GNS3 - Amazing

So I guess I never realized how amazing GNS3/Dynamips really is until I started messing around with it. I'd heard that it would be a great resource for everything routing and I have to say that I'm very impressed. I've been in switching/campus mode for a long time studying for the BCMSN, but I'm just starting to dabble in routing and beginning my BSCI studies.

For anyone that doesn't know what it is .... it's basically a router emulator (Dynamips) for 1700, 2600, 3600, and 7200 with a really nice graphical front end (GNS3) w/ PIX and firewall capabilites too. You can create virtual lab set ups for the vast majority of CCNP/CCIE routing topologies.

The community and support seems to be growing fast and this could save a lot of people a lot of money when pursuing cisco certs.

For more info check out the forums at: http://7200emu.hacki.at

Download it at : http://www.gns3.net/[/url]

This might be common knowledge by now, but I've been studying for the CCNP for about 3 months and I just started playing with it. Gotta highly recommend this - I can't say its all that you will need, but it's an amazing resource that everyone should know about.

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

Mrock4

Yeah, Dynamips is amazing. I'm not a huge fan of GNS3, just because my computer doesn't like it..but it is an awesome tool as well.

I was like a kid in a candy store when I first discovered dynamips. Awesome stuff.

tiersten

Just be aware that dynamips can't emulate or simulate for that matter any of the L3 switches. The best you can get in dynamips is a NM-16ESW but thats no 3560...

mikearama

tiersten wrote:

Just be aware that dynamips can't emulate or simulate for that matter any of the L3 switches. The best you can get in dynamips is a NM-16ESW but thats no 3560...

+1

However, for the purposes of studying for the BSCI, I found it invaluable. GNS3 is a sweet tool.

nel

Ive heard its great but i havent played with it yet. is it easy to setup?

Im just glad i dont have to buy more routers cos it would of set me back a few hundered quid for the bsci, especially with the crazy topologies in the study guide!

mikearama

It wasn't difficult to setup, but it was time consuming. To get a working scenario with 5 routers, to figure out how to save their configs, to adjust the "idle PC" setting to stop GNS from pegging my laptop at 100% cpu usage... prolly a couple hours.

But once up and running... dayum. I could fly through the lab scenario's from the bsci lab portfolio in no time. Made the sims in the exam a breeze.

Mike

Mrock4

Couple of hrs!! I didn't find it quick either, but I'd say from scratch, if you know where the required resources (and docs) are, you could get it running solid in 30 minutes.

That being said, if dynamips decides to act retarded, you may need to spend more time than usual on idlepc. I had it work pretty smoothly, and my CPU usage stays insanely low.

Do yourself a favor, if you haven't messed with dynamips/GNS3..do so now. It's that good!

shednik

Yea the IdlePC values are what takes a bit to set them correctly!

wat08

Great GNS3 Tutorial:

http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/gns-3/GNS3-0.5-tutorial.pdf

mikearama

See, now that tutorial would've saved me some time.

And the "couple hours" may have been a slight exaggeration... then again, not by much.

I'm a little stubborn that way.

nel

wat08 wrote:

Great GNS3 Tutorial:

http://internap.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/gns-3/GNS3-0.5-tutorial.pdf

Hey man,

Thanks for that pdf link. Unlike the rest of you suckers who spent hours doing this it took me a measley 30 mins

jkn.

Great guide though! My laptops going to take a hammering now

networker050184

If you just spend about 15 min reading through the tutorial that comes with the download you will have all the info you need with out searching.

Mrock4

mikearama wrote:

See, now that tutorial would've saved me some time.

And the "couple hours" may have been a slight exaggeration... then again, not by much. I'm a little stubborn that way.

I figured you probably were. It was time well spent, though. Even if it took 5 hrs to setup, I would still say dynamips is well worth the battle.

ccnpninja

thumbs up for all Dynamips-related folks