PC Specs for GNS3 BSCI Lab

Hey Guys,

You have probably heard this before but i would like to know what you are using for a GNS3 lab at home. Unfortunately i cannot afford real equipment now that im married. And the job is not paying enough.

So im curious and wondering what would be a good setup. I read on network world how Odom sets up his. But i would like to hear from you all. Any help is appreciated. Thanks you.

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Comments

trackit

I use intel E8400 + 6 gigs of ram, had no problems with it

Nuul

It depends on how much you're trying to virtualize. My GNS3 setup for the TSHOOT topology uses a 4 year old server class machine, but I'm only virtualizing 5 routers (the switches are real). If you're looking at a bigger topology that also uses switching then you're going to need a monster rig; probably a quad core with 4+ gigs of RAM or more. IPexpert did a pretty good writeup of this on their blog actually.

AlanJames

Ive been using it with only 2 gb of ram on my work machine.

If you set the idlepc values, it will use hardly any CPU as well

DevilWAH

I can run 4 or 5 routers on my duel core 2gig 2 year old laptop. (Laptop only cost £400 when new)

and it runs fine.

I set up the lab in a VM running linux. This seems stable and never spikes over 30 or 40% CPU and laods of Memory free.

Cyanic

I would say a minimum 2GB RAM, and just about any newer processor will do fine. A low-end dual core would probably be the sweet spot.

networker050184

I did all my BSCI labs on an old gateway computer with 1 gig of ram, an old AMD dual core running Vista. I could run up to eight routers easy as long as I set the idlepc values correctly and used other enhancements like ghostios. Now I run it on a laptop with 3 gig and an Intel dual core. Handles pretty much everything I need to do except for a really large CCIE topology.