Network maintenance (the boring kind)

Hello.  I'm Sean, the network administrator at Illinois Wesleyan University, and this is my unofficial blog.

This morning, between 3 and 6AM, I upgraded 3 aging switches around campus.  The "new" switches aren't much better, but at least they support SSH and password encryption!  The bigger deal is that the new switches bring the Cisco equipment up to a common platform.  Everything now runs on Cisco IOS 12.1.  This will make changes *much* simpler to implement, as we'll be able to make changes to all the Cisco equipment on campus at once, remotely, and securely.  This will also mean we have significant incentive to standardize our configurations as much as possible, so that we can make significant configuration changes to all the switches at once without worrying about special cases and configurations.  Ideally, this leads to better control of the switches.  More uniformity means issues are easier to troubleshoot and less likely to arise.  Hopefully this all leads to a better experience for the end user, with less downtime.

The "new" switch model.  This is our spare.  If any of IWU's 35 Cisco 2950 switches dies, this is the only box we have available to replace it.  I like to keep it under my desk, leaning against the file cabinet full of food.