Laptops seem to be the current trendy thing this year. But be warned if you want the most up to date tech than you need to come up with some patience as there could be part shortages. Laptops have just been an amazing business to follow. There has been no drop in shipments. The technology is progressing in all directions simultaneously as well.
I’ve seen a lot of gaming notebooks being launched lately. These days you get a lot more for your money because the new technology is always poised to be released. Gaming frame rates on notebooks is fairly adequate considering the factors involved so if you need portability they provide a good choice. I also think that a couple gaming laptops look really funky, with some slick, powerful features. Regardless off all the good things of notebooks, desktops should always perform quicker than them. Gaming notebooks are the benchmark of speed for the notebook trade and it will be exciting to see how the next technology performs.
There are always going to be a couple of consumers that need a laptop custom built because they require to use it for specialised work. Traditionally branded components go into these units. With that in perspective you normally get to configure the cpu, ram, hard disk and software. Premade notebooks are manufactured for consumers who have common needs and that is probably not you right? Hardcore users need custom notebooks because of this. You can a large number of manufacturers who supply direct so there are a lot of options too. Big brands are in fact being overlooked because of this.
The prospect of upcoming laptop computers seems great. Laptops essentially for surfing the internet etc are coming to the market one after the other. Clearly this will be something massive in 3rd world markets. Supremely everyone would want an ultraslim notebook with a 15″ lcd. This is a thing that can be produced even now if we gave up power. From the trends it seems like gaming notebooks will get lighter and more powerful. All the companies are striving to introduce the next best product so it’ll be exciting to see.
CCNA exam success depends on mastering many technologies that are new to you, and few exam topics have more details than ISDN. ISDN isn’t just for your CCNA exam studies, though. While ISDN is dismissed by many, the fact is that there are many small and mid-size networks out there that use ISDN as their backup to frame relay. Some of these companies have spoke networks that use ISDN to connect to their hub as well, so it’s a great idea to know ISDN configuration and troubleshooting for your real-world career as well as passing the CCNA. With that in mind, let’s take a look at five common ISDN errors and how to avoid them.
With dialer map statements, remember that the phone number you put in the dialer map is the phone number of the remote router, not the local one. Look at it this way - if you want to call a friend on your cell, you don’t pick up your cell and dial your own number!
Speaking of dialer map statements, don’t forget the all-important broadcast option at the end of the command:
R1(config-if)#dialer map ip 172.12.21.1 name R2 broadcast 5555555
The router will accept that command without the “broadcast” option, but routing protocol updates and hellos would not be able to travel across the line. (This command is also needed in frame relay map statements to allow broadcasts and multicasts to be transmitted.)
PAP is PPP’s clear-text authentication scheme, and clear text is a really bad idea. But if you do have to configure it, don’t forget that PAP requires additional configuration -the ppp pap sent-username command.
R1(config-if)#ppp pap sent-username R1 password CISCO
Must set encapsulation to PPP before using PPP subcommands
R1(config-if)#
The error message we got while configuring the sent-username command is another important reminder - by default, a BRI line is running HDLC, not PPP. Since HDLC doesn’t allow us to use either PAP or CHAP, we’ll need to set the link to PPP with the encapsulation ppp command.
R1(config-if)#encapsulation ppp
R1(config-if)#ppp authentication pap
R1(config-if)#ppp pap sent-username R1 password CISCO
But before we configure any of this information, we should configure the ISDN switch-type. Why? Because without the switch-type configuration, it doesn’t matter that we avoid the other four errors - the line will not come up. Configure the switch-type with the “isdn switch-type” command, and then verify it with “show isdn status”.
R1(config)#isdn switch-type basic-ni
R1#show isdn status
Global ISDN Switchtype = basic-ni (output of this command cut here for clarity)
If you forget this part of the configuration, the output of show isdn status wastes no time in reminding you!
R1#show isdn status
**** No Global ISDN Switchtype currently defined ****
ISDN is an important part of your CCNA studies, and this knowledge still comes in handy in production networks as well. Keep studying, notice the details, run those debugs, and you’ll be a CCNA before you know it!
Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.
For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, visit the website and download your free copies. You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Get your CCNA study guide with The Bryant Advantage!
