[c-nsp] Top 10 Network Engineering Tools

[Justin M. Streiner]

On Mon, 28 Jan 2008, Joseph Jackson wrote:

> Myself and a coworker are trying to get together a list of the top ten tools
> any network engineer shouldn't be without.  We're looking for vendor neutral
> tools.  So what do you all think are the most haves?

My must-have tools (physical):
1. a laptop with a real RS-232 serial port
2. console cables for whatever I need to touch
3. an assortment of flat and phillips-head screwdrivers
4. wire cutter/leatherman
5. reusable ESD grounding strap
6. keys for whatever cabinets/cages I need to get into
7. building access (swipe cards, proximity badges/fobs, keys, ID badges...)
8. jumpers - if not pre-made, include ends and tools to make them
9. OTDR with appropriate modules to test the lengths and types of fiber I
    need to test
10. extra flash/CF cards/CF to PC card adapters


My must-have tools (software for my laptop (Linux)):
1. Minicom
2. SSH/SSH2 client
3. nmap
4. lft (layer 4 traceroute)
5. dhclient, in case I need to connect to a network that requires DHCP
7. wireshark
8. tcpdump
9. iperf
10. DNS tools (nslookup, host, dig, etc...)