How do you guys complete labs in GNS3 with the switching issues?

im having a terrible time...i spent ~12 hours yesterday searching online looking for fixes. i want to practice my CCNA: Sec and SDM stuff.... but i cant get out of first gear with this thing. the upside is i am now the king of configuring serial posrts.

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mikej412

Use Dynamips for emulating Routers (with the Dynamips or GNS3 front ends) which is what it's GREAT for. And use it's ability to integrate with real hardware to use REAL SWITCHES for the switching tasks.

Here we go -- from the possible future FAQ update post in the CCNA FAQ:

mikej412 wrote: »

Dynamips (Dynagen/GNS3) "breakout switch" to access real hardware
7200emu.hacki.at :: View topic - HOWTO Connect Real Switches Using One NIC & QinQ

chrisone

Although some may painstakingly say it is "possible" most of us just complete our switching labs with actual switches and just use GNS3 for routing.

tdean

unfortunately all i have is 1 switch... and its old.....
IOS (tm) C2900XL Software (C2900XL-C3H2S-M), Version 12.0(5)WC9a, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

alan2308

Free CCNA Workbook

this will show you how it's done

tdean

ok... looks promising, however i cant get R1-3 to anything less than 80% of my cpu individually. all the others have been adjusted vis idle pc.

do i have to do this every time i start GNS3? this is taking a loooong time.

EDIT: dooh! i was doing it for each device like the instructions said.... its supposed to be each IMAGE. for some reason, my images are loading from 127.0.0.1 and local host.

EDIT: this is kind of a nightmare.... i cant even get my switch to ping my loopback adapter. i followed the instructions word for word... used the same ip's and everything. this is the stuff that just frustrates me to the point of quitting completely.

chrisone

This is how networking is at first. We all go through the same issues of frustrations. It takes some understanding that this is what we go through at first and in order to not go through it again , we need to study, ask questions, find and research the problem to fully understand it. This is what network engineering is about. The network field is very broad that encompasses multiple technologies, that is why it takes years of studying and experience to have a solid footing in this field and that is why the median pay is actually better than most careers. This is why intro techies respect us and why some jerks who are experienced engineers act like they are gods gift to earth.

chmorin

chrisone wrote: »

This is how networking is at first. We all go through the same issues of frustrations. It takes some understanding that this is what we go through at first and in order to not go through it again , we need to study, ask questions, find and research the problem to fully understand it. This is what network engineering is about. The network field is very broad that encompasses multiple technologies, that is why it takes years of studying and experience to have a solid footing in this field and that is why the median pay is actually better than most careers. This is why intro techies respect us and why some jerks who are experienced engineers act like they are gods gift to earth.

Very true. Everything is learned through an ability to gather information and solve issues. The effort is half the battle.

ehnde

What really, really, really helped me most with GNS3 are the video tutorials.

Documentation | GNS3

I was able to do things that I'd previously found impossible. Watch these videos carefully and I think any issues you are having will be much more manageable. There are some extremely knowledgeable people in #cisco on irc.freenode.net or you can ask here