Meaning of the default EIGRP metric

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Introduction and motivation

I have always felt the EIGRP metric as being really overwhelming. I see values like «2820096» and instead of understanding it, I always end up asking what the hell does that number mean.

For example, in RIP:

R    192.168.0.0/24 [120/3] via 172.16.1.1, 00:00:15, FastEthernet0/0

Just by looking at the metric of «3» I immediately know what is means: there are three steps between the announced network and the router receiving the advertisement. Easy, right? «Understanding the number» makes it easy for me to manage and diagnose it.

In OSPF, the metric (cost) is still not as cumbersome as EIGRP’s. However, in the following example, can you identify what does «66» mean? For you, is it «just a number» that won over another because of its numerical value being lower? How do you know if the number is right or not?

O   192.168.0.0/24 [110/66] via 172.16.1.1, 00:00:82, FastEthernet0/0

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Etiquette in e-mail message quoting

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This is a translation of my previous post Etiqueta en el citado de mensajes de e-mail.

Introduction

The most ignored Internet Etiquette rule is that of the posting style when replying to an e-mail message.

By «quoting» I mean the inclusion of a previous message in a new one (for example, a reply) with the intent of stating the relevance of the answer itself in the original context. I would say «Dan, I don’t know what are you talking about. Please quote the original e-mail in your reply next time in order to know what were you replying to.»

Almost every e-mail client do quote the original message in the reply, at least by default. That is good, and it contributes to the «netiquette», but its abuse has made it completely useless.

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