Unfortunately I am here for a regular trash session. I believe the best thing I ever do on my blog is speak of an enlightment with regards to technology that people cannot see happening since they are happy with their current status , their lives and everything else that makes them irrevocably human (see architect - matrix).
My trash sessions can be also tagged as “feedback”. Feedback is important for manufacturers and software developers. Their might be something one can see but another can’t. This involves a problem I had at work and made me give up (yeah right!).
If you are a :
- Networking device manufacturer
- Software developer
- Web Developer
- Network architect
…then I highly suggest you pay good attention. What you really need is to make stuff that doesnt break , really stable no matter what the conditions might be and most of all easy to fix if you mess it up. There are such devices and software and it will be available to you May 31st 2908 
My problem really started with a VPN I was messing about with a couple of weeks back. As I was debugging my crypto I came across a spelling mistake! “recieved” instead of “received”. Interesting is it not ? Whats even more odd is that the IOS I was running was recent (fresh out of cisco.com).
Thats only a small thing. Im sure youve tried a couple of things with CoS on a L3 switch and fall flat on your face right? Even though you follow every word in the docs by the every letter? Well , thats what they have software upgrades and patches and updates and so much crap with it.
Microsoft for example makes Windows. Windows is a rediculous operating system with a rediculus CEO and a rediculus culture. They deal in rediculus code (see win2k leak) and rediculus concepts. Instead of building an operating system where things just “happen” and you enjoy (see OSX) you get shiny start buttons and fluffy window borders. Really nice for innovation and evolution! And their updates consist of removing the search bar in the start menu due to an antitrust issue with Google! (see Windows Vista SP1). As if you would ever use the Windows search bar thingy. As if you would use Windows what-so-ever?
I think this is concluding somewhere so Ill let the flow of keystrokes be very natural. My real point is that feedback is indeed something to be charished , but Im not going to exchange emails of a problem I have with a 6500 Catalyst with Cisco’s TAC for the benefit of better mankind! What I want is for the guys behind it to be as thorough as can be (see incentive) in order to avoid making silly mistakes like bogging up the machine when you have some funky VRF configuration. Then what you really want is a surface passed refined IOS in the update , somethign that would feel better , not just something that went into an E.R.
Dont get me wrong. Cisco makes really nice hardware and I love it probably more than I do other devices out there (DO NOT SEE: Objectophilia). I just feel that they could waste 3 days of their lives to figure out a problem and 3 days more to fix it than having me exchange TAC emails or talk over the phone with them for 3 days just to make them realize their problem. NOT MY JOB . NOT MY RESPONSIBILITY. SCREW BEING KIND. WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR CTO WHEN THEY ASK WHY THE 100K SUPER DUPER SWITCH DOESNT MAKE PANCAKES WITH BLUE CHEEZE? Get my point? Its all a matter of money. Plus think about how you lose money over ddebugging something you will never solve without the intervention of the manufacturer. Doesnt that make you feel like a chump? But you dont know until the manufacturer actually tells you that its a software issue (see steve jobbs , connecting the dots backwards).
I don’t point the finger at Cisco or Linksys , or ATi , or Juniper. But the truth is while being dispersed , networking will still have arcitecture weakpoints where it is up to the engineer to work around (thats what they are there for).
I was hoping most of you that read this and design networks (WAN/LAN/MAN) could share a few words , maybe some bad experiences? I know my one is on it’s second days and I’m hoping Ill have it wrapped up by 9:00AM tomorrow morning.
P.S Its my day off tomorrow. Or was. Not sure Networking always comes first!
Mario
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I’m just happy that a bug which took around 3-4 months worth of email exchanges to be confirmed and understood by Cisco TAC was fixed 6 months later. Nothing to complain about.
No complaint with Cisco. But I have a feeling that juniper are the real kings of networks.
OVER AND OUT.
They have their ups and of course their downs. Honestly though if its not a Cisco , then its not going on my rack. Call it silly , call it what you want , but I wouldn’t put a Motorola switch for example on my rack.