Day 1: Ed 5769 OL

This morning was our first hands on day in this course. I enjoyed reviewing the material from this course in May and June and I was looking forward to getting my hands on the equipment.


Our first introduction to the Alcatel Switch whet our appetites for what was to come. Several hurdles had to be cleared before we could move on.


The first step in the process was a description of the switch itself and its components, namely the USB interface cable, the interface software; CoolTerm and the software drivers. The first step of the process was to download the CoolTerm software. This was easily accomplished using our friend Google.



The next step was locating the drivers for the Keyspan USB serial adapter. A disc was passed around but I could not get the drivers to install on my computer. Finally, it worked when I just went into the D drive and started clicking around. Once the drivers for the Keyspan USB serial adapter were installed it was time to connect the switch.



We connected the switch by using the Keyspan USB cable and tried to login to the switch. Unfortunately it was not quite as easy as a simple login. It was trial or error time again. By going into the options menu and trying different things we were able to get a login and password prompt that worked. It was a great feeling when we were finally successful logging in to the switch.






Next it was time to go about setting up our IP address for the switch. Our IP address was 192.168.10.254. This IP address was pre-selected for our network. The trick at this point was to get the switch to display our IP address after a reboot. If the switch showed our IP address after a reboot then that meant that we had been successful in our objective of assigning an IP address to our switch.

It was discovered by one of our classmates that there are actually 2 operating systems in the switch. There is the working directory and the certified directory. The difficulty arose when we rebooted the switch. OUR IP ADDRESS DID NOT TAKE. It seems that if one does not COPY the working directory to match the certified directory then upon reboot the switch reverts to its certified operating system. That is not good because it means that we were not successful.

Some quick scanning of our documentation was required. It was in this way that we learned commands such as `write memory`, ``show VLAN` ``show running directory``, ``show IP Interface`` Through skimming and problem solving with classmates we were able to save our IP address in the switch.

Overall, it was a very good first day. I appreciate the hands-on nature of the course. Although I sometimes felt like a blind man looking for the switch I am happy to say we were eventually able to light the lamp. Using the equipment in a hands-on fashion is definitley a great way to learn this material but it does put a lot of pressure on the students. Luckily we are able to collaborate and help each other. I appreciated Lyle`s efforts to redirect us when we were stuck. It takes a skilled teacher to balance those needs. Like Dr. Hollingsworth said this morning, ``If we give you everything, you do not learn, if we give you nothing then it will not happen in 2 weeks.`` I like to think that it is that way with everything. Adversity builds character and if everything was a breeze I would leave Lethbridge feeling just a little bit ripped off.