Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: Where one lives stress Lab Flock Specimen About
Voice of your CCNA / CCNP upbringing is deciding what network topology to acquisition when you’re putting together your people’s home lab. Some of you are starting with equal or two routers or switches, while others are starting with more. A guy recently sent me a record of his Cisco routers and switches that he has to hand for a retreat lab and asked after my staff in coming up with the unsurpassed disposition to turn to account them.
There is no “right” or “err” conform to to this theme; again, part of the information process is configuring and reconfiguring the physical topology of your lab. Farm out’s look at the routers and switches he has available, including the interfaces on each, and come up with united possible CCNA / CCNP digs lab setup.
The materiel shopping list:
Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial port and 2 ethernet ports.
One 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, each with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my private favorite for nursing home labs! These have 1 AUI anchorage, 2 serial interfaces, and one BRI interface apiece.
Only 2524 router. This has one serial mooring, 1 ethernet anchorage, and the same BRI interface.
One 4500 router. This has eight BRI ports, 2 ethernet ports, and more importantly, four serial ports.
He also has a 5200 access server, an ISDN simulator, lone 2924 switch, and a particular 1924 switch.
Second, if you don’t arrange this much appurtenances to creation with, don’t dismay! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates don’t; this is more of an action in looking at what you do have and using it to the utmost.
As I’ve mentioned in uncountable of my CCNA / CCNP stingingly lab articles, an access server is a immense affair to have. All he needs is an octal radiogram to tie in his AS to the other devices we decide to from, and he’s all set. (If you need an access server sampling configuration, there is one on my website in the Home base Lab section.)
A frame relay swap is also out-and-out to include, and the 4500 require cause a enormous FR switch. Having a structure relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP bailiwick lab is a huge style to punch common sense configuring and troubleshooting fabric relay, an important artistry for CCNA success.
I would put away both of the 3620s on the support relay cloud via the Serial interface, as well as two of the 2503s. That gives you four routers that liking be using mount relay to transmit, and that’s the most we can have since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 will desideratum to be configured as a frame relay exchange and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you need a edging relay beat configuration, the rhyme I using in my pods is on the website in the same situation as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the frame relay cloud should also be connected via their BRI interfaces. The people’s home lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is necessary to concede routers to communicate via their BRI interfaces. Just rent a several of straight-through cables to link those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that segment is ready to go. (Remember that you can’t league Cisco routers directly via their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab secure at least unified ethernet or AUI seaport, so we can affiliate them all to either one of the switches. The switches should be connected via at least two crossover cables to entertain custom with trunking, soil unite election, and VLANs. Having two switches really does combine actually a speck to a CCNA / CCNP home lab’s capabilities. You can investigate with strange subnets and vlans with as well. Don’t be on edge to dive in - that’s what a home lab is all surrounding!
So now we’ve got four routers connected via scaffolding relay, two via ISDN, and the others via ethernet segments. Two of the routers that are not using their serial interfaces should be connected momentarily via their serial ports. For the benefit of this, you’ll honest need another DTE/DCE cable. Knowing how to diminish up the activity between two promptly connected serial ports is an leading CCNA finesse, and so is troubleshooting it. You should be qualified to fetch such a interrelationship up with your eyes closed, and from time to time you position with your own CCNA / CCNP refuge lab, you’ll be expert to!
Also, don’t fail to tot up a loopback interface to each equal of your routers. I like to utility 1.1.1.1 in place of R1, 2.2.2.2 because of R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another heinous way to accumulate modus operandi with BILK, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and problems routing.
We’ve enchanted a holdings of routers and switches and turned them into a fantastic CCNA / CCNP conversant with lab. Whether you’re working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own home lab topology is a terrific lore event and the origin of developing your analytical and troubleshooting skills.
Tags: access, bri, ccna, ccnp, crossover, dte/dce, ethernet, exam, frame, free, Home, icnd, interface, intro, isdn, lab, loopback, network, pass, relay, router, serial, server, setup, simulator, switch, topology, tutorial