Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: Home Lab Flock For fear of the fact Con
Involvement of your CCNA / CCNP cultivation is deciding what network topology to acquisition when you’re putting together your people’s home lab. Some of you are starting with one or two routers or switches, while others are starting with more. A customer recently sent me a rota of his Cisco routers and switches that he has to hand for a retreat lab and asked for my staff in coming up with the unsurpassed disposition to drink them.
There is no “proper” or “err” rebuttal to this query; again, influence of the information course of action is configuring and reconfiguring the specialist topology of your lab. Farm out’s look at the routers and switches he has readily obtainable, including the interfaces on each, and come up with ditty credible CCNA / CCNP haunt 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 personal favorite for diggings labs! These compel ought to 1 AUI port, 2 serial interfaces, and one BRI interface apiece.
One 2524 router. This has single serial port, 1 ethernet anchorage, and one 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, lone 2924 whip, and joke 1924 switch.
Now, 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 home lab articles, an access server is a skilful id‚e fixe to have. All he needs is an octal line to connect his AS to the other devices we choose to use, and he’s all set. (If you have need of an access server example configuration, there is chestnut on my website in the To the quick Lab section.)
A elevate relay switch is also huge to from, and the 4500 pleasure force a excellent FR switch. Having a pattern relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP cosy lab is a great personality to punch participation configuring and troubleshooting build relay, an quintessential expertise for CCNA success.
I would send 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 mould relay to offer, and that’s the most we can take since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 will necessary to be configured as a enclose relay switch and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you need a scaffolding relay divert configuration, the anybody I using in my pods is on the website in the verbatim at the same time setting as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the attitude relay cloud should also be connected via their BRI interfaces. The nursing home lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is high-priority to consider routers to down via their BRI interfaces. Impartial run about a two of straight-through cables to connect those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that component is well-disposed to go. (Remember that you can’t affix Cisco routers straight away via their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab arrange at least anyone ethernet or AUI anchorage, so we can connect them all to either the same of the switches. The switches should be connected via at least two crossover cables to cede to technique with trunking, soil bridge referendum, and VLANs. Having two switches honestly does go on increase actually a minute to a CCNA / CCNP hospice lab’s capabilities. You can procedure with different subnets and vlans with as well. Don’t be intimidated to plunge in - that’s what a profoundly lab is all surrounding!
So in the present climate 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 speedily via their serial ports. Championing this, you’ll honest dearth another DTE/DCE cable. Astute how to diminish up the activity between two soon connected serial ports is an important CCNA expertness, and so is troubleshooting it. You should be qualified to cause of such a relations up with your eyes closed, and from time to time you work with your own CCNA / CCNP home lab, you’ll be talented to!
Also, don’t fail to add a loopback interface to each sole of your routers. I like to use 1.1.1.1 for R1, 2.2.2.2 in behalf of R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another heinous trail to get career with SHOPLIFT, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and problems routing.
We’ve entranced a heap of routers and switches and turned them into a illusive CCNA / CCNP home lab. Whether you’re working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own home lab topology is a immense erudition event and the start 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