What is the best/easiest way to have multiple hosts to connect to for labs?
andre81
Member Posts: 22 ■□□□□□□□□□
in CCNA & CCENT
I was doing some thinking/searching and I am curious to know the best way to setup multiple hosts (NICs?) to connect to the network. My thoughts are that not only could I verify connectivity this way, but maybe if I decided to pursue M$ certs in the future I could simulate an environment of clients. Could I build a PC with multiple NICs and use VirtualBox or maybe create virtual ethernet adapters with 1 NIC for the same purpose? I know this is not really necessary for CCNA, but I have an I7 socket MOBO and 4g DDR3 that are just dying to be used for something.
I also have been looking into GNS3, and was curious if multiple NIC's were of use for simulating routers and connecting switches?
I have used packet tracer a little, and my choices are this: spend $400-500 on Cisco equipment or build an I7 machine for use with GNS3/Dynamips and grab a couple 2950s.
For those that choose the I7 machine route, which OS? I have access to free M$ software, Server 2008 R2, etc, and I am also open to linux. M$ is what I am most experienced with, however I am running Ubuntu, Fedora, Windows 8, and Mac OSX in VirtualBox, but have not done much beyond making them all fully functional.
If neither of these options are good choices, than I am open to brand new ideas as well.
I also have been looking into GNS3, and was curious if multiple NIC's were of use for simulating routers and connecting switches?
I have used packet tracer a little, and my choices are this: spend $400-500 on Cisco equipment or build an I7 machine for use with GNS3/Dynamips and grab a couple 2950s.
For those that choose the I7 machine route, which OS? I have access to free M$ software, Server 2008 R2, etc, and I am also open to linux. M$ is what I am most experienced with, however I am running Ubuntu, Fedora, Windows 8, and Mac OSX in VirtualBox, but have not done much beyond making them all fully functional.
If neither of these options are good choices, than I am open to brand new ideas as well.
Comments
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fsanyee
Member Posts: 171
im thinking about that too.
check this topic: http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/15235-post-your-lab-pics.html
there are really interesting labs, such as pc-s with quad nic-s. you could use that with gns3 or create multiple virual clients. -
nikooo
Registered Users Posts: 2 ■□□□□□□□□□
Under Linux I've used VLAN`s for creating subinterfaces for one NIC. Each interface was different network, but it didn't matter in my case. Or you could possibly add more than one IP address to interface by using alias.
If you are using GNS3, you can always simply create loopback interfaces to simulate real interface or create some qemu/vbox virtual machines with lightweight images to serve a purpose.
But these are just my options, I believe there are better ways to solve this.
