Wednesday 19 October 2022

Cisco Nexus: Connect cloud-scale performance and sustainability

Announcing the first Cisco 800G Nexus Switch


It’s the week of the Open Compute Project Global Summit a conference that attracts the biggest names representing cloud providers, colo-facilities, enterprises, telco service providers, media, and government entities, a group who build and operate high performance infrastructure. Our customers are here in force and we launched our blueprint for helping cloud service providers (both hyper scalers and webscale customers) deliver richer cloud applications and services, while balancing their needs for higher performance, cost effective, yet more efficient, hence more sustainable networking infrastructure.

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For our Cloud Networking customers, 2022 turns out to be a block buster year. It was only in June that I wrote about exciting new 400G Nexus platforms. All of these are now shipping. This week I am proud to announce the addition of the first 800G Nexus product to the rich Nexus portfolio. The Nexus 9232E is a 1RU Nexus switch with 32ports of 800G.

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So, what use case needs an 800G switch? I don’t think there is a dispute that the pace and scale of data center networking buildouts is accelerating. Two fun facts:

1. In 2011, the first year of the OCP event, the total volume of data created and stored in the world was just under two zettabytes. In 2022, that’s expected to grow to nearly 100 zettabytes.

2. Similarly, the number of users (by MAU or monthly active users) for Meta services, who was one of the founding members of OCP, grew from 845 million in 2011 to nearly 3 billion  today.

What is becoming clearer are the many use cases for AI/ML for both network operations team as well as application teams. AI/ML capabilities are crucial for digital twin type predictability of network change results as well as for modeling highly customized application outcomes in the real and meta world. Indeed, by 2025, 44 percent of global data created in the core and edge will be driven by analytics, artificial intelligence, and deep learning, and by an increasing number of IoT devices feeding data to the enterprise edge.

It is no wonder that our customers are actively looking for innovative solutions addressing their key questions:

◉ How do I handle traffic/ data growth while dealing with an increasingly challenging power/ power cost environment?

◉ Can I continue to scale this infrastructure but do so in a sensible, sustainable way?

◉ Can network bandwidth be utilized more efficiently while still supporting current cloud network deployments?

Cisco’s cloud networking difference


We are hard at work in solving these customer challenges. 800G technology is one of many steps on a journey.  Our customers want positive outcomes in the areas of experiences, economics, and environment with respect to their hybrid cloud network infrastructure. So, our new Nexus 800G product will deliver the same benefits that Nexus cloud networking customers already enjoy including:

◉ High Performance: Massive throughput with Silicon One 25.6T G100 ASIC and smart system design that will power the next generation of network innovations and breakthroughs.

◉ Flexibility and Agility: Choices in network operating systems, speed, form factors, optics to meet virtually any use case.

◉ Programmability: Enabled through open APIs and protocol support in our cloud network optimized OS.

◉ Density and Scale: For both fixed and modular systems offering scalability from 100G to 400G to now 800G.

◉ Energy Efficiency: Significantly improved power per bit leveraging 112G Serdes technology.

◉ Simplicity: Manageability, optics backward compatibility enabling less equipment needed to scale higher.

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Source: cisco.com

Tuesday 18 October 2022

Vacations and IT Operations: Calm the Chaos

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As I prepare to head out on summer vacation, I can’t help but realize that planning a vacation is a lot like managing IT operations. Both require coordinating a handful of individual tasks (from booking flights and reserving a hotel to deploying servers and resolving issues and more). Luckily, just as online travel services have made vacation planning easier, SaaS tools also make IT operations easier. In a series of blogs, I’ll explore this comparison to drive home the point that any IT shop still using multiple tools—or worse, trying to manually coordinate multiple tasks—can make their life much easier by using an integrated SaaS platform like Cisco Intersight for hybrid cloud operations.

From Manual Travel Management to Online Vacation Planning


The first recorded instance of a travel management service may be in 1840 when Thomas Cook organized rail transportation and lunch for 540 people. Five years later he was managing travel services for 165,000 people. All with a pen and ledger. Back then it was the model for success.

Let’s fast forward to the age of the internet. The internet not only wiped-out pens and ledgers through digital vacation planning, but it also made way for a more connected world that puts the power of integrated vacation planning at our fingertips.

Online Isn’t Good Enough


Imagine you’re planning a summer vacation for your family. Your first challenge is finding the best flights to your destination. There are 18 major airlines operating in the US plus more than 40 smaller ones. You’ll have to search each airline site for tickets. Doing this 18+ times to compare and find the best flights gets overwhelming quickly. I’ll just leave it there because when you multiply the effort to search for lodging, restaurants, and activities, it becomes clear that the internet alone isn’t the key to efficient vacation planning.

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A flock of birds take synchronized flight off the beach in Destin, FL.

Integration is Key


But you’re smart. You know that all you have to do is log on to your favorite travel site, like Tripadvisor, Kayak, or a handful of others. Integrated travel sites aren’t just about booking your vacation. You can get alerts, track deals, make changes, and get support…all from your fingertips anywhere in the world. That’s the power of an integrated SaaS platform.

The Power of Integrated SaaS for IT Ops


Now let’s bring IT operations back in. Running IT operations requires juggling multiple tasks to plan, manage, and optimize outstanding experiences while managing risk and dependencies. This means deploying servers and apps, monitoring system health, identifying and resolving issues, managing critical dependencies, configuring profiles, and driving collaboration, to name just a few tasks. Then multiply these tasks across your on-prem, hybrid, and public cloud infrastructure.  It’s an incredibly complex and overwhelming responsibility with virtually no margin for error (somewhat like pleasing each family member who has a different view of the perfect vacation).

Simplify Hybrid Cloud Management with Cisco Intersight


What if there was an integrated IT operations platform that lets IT teams manage your hybrid cloud infrastructure in a few clicks from one place? There is! Cisco Intersight.

Like an integrated online travel service, Cisco Intersight:

◉ Integrates multiple tasks in one place:

    ◉ Deploy and troubleshoot your on-prem, public cloud, and edge environments, including physical servers, hypervisors, and VMs
    ◉ Evaluate workload and app performance and optimize in real time
    ◉ Build, deploy, and manage cloud-native Kubernetes clusters, and
    ◉ Provision on-prem resources for Infrastructure-as-Code deployments

◉ Provides value-added services:

    ◉ Customizing the dashboard to view your global inventory, fault monitoring, and firmware status
    ◉ Automating tasks for device configuration, OS installation, HCI cluster upgrades, K8 and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) deployments, and other routine tasks
    ◉ Creating and executing workflows across multiple infrastructure domains and cloud platforms
    ◉ Integrating with 3rd-party operations tools such as ServiceNow
    ◉ Automating workload placement, scaling, and capacity so workloads get the resources they need when they need them and you optimize spend
    ◉ Modeling capacity planning and migration scenarios to reduce risk and ensure predictable performance and cost
    ◉ Managing your entire infrastructure on the go from the Intersight mobile app

◉ Provides role-based experiences:

    ◉ Gives IT Ops a powerful tool to control every aspect of your environment and move faster with powerful automation capabilities
    ◉ Allows developers the agility and freedom they need to deploy applications even faster their own way – using the tools of their choice

Take Control


To wrap up, just like an online travel planning service lets you easily tame the many aspects of planning a vacation, Cisco Intersight helps you take control of your IT operations across your entire hybrid cloud environment. Intersight gives you one place to manage your on-premises, public cloud, and edge locations and all types of workloads (bare metal, VMs, K8s, and serverless). Its services make common IT operations tasks easier, give your DevOps teams the agility they need, and help you stay ahead of issues to optimize performance and costs.

Source: cisco.com

Monday 17 October 2022

300-215 CBRFIR Preparation: Tips to Clear 300-215 Exam with Question Bank

Cisco CBRFIR Exam Description:

Conducting Forensic Analysis and Incident Response Using Cisco Technologies for CyberOps v1.0 (CBRFIR 300-215) is a 60-minute exam that is associated with the Cisco CyberOps Professional Certification. This exam tests a candidate's knowledge of forensic analysis and incident response fundamentals, techniques, and processes. The course Conducting Forensic Analysis and Incident Response Using Cisco CyberOps Technologies helps candidates to prepare for this exam.

Cisco 300-215 Exam Overview:

Cisco 300-215 Exam Topics:

  • Fundamental- 20%
  • Forensics Techniques- 20%
  • Incident Response Techniques- 30%
  • Forensics Processes- 15%
  • Incident Response Processes- 15%
Related Reads:-

Cisco NDFC One View – Centralized Management of the Global SAN Infrastructure

Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) is a scalable application for managing Fibre Channel SAN. However, in some cases a single NDFC server may not be efficient. For example, it may be a better solution for large global environments to utilize a dedicated NDFC server for each region or department. But how do you get a centralized view of the global SAN infrastructure when using multiple instances of NDFC managing separate regions or departments?

The answer is NDFC One View. It delivers the centralized management and visualization of multiple SAN environments that are managed by different NDFC servers.

What does NDFC One View offer?


NDFC One View provides insights into what is happening within the Fibre Channel SANs at multiple locations in a single pane of glass. It offers the following:

◉ Executive Dashboard: Important and relevant information.

◉ Faster Troubleshooting: Centralized view of the fabric and switch health.

◉ Increased Collaboration: Define the access using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

◉ High Availability: Each participating NDFC server can run on a 3-node active-active Nexus Dashboard cluster.

◉ Simplicity: Single Sign-On (SSO) allows seamless click-thru navigation to any of the servers that participate within NDFC One View.

◉ One View in Context: One View is always just a click away via a breadcrumb regardless of the participating NDFC server.

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Figure 1: Nexus Dashboard SAN Controller One View

You can view a summary of all the SAN switches across the globe on the NDFC One View Dashboard.  However, for making a change on any of the switches, such as creating a zone, you must do that from the NDFC server that manages that switch. NDFC One View simplifies this inter-cluster navigation with a single log in, so you do not have to remember which switches are managed by which Nexus Dashboard (ND) clusters.

How does NDFC One View work?


NDFC One View is an intuitive presentation layer. Only when accessed, it uses the RESTful APIs over HTTPS transport for retrieving the data from the participating NDFC servers. NDFC One View doesn’t store any additional data, or increase the storage requirement of the ND clusters.

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No Extra Licensing Requirements for NDFC One View


Unlike other competing solutions, there is no extra license for NDFC One View. If you already have DCNM advanced license for managing Fibre Channel switches, you can start using NDFC One View today with no added cost.

How is NDFC One View different from Cisco Nexus Dashboard One View?


Cisco Nexus Dashboard (ND) One View and NDFC One View are different features. ND One View provides centralized management of Nexus Dashboard itself, which is a hosting platform in which applications such as NDFC can run. In contrast, NDFC One View provides centralized management of the global SAN Infrastructure that is managed by different NDFC servers.

How is NDFC One View different from DCNM Federation?


DCNM SAN, the predecessor of NDFC, provides high availability using a Federation. The participating DCNM servers in a federation must use an externally shared Oracle RAC database, which increases the total cost of ownership. In contrast, Nexus Dashboard integrates all the required services, including the distributed database services, which provide native active-active clustering. This design makes NDFC One View even more affordable.

How-to setup NDFC One View?


It’s easy. First, configure remote authentication for the Nexus Dashboard clusters. Then, add the address and the credentials under Infrastructure > Cluster Configuration > Multi Cluster Connectivity.

Source: cisco.com

Saturday 15 October 2022

Got Windows… But Jonesing For Linux?

I suspect most people are aware of the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). And how you can use it to install a distribution like Ubuntu on Windows. That will get you all the command-line features of Linux, which are many. Most people I know use vi as their console-based editor. I prefer Joe’s Own Editor (joe), which I have customized to use my favorite keystroke commands. And then there’s Midnight Commander (mc), which is a favorite for file and directory navigation.

But what about the powerful GUI applications? This blog entry shows you how to get them working on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

I’ve been a Linux guy for decades now. But when I began my career at Cisco with Developer Support, I chose Windows 10 as my operating system. At that time, David Staudt had Linux covered and David Nguyen had a Mac, so I filled in the gap. I like Windows 10. I like Windows 11 even more. It puts the virtual desktop chooser at the bottom of the screen, like Windows 10 originally did it.

But I’m still a Linux guy at heart


So, when it comes time to get a laptop refresh, I will be getting a Mac. No, it’s not Linux, but OS X has a lot of BSD (Berkely Software Distribution) in it (and/or FreeBSD, depending on who you ask), so it is a familiar platform for Linux users like me.

Why does the Mac build on FreeBSD and not Linux? My friend Brett Glass made very strong arguments for FreeBSD over Linux back in the day. He pointed out that you can build proprietary code on top of FreeBSD and make money doing it. Steve Jobs, when forced out of Apple, started up NeXT, a computer that ran on a BSD-based OS. So, the foundation for making money on BSD was already laid. Apple simply continued the evolution.

That’s hard to do with Linux. The GNU Public License (GPL) constrains Linux proprietary use, because (for the most part) you must share your Linux code free of charge. The way to make money is to charge for support. Of course, that’s an over-simplified comparison of BSD vs Linux, but that’s the gist.

While I can clearly see the advantages of an open-source operating system like Linux, I’m beyond caring about the philosophical differences, these days. I just prefer a UNIX-like operating system for my personal use over Windows. So, the Mac is a great choice for me.

In the meantime, while I wait for a laptop refresh, there’s a way to run Linux on Windows, and that’s what this blog entry is about.

Here’s how to start:


First, you must make sure your computer BIOS settings allow your CPU to support virtualization. If you can’t do that, then I can’t predict how the rest of these instructions will work out.
Then you need to install some optional Windows features, if they aren’t already installed. There are different ways to get to the Windows optional feature installation dialog, so I’ll just jump right to it and assume you know how.

Install Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Hypervisor Platform shown in these two sample screen shots:



Some may say, like chicken soup, one or more of these wouldn’t help, but it wouldn’t hurt. Click OK and do whatever Windows tells you to do if anything.

Now, make sure you have the latest graphics drivers installed. I have a Radeon 5700 XT on my personal computer running Windows 11. My company laptop has an Nvidia Quadro display adapter.

Open the Microsoft Store and “get” a copy of Ubuntu. I recommend Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS, unless a later version is available by the time you read this. Run it, and the installation will ask you for your language, a username and password, and not much else.

Open a Windows PowerShell console with administrator privileges. Perform these operations:

C:>wsl –list
C:> wsl --set-version Ubuntu-22.04 2
C:> wsl --set-default-version 2

It is possible those are already the default settings (and that last command is probably redundant), but it’s worth making sure.

Now launch Ubuntu from the Windows menu, and enter these commands:

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt dist-upgrade

You can use “upgrade” instead of “dist-upgrade”, but “dist-upgrade” is more comprehensive. It removes unnecessary files and adds newly needed files. The “upgrade” option only upgrades what you already have on your system.

Let’s install some sample apps. If you’re like me and prefer the KDE Plasma desktop on Linux, install the KDE editor, kate.

$ sudo apt install kate

If you’re a fan of GNOME, install gedit instead.

$ sudo apt install gedit

And just for fun, install some basic X11 GUI apps.

$ sudo apt install x11-apps

You can install whatever other Linux GUI apps you like, but the above will get you started. The one thing you cannot do is install a graphical desktop, like Xfce, KDE Plasma, GNOME, Cinnamon, or any of the many other desktops. But you can run almost any graphical application.

You need to set an environment variable for the X11 display. So back in the Ubuntu terminal type:

$ export DISPLAY=:0.0

That’s only good for this one Ubuntu terminal session, so edit your .bashrc file and add this line somewhere at the top of the file:

DISPLAY=:0.0

STOP, do not turn the page until told to do so


If you are running Windows 11 or some super-secret double probation version of Windows 10, you can stop installing, open an Ubuntu terminal window and happily run your Linux GUI applications. For example, start kate or gedit (the ampersand launches the app and returns you to the prompt):

$ kate &

$ gedit &

If, on the other hand, you’re on Windows 10, there’s more for you to do. There are several different ways you can get Linux GUI apps working on Windows 10, but here’s what I have found to be the easiest. Download and install MobaXTerm. You can install the free home version or the paid version if it is for business purposes.

Once you have it installed, launch MobaXTerm. You should see something like this:


You see that X server icon in the upper right? If it’s in color, you’re gold. If it’s black and white, click it to start the X server.

You can see that MobaXTerm is aware that you have Ubuntu-22.04 installed. Double-Click on that to bring up a terminal for Ubuntu-22.04. DO NOT use the “Start local terminal” button. That way lies madness.

You should see something like this:


Now go ahead and start kate or gedit, or whichever app you like. I started xeyes and kate. Yes, kate complains about missing theme items, but I can install those later.


Voila, I now have access to graphical Linux apps:



And there you have it. All the pleasure of using Linux graphical applications on a Windows computer.

Source: cisco.com

Friday 14 October 2022

Leveraging the Cloud to Scale your Industrial DMZ

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The iDMZ (industrial demilitarized zone) is a critical layer in a comprehensive end-to-end security strategy for an industrial operations environment. The primary function of the iDMZ is the enforcement of a secure boundary between the internal trusted operations environment and external entities that may need to exchange data with services that support the operation.

One of the challenges with an exclusively on-site iDMZ is the limited ability around expansion to meet future demand and capabilities. With the growth of Industrial IoT (IIoT), it will be necessary for hardware and resource growth to meet the demands of increasing data. This translates to a consistently increasing hardware footprint and utilities to provide cooling and power, which can be in limited supply on premises. In addition, operators must explore new ways to obtain deeper insights and introduce enhancements to the operation, which may require tighter alignment with partners and/or the ability to securely consume XaaS offers.

Operators also have a safety-first culture, keeping people out of the “line of fire.” Vendors and partners may need to maintain on-site hardware, applications and services, potentially exposing people to risk through their presence on-site. For heavy industry environments, accessibility to site and the equipment residing on it is not necessarily an easily accomplished task. Many industrial sites require site safety training and approved work permits as a prerequisite for physical access.

Finally, a lack of iDMZ consistency when comparing multiple sites, from a hardware and feature composition, creates challenges for operations staff. In some instances, product and feature selection is made locally. This impacts the ability to deliver consistent policies and end user experiences. It also complicates support across the operation for staff responsible for troubleshooting and minimizing time to resolution and maintaining different SOPs and training documents.

Operators exploring options to gain operational efficiencies through modern service offerings may benefit from exploring how to extend their iDMZ beyond the “four walls” of the operation.

One deployment alternative for iDMZ is extending the architecture to leverage a hybrid-cloud model. A hybrid cloud iDMZ model can be deployed as a centralized model or repeated regionally, based on geographic presence and/or regulatory or compliance requirements. While migrating the entirety of the iDMZ and its capabilities to the cloud may not be an option, a hybrid cloud iDMZ architecture does offer operational benefits and mitigates previously raised challenges.

First, the hybrid cloud iDMZ can secure the operation, and mitigate risk and exposure. Similar to an on-prem iDMZ, multiple tools and applications should be leveraged to take a holistic approach for enforcing security. This can include:

◉ Services that support a secure and encrypted pipe between an operations site and a regional iDMZ
◉ Segmentation and possible options for multi-tenancy
◉ Visibility to monitor applications and flows traversing the industrial zone

The solution should also include tools for consistently configuring, deploying, enforcing policies, and managing assets.

In addition to providing a holistic security strategy, a hybrid cloud iDMZ offers the benefit of shared resources and assets, as opposed to entirely duplicating unique stand-alone iDMZ deployments per site. The regional based approach offers a more repeatable and consistent architecture, delivering consistent policies, as well as easing the operational overhead and complexity mentioned previously.

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A hybrid cloud solution offers more flexibility to expand, and contract based on evolving requirements and demand. By leveraging public cloud services as part of the iDMZ architecture, operators have the ability to increase capabilities without physically maintaining hardware and space to house equipment. This approach affords the unique opportunity to foster tighter engagements with partners and ecosystem vendors, while leveraging cloud services to drive innovation, deeper operational insights and efficiencies. Adding tools like Thousand Eyes and App Dynamics, operators can verify adherence to application SLAs/SLOs, in accordance with operational requirements.

Finally, a hybrid cloud iDMZ aligns with the concept of the ROC (Regional Operations Center), which is top of mind for some industrial organizations, especially those with a global footprint. A ROC model seeks to leverage more automation and remote operations, thus reducing on-site headcount to mission essential resources, improving on-site safety and driving more operational efficiencies. With a regional based iDMZ deployment, the process of aggregating and presenting the status and data for operations within the region can become more streamlined and a regionally distributed model can facilitate compliance with local industry regulations, if applicable.

For more details on how to build a hybrid cloud iDMZ architecture and its benefits for securing industrial operations, we have just published a short white paper that you should read on the Hybrid Cloud Industrial DMZ. We’ll also be discussing this in a free webinar on September 20, 2022.

Source: cisco.com

Thursday 13 October 2022

Cisco DNA Center and Device configuration management

In my conversations with customers and partners, there are two topics that are different but somewhat related: compliance and device configuration management. In my latest blog, “Compliant or not? Cisco DNA Center will help you figure this out”, we discussed compliance capabilities in Cisco DNA Center 2.3.3. In this blog, I will address device configuration management.

Let me start by saying that DNA Center always has the latest device configuration in its internal databases. This has always been the case. The configuration of a device is first collected and stored when the device is added to the inventory, it’s then updated by periodic triggers as well as event-based triggers. Event-based triggers happen when there is a change in the configuration. DNA Center uses these up-to-date configurations for all its capabilities including, but not restricted to, assurance, device replacement, and compliance. Network administrators can also leverage these configurations so, in this blog, we will explore different ways to access them.

Visualize Configuration in Inventory


For certain device types, like switches, DNA Center has the option to show and export the full device configuration. This allows the network administrator to have quick visibility into the configuration. For security reasons, sensitive data is masked which means that we can’t directly use this device config to restore a device.

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Figure 1: Configuration Visualization in Inventory: sensitive data is masked

Export the device configuration


Configuration archive is the DNA Center feature that allows network administrators to export raw configurations to an external server. Raw configurations are useful to restore a device for example.

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Figure 2: Configuration Archive: exporting raw configurations to an external server

Device configuration backup can be scheduled with the desired recurrence and the configurations are sent to an external server. For each configuration backup, DNA Center creates a password-protected zip file. This zip file contains one directory per device and each directory contains three files: running-config, startup-config, and VLAN database.

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Figure 3: Password-protected zip file

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Figure 4: One directory per device containing running config, startup configs and VLAN DB

APIs to retrieve device configuration


Another way to access the clear text device configurations is via APIs. The API available in Cisco DNA Center allows to retrieve raw startup, running configs, and VLAN DB in the form of a zip file in a similar way as the configuration archive capability.

API details:

POST /network-device-archive/cleartext

Visualize Configuration Drifts


Arguably, I’m leaving the most interesting capability for last!

At the beginning of the blog, we mentioned that DNA Center stores the device configuration and updates the configurations periodically and upon changes. Every time there is a change in the configuration, DNA Center will store and timestamp this new configuration for a maximum of 50. We call these configurations config drifts. Moreover, DNA Center can show differences between these stored configurations to help the network administrator identify any changes. For out-of-band changes, Config Drift tool will also show the username of the person that made the change.

In the example below, we are comparing two configurations taken on September 2nd, 2022, one at 1:56pm and the other at 2:57pm. We can see in the latter, that a “description” command was removed from “interface GigabitEthernet 1/0/10”. Once we identify these changes in the running configuration, the network administrator can take specific actions to remediate the issue. For example, the device can be re-provisioned.

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Figure 5: Config Drift

We can also identify and label a specific configuration that we deem “standard”. That way, it will be easier to compare the current running configuration with the selected labeled configuration.

In the example below, we will first select the preferred configuration and name it with the label of our choice, in this case, “TBRANCH-Std-Config“:

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Figure 6: Label Config

Once we label our standard configuration, we can then compare it to the current configuration. In this example, the current running configuration is identified as “September 2nd at 3:10pm”. In this case, both running configuration and standard configurations match.

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Figure 7: Comparing running-config to labeled config