Category Archives: Labs

Cisco VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Humair

VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) is a Cisco proprietary protocol that reduces administration in a switched network. When you configure a new VLAN on one VTP server, the VLAN is distributed through all switches in the domain. This prevents you from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Labs, Networking, Protocols, Technology | Tagged Cisco, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2960 siwtch, Client Mode, Server Mode, Transparent Mode, vlan, VLAN Trunk Protocol, VLAN Trunking Protocol, VTP, VTP client, VTP server | Leave a comment

Cisco – Spanning VLANs across Switches via Trunking

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I use two Cisco WS-C2960-24TT [IOS 12.2(25)FX] switches to demonstrate how to span VLANs across switches via 802.1q trunking. I avoid using VTP by using “VTP transparent mode”; as a result, I have to configure the VLANs … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Labs, Networking, Technology | Tagged 802.1q, 802.1q encapculation, Cisco, Cisco 2960, Cisco 2960 siwtch, Cisco switch, Cisco WS-C2960-24TT, isl, isl encapsulation, trunk link, Trunking, vlan | 1 Comment

Creating a LAG between an ESXi vSwitch and a Physical Switch

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I am going to create a LAG (Link Aggregation Group) between an ESXi vSwitch and a physical switch. You can use Cisco, Force10 Dell, Juniper, or any other manufacturer for the physical switch. Depending on the switch … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking, Technology, Virtualization and Cloud Computing, VMware | Tagged 802.3ad, 802.3ad link aggregation, Cisco, ESXi, ESXi 4.1, etherchannel, Failover, Force10 Dell, Force10 Networks, LAG, Link Aggregation Group, load balancing, NIC Teaming, physical switch, pNIC, port bundle, port channel, port group, Route Based on IP Hash, Route Based on the Originating Virtual Port ID, Use Explicit Failover Order, virtual machine, virtual port ID, virtual switch, VM, VM Network port group, VMkernel, vmNIC, vmware, VMware ESXi, vNIC, vSwitch | 8 Comments

Open Virtualization Format – VMs in transit

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Humair

The Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF) describes a format for the packaging and distribution of virtual machines (VMs). It is touted as open, secure, and portable. OVF can be seen as a packaging format for software appliances. I see it … Continue reading →

Posted in Applications, Labs, Networking, Technology, Tips & Tricks, Virtualization and Cloud Computing, VMware | Tagged ESX. VMware ESX, ESXi, ESXi Server, export OVF, export OVF package, Open Virtual Machine Format, OVF, OVF format, OVF specification, OVF Template, virtual appliance, virtual appliances, virtual machine, virtual machines, virtualization, VM, vms, vmware, VMware ESXi, VMware OVF Tool, VMware vCenter Converter, VMware vCenter Converter Standalone, VMware vSphere Client, vSphere, vSphere Client | Leave a comment

How to Stack Dell Force10 S60 Switches

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I use two Dell Force10 S60 switches [FTOS 8.3.3.4] to demonstrate how to stack two S60 switches together. By stacking the switches you can increase port density and manage the switches together as if it were one … Continue reading →

Posted in Dell Force10, Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking | Tagged Dell Force10, Force10, Force10 24 Gigabit stack, Force10 24 Gigabit stack cable, Force10 Networks, Force10 S60, Force10 S60 Stack, Force10 S60 Stacking, Force10 S60 Switch, Force10 Stack, Force10 Stacking, Force10 Switch Stacking, FTOS, S60 Stack, S60 Stacking, S60 Switch | Leave a comment

Load Balancing with EIGRP

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Humair

RIP, RIPv2, IGRP, EIGRP and OSPF are all routing protocols that support equal cost load balancing but IGRP and EIGRP can also support unequal cost load balancing. However, unlike IGRP, EIGRP supports VLSM (Variable Length Subnet Masking). Below I use … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Labs, Networking, Protocols | Tagged Cisco, Cisco 3560G, Cisco 3560G router, EIGRP, eigrp load balancing, equal cost load balancing, load balancing, router, unequal cost load balancing | 1 Comment

Setup Telnet Access on Cisco Switches

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Humair

This quick lab assumes you already have an IP address for telnet assigned on the Cisco switch. Once that is setup and you are able to ping the IP address, you can setup telnet access on the Cisco switch with … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Labs, Networking | Tagged Cisco, router, setup telnet, telnet, telnet access | Leave a comment

Port Monitoring on Force10 Switches

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I will demonstrate how to do port monitoring on Force10 switches and capture the packets using a network protocol analyzer (Wireshark in this case). Port monitoring allows the copying of all incoming/outgoing packets on a specific port … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking | Tagged Force10, Force10 switch, Force10 switches, network protocol analyzer, packet analyzer, Packet Sniffer, Packet Sniffing, Port Mirroring, Port Monitoring, Sniffer, VRRP, wireshark | 1 Comment

Setup VRRP with Force10 Switches

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I setup Force10 switches with Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP). VRRP is a redundancy protocol used to eliminate a single point of failure between a gateway and its respective hosts within the same subnet. I use three … Continue reading →

Posted in Force10 Networks, Labs, Networking, Protocols | Tagged E1200, Force10, Force10 E1200, Force10 Networks, Force10 S55, Force10 S60, FTOS, gateway, gateway redundancy, redundancy protoco, S55, S60, virtual address, virtual IP, Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, VRRP, VRRP group | 2 Comments

Setting up Cisco EtherChannels – Static, PAgP, and LACP

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Humair

In this lab I used a Cisco Catalyst WS-C3750G-24TS switch [IOS 12.2(25)SEE3] and a Cisco Catalyst WS-C3560G-24TS switch [IOS 12.2(40)SE]. I also physically connected GigabitEthernet 1/0/17 on the Catalyst 3750G to GigabitEthernet 0/17 on the Catalyst 3560G; I did the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cisco, Labs, Networking, Protocols | Tagged Cisco, Cisco Catalyst, Cisco Catalyst WS-C3560G-24TS, Cisco Catalyst WS-C3750G-24TS, etherchannel, LACP, PAgP, port channel, static etherchannel | 1 Comment