Router and Switch Configuration
Cisco switches by default or configured in one VLAN. To configure the switch the Cisco serial connection is used through a terminal program like hyper terminal in order to get access to the command line interface. A VLAN is a switched network that is separated into parts by function, project team, or application regardless the physical location of the users of the network. Configuring VLAN can be done from the database if the switch is in VTP server or transparent mode. Spanning Tree Protocol is a managing protocol for VLANS, which has basic configuration settings like hello time and switch priority.
User interface console is used to modify certain things within the switch configuration. The [M] command would be used to enter the menus option. The [K] command would be used to enter the command lines. The [I] command would be used to enter the IP Configuration command console, and lastly the [P] command would be used to enter the password configuration.
For Routers, the access and command line interface is very similar to the switches. There are over 2000 different command modes for a Cisco router some of which include Show version which is used to view the hardware and software status of the Cisco router that is being used. Another would be Show IP route that is used to view the IP routing table of the Cisco router.
Configuring a router is done by using a web browser to log in to the router using an I.P. address on the router. Usually there is a built-in EPROM which has software that runs on it which makes it easy for the configurations of the router’s functions. Some of these functions include setting up the DHCP server, firewalls, security and access restrictions. The configuration the WAP or wireless access point is done is a following way: A USB cable would be used to connect to the WAP firmware and then configure the SSID. This can also be used to configure the WEP keys for secure connections between devices.
A few examples of routing protocols would be something like Routing Information Protocol or also known as RIP. In RIP all subnets must be of equal size. This type of protocol is very limited which in return is a big downfall. Another would be RIPv2 which allows different subnet sizes, but a downfall would be that it still only supports 15 hop count limit. Another would be interior gateway routing protocol (IGRP), but Cisco does not support this protocol anymore. This protocol was replaced by EIGRP or Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol. This protocol still uses a distance vector model but related to IGRP only because of the similar name.
