Element of your CCNA / CCNP education is deciding what network topology to use when you're putting with each other your house lab. Some of you are beginning with a single or two routers or switches, while other individuals are beginning with far more. A customer not too long ago sent me a list of his Cisco routers and switches that he has accessible for a house lab and asked for my assist in coming up with the very best way to use them.
There is no "appropriate" or "wrong" answer to this query once again, portion of the finding out approach is configuring and reconfiguring the physical topology of your lab. Let's appear at the routers and switches he has available, which includes the interfaces on each, and come up with a single feasible CCNA / CCNP residence lab setup.
The gear list:
Two 3620 routers. Every has 1 serial port and two ethernet ports.
1 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, every with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my individual favourite for house labs! These have 1 AUI port, 2 serial interfaces, and 1 BRI interface apiece.
1 2524 router. This has one serial port, 1 ethernet port, and 1 BRI interface.
One particular 4500 router. This has eight BRI ports, 2 ethernet ports, and much more importantly, four serial ports.
He also has a 5200 access server, an ISDN simulator, 1 2924 switch, and one particular 1924 switch.
Now, if you do not have this significantly equipment to function with, don't panic! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates do not this is far more of an workout in seeking at what you do have and utilizing it to the utmost.
As I've described in many of my CCNA / CCNP property lab articles, an access server is a excellent issue to have. All he requirements is an octal cable to connect his AS to the other devices we choose to use, and he's all set. Alarm Relay contains further concerning when to flirt with it. (If you need to have an access server sample configuration, there is one on my internet site in the Residence Lab section.)
A frame relay switch is also wonderful to have, and the 4500 will make a great FR switch. Getting a frame relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP property lab is a excellent way to get encounter configuring and troubleshooting frame relay, an important talent for CCNA good results.
I would put each of the 3620s on the frame relay cloud by way of the Serial interface, as nicely as two of the 2503s. That provides you four routers that will be utilizing frame relay to communicate, and that's the most we can have because the 4500 has 4 serial ports. The 4500 will require to be configured as a frame relay switch and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Once again, if you need to have a frame relay switch configuration, the a single I use in my pods is on the website in the same spot as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the frame relay cloud ought to also be connected through their BRI interfaces. The property lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is required to let routers to communicate via their BRI interfaces. Just get a couple of straight-via cables to connect those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that segment is ready to go. (Don't forget that you cannot connect Cisco routers straight by way of their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab have at least 1 ethernet or AUI port, so we can connect them all to either 1 of the switches. The switches should be connected by way of at least two crossover cables to permit practice with trunking, root bridge election, and VLANs. Possessing two switches genuinely does add really a bit to a CCNA / CCNP residence lab's capabilities. You can experiment with diverse subnets and vlans with as properly. Don't be afraid to dive in - that is what a residence lab is all about!
So now we've got four routers connected via frame relay, two by means of ISDN, and the others through ethernet segments. If you know any thing, you will possibly desire to discover about best alarm monitoring services. Two of the routers that are not making use of their serial interfaces ought to be connected straight through their serial ports. For this, you will just want an additional DTE/DCE cable. Understanding how to bring up the line between two straight connected serial ports is an critical CCNA talent, and so is troubleshooting it. You ought to be able to bring such a connection up with your eyes closed, and once you operate with your personal CCNA / CCNP home lab, you'll be able to!
Also, don't neglect to add a loopback interface to every single one of your routers. Dig up further on our partner essay - Navigate to this website: high quality residential alarm monitoring. I like to use 1.1.1.1 for R1, two.two.two.2 for R2, and so on. I learned about residential alarm monitoring company by searching Bing. Marketing loopbacks is another great way to get practice with RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and static routing.
We've taken a pile of routers and switches and turned them into a great CCNA / CCNP house lab. No matter whether you happen to be functioning with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your personal home lab topology is a fantastic learning expertise and the beginning of establishing your analytical and troubleshooting expertise.
There is no "appropriate" or "wrong" answer to this query once again, portion of the finding out approach is configuring and reconfiguring the physical topology of your lab. Let's appear at the routers and switches he has available, which includes the interfaces on each, and come up with a single feasible CCNA / CCNP residence lab setup.
The gear list:
Two 3620 routers. Every has 1 serial port and two ethernet ports.
1 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, every with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my individual favourite for house labs! These have 1 AUI port, 2 serial interfaces, and 1 BRI interface apiece.
1 2524 router. This has one serial port, 1 ethernet port, and 1 BRI interface.
One particular 4500 router. This has eight BRI ports, 2 ethernet ports, and much more importantly, four serial ports.
He also has a 5200 access server, an ISDN simulator, 1 2924 switch, and one particular 1924 switch.
Now, if you do not have this significantly equipment to function with, don't panic! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates do not this is far more of an workout in seeking at what you do have and utilizing it to the utmost.
As I've described in many of my CCNA / CCNP property lab articles, an access server is a excellent issue to have. All he requirements is an octal cable to connect his AS to the other devices we choose to use, and he's all set. Alarm Relay contains further concerning when to flirt with it. (If you need to have an access server sample configuration, there is one on my internet site in the Residence Lab section.)
A frame relay switch is also wonderful to have, and the 4500 will make a great FR switch. Getting a frame relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP property lab is a excellent way to get encounter configuring and troubleshooting frame relay, an important talent for CCNA good results.
I would put each of the 3620s on the frame relay cloud by way of the Serial interface, as nicely as two of the 2503s. That provides you four routers that will be utilizing frame relay to communicate, and that's the most we can have because the 4500 has 4 serial ports. The 4500 will require to be configured as a frame relay switch and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Once again, if you need to have a frame relay switch configuration, the a single I use in my pods is on the website in the same spot as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the frame relay cloud ought to also be connected through their BRI interfaces. The property lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is required to let routers to communicate via their BRI interfaces. Just get a couple of straight-via cables to connect those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that segment is ready to go. (Don't forget that you cannot connect Cisco routers straight by way of their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab have at least 1 ethernet or AUI port, so we can connect them all to either 1 of the switches. The switches should be connected by way of at least two crossover cables to permit practice with trunking, root bridge election, and VLANs. Possessing two switches genuinely does add really a bit to a CCNA / CCNP residence lab's capabilities. You can experiment with diverse subnets and vlans with as properly. Don't be afraid to dive in - that is what a residence lab is all about!
So now we've got four routers connected via frame relay, two by means of ISDN, and the others through ethernet segments. If you know any thing, you will possibly desire to discover about best alarm monitoring services. Two of the routers that are not making use of their serial interfaces ought to be connected straight through their serial ports. For this, you will just want an additional DTE/DCE cable. Understanding how to bring up the line between two straight connected serial ports is an critical CCNA talent, and so is troubleshooting it. You ought to be able to bring such a connection up with your eyes closed, and once you operate with your personal CCNA / CCNP home lab, you'll be able to!
Also, don't neglect to add a loopback interface to every single one of your routers. Dig up further on our partner essay - Navigate to this website: high quality residential alarm monitoring. I like to use 1.1.1.1 for R1, two.two.two.2 for R2, and so on. I learned about residential alarm monitoring company by searching Bing. Marketing loopbacks is another great way to get practice with RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and static routing.
We've taken a pile of routers and switches and turned them into a great CCNA / CCNP house lab. No matter whether you happen to be functioning with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your personal home lab topology is a fantastic learning expertise and the beginning of establishing your analytical and troubleshooting expertise.