COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

LAB 1-2. NETWORK FAMILIARIZATION

Objective:

Familiarize students with components of computer network

Give students hand-on experience with Cisco packet tracer network
simulation software

1 Cisco Packet Tracer familiarization

1.1 Install and run Cisco Packet Tracer

Cisco Packet Tracer (PT) is a powerful network simulation program that allows
students to experiment with network behavior and ask what if questions. The
software is free for students studying at Cisco academy branches including
Victoria University.

If you use PCs at VU computer labs, PT is likely installed for you. You also can
acquire a personal copy from the university. The installation is straightforward
with a few mouse clicks. If you find difficulty in installing the software, seek help
from your lab tutor or from the Internet.

Current version of PT is 7.0. Note that PT is NOT backward compatible!

1.2 Cisco Packet Tracer user interface

After you have PT installed, bring up the software and you will see a graphic user
interface (GUI) similar to the following figure.

Top menu and toolbar allow you to create, open and save simulation projects
as well as manipulate the project layout.

The right toolbar allows you to manipulate project network diagrams such as
add notes and drawing as well as select, inspect and delete network devices

The bottom toolbar allows you to build the simulation network diagram by
adding network devices and connecting them together with different types of
connections.

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

You can start building a network diagram by selecting a network device, drag
and drop it to the project layout. You then can customize the device by clicking
to the device icon to bring up the device configuration dialog.

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

2 Network device familiarization

Cisco Systems and other network device manufactures often make their
products with modular design for a number of reasons such as cost, flexibility,
interchangeability and the ease of maintenance, replacement and upgrade.

Major components of a network device like a switch or router include

Chassis with power supply, mother board and essential interfaces

Add-on network modules that provide additional networking capability
Add-on network interfaces that provide additional network interfaces
Network operating systems that manage the device hardware and
together with hardware provide the device networking functions.

For example, the following are components of Cisco 2600 series router

Your task: complete the following table. An example has been done for you.

Device PT Icon Modules/Interfaces/Por Real example

name ts
Catalyst 24 FastEthernet
2950 TX interfaces
Switch 1 Console port
Catalyst 24 10/100 ports and two
2950T fixed 10/100/1000 BASE
Switch -T uplink ports switch

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Cisco 12 Ethernet 10/100

Catalyst ports with PoE and 4
3560-24PS SFP-based Gigabit
switch Ethernet ports; 1RU

Cisco 1801 1 Console port up to

Integrated 115.2 kbps
services
router

Cisco Ethernet 10Base-

2621XM T/100Base-TX, auxiliary,
Multiserve console
r Router

Cisco IP RJ-45 jack for a second

phone 10BASE-T compliant
7960-VoIP connection (labeled
Phone 10/100 PC)

Linksys Ethernet 10Base-

WRT300N T/100Base-TX
Router

You can add/remove modules and interfaces to a network device in PT in a

similar way it is done in practice: i) power off the device then ii) insert/remove
the required modules /interfaces then iii) power the device back on.

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

To perform the add/remove module and interface card in PT, bring up the device
configuration dialog and navigate to physical view tab if not already there. Next,
locate the device power switch and switch off the device by clicking to the power
switch. Find the required module/interface from the list of available modules
and interfaces then drag and drop it to an empty slot on the device. If you see
the module attached to the device, the operation is successful. Try to drag and
drop again if not successful. Finally Power the device on. The remove is done by
dragging existing modules to the module list.

Your task: add a Cisco 2621XM router to the project layout then add a WIC-2T
interface to the first slot and WIC-1AM to the second slot. Take a screen shot to
show that you have successfully added the interfaces.

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Next, remove the WIC-1AM and replace it with WIC-1T then take a screen shot.

Finally add NM-4E to the available slot and power on the device. Take a screen
shot to show that you have successfully completed the task.

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

3 Network physical connection familiarization

Your task: complete the following table. An example has been done for you.

Name PT Distance Short Description Real example

Icon
Console <100m Connect terminal
to device console
port for
configuration
Copper <100m This cable type is
Straight- the standard
through Ethernet media for
connecting
between devices
that operate at
different OSI layers
(such as hub to
router, switch to
PC, and router to
hub)

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Copper <100m This cable type is

Cross- the Ethernet media
over for connecting
between devices
that operate at the
same OSI layer
(such as hub to
hub, PC to PC, PC
to printer).
Fiber 80- Fiber media is used
100km to make
connections
between fiber
ports

Phone 30m Phone line

connections can
only be made
between devices
with modem ports.

Coaxial 500m Coaxial media is

used to make
connections
between coaxial
ports such as a
cable modem
connected to a
Packet Tracer
Cloud.
Serial 50ft DCE devices
DCE provide the clock
signal (internal
clocking)

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Serial 15m DTE device

DTE synchronizes on
the provided clock
(external clocking)

Octal 10ft The 8-port

asynchronous
cable provides the
high-density
connector on one
end and eight RJ-45
plugs on the other.

4 Network operating system familiarization

Cisco Systems provide two families of network operating systems:

Internetwork Operating System or IOS and

Next Generation Operating System or NX-OS

The main difference between IOS and NX-OS is that NX-OS supports network
virtualization while IOS does not. Otherwise, the two systems are similar from
the configuration point of view.

Your task: add a Cisco 1841 router and a generic PC to the project layout. Next,
add an additional WIC-2T card to the router. Connect the PC to the router via
Console port. Note that the console cable connects to PC through RS-232 serial
interface.

Next, bring up the PC terminal program by clicking on the PC icon and choose
Terminal program from the Desktop tab (see below).

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892
 COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Accept the default terminal configuration and you will be presented with the
router IOS Command Line Interface or CLI.

Report the following router parameters:

Device name and revision number: Cisco 1841 (revision 5.0)

Device memory (RAM): 114688k/16384k bytes of memory.
Processor board and processor ID: Processor board ID FTX0947Z18E
M860 Processor
Cisco IOS version and ID: Cisco IOS Software, 1841 Software (C1841-
ADVIPSERVICESK8-M), Version 12.4(15) TI
Available interfaces: 2 FastEthernet/IEEE 802.3 interfaces(s), 2 Low-
speed serial(sync/async) network interface(s)

NIT1104 COMPUTER NETWORKS

Suraj Paudel
S580892