Moving or copying files between servers may sometimes be unreasonably slow or even come to halt. Unfortunately, any server slowness can affect a lot of people. One common culprit is that something may be going wrong with a feature in network interface cards (NIC) called TCP offload engine (TOE). TOE is supposed to help performance…
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When dealing with a computer that slows down a lot, you may sometimes notice a process called Werfault.exe hogging a lot of the CPU. Werfault.exe is used for the Windows Error Reporting feature, which comes up whenever an application crashes. This is the feature that tells users that Windows is searching for a solution to…
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Sometimes, you may want to read the contents of a short file in the command line without having to go into and out of a text editor. This saves keystrokes and also avoids any visual interruption to your shell environment. One easy way to do this in Linux is with sed. While sed is often…
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Often, SQL Server stored procedures use the “SET NOCOUNT ON” command to improve performance. This command prevents DONE_IN_PROC messages from being sent to the client. In certain situations involving multiple iterations in loops, disabling such messages may noticeably boost performance and reduce network traffic. Hence, most discussions about SET NOCOUNT ON focus on the performance…
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One of the drivers of cost in networking equipment is the combination of proprietary software and hardware. Not only is equipment based on proprietary designs more expensive, but specialized expertise is needed to work with the proprietary operating systems. Open-source networking equipment may help you save on licensing costs, as well as open up the…
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Many ISPs charge hefty fees if monthly bandwidth usage goes above a certain threshold. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for users to know how much bandwidth they’re using, and sometimes applications (rogue or otherwise) may download or upload huge amounts of data, unbeknownst to the user. To help users better manage their bandwidth, Windows 8…
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When you query data in Microsoft SQL Server with the Query Analyzer, you may find that the results are truncated, due to an 8192-character-per-row limit. This is particularly a problem if you’re querying system tables for the text of stored procedures that meet certain criteria or performing similar tasks. There are a number of ways…
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Sometimes, when trying to access a remote server using Citrix (e.g., with the XenApp plugin / Citrix ICA Client), the application fails to launch, and it appears as if nothing happens. This most commonly occurs if you recently created and then closed a remote session. The core problem is that the process stays active after…
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When backing up a Cisco switch’s configuration, it’s important that you get a copy of everything you need. To back up a switch’s configuration to a TFTP server, just run the “copy run tftp:” command. However, if you’re using VTP and want a copy the VLAN.dat file for the VTP server, you need to use…
DetailsCreating access lists for individual IPs is fairly straightforward, but it can be tedious to manage later on if you need to make changes. For example, simply opening a port may require changing lots of different access lists. To organize resources for access lists, you can use objects, which can be grouped together into object…
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In some cases, you may need to throttle outside access to a server. One possible reason would be to preserve bandwidth for other applications to that server. You can use QoS (Quality of Service) policies to do this, but there are a few different steps required. Generally, you have to create an access list for…
DetailsIf need to manage HP networking equipment but are more familiar with Cisco, there are a number of resources to help you get up to speed. One very useful one is the HP Networking and Cisco CLI Reference Guide, which you can find at several locations, including this one: http://h17007.www1.hp.com/docs/interoperability/Cisco/HP-Networking-and-Cisco-CLI-Reference-Guide_June_10_WW_Eng_ltr.pdf Right near the beginning of…
DetailsThe growing use and complexity of virtualization brings new challenges, such as how to manage virtual resources and networks along with the physical network. One tool to help centralize administration of both virtual and physical components is Cisco‘s ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure), which includes an integrated management tool call APIC. Some of ACI’s features include…
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If the Message Waiting Indicator (MWI) doesn’t turn off on one or more phones, the most common reason is that MWI has just temporarily lost its synchronization. This is a fairly common problem that’s easy to fix either by resynchronizing MWI for all phones or calling the MWI number for the particular phone that’s having…
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Configurations of Cisco devices can be complex and change according to network needs, so it’s important to make regular backups. To schedule automated backups, you can use Cisco Prime Infrastructure (www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps12239/index.html). This solution can back up applications as well as appliances throughout your network. Supported products can be found from this page: www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/prime-infrastructure/products-device-support-tables-list.html. A third-party…
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