2018 Comparison for virtualised labbing?

Chris.Mackenzie01

I badly need to get my teeth into something, and the Azure stuff is just not going in. So I've turned to my trusty Cisco!

Previously used GNS3 for my CCNA and found it easy enough to use. I think I even did some packet tracer labs.

I want to look at starting to sit my CCNP, Starting with Switch and not sure what way to go.
I dont want equipment if I can help it, Its bulky and I dont have the room at the moment.

I've read into VIRL and seems to support alot but I'm struggling to find any internet posts about VIRL vs GNS3 in 2018. I'm not fussed about the $200 cost as the end gain far outweighs that. There is a added bonus that I'm putting a CSR 1000V into Azure in the coming months and it would give me some hands on.

both my laptop and desktop are capable of handling either or at large scale. so compute resources are not so much the issue, just the experience mainly Has anyone used either or recently?

I've heard of UnetLab aswell. Although not found any comparisons

Tolg4

You can use VIRL images and import them in GNS3.
You have the following: IOSv and IOSvL2, NX-OSv and NX-OS 9000v, IOS XRv and IOS XRv 9000, IOS XE (CSR1000V), ASAv.

Check David Bombal on youtube, he has some videos about that.

negru_tudor

Chris.Mackenzie01 wrote: »

I badly need to get my teeth into something, and the Azure stuff is just not going in. So I've turned to my trusty Cisco!

Previously used GNS3 for my CCNA and found it easy enough to use. I think I even did some packet tracer labs.

I want to look at starting to sit my CCNP, Starting with Switch and not sure what way to go.
I dont want equipment if I can help it, Its bulky and I dont have the room at the moment.

I've read into VIRL and seems to support alot but I'm struggling to find any internet posts about VIRL vs GNS3 in 2018. I'm not fussed about the $200 cost as the end gain far outweighs that. There is a added bonus that I'm putting a CSR 1000V into Azure in the coming months and it would give me some hands on.

both my laptop and desktop are capable of handling either or at large scale. so compute resources are not so much the issue, just the experience mainly Has anyone used either or recently?

I've heard of UnetLab aswell. Although not found any comparisons

Look into EVE-NG. It does pretty much what GNS3 does but the GUI is web based. I've been (and still am) a GNS3 fan but the convenience of having a web-based GUI that comes with EVE (no desktop client installation etc) is awesome.

Legacy User

EVE is awesome, you run it on a high powered machine and access it via url anywhere you want. I like to lab on my deck with my light dell xps laptop and a cold beer enjoying the breeze.

Chris.Mackenzie01

That does sound useful,
Previously I had to setup my GNS3 on both my XPS and my Desktop and then used dropbox to load the configs across. Was such a PITA.

Does EVE work with VIRL images? I'll do some reading this evening.

Legacy User

Yes it does, I'm pretty sure it supports the same stuff that gns3 does but setting it up is different.

negru_tudor

dmarcisco wrote: »

Yes it does, I'm pretty sure it supports the same stuff that gns3 does but setting it up is different.

Correct. Once you get the hang of it and how images are added you can come up with very creative ideas & you'll soon learn that you can build a lot more stuff in EVE than just R&S. I got almost all of the new CCIE Collaboration v2 equipment running in EVE alongside routers, switches, Windows AD servers, ASA etc. It's an awesome platform and as you said, load it on a powerful server and use any client machine with a browser to do your labs.

willieb

Consider the GNS3 virtual machine as well. It will run on VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, and VMware ESXi.

I use the ESXi version installed on my personal server. I can build labs and access them from multiple machines without syncing anything since the IOS images and all labs/files are saved on the server. I access it from work, home, and my laptop, anytime, and anywhere as long as I have Internet.

Just another option to consider.

negru_tudor

willieb wrote: »

Consider the GNS3 virtual machine as well. It will run on VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, and VMware ESXi.

I use the ESXi version installed on my personal server. I can build labs and access them from multiple machines without syncing anything since the IOS images and all labs/files are saved on the server. I access it from work, home, and my laptop, anytime, and anywhere as long as I have Internet.

Just another option to consider.

The advantage EVE has over GNS3 is that there's no need for a desktop client installation. You can just jump on a browser to build labs. Most of the times I see people being turned off by GNS3 due to the desktop client and VM aspect. Don't get me wrong, GNS3 is an awesome tool, so is VIRL for example but IMHO there's an obvious advantage that EVE-NG has over these guys.