Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: Home Lab Assembly Example in any event Con
Region of your CCNA / CCNP cultivation is deciding what network topology to treatment when you’re putting together your home lab. Some of you are starting with solitary or two routers or switches, while others are starting with more. A customer recently sent me a list of his Cisco routers and switches that he has to hand for a habitation lab and asked after my help in coming up with the best disposition to turn to account them.
There is no “proper” or “err” plea to this question; again, fragment of the lore course of action is configuring and reconfiguring the specialist topology of your lab. Disenchant’s look at the routers and switches he has available, including the interfaces on each, and meet up up with ditty possible CCNA / CCNP serene lab setup.
The accoutrements schedule:
Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial refuge and 2 ethernet ports.
A certain 3640 router. This has two ethernet cards, each with two ports, and two AUI ports.
Three 2503s, my personal favorite in search diggings labs! These entertain 1 AUI anchorage, 2 serial interfaces, and single BRI interface apiece.
A particular 2524 router. This has one serial seaport, 1 ethernet mooring, 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, united 2924 switch, and one 1924 switch.
Second, if you don’t have this much appurtenances 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 possess and using it to the utmost.
As I’ve mentioned in sundry of my CCNA / CCNP stingingly lab articles, an access server is a great thing to have. All he needs is an octal mooring to attach his AS to the other devices we choose to use, and he’s all set. (If you necessary an access server sample configuration, there is one on my website in the Home base Lab section.)
A arrangement relay switch is also huge to be subjected to, and the 4500 will force a excellent FR switch. Having a frame relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP abode lab is a superb character to pick up face configuring and troubleshooting put together relay, an quintessential artistry for CCNA success.
I would put away both of the 3620s on the support relay cloud via the Serial interface, as obviously as two of the 2503s. That gives you four routers that will be using mount relay to transfer, and that’s the most we can have since the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 devise lack to be configured as a enclose relay direct and connected to the other routers via a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, if you desideratum a edging relay divert configuration, the one 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 frame 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 reach via their BRI interfaces. Impartial pick up a couple of straight-through cables to sew those two routers to the ISDN simulator and that component is acquiescent to go. (Bear in mind that you can’t affix Cisco routers without delay via their BRI interfaces.)
All of the routers in this lab have in the offing at least one ethernet or AUI seaport, so we can affiliate them all to either one of the switches. The switches should be connected via at least two crossover cables to entertain technique with trunking, soil span election, and VLANs. Having two switches really does combine quite a speck to a CCNA / CCNP conversant with lab’s capabilities. You can experiment with strange subnets and vlans with as well. Don’t be afraid to nosedive in - that’s what a rest-home lab is all about!
So in the present climate 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. During this, you’ll honest prerequisite another DTE/DCE cable. Astute how to diminish up the line between two directly connected serial ports is an notable CCNA expertness, and so is troubleshooting it. You should be able to cause of such a influence up with your eyes closed, and from time to time you undertaking with your own CCNA / CCNP home lab, you’ll be expert to!
Also, don’t lose to add a loopback interface to each joke of your routers. I like to utility 1.1.1.1 for R1, 2.2.2.2 in behalf of R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is another great sense to get mode with BILK, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and problems routing.
We’ve enchanted a holdings of routers and switches and turned them into a fantastic CCNA / CCNP accommodations lab. Whether you’re working with two Cisco devices or ten, coming up with your own impress upon lab topology is a great lore involvement and the start of developing your analytical and troubleshooting skills.
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