Complete CCNP R&S Topology in GNS3 - CCNP Study Advice

willieb

Here's my rendition of the complete CCNP Routing and Switching topology in GNS3. I created it from scratch looking at the Cisco pdf. It turned out great and has been very helpful in learning the details and re-enforcing everything. I built as much as I could off the top of my head but had to look up a few things on frame relay when configuring the FR Switch, and a couple things with ipv6 redistribution.

Looking back I can see where this topology would be very helpful going through all three of the exam's study materials, not just TSHOOT. This way you become more and more familiar with the topology as time goes on.

If you are reading this with a CCNA and looking into going for CCNP, or if you've already started, hopefully this post will help you. Looking at the topology, this is as complex as CCNP will get. It looks a lot more complex than it actually is. It can be quite overwhelming looking at the entire topology at once, but don't let that scare you. Don't look at it as a whole, but at the individual technologies one at a time.

I don't mind providing the GNS3 file to anyone who would like it (without IOS images) but it won't do you much good. You need to build it yourself from scratch for it to help you the most. The time you would take trying to figure out how make make it all work by matching my version and setup, would be much better spent creating it on your own.

If I was just now starting to study for CCNP here's what I would do:

1.) Build the physical topology with ipv4 and ipv6 IPs in place.
2.) Label everything on the map as close to the Cisco topology as you can get it. I have everything pretty much labeled except IPv6.
3.) Save it in GNS3 as a base topology.
4.) As you learn in ROUTE or SWITCH, save the base file name as another file name and when you feel you are ready build that part of the lab. Do this in addition to your other labs that comes with your study courses (i.e. CBT Nuggets)

As I move towards CCIE I have considered building a free CCNP video course. Several years ago I taught at a local college and you have to know it well to teach it. So for me this would re-enforce CCNP concepts that should help me in CCIE. I haven't decided completely yet. I don't want it to slow down my CCIE studies, and I would probably wait until the CCNP R&S exams are updated. Alternatively I could go ahead and cover topics that I know will still be on it. I'll take a closer look when I finish off TSHOOT.

clarson

I've started studying for my ccnp. And, I have been wondering if it is better to build the whole ccnp topology. or can I get away with fewer pieces of equipment if I reconfigure them for the topics that i'm studying.

how did you build the ipv6 items. a different lab setup or an overlay

I do have a couple of things that confuse me with your diagram.
the connection between the distribution switch is suppose to be an etherchannel isn't it
bgp 65001 connects r1 to the cloud. not sure where the one in the diagram is
bgp 65002 connects the webserver to the cloud. I didn't think that the cloud was assigned any bgp?

I'm just starting out. maybe you can clarify some of these question that I have

looks real good

willieb

You can get away with reconfiguring devices for each topic when going through ROUTE and SWITCH, but TSHOOT is cumulative so it's best to be familiar with the entire topology before sitting for TSHOOT. This will save time. I have a friend that took TSHOOT immediately after SWITCH because the test was half price, but he barely passed. A pass is a pass, but I want to be over prepared.

The IPv6 configuration is in the lab shown above, it's just not shown physically with labels.

I just looked and yup, you are correct. I will reconfigure that link for a layer 3 port channel. Good eye.

I don't quite understand what you are asking on your bgp questions but maybe this will help. The cloud, BGP 65002 is just another router like the others and represents the ISP. Since it represents the ISP I chose a cloud as the image. So the cloud router is BGP AS 65002 and neighbors with R1 BGP AS 65001. The WebServer represents a web server somewhere out on the Internet. It's of course attached directly to the router appearing as a cloud, but it works fine in a lab environment.

Hopefully this helps, if not ask away.

Edit: Ok I changed the single layer 3 link from DSW1 to DSW2 to port channel 12. Interestingly I couldn't get a port channel to come up layer 3 using pagp, lacp, or on. So I left it as layer 2 and configured the port channels as access ports on vlan 999, then assigned the layer 3 config on int vlan 999 on both switches. Janky I know but it works lol.

clarson

are we given much about how the ios is configured? (besides the routing protocols and where there is redistrubution)

being this is troubleshooting, fixing an issue and verifying that your fix corrected the issue. Which to me, means your not configuring a protocol that isn't there (from what I hear, on the test you can't even run the config commands) Such as the access switches are layer 2. There are no loops as configured. so does STP even need to be running. No test questions with that. So, some version of STP is running. is it pvstp, rstp or mst? where is the root bridge? it should be on a distribution switch. and the secondary should be on the other. (but does a test need to reflect the real world?)

Do we have other information besides the topology? (we know the routing protocols and nat/dhcp/gre tunnel)

just seems like a lot of time is being wasted on interpreting what they say is configured and not troubeshooting the configuration.

between which addresses did you assign the ipv6 connection between DSW2 and R4?

Mr.Robot255

Hey Willie 

good write and congrats on your route and switch exams.

Can you tell me what model routers/switches  you used in your topology, i have a few installed already but just cos gns3 takes a while to get used to i don't wanna waste study time figuring out what works and what doesn't. If you have any tips id love to hear them

thanks

willieb

clarson said:

are we given much about how the ios is configured? (besides the routing protocols and where there is redistrubution)

being this is troubleshooting, fixing an issue and verifying that your fix corrected the issue. Which to me, means your not configuring a protocol that isn't there (from what I hear, on the test you can't even run the config commands) Such as the access switches are layer 2. There are no loops as configured. so does STP even need to be running. No test questions with that. So, some version of STP is running. is it pvstp, rstp or mst? where is the root bridge? it should be on a distribution switch. and the secondary should be on the other. (but does a test need to reflect the real world?)

Do we have other information besides the topology? (we know the routing protocols and nat/dhcp/gre tunnel)

just seems like a lot of time is being wasted on interpreting what they say is configured and not troubeshooting the configuration.

between which addresses did you assign the ipv6 connection between DSW2 and R4?

 Sorry for the late response guys. I got out of studying for a while and completely missed these posts. I'm back in the study game for TSHOOT.

Yes, if you look at the published Cisco topology on pdf it shows everything you need to know. It doesn't give you IOS commands of course but does allow you to configure the topology technologies as you learn going through your studies.

I'm not 100% clear on what you are asking there, but the layer 2 switches do have potential loops and is running (and needs) STP. The published Cisco topology doesn't give you details on which STP technology it is. My guess would be PVST+ but we should know and be ready to troubleshoot them all. Where the root bridge is, is not relevant. I'm sure it's one of the distro switches but it could vary which one on the exam from ticket to ticket.

The published Cisco topology in pdf shows more info than my image. It should show everything you need to know to recreate it.

There's not time wasted on not troubleshooting by building this lab, simply because it helps you understand the topology and how things are setup and how the technologies are configured. You are actually saving time on the exam because learning the topology means increased speed in troubleshooting it on the exam it self, where time is most important. You can't troubleshoot something if you don't understand how it works in the first place. The more familiar you are with the topology the faster you will be able to troubleshoot it. That's the purpose of building it.

Once you build this lab and are familiar with it you can then utilize the break/fix labs in the training programs you are using (CBT, Boson, etc). Now in a perfect world if you have some friends that can break it for you and you fix it that would be ideal, as long as it's very similar to what can be expected on the exam. For example, similar to CBT and Boson break/fix labs.

Hopefully this answers the last question:

R4#

interface GigabitEthernet1/0

 ip address 10.1.4.5 255.255.255.252

 negotiation auto

 ipv6 address 2026::2:1/122

 ipv6 rip RIP_ZONE enable

end

DSW1#

interface GigabitEthernet0/0

 no switchport

 ip address 10.1.4.6 255.255.255.252

 negotiation auto

 ipv6 address 2026::2:2/122

 ipv6 rip RIP_ZONE enable

end

interface Port-channel12

 switchport access vlan 999

 switchport mode access

end

interface GigabitEthernet0/1

 switchport access vlan 999

 switchport mode access

 media-type rj45

 negotiation auto

 channel-group 12 mode active

end

interface GigabitEthernet0/2

 switchport access vlan 999

 switchport mode access

 media-type rj45

 negotiation auto

 channel-group 12 mode active

end

interface Vlan999

 ip address 10.2.4.13 255.255.255.252

 ipv6 address 2026::3:1/122

 ipv6 rip RIP_ZONE enable

end

DSW2#

interface Port-channel12

 switchport access vlan 999

 switchport mode access

end

interface GigabitEthernet0/0

 switchport access vlan 999

 switchport mode access

 media-type rj45

 negotiation auto

 channel-group 12 mode passive

end

interface GigabitEthernet0/2

 switchport access vlan 999

 switchport mode access

 media-type rj45

 negotiation auto

 channel-group 12 mode passive

end

interface Vlan999

 ip address 10.2.4.14 255.255.255.252

 ipv6 address 2026::3:2/122

 ipv6 rip RIP_ZONE enable

end

Mr.Robot255 said:

Hey Willie 

good write and congrats on your route and switch exams.

Can you tell me what model routers/switches  you used in your topology, i have a few installed already but just cos gns3 takes a while to get used to i don't wanna waste study time figuring out what works and what doesn't. If you have any tips id love to hear them

thanks

 For the switches I'm using vios_l2-adventerprisek9-m.vmdk.SSA.152-4.0.55.E and the routers I'm using c7200-advipservicesk9-mz.152-4.S5.image.