Sorry for the noob question but...

craigc84

Hi All,

So I have just started to go through CBT Nuggets, the first step on my path to CCNET/CCNA. I am really enjoying it so far and I'm about put a lab put together at home, I'm starting to acquire some switches and routers from ebay, just waiting on delivery .

Im just wondering....
How/what do you plug in to your switches/routers
I dont mean what switch to plug into what router with what kind of cable. I mean what do you plug in to simulate a PC/Server on the network?

Do you guys have a few laptops plugged in at either end of you networks or have a PC with multiple network cards with Virtual Machines running?

I hope this isnt a stupid question

Cheers
Craig

networker050184

I usually don't use any hosts when labbing. You can generate traffic from your routers if needed.

FloOz

You can create loopback interfaces on the routers and use the extended ping command to test your connectivity.

d6bmg

FloOz wrote: »

You can create loopback interfaces on the routers and use the extended ping command to test your connectivity.

Best idea.
I use loopback interfaces to test connectivity. And @OP: if you really want, then you can use virtualbox/vmware guest OS as a host.

TheKirklander

craigc84 wrote: »

Hi All,

So I have just started to go through CBT Nuggets, the first step on my path to CCNET/CCNA. I am really enjoying it so far and I'm about put a lab put together at home, I'm starting to acquire some switches and routers from ebay, just waiting on delivery .

Im just wondering....
How/what do you plug in to your switches/routers
I dont mean what switch to plug into what router with what kind of cable. I mean what do you plug in to simulate a PC/Server on the network?

Do you guys have a few laptops plugged in at either end of you networks or have a PC with multiple network cards with Virtual Machines running?

I hope this isnt a stupid question

Cheers
Craig

Currently I am using a server with a bit of extra memory so, I configure Virtualbox to use one of the hardware ports and then the VM's function similar to a physical machine. If you want to go one step up, you can configure GNS3 with your router configs and perform all necessary networking from the virtual machines through GNS3 all without powering on a piece of gear.

mikespranger

all the prior answers are perfectly fine, but I had to chime in b/c i worry you may be as clueless as I was when I started.
it was hard for me to wrap my head around all these other methods. i know i felt like i need a computer on each side, and couldnt figure out how to connect to my fios connection. it took a while to understand you don't need any of that.

if you are brand new to networking, find an older, crappy computer lying around. got an old desktop laying around, or a laptop with a broken keyboard? anything like that will do until you figure out what you are doing.

dcren21

FloOz wrote: »

You can create loopback interfaces on the routers and use the extended ping command to test your connectivity.

^^^^what he said

theodoxa

I connected my lab equipment into my home network, which allows me to Telnet from my laptop. Theoretically, I could even forward some ports [on my home router] and connect remotely [using IPv4]. But, what I'd really like to do is get IPv6 working (though I suspect the 2950 Switches may not support it) so that I can give each of them their own globally routable (2601xxxxxxxxx::/64) IPv6 address [as Comcast just recently deployed IPv6 in my area.]

craigc84

Thanks for the suggestions guys