The Network Engineer Toolkit

What exactly does one need in their backpack to resurrect a dead network device?

Coming from a systems administrator background, the engineer’s backpack was merely a laptop with power brick, a network cable and a Leatherman multi-tool device. Honestly, the Leatherman was used more for cable tie and label trimming than anything serious.

By the end of my first year as a network engineer, my backpack had a random assortment of gear crammed into various pockets and pouches. With a recent campus network outage and “all hands” effort to resurrect several switches, I decided to get serious in both equipping myself as well as packing.

The absolute must have items, of course, are the console cables — both the traditional RJ45-to-DB9 and the newer USB-to-mini-USB — and a USB-to-DB9 serial adapter for your laptop. No console means no soup for you. (The console cables are Cisco provided and the serial adapter is TrippLite)

Also a must have: network patch cables (one for your laptop and one for use in the field when you find a bad one). Although rarely needed any more, I also pack a true crossover cable. For those cases where your cable needs just a bit more length, a coupler comes in handy too. And, since most of our distribution switches are fiber only, I carry a GLC-T module to plug into them.

Now, the items that will save you time onsite all center around code and config uploads: two compact flash drives, an SD card, and a TrippLite USB card reader. Almost nothing beats a simple local drive copy of code and configs on the supervisor module. The one exception is having a TFTP server running on my laptop. As a Linux guy, the software is included on my laptop and setup is simple.

For maximum benefit on those items, having an (encrypted) external hard drive or thumb drive with switch code for your models already in hand is best. That requires a bit of discipline to copy the codes when you do your regularly scheduled upgrades. You still need to get the switch configs before you hit the field so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to copy both config and code trees to the drive when you have to head out the door.

Finally, we reach the items that arose from the realization that “it sure would be handy if we had…”: a C14-to-NEMA 5-15R dongle (laptop power from data center PDU), spare iPhone/iPad wall charger, a USB to 30-pin/Lightning/microUSB 3-in-1 octopus connecter (to charge any Apple or Android phone), a lithium battery for charging iPhones (in case there’s no available power outlets where you’re at), and a light source (USB powered LED light with bendable, shape-holding, metal rod).

Because I had room, I also pack a console cable for our blade switch modules, a console cable for the data center PDUs, and an extra USB-to-microUSB long length cable.

And, regardless of my role, I never leave home (unless flying) without a Leatherman, a Bluetooth headset, and a multi-bit screwdriver.

One thing to keep in mind when building your kit is to remember that your team is out in the field with you as well. Some of these items are multi-purpose just in case someone needs to borrow it.

So, how does that all pack up?  Well, that’s where some extra packaging from DIMM replacements and laptop upgrades comes in.  

The inner box of gear that is rarely used:

The outer box of gear that is frequently used (console cables):

The box height is about 8in x 10in x 2in (HxWxD) and fits very nicely into the middle compartment of a backpack.  

Question is:  what new thing will I find missing the next time in the field?