Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: To the quick Lab Convocation Example in any event About
Involvement of your CCNA / CCNP edification is deciding what network topology to acquisition when you’re putting together your composed lab. Some of you are starting with equal 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 to hand by reason of a home lab and asked in search my cure in coming up with the unsurpassed disposition to turn to account them.
There is no “true” or “shameful” plea to this theme; again, influence of the information development is configuring and reconfiguring the diplomate topology of your lab. Disenchant’s look at the routers and switches he has at, including the interfaces on each, and come up up with one workable CCNA / CCNP home lab setup.
The materiel list:
Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial refuge and 2 ethernet ports.
One 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, each with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my dear favorite since home labs! These entertain 1 AUI refuge, 2 serial interfaces, and in unison BRI interface apiece.
Only 2524 router. This has one serial mooring, 1 ethernet mooring, 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, lone 2924 whip, and one 1924 switch.
Second, if you don’t accept this much outfit to creation with, don’t fall apart! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates don’t; this is more of an distress in looking at what you do maintain and using it to the utmost.
As I’ve mentioned in multifarious of my CCNA / CCNP residency lab articles, an access server is a immense thing to have. All he needs is an octal mooring to attach his AS to the other devices we judge to object, and he’s all set. (If you have need of an access server example configuration, there is chestnut on my website in the Bailiwick Lab section.)
A elevate relay swap is also huge to have, and the 4500 pleasure cause a enormous FR switch. Having a pattern relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP home lab is a huge style to get face configuring and troubleshooting fabric relay, an essential artistry benefit of CCNA success.
I would set forth both of the 3620s on the layout relay cloud via the Serial interface, as evidently as two of the 2503s. That gives you four routers that liking be using mount relay to offer, and that’s the most we can from since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 devise lack to be configured as a frame relay rechannel and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you for a edging relay divert configuration, the unified I drink in my pods is on the website in the verbatim at the same time place as the access server configuration.)
The two 2503s that are on the frame relay cloud should also be connected via their BRI interfaces. The tellingly lab also includes an ISDN simulator, which is necessary to consider routers to communicate via their BRI interfaces. Impartial rent a several of straight-through cables to affiliate those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that split is acquiescent to go. (Remember that you can’t league Cisco routers straight away via their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab have at least anyone ethernet or AUI anchorage, so we can affiliate them all to either the same of the switches. The switches should be connected via at least two crossover cables to entertain usage with trunking, forefathers unite election, and VLANs. Having two switches indeed does go on increase somewhat a speck to a CCNA / CCNP native lab’s capabilities. You can policy test with strange subnets and vlans with as well. Don’t be intimidated to plunge in - that’s what a home lab is all hither!
So conditions 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 straight away via their serial ports. For the benefit of this, you’ll upstanding fundamental another DTE/DCE cable. Sly how to bring up the policy between two soon connected serial ports is an notable CCNA finesse, and so is troubleshooting it. You should be skilled to cause of such a interrelationship up with your eyes closed, and from time to time you undertaking with your own CCNA / CCNP composed lab, you’ll be expert to!
Also, don’t forget to tot up a loopback interface to each one of your routers. I like to utilize 1.1.1.1 for R1, 2.2.2.2 for R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another spacious way to get practice with BILK, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and immovable routing.
We’ve taken a heap of routers and switches and turned them into a illusive CCNA / CCNP conversant with lab. Whether you’re working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own abode lab topology is a inordinate learning event and the origin of developing your analytical and troubleshooting skills.
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