IT Leadership: Configuring a Layer 3 Switch and Setting Up Windows Server 2008 in One Day

Today's agenda seemed overwhelming on paper, but for John and I, all went well. No technical issues today, just fingers that didn't seem to hit the right keys on the keyboard. Yes, our Layer 2 switch had held the address for our VLAN 1. Whew, initial success. John and I have also worked out the idiosyncracies of CoolTerm. Buttons must be chosen in a particular order or it can become a bit oppositional and show us a bit of attitude. We hit an all time record for logging on to the Webview interface.

Using Cool Term, our next step was to add our next hop, the Layer 3 switch, or VLAN 2. We practiced this code several times as our typing changed vlan to van and the address mask from 255.255.0.0 to 255.255.255.0. As I have said before, it is all in the details. This is never more true when doing technical work of this nature. Things must be checked and double-checked. Multi-tasking is not a good option when attempting setup of this nature. The technician should be 100% focused.

After we had set a static address on our workstation 1 (John's laptop) we verified that we had a connection to our switch. (We did learn a quick trick this morning. John's laptop does not like to accept a new static address and we have been setting the address and restarting to get it to accept the new address. Aah, the joys of Vista. Today we learned that we can set the address, disconnect the patch cable for ten seconds and reconnect and, yes, it will pick up the new address. This is much more efficient than restarting!)

To establish our new Vlan, we simply needed to enter the command VLAN 2.
The second step of this procedure is then to give this new VLAN an address. The command to accomplish this is ip interface vlan -2 address 10.0.10.254 mask 255.255.255.0 vlan 2.
Our layer 2 switch, vlan 1, was connected to vlan 2 through Port 1 on Vlan 1.

Next, we needed to set the gateway point that undeliverable packets are to be sent to. The command for this was ip static-route 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 gateway 192.168.10.254.

We also needed to tell our system how we were connected. vlan 2 port default 8/1

As always when making changes to the configuration on the Alcatel. Use the write memory command and the copy working certified. Those commands that had been so elusive on that first day are now second nature.

We double checked the Webview to ensure that both lans were being recognized and they were.

The preparation for Server 2008, or mini exercise 2B was an easy task. An inventory of your server hardware needed to be made in preparation for finding drivers and ensuring that we met minimum hardware specs for the software. Recording technical specs on any new piece of hardware is always good practice.

The Dell site did contain some useful information but the majority of our information came from a BIOS check and physical viewing. If the device manager and system tools of the Control Panel had not been disabled, this also would have been a good source of information. For our server, we are going to be using the DELL Optiplex 755. The technical specs of our particular PC can be found at this link.

We were next to research a minimum of three sites that would assist us in our installation.
The three most useful site we found were
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Server_2008
This site had good technical specifications.
2. http://www.petri.co.il/how-to-install-windows-server-2008-step-by-step.htm
This site was an excellent visual resource. It was a step-by-step guide with many screen shots.
3. http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=17157
This site has further downloads for specific issues.




The actual install was a fairly easy procedure. The setup wizard was very user-friendly and naturally sequential. Tomorrow we are looking forward to finding drivers! Should be fun since the Optiplex isn't normally associated with server functions. Stay tuned for a comprehensive technical guide. Promises to be a real page turner.

Those Dreaded IP Addresses

Just when we thought we were done with dreaded IP addressing, Lyle resurrects the torture. Today my partner John and I completed an assignment using static addresses and various subnet masks. The skill set required was the ability to set a static address on our network adapter and a basic theoretical background on IP addresses. Sounds easy enough but add to that a laptop determined to do 468 operation updates, firewalls, Mac system software, Linux and Windows Vista, XP and Windows 7. Results did not go as expected.

My partner John and I set about to ping each other's workstations using the specified criteria and sometimes one machine would receive and the other wouldn't. OK, so we should just see if we can replicate the results. Or, we can check our results against Sean's. Now we have four different operating systems and the varied results. OK, let's use our knowledge of subnet masks to make sense of our results. John and I were OK with the standard Class A,B,C subnets but when we encountered the 255.255.252.0, it was a bit of a learning for us.

One tool we could have accessed is the online subnet calculator. This would have given us the answers about whether we could talk

.

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->The exercise did leave me wanting some more clarification on subdividing a subnet and so I spent my evening delving into the world of IP addressing. Josh Gentry's Classful Addressing site helped my understanding. This site presents the material in a very simplistic fashion. I felt that aha moment when I reached the following sentences. The subnet mask is always extended by masking off the next bit in the address, from left to right. Thus, the last octet in the subnet mask will always be one of these: 128, 192, 224, 240, 248, 252, 254 or 255.

We did find some time working on our Alcatel switches authenticating services. This proved to be a fairly simple process. The command to load these services is aaa authentication default local. To ensure that we save this authentication we needed to use the write memory command again. And, lastly, our nemesis from yesterday, copy working certified. Yes, we did learn from our mistakes!

IT Leadership: Installing an IP Address on a Switch

Wow, Geek heaven! The day began with a discussion on switches. Many of us were intrigued comparing Cisco, DLink, and Alcatel brand switches. DLink, my division protocol, was quickly dismissed. While economical(consumer level) it apparently does not stand the test of time nor reliability. Alcatel(enterprise level) was the Layer 2 switch we were going to be working with. What I learned today, is that the Alcatel switches have two operating systems, which means that they never fail in the event of a power fluctuation. (The two operating systems was to later cause John, my class partner, and I frustration in saving our VLAN address). I do admit to seeing the DLink switches fail (more than once). Needless to say, I found the discussion fascinating.

I actually looked forward to the hands-on portion of our learning today. It has been two years since I have had the opportunity to troubleshoot hardware issues.
My partner, John and I quickly installed the Cool Term for Windows software (no glitches). This software was to be the interface that allowed us to install our VLAN address.

Next we installed the serial to USB bridge. This adapter allowed us to connect our laptops (via USB) to the Serial port on the router. The laptop we were using was Vista. Vista did give us difficulty in installing the proper updated driver for this adapter. We were forced to use some of our "old skills" and troubleshoot using the device manager found in the Control Panel.

Once our driver was properly installed, we went to our software and tried to connect to the router. This looked to be as simple as pressing the Connect button. Nothing is rarely as simply as it initially looks. We were told that what we should see is a login prompt. We saw several login prompts. It appeared we had an echo. Through the discovery method, we found our solution.






When we explored the options button, we found that the software was recognizing Com Port 3 and we needed it to recognize 33. This was a quick fix. We also changed the Terminal Mode to Line. This buffering made it much more efficient to operate.

I hadn't seen the CR acronym used since my high school days taking typing class. That was a step back in time. We chose to keep the
key emulation at CR & LF (Line Feed). This worked and we were now ready to log in.

We needed to reference our Alcatel documentation to obtain the default username and password. The username was admin (a pretty standard choice) and the password was switch.

Wow, we were finally in, and all we now needed to do was enter our VLAN address. Although it sounds simple, and we were elated with our progress at this point, we were soon to be temporarily frustrated. A quick reference to the CLI Command document showed us that we needed to enter the command ip interface vlan -1 address 192.168.10.254 (this was the address we were assigned.) The software does not provide an authentication. The lack of error messages made us assume we had registered this VLAN address but one should never make assumptions. We wanted to verify. We used the command show ip interface to verify our address. We learned these commands well because we repeated these steps in getting our router to hold this address.

I began my blog by toting the virtues of the Alcatel router and its backup operating system in the event of a power failure. However, this dual operating system meant that our new VLAN configuration needed to be written to both systems. An aha moment for John and I. Our next step needed to be write memory. This command saved the configuration in our working copy. We next used the copy working certified to ensure that the certified version held the configuration. As a double measure we also used copy certified working. When we reloaded (reload=reboot) this time our router held our address. Yeah!

To complete our project we connected a CAT 5 cable to the Layer 3 router through Port 1. We verified that we were receiving an IP address by connecting our laptop to our router and doing an IPconfig command. We were in business.


How will our experiences today help us in the realm of IT Leadership? It took John and I about one and a half hours to accomplish what a trained technician should be able to accomplish in about 15 minutes. The documentation was key. The information was readily available online and it was a matter of reading and following things through sequentially. Trying to take shortcuts resulted in failure. Always double-check, its all in the details.

Murdock vs Murdock

Irene Murdock and her husband were married in 1943 and worked together for hire on various ranches, receiving about $100 a month. In 1947, Murdock and his father-in-law, Nash, purchased a guest ranch for $6000. When they sold it four years later, they divided the profit equally between them. In 1952, Mr. Murdoch purchased additional property from money borrowed, in part, from his mother-in-law. The loan was repaid. Over the years Murdoch bought and then sold bigger and better ranch properties, always in his name. At all times, the Murdochs lived on and operated one or more of these. In none of the purchases did Mrs. Murdoch make a direct financial contribution.

At the same time, Mr. Murdoch was employed by a cattle stock association. While her husband was away for up to five months of the year working for the association. Mrs. Murdoch performed or supervised many of the necessary chores, including driving trucks and tractors; haying; mowing; vaccinating, branding, and dehorning cattle; and working with horses. In effect, while her husband was absent, she ran their properties.

Marital problems arose and in 1968 Mrs. Murdoch left her husband after 25 years of marriage. She brought actions for separation, support, and custody of their son, as well as one-half interest in all lands and assets owned by her husband, on the basis that they were equal partners. Mrs. Murdoch claimed that payments from her bank account were contributions to the partnership agreement. Mr. Murdoch contended that the money he received from time to time usually came from his in-laws and was always repaid. As well, all land, livestock, and equipment were held in his name, and income tax returns were filed in his name only. No formal partnership declaration existed between them.

The trial court granted Mrs. Murdoch a separation and support of $200 a month. Custody of the son was given to the father, and her claim for the one-half interest was dismissed. Mrs. Murdoch appealed to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta, and her action was again dismissed. She then brought a further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. In a 4-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Mrs. Murdoch was not entitled to any interest in her husband’s land on her part or a partnership agreement between them. All of the work she had done was merely the work “that would be done by any farm wife.”

What is your opinion of this case? Should Mrs. Murdock be granted a 1/2 interest in the guest ranch? (Consider the timeframe - many women chose to be stay-at-home moms at this time.)

Movie Maker (Making Trailers)

The 150-Second Sell, Take 34... pdf

Have you ever gone to see a movie because of the trailer? Trailers are designed specifically to entice viewers to do so in a time limit of less than 2 ½ minutes. They feature the most noteworthy, funny, exciting parts of the feature length film. Most trailers do 3 things: (1) they introduce the characters; (2) the setting; and (3) they build the conflict. These three things work together to hook the audience.
Your task is to create a movie trailer for a film or a novel you have studied this term.
Step 1: Read and research information on how movie trailers are made
• What are the essential elements of a good trailer?
• Read 150 Second-Sell, Take 34
• View professionally made trailers
• View examples of student assignments on Youtube.
Step 2: Write your script
• Use the attached storyboards

Step 3: Create your trailer using software such as Movie Maker, iMovie or Premier.

Do not show (1) excessive violence, (2) “bed scenes with any action”, (3) drug scenes, or (4) racial/religious slurs

Step 4: Publish your movie to Youtube.

TEACHER NOTES:
1. Consider providing this task to students at the beginning of the unit to help students focus their learning.
2. Encourage students to self-reflect and/or to receive feedback from peers, and then follow up by improving their work before publishing
This assignment could be used in Social Studies to re-enact historical events or at any level in ELA

TEACHER HELP LINKS:

1. How to make a trailer

2. Teaching trailers

ICT and Curriculum Outcomes

Activation Matrix

Tikatok - Digital Stories

CANADIAN ABORIGINAL RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS pdf

It is your turn to tell the truth! You are to write the story of the Canadian residential schools. However, you must write this story from a perspective other than that of a resident. Once you have written your story, you must publish it on http://www.tikatok.com/
Step 1: Research the Experience
• Listen to primary (first-hand) experiences
• Read secondary sources (note the domain for possible bias)

Step 2: Create the story
• Find or draw non-copyrighted images
• Storyboard your story
• Create your story on Tikatok
Step 3:
• Publish your story and embed the link on the class Moodle site
TEACHER NOTES:
1. Consider providing this task to students at the beginning of the unit to help students focus their learning.
2. Reading the students a similar picture book might provide them with a published exemplar. Eg. Rose Blanche
3. Encourage students to self-reflect and/or to receive feedback from peers, and then follow up by improving their work

Check out the student exemplar!

ICT and Curricular Outcomes

Activation Matrix

How to Use Tikatok

Rather than create my own file, I was able to find this file and I have simply linked to it.

How to use TikaTok

View more presentations from digitalmaverick.

Glogster - Creating Digital Collages

LLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, GRADE 10-1


BE A BEATNIK PERFORMER pdf



You have a gig at the next “beatnik” revival! You may write your own poem or you may follow the style of an existing song. However, you must create your poems in the “beatnik” tradition.

Each performer will be asked to video tape their poem in the “Cool Cats’ Café”. Each presentation should also be accompanied by a site on glogster.edu containing the following elements:
Step 1: Becoming a “beatnik”
• After watching clips of beatnik society, list the dress, style and expressions of a beatnik (or include graphics)
• Research on the Internet “What is a beatnik?”
• Insert your findings on your “glog”
Step 2: Creating the poem
• Use a song lyric as a template for your poem or write your own



• Ensure that your poem includes at least four poetic devices. You may choose from:
similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, irony, satire, imagery, allusions, symbol, rhythm, oxymoron
Insert your lyrics on your glog

Step 3: Create a multimedia presentation to accompany your poem.
• The presentation must be saved on a format that can be displayed on your glog site
• Your presentation may include: imagery, rhythm, allusions, etc.
• This presentation should run in the background as you film in the “Cool Cat Cafe”
Step 4: The “Gig”
• A cafe background will be set up for you
• Invite your best “cat” and have him/her run the video
• Dress like a “beatnik” performer (Bohemian style)
• Bring your swank and “cool cat” attitude. Have fun!

Check out the exemplar!

TEACHER NOTES:
1. Consider providing this task to students at the beginning of the unit to help students focus their learning.
2. Encourage students to self-reflect and/or to receive feedback from peers , and then follow up by improving their work before the final video cut.
3. Ensure that students are not focusing on the negative aspects of this culture eg. drugs

ICT & Curriculum Outcomes

Activation Matrix