActiveState Perl (http://www.activestate.com)
Download and Install MRTG (http://www.mrtg.org)
If you don't have one, create working directory for HTML files c:\mrtg\working
Go to c:\mrtg\bin directory
Run perl cfgmaker snmpreadstring@ipaddress –output=filename.cfg
Open filename.cfg with notepad
Add RunAsDaemon: Yes
Remove # on Options
Add WorkDir: C:\mrtg\working
Type wperl mrtg filename.cfg to start MRTG

IPERF

IPERF Quickstart &
Very handy FREE throughput tester. Using it is quick and easy;

Simply download IPERF http://dast.nlanr.net/Projects/Iperf/

Unzip into a folder on two pc's

Go to one PC and type iperf -s at the command prompt. This is a server

Go to the other PC and type iperf -c server_ipaddress

Other examples;

to run the iperf utility as a server service by typing
iperf -s -D

to conduct an upload type
iperf -c server_ipaddress

to conduct a separate upload and download type
iperf -c server_ipaddress -r

to conduct a simultaneously upload and download type
iperf -c server_ipaddress -p

Other Notes;

The following options don't work with Windows;
window (-w) * This actually affects the application read/write block or buffer size
print mss (-m)

try creating a batch file that you can schedule at whatever interval to get an idea of throughput in relation ship to time;

sample dos batch file will accept an ip address filename for output. Just make sure IPERf is in your path, or put the batch file in the iperf directory.

rem record ipaddress filename
rem ***
cls
echo off
Echo %date% %time% >> %2
Echo %date% %time%
Echo upload and download to %1
iperf -c %1 -r|find "sec" >> %2
echo ********* >> %2

SNMP

Please modify your default read and write SNMP community strings from public or private.
Use the Contact and Location fields for documentation purposes.

Cabling

I use a Sharpie permanent marker and write the length of the cable on the side of RJ45 with a double line to indicate a straight-thru cable and an X to denote a cross over cable.

MAC Address

Get a P-Touch, type in your MAC address and put it on your laptop, desktop or troubleshooting PC. Now you'll have the correct info when you want to create a MAC address filter or just reference it.