Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: To the quick Lab Fitting Case Chew over
Voice of your CCNA / CCNP education is deciding what network topology to treatment 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 character recently sent me a list of his Cisco routers and switches that he has readily obtainable by reason of a habitation lab and asked in search my staff in coming up with the most qualified feeling to use them.
There is no “favourably” or “shameful” conform to to this theme; again, part of the lore course of action is configuring and reconfiguring the diplomate topology of your lab. Disenchant’s look at the routers and switches he has available, including the interfaces on each, and take up with united possible CCNA / CCNP serene lab setup.
The equipment list:
Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial seaport and 2 ethernet ports.
One 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, each with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my special favorite since diggings labs! These entertain 1 AUI refuge, 2 serial interfaces, and in unison BRI interface apiece.
Identical 2524 router. This has limerick serial refuge, 1 ethernet anchorage, and unified BRI interface.
Limerick 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, one 2924 switch, and a particular 1924 switch.
Second, if you don’t from this much outfit to master-work with, don’t panic! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates don’t; this is more of an wield in looking at what you do maintain and using it to the utmost.
As I’ve mentioned in many of my CCNA / CCNP home lab articles, an access server is a monstrous id‚e fixe to have. All he needs is an octal mooring to connect his AS to the other devices we pick out to object, and he’s all set. (If you be in want of an access server test configuration, there is harmonious on my website in the Home base Lab section.)
A frame relay swap is also out-and-out to have, and the 4500 pleasure cause a excellent FR switch. Having a pattern relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP home lab is a great personality to pick up face configuring and troubleshooting fabric relay, an important knack instead of CCNA success.
I would put away both of the 3620s on the support relay cloud via the Serial interface, as ok as two of the 2503s. That gives you four routers that liking be using frame relay to communicate, and that’s the most we can take since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 thinks fitting need to be configured as a system relay direct and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you desideratum a chassis relay birch configuration, the rhyme I use in my pods is on the website in the verbatim at the same time hit pay dirt as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the attitude relay cloud should also be connected via their BRI interfaces. The people’s home lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is life-or-death to allow routers to reach via their BRI interfaces. Just pick up a several of straight-through cables to link those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that segment is enthusiastic to go. (Bear in mind that you can’t connect Cisco routers straight away via their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab have in the offing at least unified ethernet or AUI seaport, so we can tie them all to either the same of the switches. The switches should be connected via at least two crossover cables to allow usage with trunking, destroy bridge designation, and VLANs. Having two switches really does count up fairly a speck to a CCNA / CCNP home lab’s capabilities. You can experiment with contrastive subnets and vlans with as well. Don’t be intimidated to plunge in - that’s what a profoundly lab is all almost!
So now we’ve got four routers connected via mount relay, two via ISDN, and the others via ethernet segments. Two of the routers that are not using their serial interfaces should be connected speedily via their serial ports. For this, you’ll by a hair’s breadth need another DTE/DCE cable. Knowing how to convey up the activity between two promptly connected serial ports is an important CCNA expertness, and so is troubleshooting it. You should be skilled to bring such a connection up with your eyes closed, and directly you undertaking with your own CCNA / CCNP home lab, you’ll be superior to!
Also, don’t forget to add a loopback interface to each sole of your routers. I like to utility 1.1.1.1 in behalf of R1, 2.2.2.2 because of R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another great trail to hire career with DECEIVE, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and problems routing.
We’ve taken a wad abundance of routers and switches and turned them into a bizarre CCNA / CCNP conversant with lab. Whether you’re working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own impress upon lab topology is a inordinate knowledge contact and the opening 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