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Cisco Stackwise Port Flapping

I recently was confronted with a stack of six Cisco 3750X switches that were experiencing intermittent outages.  The symptoms were random, but included switches being removed from the stack randomly, PoE drops, and full blown switch crashes with reloads.  If anyone has worked with Cisco stacks, you know how long it takes the entire stack to reload and elect a new master.

Troubleshooting the situation, I found that the switch stackwise ports were flapping.  All of them were reporting up/down notifications at random intervals. Read More

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Polycom RMX 2000 and Lync 2010

Continuing from my previous post on integrating an existing Polycom system with Microsoft Lync 2010, I will run down the process for integrating a Polycom RMX bridge.  The process is much more difficult than integrating the Polycom endpoints as it requires creating a trusted application within the Lync server, running some shell commands, generating certificates and RMX configuration changes.  Once the integration is complete you can create SIP enabled meeting rooms accessible by Lync users and Polycom endpoints alike.

1. DNS – Making sure the Lync server can contact the RMX by name Read More

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Polycom HDX 7/8000 and Lync 2010

Recently I have been working on integrating an existing Polycom video conferencing system with a new Lync 2010 deployment.  As it turns out the newer software releases for Polycom have made great progress towards making the integration of Polycom systems with Lync easier.  I say easier, because it still isn’t exactly easy.  There are many cool features of integrating Polycom and Lync.  By using a Polycom RMX, one can have continuous presence using the meeting room format.  This is something that was sadly left out of Lync 2010.  As most people who have used Lync 2010 will tell you, it doesn’t do a very good job of switching between active speakers.

Integrating Polycom HDX 7000 and 8000 endpoints is VERY straight forward.  The only problem is if you don’t have multipoint licenses you can only have a one-to-one call with a Polycom endpoint.  Hence the reason for an RMX. Read More

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Cisco StackPower – Port Issues

I have recently been battling with Cisco Stackpower issues and commands that have been difficult to find. In one environment the company uses 3750X series switches exclusivly in large stacks to avoid a spending cap on single items. Instead of buying blade switches we stack 24 port gig PoE 3750X switches. As an added benefit, with Stackpower we can make the switches redundant without buying additional power supplies. They will also distribute power if PoE devices are unevenly distributed to one switch or the other. Unfortunately when configuring Stackpower, not all ports are active at first, and sometimes the power sharing mode may be configured as something other than “sharing” by default.

A good overview for Cisco’s Stackpower can be found here: Cisco Stackpower Whitepaper Read More

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Toshiba QoS

I have been involved in a recent project aimed at updating a QoS implimentation for VOIP using Toshiba IP phones.  What is interesting about this project is the difference in prioritization needs between legacy IPT2000 phones and the newer 5000 phones.

The previous implementation was composed of the following class-maps: Read More

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New Website

Welcome to the Lone Wolf Networks, LLC website.  This website is the information portal for various projects the engineers at LWN are involved in.  Sometimes we learn something new that might help other technology professionals in the field.  Think of this website as a glorified brain-dump.

The information found here will cover many different topics from networks to gadgets and more.  Anything of a technical nature that we find interesting may find its way on to these pages.