You can enable detailed port statistics via the command-line interface (CLI) on switches in the Netgear M4200/M4300 family. I will explain how to set up a time range and port group, and apply them to a port or range of ports to gather throughput data. This post will make up for some shortcomings in Netgear’s CLI documentation about enabling and gathering switching statistics.

NOTE: you must enter commands enable and configure to enter administrative configuration mode prior to setting a time range or port statistics.

If you operate a Netgear switch in an environment that is subject to compliance requirements such as PCI or HIPAA, you are probably doing vulnerability scans, and the HTTP management interface of your switches will generate medium vulnerabilities (at least from Nessus):

SSL Self-Signed CertificateSSL Certificate Cannot Be Trusted* SSL Certificate Expiry

It IS possible to use signed certificates to secure the HTTPS interface on a Netgear switch, but the process to do so is insanely obscure. I do not know how someone had time to figure this out! Apparently, even Netgear tech support didn’t have any idea.

You probably have at least a few business-class switches and routers silently do their job, year after year. Network devices can be so reliable that we configure them once, and then forget that they exist. However, forgetting them is a really bad idea, since they require regular OS or firmware updates to patch vulnerabilities, and at some point, they will become unreliable and fail. If your device fails, do you have the configuration available to apply to its replacement? Are you sure the configuration that’s in your archive or documentation is up to date? This post deals with automating backups from Netgear switches and Ubiquiti EdgeRouters (and possibly switches, if they run EdgeOS). Please check out the accompanying repo at https://github.com/craigafinch/network-backup-scripts