Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: To the quick Lab Convocation Example in any event Study
Involvement of your CCNA / CCNP upbringing is deciding what network topology to speak when you’re putting together your people’s home lab. Some of you are starting with unified or two routers or switches, while others are starting with more. A customer recently sent me a book of his Cisco routers and switches that he has within reach by reason of a habitation lab and asked in compensation my staff in coming up with the paramount behaviour pattern to put them.
There is no “favourably” or “wrong” conform to to this query; again, role of the lore development is configuring and reconfiguring the specialist topology of your lab. Arrange for’s look at the routers and switches he has readily obtainable, including the interfaces on each, and come up up with united workable CCNA / CCNP haunt lab setup.
The equipment list:
Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial seaport and 2 ethernet ports.
Single 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, each with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my special favorite since stamping-ground labs! These from 1 AUI port, 2 serial interfaces, and single BRI interface apiece.
One 2524 router. This has one serial seaport, 1 ethernet refuge, and the same BRI interface.
A woman 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, undivided 2924 whip, and joke 1924 switch.
Contemporarily, if you don’t accept this much equipment to master-work with, don’t dismay! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates don’t; this is more of an distress in looking at what you do possess and using it to the utmost.
As I’ve mentioned in multifarious of my CCNA / CCNP to the heart lab articles, an access server is a monstrous id‚e fixe to have. All he needs is an octal mooring to put together his AS to the other devices we decide to use, and he’s all set. (If you need an access server example configuration, there is harmonious on my website in the Home base Lab section.)
A frame relay swap is also great to have, and the 4500 will cause a skilful FR switch. Having a structure relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP home lab is a eximious style to punch common sense configuring and troubleshooting frame relay, an essential skill instead of CCNA success.
I would put both of the 3620s on the plan relay cloud via the Serial interface, as evidently as two of the 2503s. That gives you four routers that see fit be using mount relay to offer, and that’s the most we can have since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 will lack to be configured as a system relay exchange and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you need a frame relay beat configuration, the unified I use in my pods is on the website in the after all is said place as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the schema relay cloud should also be connected via their BRI interfaces. The home lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is high-priority to allow routers to reach via their BRI interfaces. Impartial pick up a couple of straight-through cables to link those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that part is ready to go. (Recall that you can’t fasten Cisco routers straight away via their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab secure at least unified ethernet or AUI refuge, 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 entertain practice with trunking, destroy span designation, and VLANs. Having two switches indeed does go on increase actually a bit 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 plunge in - that’s what a home base lab is all hither!
So conditions we’ve got four routers connected via edging 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. Championing this, you’ll honest dearth 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 able to cause of such a relations up with your eyes closed, and directly you work with your own CCNA / CCNP refuge lab, you’ll be able to!
Also, don’t omit to tot up a loopback interface to each one of your routers. I like to use 1.1.1.1 in behalf of R1, 2.2.2.2 in behalf of R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another great trail to receive modus operandi with RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and immovable routing.
We’ve taken a heap of routers and switches and turned them into a illusive CCNA / CCNP accommodation lab. Whether you’re working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own hospice lab topology is a terrific knowledge event 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