Cisco CCNA / CCNP Tutorial: Dwelling Lab Meeting Case Examine - Computers

Part of your CCNA / CCNP training is deciding what community topology to make use of when you're placing collectively your property lab. Some of you might be starting with one or two routers or switches, whereas others are starting with more. A buyer just lately despatched me a list of his Cisco routers and switches that he has accessible for a house lab and requested for my help in developing with one of the simplest ways to make use of them.

There isn't a "right" or "mistaken" reply to this query; once more, part of the training course of is configuring and reconfiguring the bodily topology of your lab. Let us take a look at the routers and switches he has available, together with the interfaces on every, and come up with one attainable CCNA / CCNP residence lab setup.

The equipment checklist:

Two 3620 routers. Each has 1 serial port and 2 ethernet ports.

One 3640 router. This has ethernet playing cards, every with two ports, and AUI ports.

Three 2503s, my private favourite for home labs! These have 1 AUI port, 2 serial interfaces, and one BRI interface apiece.

One 2524 router. This has one serial port, 1 ethernet port, and one BRI interface.

One 4500 router. This has eight BRI ports, 2 ethernet ports, and more importantly, four serial ports.

He additionally has a 5200 access server, an ISDN simulator, one 2924 swap, and one 1924 switch.

Now, if you do not have this much tools to work with, don't panic! Most CCNA / CCNP candidates don't; that is more of an exercise in taking a look at what you do have and utilizing it to the utmost.

As I've mentioned in a lot of my CCNA / CCNP residence lab articles, an access server is a superb factor to have. All he needs is an octal cable to attach his AS to the other gadgets we select to use, and he is all set. (If you need an access server sample configuration, there may be one on my website within the House Lab section.)

A frame relay change can be great to have, and the 4500 will make an awesome FR switch. Having a frame relay cloud in your CCNA / CCNP residence lab is a great way to get expertise configuring and troubleshooting body relay, a vital skill for CCNA success.

I might put each of the 3620s on the body relay cloud by way of the Serial interface, as well as of the 2503s. That provides you four routers that might be utilizing frame relay to communicate, and that is the most we can have because the 4500 has four serial ports. The 4500 will have to be configured as a frame relay swap and connected to the opposite routers by way of a DTE/DCE cable. (Again, when you want a frame relay change configuration, the one I exploit in my pods is on the web site in the same place as the entry server configuration.)

The 2 2503s which are on the body relay cloud must also be related through their BRI interfaces. The home lab additionally includes an ISDN simulator, which is critical to allow routers to communicate by way of their BRI interfaces. Simply get a couple of straight-by cables to connect these two routers to the ISDN simulator and that section is able to go. (Remember that you would be able to't join Cisco routers instantly through their BRI interfaces.)

All the routers in this lab have not less than one ethernet or AUI port, so we are able to join all of them to either one of the switches. The switches needs to be related by way of no less than crossover cables to permit apply with trunking, root bridge election, and VLANs. Having switches actually does add fairly a bit to a CCNA / CCNP house lab's capabilities. You'll be able to experiment with totally different subnets and vlans with as well. Don't be afraid to dive in - that is what a home lab is all about!

So now we have four routers linked through body relay, through ISDN, and the others by way of ethernet segments. Two of the routers that aren't utilizing their serial interfaces must be related immediately via their serial ports. For this, you may simply need one other DTE/DCE cable. Knowing how one can bring up the road between two instantly related serial ports is a vital CCNA ability, and so is troubleshooting it. It is best to be able to carry such a connection up with your eyes closed, and once you work with your own CCNA / CCNP residence lab, you'll!

Also, don't forget to add a loopback interface to every certainly one of your routers. I like to make use of 1.1.1.1 for R1, 2.2.2.2 for R2, and so on. Advertising loopbacks is one other nice approach to get apply with RIP, OSPF, EIGRP, IGRP, and static routing.

We've taken a pile of routers and switches and turned them right into an implausible CCNA / CCNP dwelling lab. Whether or not you are working with two Cisco units or ten, arising with your own residence lab topology is a superb studying expertise and the start of growing

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