Category Archives: Force10 Networks

Recover from a Forgotten Console Password on Dell Force10 E-Series Switches

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I will use a Dell Force10 E600i chassis [FTOS 8.3.1.1] to demonstrate how to recover if you forget your console password. The first thing to do to prepare for this lab is to log on through the … Continue reading →

Creating a LAG between an ESXi vSwitch and a Physical Switch

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I am going to create a LAG (Link Aggregation Group) between an ESXi vSwitch and a physical switch. You can use Cisco, Force10 Dell, Juniper, or any other manufacturer for the physical switch. Depending on the switch … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking, Technology, Virtualization and Cloud Computing, VMware | Tagged 802.3ad, 802.3ad link aggregation, Cisco, ESXi, ESXi 4.1, etherchannel, Failover, Force10 Dell, Force10 Networks, LAG, Link Aggregation Group, load balancing, NIC Teaming, physical switch, pNIC, port bundle, port channel, port group, Route Based on IP Hash, Route Based on the Originating Virtual Port ID, Use Explicit Failover Order, virtual machine, virtual port ID, virtual switch, VM, VM Network port group, VMkernel, vmNIC, vmware, VMware ESXi, vNIC, vSwitch | 8 Comments

How to Stack Dell Force10 S60 Switches

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I use two Dell Force10 S60 switches [FTOS 8.3.3.4] to demonstrate how to stack two S60 switches together. By stacking the switches you can increase port density and manage the switches together as if it were one … Continue reading →

Posted in Dell Force10, Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking | Tagged Dell Force10, Force10, Force10 24 Gigabit stack, Force10 24 Gigabit stack cable, Force10 Networks, Force10 S60, Force10 S60 Stack, Force10 S60 Stacking, Force10 S60 Switch, Force10 Stack, Force10 Stacking, Force10 Switch Stacking, FTOS, S60 Stack, S60 Stacking, S60 Switch | Leave a comment

Useful FTOS “show” commands

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Humair

There are several FTOS “show” commands that can provide very useful information regarding Force10 Networks switches/routers. I have outlined a number of these very useful commands with a short description of each below. However, keep in mind that although most … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Networking | Tagged Force10, Force10 FTOS, Force10 Networks, Force10 show commands, Force10 switches, FTOS, show, show bootvar, show commands, show environment, show inventory, show linecard, show redundancy, show rpm, show sfm, show version, switches | Leave a comment

Port Monitoring on Force10 Switches

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I will demonstrate how to do port monitoring on Force10 switches and capture the packets using a network protocol analyzer (Wireshark in this case). Port monitoring allows the copying of all incoming/outgoing packets on a specific port … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking | Tagged Force10, Force10 switch, Force10 switches, network protocol analyzer, packet analyzer, Packet Sniffer, Packet Sniffing, Port Mirroring, Port Monitoring, Sniffer, VRRP, wireshark | 1 Comment

Setup VRRP with Force10 Switches

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I setup Force10 switches with Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP). VRRP is a redundancy protocol used to eliminate a single point of failure between a gateway and its respective hosts within the same subnet. I use three … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking, Protocols | Tagged E1200, Force10, Force10 E1200, Force10 Networks, Force10 S55, Force10 S60, FTOS, gateway, gateway redundancy, redundancy protoco, S55, S60, virtual address, virtual IP, Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, VRRP, VRRP group | 2 Comments

How to Fix – Force10 S4810 Switch Stuck in Boot Loop

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Humair

In this blog I discuss how to fix a common boot loop problem. A boot loop can occur if you change the boot variables for a switch and accidentally put in incorrect information. You may also make a typo when … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Networking, Technology | Tagged boot loop, boot variables, Force10, Force10 S4810, FTOS, S4810, TFTP | 2 Comments

Setup Telnet Access on Force10 Switches

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Humair

I am going to use a Force10 S60 switch [FTOS 8.3.3.4] to demonstrate how to setup telnet access. To setup telnet access you first need to set an IP address on either a data port or a managment port so … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking, Technology | Tagged Force10, Force10 Networks, mamangement port, managementethernet, router, S60, switch, telnet | Leave a comment

Creating a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) in FTOS

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Humair

This lab demonstrates how to create a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) in FTOS on Force10 switches. A LAG in Force10’s FTOS is called a port channel and in Cisco’s IOS is called an EtherChannel. As described by IEEE 802.3ad, LAG … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking, Protocols, Technology | Tagged dynamic port channel, etherchannel, Force10, Force10 Networks, Force10 S25P, Force10 S50V, FTOS, IEEE 802.3ad, LACP, LAG, Link Aggregation Control Protocol, Link Aggregation Group, port channel, router, S25P, S50V, static port channel, switch | 5 Comments

How Perl/Python Scripts on Force10 S60 Switches Can Access the Internet