Adtran Netvanta 3200 Routers

I configured a few more Adtran Netvanta 3200 routers this past week.

I know I already have a post about these routers but I have to do it again. It's been some time since the last post and several firmware and software updates have made their way into this excellent product by Adtran since then.

I had to replace two Cisco routers with the Adtrans for reasons I won't go into because it really not important. These Netvantas came with firmware version 13.2. I thought the last batch at version 12 were good, Adtran topped it with some nice additions and the GUI, at least at that time, seemed to work even faster than before. I sus[past there were some hardware Updates as well like CPU and supporting ASICs.

They have some really nice features and I noticed that BGP was listed as a protocol plus HDLC protocol which means they can inter-operate with Cisco routers using Cisco proprietary protocol. Their live stats are great too. Although through command line you would have to keep repeating the command, through the GUI they just refresh and the data is actually good important information. They even display the operating temperature. They are a breeze to configure and get up and running. I was able to do both of them within an hour. I was swapping out live routers in a point to point configuration.

This customer didn't;t require QoS even though there was VoIP going over the T but the last time I had an encounter with these networking units it was for QoS purposes and VoIP and they really did the job.

Good work Adtran!!

Oh, did I forget to mention they cost a fraction of what comperable Cisco networking gear costs and you get support too - in english.

Re: Mail server report - another desktop email trojan.

The guys who program viruses and trojans and all other sorts of malware and adware are very clever. Don't get me wrong, I don;t condone what they do and actually despise it. It's a thorn in my side as I try to about my job, every now and then I'll get someone who has just polluted their computer system with one of the adware type of programs that either creates pop-ups gallery or has slowed down their desktop so bad they could barely do anything productive.
Some of the worst one out there make the computer almost useless.

These types just don't make sense to me. If they have the talent or skill to put together software that could download to systems automatically and open browsers and go to web pages they want the unsuspecting computer users to go to, why make a computer useless with junk. Make money with this talent. Why annoy people?

The latest incanation I've seen was just today. It's not actually a new one but a variation of the same old tired method of trying to infect desktops all around the world. It's the simple email a zip attachment that contains a computer virus routine. What makes this and other like it interesting is that the subject and body of the messages are made to look like they are really legitimate. This one had a subject that read:

Re: Mail server report

Well, this matches the usual bland email subject found in most server based or monitoring type applications and could fool many users. The body could also get people ot believe that it's a legitimate email. It mentioned things about risk and your computer should be updated and the attachment had a name that was similar to a Microsoft Knowledgebase file name. All of these coupled together has probably got a lot of people running the attachment thinking it's going to help them.

I believe there should be some real penalties for people who are caught doing these things. There must be some liability for the actions they take. They hurt people by spreading these types of programs around.

VLANs without trunking on the router.

I have a customer, a law office, that is moving to a new location. As part of their move their considering purchasing new desktops and servers. I've picked everything out and they're going to have a uote this coming week.

One of the things they are doing in addition to the move is to subnet space in their new office space. They're moving to a location that has more room than they need so they thought it a good idea to rent out the offices they're not using to non-competing attorneys. They want to offer them a desk with a fully function computer with internet access.

I need to allow the three offices that will be rented to have internet access through the same connection as my customer but they are not to be able to access the servers or other equipment on the LAN.

This is what I'm going to try and it's worked before. I'm going to get a manageable switch that has the capability to do VLANs. I'll setup each of the renters in their own vlan, and my customer who owns the network with their vlan. I'm going to try to to this without changing out the router to try and keep the project within budget. Than means that I'm going to gamble a little that I could repeat what I've done before. Put the router's connection to the lan in all three vlan groups and each of the routers and my customer in their own vlan and without access to the other.

If all goes well then all of them will share internet access but not be able to see each others computers or files and I didn't have to get a router with trunking capabilities.

Cable Run?

Did a survey for a long underground cable run today. This is usually not my space but I can do this. A customer has just purchased a building next door to their main business office. They already have underground conduit installed and they are ready to sun some cables. The run appears to be under 300 feet so CAT 5 for computer data will work out ok for them although fiber isn't much more expensive.
Another run that will be installed for this customer is for the voice system. Probably a 25 pair run for all thier extension (all 4 - wow) using the same under ground data pipe.

What an easy survey. If they could all be that easy it would be great. I'm going back though since I forgot to inquire about their wireless access point needs. From what I saw of their new office space, the whole building will be covered with a single unit. They have a large outdoor area that may need to be covered as well. I'll be going back to find out. I enjoy fuguring out wiresll computer access points for outdoor pplications but alway get boggled down with anntenas. I'm going to try and streamline the process this time.Going right for overcoverage with too much emphasis on the cost. The goal is to cover without customer complaints about signal strengh so they have to pay more - period.

Changing a PC Power Supply

This is a boring post as it concerns a part of the computer that hasn't received media attention or reached the glamorous recognition some of the other PC components have - it's the power supply.

After all of these years in the field I still do what would be considered boring or beneath stature jobs. I don't care, the pay is the same. Another reason that a task such as this is that it's simple. Changing a desktop computers power supply takes a low amount of mental energy that it's almost relaxing. It's mostly a physical labor thing with just a few minor technical points to remember. If they all go as smooth as the this one then bring them on I say.

This was an old PC and it was using an AT style power supply, not even an ATX. One of the basic differences between the AT and ATX is the motherboard connectors. The old on came out without a hitch and the new one when in with even less trouble. The power button lined up right away and the whole thing was wrapped up in 20 minutes. All jobs should go this way.