Router as a Switch

I was faced with the issue of having multiple Network Devices and just one network port.

Now there is some hardware called Y-Splitter available in the market but I didn't have the time to order that, and I think they charge a lot more money that the device is worth. A Y-Splitter makes use of the 4 unused wires out of the 8 present in a CAT 5 cable and up links 2 ports (from the link source) into 1 and then branches it off again into 2 points (at the link destination).

Illustration:-



I however wanted to use the router I already have (Secondary) besides the Gateway Modem provided by the ISP (Primary). The Idea is to provide multiple network points at the site away from the Primary without introducing a new series of IPs the the Secondary would normally generate. This way there would be two networks with different GATEWAYS and having multiple network devices in the same WorkGroup will be difficult.

To be able to do this there are a few things I needed to take care of:

1. Assign a Local IP to the Secondary from the series of the Priamary Gateway but out of the range defined in the Primary.

2. Disable the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)Server on the secondary server so that Secondary ceases to act as a router and doesn't start allocating its own series of IPs.
If the range on the Primary is set as 10.1.10.2 to 10.1.10.100, set the Secondary Router IP to something outside this range like 10.1.10.101

3. It is important to leave the WAN (Wide Area Network) port on the Secondary unconnected.
The WAN port would normally serve to receive a connection from the outside network - Internet and then route it to other devices over the LAN (Local Area Network). We don't want the Secondary to do that.

4. Instead connect the UpLink (any LAN port) of the Primary to the UpLink port of the Secondary and then route connection to other devices from the Secondary as you would normally do.
This way the Secondary functions as a Switch rather than a Router. All devices on the network would now have IPs from the series and in the range defined on the Primary.

Illustration:-

The Rain Bomb!

It rained like I have not seen in the recent past. The balck clouds were spread out like an infantry, out there to overwhelm the clear blue sky. It was so overcast that it was soon dark, and the rain made it worse. I was driving and couldn't see any thing except the redness of the break-lights of other cars on the road. It looked like "the city in the night from an aeroplane" if you looked ahead of you, and thats all you could see. The visibility was so much reduced that I had to keep my focus on the white paint on the road meant to define the lanes. Then sometimes there would be so much water on the road that the splashing would rise like a cloud in front of you almost blinding your sight. It was very different and nevertheless it was amazing.

Anyway Ramazan from tomorrow, so got to get some sleep before I wake up early morning...very early infact...like 4:30AM :)
May the blewwings be showered like the rain feeding the thirsty earth!

Whats in a name anyway?

I have a rather long name if I write the whole thing:

Mirza Tajamul Baig Badakhshani! Yes I know thats pretty long name :)

I, for long now have had a few ideas about the what and where-from of the parts of my name. I can gladly admit most of my preconceptions seem to be correct. I had been curious to try and understand how I got such a name and what it means, if at all anything. I have been told stories about my forefathers having come from Persia, and then more recently from Afghanistan with the Mughals (I am not sure if we were Mughals or not).

With a little help from these stories it is pretty much easy to comprehend the origins of each of the parts of my name. Well yes, except for the part that says Tajamul, thats because it is my given name.

Although I did have a vague idea about the origins of some of the parts of my name, but I was in for some surprise. Quite recently I was made aware of a much deeper Persian connection than I had ever imagined when one of my friends from Iran wanted to know if I was from the royal family.

A few minutes back I gladly fumbled upon some literature on Wikipedia which explains my name to me, and I must admit it sounds very convinsing.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirza) : -
The title Mirza (Persian: ميرزا - Mīrzā) is used for a member of a royal family descent or a member of the highest aristocracy. The name Mirza is still in use today by members of ruling or formerly ruling princely and royal houses all over the world. The Mirza is a caste of Mughals. The Mirza title was also given to Muslim Warriors during the Mughal rule and to other noblemen loyal to the king.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baig) : -

The name Baig is derived from the Turkic word Beg or Bey, which means chieftain or chief (i.e leader/commander.) Baig was a title given to honorary members of the Barlas clan, and was used as the family name for their children. The members of the Mughal Dynasty belonged to the Barlas clans and "Baigs" were high ranking military leaders and advisors to the Mughal Royal Families. Baigs occupied the upper echelons of society in the conquered parts of South Asia.

Baig was also used as a military rank in the Ottoman Empire.

The diaspora of Baig's can be found in India/Pakistan, Iran, Central Asia, Turkey, Former Yugoslav and the Balkans. Significant immigrant populations in Canada, US, UK, Europe

For the Mughal use, the honorific title Mirza (Persian: ميرزا) was added before the given name for all the males and 'Baig' (Persian: بیگ) was added as a family name.

Historically Mirza (as the title), The Given Name, and Baig (as the surname), was the naming style for the Baigs who settled in Mughal South Asia. For example: 'Mirza Mansur Baig'.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badakhshan) : -

Badakhshan (Persian: بدخشان, Tajik: Бадахшон) is an historic region comprising parts of what is now northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. The name is retained in Badakhshan Province which is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the far northeast of Afghanistan, and contains the Wakhan Corridor. Much of historic Badakhshan lies within Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province located in the in south-eastern part of the country. The music of Badakhshan is an important part of the region's cultural heritage.

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"All quiet on the western front" - Erich Maria Remarque

"Comrade I didn't want to kill you. If you jumped in here again, I would not do it, if you would be sensible too. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed. But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony-Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother just like Kat and Albert. Take twenty years of my life, comrade and stand up-take more, for I do not know what I can even attempt to do with it now."

The American-Desi Dilemma

Its funny to see Desi Americans' accusing each other of being typical desi when they don't like a certain behaviour. Seems like they are in constant denial and persistently trying to prove something to themselves, rather than to others.

Saints and Men

I met a Muslim, a Musician, a Singer and a Dancer...It was amazing, it was just one person.
Makes me wonder if somethings we disapprove of are necessarily evil.