A Cisco access server is usually the final item a CCNA or CCNP candidate has on their mind when they are placing collectively a home lab. The considering tends to be that considering that this router is not really performing something in the production portion of your practice lab, it really is not really critical.
When you have a lot more than two devices in your property lab, though, you are going to recognize that continually moving the console cable about from 1 router to yet another gets very tiresome. That's what an access server does for a house lab - it enables you to connect your Computer to a single device when operating in your house lab, with no need to have to continually disconnect and reconnect the console cable. The console cable will be connected directly to the access server, and the access server is connected to all the other devices in your home lab. After you start off functioning with one particular, you'll wonder how you got along with no it!
The term "access server" is a little misleading. This is not a server in the traditional sense, it really is a Cisco router with asynchronous serial ports. It is these ports that you are going to use to connect to the other devices in your residence lab. Two reasonably priced models of access servers are Cisco 2509s and Cisco 2511s. They can be located on eBay as effectively as other vendors on the Net.
You will also require an octal cable. On a single finish, the cable has a huge connector that will connect to the access server. The other end is really eight separate cables, each with RJ-45 connectors. These connectors are numbered 1 - eight and will be connected to the console port on every single router and switch. It is important to note the quantity on each and every connector you're connecting to the other lab devices.
Now that you have got the physical gear, let's take a look at a common configuration of an access server:
no service password-encryption
no service udp-small-servers
no service tcp-modest-servers
!
hostname BRYANT_Advantage_AS4
no ip domain-lookup
ip host r1 2001 ten.4.4.4
ip host r2 2002 10.4.4.four
ip host r3 2003 10.4.4.four
ip host sw1 2004 ten.4.4.four
ip host sw2 2005 ten.4.4.four
ip host FrameSwitch 2006 10.4.4.4
interface Loopback555
ip address 10.four.4.4 255.255.255.
line con
exec-timeout
logging synchronous
line 1 16
no exec
transport input all
You can assign any loopback address and quantity right here the critical factor to note is that the IP HOST table you will create continuously refers back to the loopback address on the access server.
In this configuration, I have the octal cable's connector 1 in R1, 2 in R2, 3 in R3, 4 in SW1, five in SW2, and six in my frame relay switch. The quantity "2001" in the initial line of the IP HOST table refers to that connector. That's why it is important to note the number on a offered connector you spot in the console port of a router or switch.
The asynchonous lines are identified by "line 1 16". This access server has 16 attainable connections numerous will just have 8, which is usually plenty. Regardless of how a lot of lines you have, you'll need to have the commands transport input all and no exec to let reverse telnet to work efficiently.
There is 1 more thing to watch out for. When you very first connect to the AS for a practice session, you will require to open the line to each device by making use of the complete hostname of the device as shown in the IP HOST table. Here, you would commence by getting into R1, R2, R3, SW1, SW2, and FrameSwitch to open the line to every single device. Following that, you need to have to enter the line quantity - 1, two, 3, four, five, and 6. It sounds a little confusing at initial, but after just a couple of minutes of practice you will be carrying out it without even considering about it.
When you are operating in your property lab, you will not go from 1 device to another that is, when you are carried out on R1 and want to configure R2, you need to go back to the access server and then to R2. The keystroke to do this is . Again, it might sound complicated, but soon after a little practice you will once again do this with no thinking about it.
Adding an access server to your CCNA or CCNP residence lab might not be on your thoughts now, but after you add a few much more routers or switches to the lab, you'll want to spend far more time configuring and practicing and much less time moving a cable about. And as soon as you get 1, you'll wonder how you did without it!
Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Benefit, property of more than one hundred free of charge certification exam tutorials, which includes Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also accessible!
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