You Know You're a REAL Networking Guru When...

deanwebb · February 12, 2016, 10:02:00 AM

... TAC calls *you* for support.

... people ask what's your address and you ask, "IP or physical?"

... network gear suddenly starts working again when you get near, because it can sense your presence.

... you only concern yourself with layers 1, 2, 3, and 8.

... you twitch involuntarily every time someone says "developers."

... you review configs slapped together by junior admins to get a few laughs.

... you watch movies/shows with hackers and then think of what you could do to take down your entire network.

... you watch movies/shows with hackers and wonder why, instead of using their physical access to take a network down with programming, they don't just plug both ends of a cable into a switch and be done with it?

... you feel most comfortable when reading documents that have more acronyms and numbers and codeblocks than they do actual words in sentences.

... you're standing next to Keith Barker, and people want *your* autograph.

NetworkGroover · February 12, 2016, 10:07:09 AM

Ha... bullet point #3 and #4... so true.

dlots · February 12, 2016, 10:24:12 AM

I got
#1 I always fix my own TAC issues and have to explain my fix to them, so I am going to say that I got this one
#3 It must be the case, the only other option is that people just blame the network to get the issue off their plate
#4 I care about layer 4 to
#5 http://www.networking-forums.com/index.php?topic=734.0
#6 It's not so much for laughs, but more like watching a sad movie, or reading an article on why Kim Jong Un is a good guy
#7
#9 Sooo true

that1guy15 · February 12, 2016, 11:48:05 AM

Quote from: deanwebb on February 12, 2016, 10:02:00 AM

... you watch movies/shows with hackers and then think of what you could do to take down your entire network.

... you watch movies/shows with hackers and wonder why, instead of using their physical access to take a network down with programming, they don't just plug both ends of a cable into a switch and be done with it?

Bonus network-cred if these thoughts turn into angerly screamed responses towards the TV while throwing things.

SofaKing · February 12, 2016, 12:50:55 PM

... Chuck Norris calls *you* to secure his home network

Otanx · February 12, 2016, 04:57:26 PM

Quote from: deanwebb on February 12, 2016, 10:02:00 AM
... people ask what's your address and you ask, "IP or physical?"

http://imgur.com/gallery/oSY9VbA

Quote from: deanwebb on February 12, 2016, 10:02:00 AM
... you watch movies/shows with hackers and then think of what you could do to take down your entire network.

... you watch movies/shows with hackers and wonder why, instead of using their physical access to take a network down with programming, they don't just plug both ends of a cable into a switch and be done with it?

CSI Cyber is still on the air. Just saying.

One I saw somewhere else - You use a route map when you plan a road trip.

-Otanx

Reggle · February 13, 2016, 08:49:42 AM

#1 happened to a colleague of mine... It wasn't Cisco's TAC.

... when someone describes a problem and you stop them mid-sentence telling the solution

Nerm · February 13, 2016, 09:03:54 AM

Quote from: SofaKing on February 12, 2016, 12:50:55 PM
... Chuck Norris calls *you* to secure his home network

deanwebb · February 15, 2016, 08:18:37 AM

... your phone rings at 4:30 AM and it's not a wrong number.

Dieselboy · February 17, 2016, 11:03:47 PM

This thread makes me a happy person. I thought I was the only one who had this experience, not just with cisco but with ISPs as well.

So I can relax a bit now, since I'm "normal" -- sort of.

deanwebb · February 18, 2016, 11:20:24 AM

... when you've memorized not only the IP addresses of key pieces of gear, but their MAC addresses, as well.

Reggle · February 18, 2016, 02:30:16 PM

... when first line support is trying to figure out where a certain flow is supposed to go and you're like "here-here-here, now log on to 10.x.x.x and check interface x"

SimonV · February 18, 2016, 02:59:42 PM

Surprised first-line even tries to figure it out. Or is that first-line networking?

deanwebb · February 18, 2016, 07:47:02 PM

... when you say, "It's a client problem," and specify what kind of client problem it is... but, in spite of that, you wind up wading through debugs and log files and wireshark captures for weeks on end... ONLY TO PROVE THAT IT WAS THE EXACT CLIENT PROBLEM YOU SAID IT WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Dieselboy · February 18, 2016, 09:17:21 PM

Quote from: deanwebb on February 18, 2016, 07:47:02 PM
... when you say, "It's a client problem," and specify what kind of client problem it is... but, in spite of that, you wind up wading through debugs and log files and wireshark captures for weeks on end... ONLY TO PROVE THAT IT WAS THE EXACT CLIENT PROBLEM YOU SAID IT WAS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Yep.
Or when the server guys tell you there's a network problem because application X is not accessible / working. Obviously no one believes when you say "it's not a network problem" so you set up a dirty packet capture to at very least capture the RST packet that the server is responding to the client with. Then email that to the server guys, and wish them luck.