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Hot Topic (More than 20 Replies) Forum Network Upgrades - (Now With Pictures!) (Read 91648 times)
b0b
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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #15 - Oct 17th, 2007 at 6:57pm
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Here's what I don't get, though.  Clinton is a Democrat, but Hutchison and Chambliss are Republicans.  I know federal representatives are given offices based on which party they are in, and Democrats and Republicans are in different offices.  I'd assume federal senators are the same way, so why would those three senators show up on the same switch if they were in different offices?

Weird.

-b0b
(...is going to church and will post more later.)





Edit:  Changed "router" to "switch."  Oops.
« Last Edit: Oct 18th, 2007 at 7:38am by b0b »  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #16 - Oct 17th, 2007 at 7:59pm
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I was a little off with my math (thanks to shipping and taxes). The final total was $1,589.25. If I didn't get the second HD, then it would of been under $1,500. The reason for the two HD is for some protection. In case one goes down (happend to me before), the other will still have a copy. Gotta love RAID technology. I wanted to go to RAID 5, but didn't have the extra $200 to spare.

I could of cut some corners and went with a smaller case and a no-name power supply, but I want this computer to last. I did go cheap on the floppy and I got what I paid for, a $7 paper weight.

Jim, you need to upgrade my network with some switches and routers. I have a couple of GB (8 port) switches connected together to power my network. I am thinking about getting one of those 24 port web managed switches. Just waiting for the prices to come down to the $250 range. Also, if you have a couple of nics and an old computer, then you can make yourself a cool router using IPCop or Smoothwall (firewall/vpn/router/ids/.....). I love my smoothie (www.smoothwall.org).
  
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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #17 - Oct 18th, 2007 at 10:03am
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What kind of upgrades are you looking for?

Are you interested in pursuing a CCNA?  I'm looking for a study partner for the CCNA, so if you're interested in adding that certification to your résumé, let me know.

I've been doing some digging through that mysterious configuration file this morning and I found this line:

Quote:
hostname russ-agg-sc-1


The "host name" of a switch is it's major title.  Administrators typically add a host name to their routers and switches so they can keep track of which device they're currently connected to.  The word "Russ" in the host name of this switch got me thinking it was probably located in a building named "Russ."  The "agg" term probably refers to "aggregate," meaning this was a head-end switch that other smaller switches connected to.  I started digging around to see if I could find a "Russ" building, and sure enough...

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

It looks like there are three major Senate office buildings, Hart, Dirksen, and Russell.

Quote:
Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA)      Class II
416 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3521

Clinton, Hillary Rodham- (D - NY)      Class I
476 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4451

Hutchison, Kay Bailey- (R - TX)      Class I
284 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5922


The three senators listed in the switch configuration are all in the same building, so it seems like this is legit.

Unlike the federal representatives, it appears the senators aren't separated based on their political affiliation.  This raises another question, though.  According to that page, the addresses of their offices would put other senators in between them.  Why are these three folks on the same switch if their offices aren't right next to each other?  Have they moved offices between terms?  Were the other senators also on this switch, but their ports weren't given descriptions like Hutchison, Chambliss, and Clinton?

The rabbit hole grows deeper.

-b0b
(...ponders.)
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #18 - Oct 18th, 2007 at 1:19pm
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Have you found anything that could be used against these people.  My only reason for asking if that, if we are so concerned with terrorist who get off of people bad mouthing the war on CSPAN, than why would it be logical for these switches to be sold on eBay?

I know you redacted some passwords from the main text.  Would someone just enter those into an site on the net or what to gain access?

X
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #19 - Oct 18th, 2007 at 1:43pm
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No, this would've been an internal switch, so it would've been at the very core of the Senate office network.  Anybody trying to get to this switch would've had to conquer quite a few other systems first (firewalls, routers, etc) to even reach it.  Even if somebody did have access to this switch, there wouldn't be much they could do maliciously, outside of deactivating ports.  That would be an annoying but easily correctable denial of service attack.

The passwords were encrypted.  The user password would be relatively simple to crack, but the "enable" password would be damn near impossible to crack using brute force methods.  Without the enable password, a malicious user wouldn't be able to do anything other than view some parameters.  It's encrypted using md5, so the number of possible keys is mind-boggling.

I redacted the password hashes and SNMP community names from the config I posted because it's impolite to post such things on the Interweb.  I'm hoping the administrator has changed his password and SNMP names by now, but I don't want to help out a hacker/terrorist/whatever if they didn't.  I know I'd be pretty upset if someone posted my password hash for the entire world to see.  Then again, I wouldn't be stupid enough to leave a copy of an old config file on my switch/router/whatever.


Quote:
...than why would it be logical for these switches to be sold on eBay?


The military and .gov sells virtually all of their old equipment, ranging from monitors to printers to networking equipment.  You can get on one of several privately-run auction sites that sell government equipment in bulk.  Most likely, this switch was sold with a bunch of other Cisco equipment by the pallet load.  A used-equipment distributor then bought it and offered it for sale on eBay.

For what its worth, I bought my switch from this guy:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZrudebuoy101QQssPageNameZSTRKQ3...

You can buy a switch from him that is identical to mine at this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cisco-Catalyst-2924-WS-X2924M-XL-EN-CCNA-CCNP-Lab_W0QQitemZ1...

I have no clue if it'll come from the same place or not, but it's probably fairly likely that it'll be some sort of old .gov switch.  He was a great seller and he even included a couple freebie expansion cards that weren't listed in the auction.  I'll post pics tonight if you guys want to see it.

-b0b
(...cheers.)
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #20 - Oct 18th, 2007 at 9:30pm
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Here's a picture of my home network as it now stands.  The Cisco equipment isn't actually being used for forum traffic yet because I'm still waiting on the Ethernet card that will allow me to connect the router to the cable modem.

I rerouted all of the cables tonight and got everything prettied up, so you'll have to forgive the few minutes of downtime that occurred while I was moving everything around.



The switch is the device in the center of the stack.

-b0b
(...should probably label everything.)
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #21 - Oct 18th, 2007 at 11:56pm
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Oh my goodness is that Pure Evil I see coming out of that Cisco switch?! Quick youve got to contain it before it spreads to the forum and we are inundated with Hillary nonsense!!!  Yarrrrgggg!!!
  

"Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."&&&&John Adams&&
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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #22 - Oct 19th, 2007 at 4:48pm
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I ordered my second switch today.  It's almost identical to the first one, but with different modules in the expansion port.  I also picked up a couple GBIC adapters so I can run gigabit fiber to the server.  It'll be interesting to see how well that works!

The second switch is a bit rougher cosmetically, but it was also a lot cheaper than the other one.

My only problem now is figuring out where to put this thing.  I'm out of room!

-b0b
(...hasn't done much with fiber, so it should be interesting.)
  

Catalyst2924B.jpg (Attachment deleted)

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #23 - Oct 22nd, 2007 at 11:49am
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yay! forums back!
  

"Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."&&&&John Adams&&
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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #24 - Oct 22nd, 2007 at 11:54am
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How long have they been down?  I noticed this morning that I couldn't access them, so I went home and rebooted the server.  I was able to access the forum just fine from home, so I didn't know there was a problem until I got to work this morning.

-b0b
(...shrugs.)
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #25 - Oct 22nd, 2007 at 11:57am
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I think they were down all weekend. Hows all the new hardware workin out? And how is the possibility of lanage here soon?
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #26 - Oct 22nd, 2007 at 12:19pm
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The new hardware is purring like a kitten.  I finally received the network adapters for the router that I was waiting on, so I'll be able to swap out equipment as soon as I get an uninterrupted Saturday.

I'm trying to find a cheap, decent-quality network rack to put all of my switches and routers into.  I obviously can't fit a full 96" rack into the apartment, and mini-racks are hard to find for less than $300.

I'm up for some serious LANnage whenever you guys want.  Just give me some advance notice and I'll have everything ready!

-b0b
(...would love to get his LAN on.)
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #27 - Oct 23rd, 2007 at 11:40am
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Oh dudes...heck ya...let's rock a LAN!  I'm in serious need of hanging with my buds and killing them.........in game form that is!

I am free pretty much anytime right now.

I know Briney's been wanting one so he just needs to stop working everyday and come back down...and bring the lovely Susie with him of course.

X
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #28 - Oct 23rd, 2007 at 12:21pm
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Well, Briney, it sounds like the onus of planning this thing is on you.  Pick a weekend that you'll be in town and we'll do this thing.

-b0b
(...thinks most of his Saturdays are free.)
  

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Re: Forum Network Upgrades
Reply #29 - Oct 23rd, 2007 at 2:07pm
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let me check with eric, or he can post here, I know hes lurking somewhere... Cause he works weekends, but maybe he can juggle with someone and get a friday off. Friday night would be best for me, maybe in a week or 2.

rock on!

~BRiney

(...notices he didn't give a definitive answer)
  

"Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other."&&&&John Adams&&
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