A Not-so-friendly Reminder

I learned a lot today.

1. The word "boot" has multiple meanings. I wanted to put on my boot to boot my computer every time it re-"boot"ed.
2. Always be nice to the IT department. They will save your butt many times.
3. Plan ahead. Working under a deadline puts on a lot of pressure.
4. Some things are beyond your control. (But they are almost always solve-able, given enough time and a reliable internet connection - and an OS that works in Turcotte Hall.)
5. If something isn't working, there is probably a hidden (on purpose or by serendipity) setting such as a port number.
6. CoolTermWin is a freeware program that enables communication with a switch through a serial port. It needs a serial-USB adapter for use with most newer laptops.
7. Once communication is established, the setup is not difficult.
8. The default serial connection settings for the Alcatel switch appear to be fairly standard. They appeared by default in CoolTerm. They are: baud rate 9600, parity none, data bits (word size) 8, stop bits 1.
9. There is a lot of information available for one switch - 6 manuals worth! (11 if you count the ones for the 6800.)
10. There is a lot more information available on line - you can find all kinds of help if you have the time to look for it.
11. Hopefully there is a lot of general transfer of knowledge from Alcatel to Enterasys, HP, etc. Our division has a wide variety of switches purchased over a period of time. And once again, each division is different.
    
12. The OmniSwitch 6624/6648/6800/7700/7800/8800 Troubleshooting Guide is 614 pages long. I downloaded it.
    
13. My Facebook status today read "Gail Malchow Tschritter is very frustrated, but glad to be back with a great group of people." Problems can be solved with teamwork. One of the most important things to keep in mind as a leader (of any sort) is that you and your team need each other, and that you can't do everything alone.
14. Another example of teamwork - Rocky just reminded me that you must always save. The command is "write memory" and you need to copy that to the other OS using "copy working certified."
15. To check the ip address, use "show ip interface."