One point of confusion for some CCNA and CCNP candidates is the difference between configuring a static default route and using the Cisco routing command ip default-network.

At first glance, they appear to do the same thing. Both configure a destination to which packets should be routed if there is no more specific route in the routing table.

The major difference between these two options is that configuring a static default route only defines a default route for the router you’re configuring it on, while ip default-network will propagate the route via its routing protocol.

Let’s examine the routing tables of a hub-and-spoke network using the ip default-network command. R1 is the hub and R2 and R3 are the spokes. They are directly connected via the network 172.12.123.0 /24, and each has a loopback with a 32-bit mask that are numbered according to the router number (1.1.1.1, etc.) RIP is running on all three routers and the loopbacks are advertised.

R1 has another serial interface with the IP address 10.1.1.1 /24, and this network has been flagged as a default network with the command ip default-network 10.0.0.0 . It is not being advertised by RIP.

The routing protocol will then advertise this route. With RIP, the default network is advertised as 0.0.0.0 . (With IGRP, it appears as the network number, but is marked as an IGRP External route. ) This route has been designated a candidate default route on R1, as we see with the asterisk next to the 10.0.0.0 /24 network (code table removed for brevity):

R1#show ip route

Gateway of last resort is not set

1.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

C 1.1.1.1 is directly connected, Loopback0

R 2.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.12.123.2, 00:00:11, Serial0

R 3.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.12.123.3, 00:00:11, Serial0

172.12.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks

C 172.12.21.0/30 is directly connected, BRI0

C 172.12.123.0/24 is directly connected, Serial0

* 10.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

C 10.1.1.0 is directly connected, Serial1

On R2 and R3, a default RIP route is now seen (code tables again deleted):

R2#show ip route

Gateway of last resort is 172.12.123.1 to network 0.0.0.0

R 1.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:00, Serial0.213

2.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

C 2.2.2.2 is directly connected, Loopback0

R 3.0.0.0/8 [120/2] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:00, Serial0.213

172.12.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks

C 172.12.21.0/30 is directly connected, BRI0

C 172.12.123.0/24 is directly connected, Serial0.213

R* 0.0.0.0/0 [120/1] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:00, Serial0.213

R3#show ip route

Gateway of last resort is 172.12.123.1 to network 0.0.0.0

R 1.0.0.0/8 [120/1] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:27, Serial0.31

R 2.0.0.0/8 [120/2] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:28, Serial0.31

3.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

C 3.3.3.3 is directly connected, Loopback0

172.12.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

C 172.12.123.0 is directly connected, Serial0.31

R* 0.0.0.0/0 [120/1] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:28, Serial0.31

And the default route works, since we can ping 10.1.1.1 from both R2 and R3. Since they have no other match in their routing tables, they use the default route.

R2#ping 10.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!

Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 68/68/68 ms

R3#ping 10.1.1.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.1.1.1, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!

Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 68/68/68 ms

When deciding whether to use a default static route or a default network, keep in mind that if you want the routing protocol to propagate the default route, the ip default-network command will do that for you. But if you want only the local router to have the default route, a static IP route is the way to go.

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” or “How To Pass The CCNP”, send a request to chris@thebryantadvantage.com today !

Let’s get to the important part first - if you’ve just lost your data, skip past this introduction and go directly to our first tip, so you can start your rescue operation. If not, a few minutes spent now might help you a lot in the future. Pay special attention to our third tip.

I always thought of myself as a reliable guy with reliable data. I never deleted my files accidentally, I made regular backups and had a power supply for my computer to protect me against surges and outages. However last year I experienced two cases of data loss where I needed to use recovery software. The first was a dead hard drive that’d hardly served a year. Subsequently, I accidentally deleted a large project file that was too big for the Recycle Bin. Happily I’ve got all my data back, thanks to good advice and a little preparation.

These handy tips will help you stay confident in the face of data loss, no matter how it occurs.

Tip #1: Use your system as little as possible until you recover all of your lost files. The more activity taking place on your hard disk, the greater the chance that some of your lost data might be written over.

- Don’t copy any files to the disk containing your lost data;
- Avoid browsing the web, because your web browser saves cache files on the disk;
- Don’t launch any unnecessary programs, because they can also use your disk;
- Don’t restart your computer.

Tip #2: Before you go further, take steps to free up some space on the disk containing your lost files. The more free space your system has, the less chance of overwriting any lost files with new ones. You can do one or more of the following things.

- Delete old files that you don’t need anymore (you can also move them to another source, like a USB flash drive, instead of deleting);
- Empty your Recycle Bin - making sure that you haven’t put any important files in there by mistake;
- Empty your browser cache. For Internet Explorer, click on the “Tools” menu, then select “Internet Options”. Then, on the “General” tab, click the “Delete Files…” button.

Tip #3: To install any software after data damage increases the risk of your data being overwritten, so if you haven’t had any data problems yet, consider installing a data recovery program just in case. Prevention is always better than cure, and a recovery program is good insurance for your data. However, if you don’t yet have a recovery program, find one and - if possible - avoid installing it to the disk where your lost files are located.

Most recovery programs work fairly similarly. You need to select the disk where the lost files are located, let the program analyze the content of the disk - this can take a while - and then select the file you want to recover. Then, provide a location where you want to save that file. You should try to avoid recovering files to the same disk. You could use another hard drive, a network or removable media like a floppy disk or USB flash drive.

After you recover your files, check that they are correct. If you’ve recovered applications, check that they still run, or if you’ve recovered documents, check that your words are still there. Even the best recovery software can’t guarantee 100% results. If some parts of your files were overwritten - meaning that other data was saved to their location on your disk - after recovery they might contain invalid information. Depending on the type of file involved, partially recovered files like this can be mended by special utilities.

http://www.softwaretalks.com/first-aid/

May you daily increase in wisdom, love, gratitude, reverence, healing, peace, joy, happiness, laughter and prosperity. If no one else seems to want these things for you, I do. Please accept them with an open mind and heart. All of your pain has a single source. That source is ignorance, or not knowing. If you knew, deep in your heart, as well as in your head, the great secret that few people ever know; you would never again feel the pain you have been feeling.

The secret is two fold. Who you are and why you are. You can hardly know who you think you are a creation of others, fastened upon you since birth. All your life, others have defined you by their words and actions. They have convinced you that you are somebody very different than who you are. You have every right to be confused. You sense you are someone else but you can’t find that person or see her or him clearly. You can solve this problem.

The tools you need to find yourself are mocked by those who also believe they are someone they are not. This riddle is passed from one generation to another through all history. Here is your key: Obtain your astrological natal chart from an astrologer. You will have to supply the astrologer with your date, time and place of birth. Ask someone who should know, or seek out hospital records. If you cannot find your time or place of birth, a fair natal or birth chart can still be constructed.

Next, seek out a numerologist or get a book or two on the subject. When you have examined your personal astrology and numerology, you will see the truth of my words. You will find the person you suspected was you, your strengths and weaknesses. You might also discover many reasons why you have been mistaken for somebody else. You will no longer feel like a lost soul.

You will also begin to see that all things in life are cyclical. That is, no situation remains indefinitely and change is the way of all life. You will see that certain experiences will repeat throughout your lifetime. As you change the way you see them, the effects will be very different and much less painful. You will see how patience is always rewarded and forcing is always punished. You will see new options for your life. You may be inspired to use these tools to better know people close to you, instead of defining them through your pain. This is your opportunity to be free of the pain that has denied you so much happiness. You can handle this. You will be lightening an unbearable load until there is no longer any load at all. It is a rapid process, quite the opposite of accumulating pain.

Now that you know who you are, you are ready to learn why you are. This is detective work. You have clues to follow up. You have experience. You have had moments of utter joy. What were the things that created this joy? Perhaps you cannot recall any joyful thing in your life. Look for the moments of relative happiness. What was the cause of it? Astrology and numerology will provide more clues, explaining what kind of things suit you and what kind of activities are likely to provide you with satisfaction.

You may think you came into this world with nothing. Others may have told you so. You did not come with nothing. You came with gifts to give or share with the rest of us, as we have gifts to share with you, if you would only look for and accept them. The joy you have been missing is the giving, receiving and sharing of these gifts. All givers are unique and one of a kind. Their gifts are likewise unique.

No two people receive gifts the same way either. To test this, give the exact same gift to a dozen different people and carefully observe its effect on them. This is the universal purpose for every person who ever lived. Giving and receiving. To only give or to only receive is to rob ourselves and others of joy and happiness. Who can receive when no one gives? Who can give when no one accepts?

Years of accumulated pain become an addiction. Pain we never wanted in the first place becomes an old friend. When things go well for us, we miss this old friend. We feel uncomfortable that something is missing. We can no longer respond to pleasure or enjoy it. We don’t quite understand that we are doing this by free choice. We focus on external influence and deny ourselves the very freedom of choice.

We fail to meet the expectations of others and don’t know what we should expect of ourselves, simply because we don’t know who or why we are. When we do know these things, the expectations of others lose all importance and we become very reasonable about what we expect of ourselves. All the pressure is then removed. With the pressure off, we see everything more clearly, as though a mental, emotional and spiritual fog has lifted from our lives.

Lift your eyes to heaven and give thanks for the pain you have known. This will be the standard against which to measure your pleasure, joy and happiness, once you have found who and why you are.

Some religions deny reincarnation. Some support it. No matter what we personally believe, the wisest assumption is that reincarnation is the case. That you can earn a better or worse life in this one. Numerology will tell you about the lesson you are now here to learn. If you short circuit this learning process, you will be forced to repeat it as you might a grade in school. When you take matters into your own hands in the hope of escaping your pain, instead of learning from it, your circumstances in the next life may be far worse than this one, with twice the pain and twice the struggle. Who would want that?

We are made to think that the beliefs of others belong to us. We defend these beliefs as though they were our very own and hard won. In most cases they were planted in our subconscious by mere suggestion, as a hypnotist might do. Accept them or reject them. It is foolish to fight for or against them. We struggle when we need to simply relax.

We can believe whatever we choose, no matter what others say, which is often NOT what they really believe. Because we can choose whatever we want to believe, we can believe things that cause us pain. We can just as easily believe things that give us pleasure. The natural person seeks pleasure. The confused person chooses pain. If we can only care enough about the world around us and how we fit, we can end all confusion and totally transform a life that only seems to have so little value. Think of yourself as the caterpillar who cannot know a great transformation is in the works.

A small book that can be read in a few hours, teaches anyone how to tap into and direct the power that transforms caterpillars into butterflies, at will. It is titled the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. It was written by Deepak Chopra. Once you have learned who and why you are, this book will show you how to be and do what you choose and what you must. It will show you how to find true happiness. The world would be a far better place if everyone read this book in school. The more we read it and follow its advice, the more peace and happiness we find within us. Drop me a line when you emerge from your cocoon.

About the Author

Freelance writer published in newspapers and websites.
edhowes@hotmail.com
justanotherview.com

When suffering from clinical depression, people have different ways of confronting it. Some acknowledge it, face it just like any problem, and seek help. Some ignore it as if it doesn’t exist. And others simply accept that it’s there but they don’t do anything about it. In fact, they don’t even ask for help.

Those who ignore and don’t do anything run the risk of developing the serious complications of depression. Like any medical disorder, untreated clinical depression has its hazards.

What are some of the complications of clinical depression? How serious are they?

Suicidality

Without treatment, some depressed individuals feel hopeless, helpless, and worthless. Subsequently, thoughts about death occur. They sometimes feel that they are better off dead than alive. As the illness worsens, suicidal thoughts and behavior gradually ensue.

Homicidal Behavior

Although rare, homicidal behavior can happen to someone with significant level of depression. In fact, a few high profile cases in the media had point to some cases of clinical depression and homicide. Severe depression can result in impaired judgment, making these depressed individuals vulnerable to cause harm.

Psychosis

Clinical depression likewise causes disturbances in perception and thinking. Some individuals with severe depression experience auditory hallucinations (”hearing voices”) and delusions (false fixed beliefs). Hallucinations can manifest as inappropriate commands telling the person to do certain things such as to harm oneself or others. Delusions can range from suspiciousness to bizarre beliefs such as the thought that the person is the “Anointed One.”

Functional Impairment

It’s very common for depressed individuals to develop lack of energy and loss of interest to do their usual activities. These individuals can hardly do their usual chores, prefer to isolate themselves from everyone, and stay in bed the whole day. Work absences, financial problems, and job losses may be the inevitable end result.

Relationship Problems

Due to ongoing behavioral and thought disturbances, some family members don’t understand what is going on. Fights, ridicule, name-calling, and arguments between spouses or among family members can happen. As the relationship becomes more strained, the individual becomes more distant from friends and relatives. It is not uncommon to see unsupportive spouses, parents, and children during these difficult times.

In summary, clinical depression has fatal consequences. Ignoring it is too risky. Doing nothing about it is a grave mistake. Early recognition and treatment is the only way to prevent its unwanted complications.

About the Author

Copyright © 2005. Dr. Michael G. Rayel - author (First Aid to Mental Illness-Finalist, Reader’s Preference Choice Award 2002) psychiatrist, and inventor of Oikos Game: An Emotional Intelligence or EQ Game. For more information, visit www.oikosgame.com and www.soardime.com

OSPF is a major topic on both the CCNA and CCNP exams, and it’s also the topic that requires the most attention to detail. Where dynamic routing protocols such as RIP and IGRP have only one router type, a look at a Cisco routing table shows several different OSPF route types.
R1#show ip route
Codes: C - connected, S - static, I - IGRP, R - RIP, M - mobile, B - BGP
D - EIGRP, EX - EIGRP external, O - OSPF, IA - OSPF inter area
N1 - OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 - OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 - OSPF external type 1, E2 - OSPF external type 2, E - EGP
In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at the difference between two of these route types, E1 and E2.
Route redistribution is the process of taking routes learned via one routing protocol and injecting those routes into another routing domain. (Static and connected routes can also be redistributed.) When a router running OSPF takes routes learned by another routing protocol and makes them available to the other OSPF-enabled routers it’s communicating with, that router becomes an Autonomous System Border Router (ASBR).
Let’s work with an example where R1 is running both OSPF and RIP. R4 is in the same OSPF domain as R1, and we want R4 to learn the routes that R1 is learning via RIP. This means we have to perform route redistribution on the ASBR. The routes that are being redistributed from RIP into OSPF will appear as E2 routes on R4:
R4#show ip route ospf

O E2 5.1.1.1 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

6.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E2 6.1.1.1 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

172.12.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks

O E2 172.12.21.0/30 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32,
Ethernet0

O E2 7.1.1.1 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

15.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E2 15.1.1.0 [110/20] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32, Ethernet0

E2 is the default route type for routes learned via redistribution. The key with E2 routes is that the cost of these routes reflects only the cost of the path from the ASBR to the final destination; the cost of the path from R4 to R1 is not reflected in this cost. (Remember that OSPF’s metric for a path is referred to as “cost”.)
In this example, we want the cost of the routes to reflect the entire path, not just the path between the ASBR and the destination network. To do so, the routes must be redistributed into OSPF as E1 routes on the ASBR, as shown here.
R1#conf t

Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#redistribute rip subnets metric-type 1

Now on R4, the routes appear as E1 routes and have a larger metric, since the entire path cost is now reflected in the routing table.
O E1 5.1.1.1 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

6.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E1 6.1.1.1 [110/100] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

172.12.0.0/16 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks

O E1 172.12.21.0/30 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32, Ethernet0

O E1 7.1.1.1 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:21, Ethernet0

15.0.0.0/24 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O E1 15.1.1.0 [110/94] via 172.34.34.3, 00:33:32, Ethernet0

Knowing the difference between E1 and E2 routes is vital for CCNP exam success, as well as fully understanding a production router’s routing table. Good luck in your studies!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!