CCIE Lab using GNS3 and Quad NICs for Switches

[dyhs2006]

it's like i have to pay an arm and a leg for thse quad nics. dfe-580tx runs for about 200 out there right now. the cheap sun nics my motherboard doesn't have enough room for

[GNS3Vault]

@dyhs2006 So true! Keep in mind that many quad nic cards will work fine for a GNS3 server. Check a couple on ebay, some can be bought for way less than $100. If it can do 802.1Q you will be fine. And of course keep us posted ;)

[silvioZGB]

@Rene-Gns3vault

Hello..., first of all great idea! :)) Right now I'm planning to make a GNS3 server like this on my own. A question from my side..., I did'nt get it clearly..., which Ubuntu OS did you use - Ubuntu server (i.e. actual release is 11.10 or 10.04 LTE) or normal Ubuntu desktop release 11.10 or 10.04 LTE?

[GNS3Vault]

@silvioZGB It doesn't matter much which Linux flavor you'll use...as long as it runs GNS3/Dynamips and SSH you'll be fine. I like to use Ubuntu because i'm spoiled with apt-get ;) It's easy to install applications...Ubuntu also has VNC server by default which is nice for GNS3. I'm using 11.04 because I don't like Gnome3 in Ubuntu 11.10.

[captainjimmy7]

@ Rene-Gns3vault

Hello Rene, very helpful video. However, I would like to note here that there is a problem with the sound at the beginning. No sound for the first three minutes. I wonder if you can fix it and repost the video.

[openvue]

Hi!

Is it good to use a 5ports USB PCI-X card and a bunch of USB2Ethernet adapters instead of using a USB hub.

I found Quad nic pci cards very expensive!

[GNS3Vault]

@openvue I *think* it'll work. The only issue you might have is that your USB ethernet interface might renumber if you reboot. Haven't tested it...It would be a good and cheaper solution than my quad-nics.

[videogeek27]

@openvue I bought 3 Adaptec quad NIC cards - (1) 64044LV and (2) 62044 (I'm not sure of the difference, but the 64044LV was only $20 on e-bay). Be sure to note that they are not PCIe, they are PCI-x. I have these installed in an old PC and they seem to work just fine in the PCI slots. I haven't done a lot of testing with them, but they are currently working just fine with GNS3 and my 3550 switches.

A big thanks to Rene for showing how to do all this!!

[GNS3Vault]

@videogeek27 Those will probably work fine. One thing that I encountered which is worth checking out is the IRQ usage. Since you have 12x FastEthernet you'll have many IRQs in use. Any decent card will use "IRQ sharing". If not you might get some IRQ conflicts (nasty!)...

[videogeek27]

Oh yea I did earlier (few weeks ago) edit the ser2net.conf file, at that time it seemed to all work properly but now I can't screen back in.

That's why I know I'm so close to getting to access my three 3550's from my linux box, but I probably screwed something up

[videogeek27]

I'm a big Linux noob but I'm on the r ight path except I'm running into some problems I hope someone out there can help me with......

I'm trying to edit the ser2net.conf file but whenever I enter sudo vi /etc/ser2net.conf I get an error saying I have 2 swap files. How do I fix this? Please keep in mind I'm a command line noob :)

Also, what exactly does screen -s and screen -t mean? Any good links to some useful screen tutorials would be awesome if anyone knows of any!

Hope someone can help

[GNS3Vault]

@videogeek27 If you want to edit a text file with VI or VIM it will give you the "swap" message if you already have the file opened and didn't close. Try a "PS AUX | GREP VI" to see if it's already running in the background or not. you can close it using the "KILL [process ID]" command.

[GNS3Vault]

@videogeek27 SCREEN is very useful. Let's say you are using SSH to login to a remote server to start an application. When your SSH disconnects the application will be 'stuck'. If you use SCREEN you can run stuff on the background...so you login with SSH, start a new 'screen' and then start an application. When your SSH disconnectes you can reconnect and resume your old 'screen'. use "screen --help" to see the syntax :)

[Qurnah]

I got lost after your built your PC :\

How are your switches connected to the the back of your PC? Is there any real hosts hanging off your switches? All I could see is Linux preview, and for someone like me with no Linux background, your explanation wasn't really helpful unfortunately.

I hope that you could focus more on the hardware connectivity and GNS3 next time.

Cheers

[GNS3Vault]

@Qurnah That's too bad but let me explain it here how it works. Did you see my article on the site btw? In this PC there are 3x Quad NICS. That gives you 12x FastEthernet links to connect to your switches. If you played a little with GNS3 you might be familiar with the "cloud" icon. You can use it to connect a FastEthernet link to a router...so that's 12 connections from Virtual Router to a Physical Switch.

[GNS3Vault]

@Qurnah Next thing is the "console" access to your switches. You can use USB2Serial connectors for that or like me use a PCI-card that has 4x serial-ports and connect your switches to it. If you don't want to use Linux or Ubuntu you could do the same thing with Windows7. Let me know if you have any more questions.

[tyler361549]

Very informative. thank you very much.

[niguaeli]

Hi Rene, am keep following you on GNS3 Vault. This is new but good learning for starters. I was thinking of building a home lab, however, having came across this, am on a turning point to follow through with this first. Thanks. Its my turn now to follow up ....

[GNS3Vault]

@niguaeli Thanks for your message. I think this is the best way to build a home lab unless you want to practice QoS extensively or Voip. For R&S this is perfect!

[123456iambelial]

What is the model number of your quad NICs?

Did you run GNS3 as a root user or using the sudo command?

[GNS3Vault]

@123456iambelial I am using the D-Link DFE 580TX. Running GNS3 as root or using sudo is the same thing, it doesn't matter...both will execute GNS3 with root privileges. You can use it without root but you'll have to make some changes so non-root users can connect physical interfaces to GNS3 routers.

[123456iambelial]

@GNS3Vault I use sudo, so that I don't have to log in as root. About the changes you have mentioned, how would I do that?

I have been looking for 580TX, but it is nowhere to be found. I saw it once on ebay but it is about $200+ each. So I am using Adaptec 62044, and 4 USB Fastethernet port. I have an AC server and my switches are connected to it.

[GNS3Vault]

@123456iambelial How is it working for you? I think the Adaptec should work fine as well. Are the USB adapters working? USB would be the cheapest method if it were stable. The 580's I bought for 150 each i think.

[123456iambelial]

@GNS3Vault 62044 cost me $50. I only have one though. The USB adapter that I have works well too, but I have not tried dot1q and CDP on both USB and 62044, so I'm not sure if they supports it.

[macram3]

the duplex mismatch...is that normal??

[GNS3Vault]

@macram3 It's only because the routers had half-duplex by default and the switches were at full duplex. There is no difference between real routers or GNS3 routers with duplex.

[macram3]

1st!! and thanks for this!