c1_R1.qxd 2/6/06 3:21 PM Page 77 PACKET CISCO SYSTEMS USERS MAGAZINE FIRST QUARTER 2006 FIRST QUARTER 2006 VOL 18 NO 1 UNLEASH YOUR NETWORK SERVICES The National University of Singapore Did 22 How to Achieve Network Nirvana 28 Behind the Scenes of a DMVPN Deployment 48 Navigate the Winding Road to IMS 61 CISCO.COM/PACKET Reprinted with permission from Packet® magazine (Volume 18, No. 1), copyright © 2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. pC,E_R1.qxd 2/8/06 12:01 PM Page C PACKET CISCO SYSTEMS USERS MAGAZINE FIRST QUARTER 2006 VOLUME 18, NO. 1 ON THE COVER 22 Unleash Your Network Services 22 Cisco Service-Oriented Network Architecture outlines how enterprises like the National University of Singapore can evolve their network to increase efficiencies, lower costs, and strengthen business agility. Network Nirvana 28 Through the process of simplification, networks achieve new levels of resiliency—and lower total cost of ownership. Push to Talk Everywhere 34 Cisco IPICS creates communications interoperability by joining radio systems with IP networks. Minding the Store 38 As IT managers build out their organizations’ storage- area networks, they face performance, security, and management issues. 28 COVER PHOTO: Tommy Hor, director of the computer center at the National University of Singapore Reprinted with permission from Packet® magazine (Volume 18, No. 1), copyright © 2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. pC,E_R1.qxd 2/8/06 12:01 PM Page E TECHNOLOGY 43 ROUTING: EIGRP Efficiency 15 Best practices for scaling EIGRP neighbors in hub-and-spoke networks. SWITCHING: Dynamic Buffer Limiting 19 Industry’s first hardware and flow-based congestion avoidance at wire speed. ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS Primary Wireless 43 Employees at Intel’s Jones Farm campus will soon be using a wireless LAN as the primary access method for data, voice, and video. DMVPN Deployment 48 53 A British broadcaster moves from a mixed-media architecture to MPLS with the help of mGRE technology. SERVICE PROVIDER SOLUTIONS Say It with IPTV Services 53 Tapping the flexibility of a converged network infrastructure is smart business for Hong Kong Broadband Network. Gaining the Ethernet Edge 57 New OAM protocols enhance a carrier’s service deployments and make managing and monitoring Metro Ethernet networks easier. 65 The Winding Road to IMS 61 Non-IP Multimedia Subsystem applications are still key in the service provider evolution toward IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS). SMALL AND MIDSIZED BUSINESSES Modular to the Core 65 Modular features and advanced services modules make the Catalyst 6500 Series Switch an affordable option for midsized networks like Maryland’s nonprofit Columbia Association. IN EVERY ISSUE DEPARTMENTS Mail 3 From the Editor 1 New Product Dispatches 68 Acquisitions 5 Big Changes for Packet What’s new from Cisco over the Tech Tips 11 past quarter. User Connection 5 Advertiser Index 73 Networking Academy Advanced NetPro Expert 72 Cache File 74 Technology Training • Advice from Cisco’s Jazib Frahim The 5th Wave 74 New Edition of Routing TCP/IP on implementing and trouble- shooting IPSec redundancy. Tech Tips & Training 7 Enterprising MPLS • Top 5 Freeware Tools • Reader Tips Reprinted with permission from Packet® magazine (Volume 18, No. 1), copyright © 2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. p1.qxd 2/8/06 12:07 PM Page 1 PACKET MAGAZINE FROM THE EDITOR David Ball Publisher and Editor in Chief Jennifer Redovian Executive Editor Big Changes for Packet Susan Borton Managing Editor Suzanne Jackson Joanie Wexler Cisco is a company that practices what it preaches: Contributing Editors that Internet technology will truly change the way Robert J. Smith we live, work, play and learn. By IP-enabling Sunset Custom Publishing many of its own business processes, Cisco gener- Project Manager ates gains in productivity and business agility that Nicole Collins, Amy Mackey, translate to millions of dollars in savings each year. Mark Ryan The fact that Cisco uses its own networking tech- Sunset Custom Publishing Production nology to gain a competitive edge is clearly Jeff Brand demonstrated in the Cisco IT@Work CDs we have Art Director distributed with this magazine over the past year. Emily Burch Designer Whether mobilizing its workforce with secure wire- Ellen Sokoloff less networking, improving customer service via IP Diagram Illustrator contact centers, or increasing employee uptime and Rob Brodman Rob Bill Littell reducing travel expenses with desktop video confer- Print Production Manager encing, Cisco prides itself on being its best reference Valerie Marliac customer. Our offices are quickly becoming showcases unto themselves for demonstrating Promotions Manager how networking technologies can be turned into real business differentiators. Richard Koh, Eightfish Ltd. Cover Photograph Cisco migrated away from printed technical documentation in favor of electronic distribu- Advertising Information: tion years ago. Every internal transaction, from signing a purchase order, submitting an Kristen Bergman, 408 525-2542 expense report, or rewarding an employee, is done completely via Web-based applications. [email protected] Not a piece of paper in sight. So it should come as no surprise that Cisco will be placing significant emphasis on the digital distribution of Packet magazine in the coming year. Publisher Information: Packet magazine (ISSN 1535-2439) is published quarterly by Cisco Systems and Cisco launched Packet Digital Edition last June. In just six months, we went from zero distributed free of charge to users of Cisco to nearly 25,000 subscribers worldwide. Clearly, readers are responding positively to the products. new format. However, not everyone is ready to jump headfirst into the paperless society. Please send address corrections and other correspondence direct to [email protected]. Many of you still prefer reading a printed publication, enjoy the mobility of print, or just plain like the feel of a real magazine in your hands. Aironet, Catalyst, CCDA, CCIE, CCNA, Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Networking Academy, Cisco Press, the Cisco Powered Network For this reason, we have decided not to do away with the print edition of Packet. Instead, logo, the Cisco Systems logo, Cisco Unity, IOS, iQ, Linksys, Packet, and PIX are registered trademarks or trademarks of we will be offering readers a choice: You can subscribe to Packet Digital Edition for free, Cisco Systems, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the USA and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this publica- or pay a subscription price to continue to receive the print edition of Packet. tion are the property of their respective owners. Packet copyright © 2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Starting with the Third Quarter 2006 issue, Packet will be a paid subscription No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, or publication. You will receive one more free issue after this one you hold in your hands. by any means, without prior written permission from Cisco Systems, Inc. This publication is distributed on an “as-is” basis, without war- But what an issue it will be! ranty of any kind either express or implied, including but not lim- ited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. This publication could contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Later Starting with the Second Quarter 2006 issue, Packet is being revamped and redesigned issues may modify or update information provided in this issue. Neither the publisher nor any contributor shall have any liability to be the premier publication for increasing the knowledge and expertise of Cisco net- to any person for any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the information contained herein. working professionals. That means more tech tips, more deployment guides and trou- This magazine is printed on recycled paper. bleshooting tricks, more how-to articles and configurations, and more real-world exam- ples than ever before. We think you’ll like what we’ve done and hope you’ll give the new Packet magazine a try, in whichever format you choose. David Ball Editor in Chief [email protected] 10% TOTAL RECOVERED FIBER CISCO SYSTEMS FIRST QUARTER 2006 PACKET 1 Reprinted with permission from Packet® magazine (Volume 18, No. 1), copyright © 2006 by Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. MAIL More Long-Lasting 125K bytes of non-volatile configuration Routers memory. The recent reader 16384K bytes of processor board System letters about router flash (Read/Write) uptime that you published in your Configuration register is 0x2102 past two issues sparked me to look No problemo. at our own routers on the network. —Robert McCallum CCIE No. 875, THUS, Glasgow, Scotland BRISDCNR01>show ver A Party for a Router Cisco Internetwork Operating System Unsafe Driving Router uptime seems to be a big deal Software IOS (tm) 3600 Software (C3660- Recently, while these days. I guess we’re geeks. After JS-M), Version 12.1(2)T, RELEASE SOFT- browsing through reading all the recent letters from your WARE your Third Quarter readers, we found that we have a Cisco (fc1) 2005 issue, as ever 2610 Router located at our Hobby Lobby Copyright (c) 1986-2000 by cisco Systems, looking for more store in Des Moines, Iowa, that has been Inc. excellent material up for almost five years and is not on a Compiled Tue 16-May-00 19:43 by ccai to show my students, I was appalled to UPS. Here’s where the geek part comes in: Image text-base: 0x60008900, data-base: find that a video clip on “Internet Bene- We had a party to celebrate the five-year 0x613B4000 fits” (part of the enclosed Cisco IT@Work uptime. Fun was had by all and the cake CD) showed an extremely dangerous was great (see photo). Thanks for making ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 12.0(6r)T, work practice—specifically someone durable and reliable products.