GNS3 Emulated Hardware and FAQs - Network Engineer
GNS3 Emulated Hardware and FAQs - Network Engineer
Network Engineer
GNS3 | FAQ
Q. Will you support Cisco switching?
A. Switching is going be supported in GNS3 using L2IOU images, which are special IOS images made to work on PC/Linux. These are
more like generic Cisco switches with most of the same features as in real switches. So in the end you can have 90% of the same features,
just a bit slower.
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A. Currently, L2IOU images work only on Linux or Solaris. On Windows and Mac OS X, the current plan is to use a virtual machine to run
L2IOU but we are still looking for an alternative technical solution.
A. Simply because L2IOU images do not support all of the features, we suspect that some of them require the dedicate hardware found in
Cisco devices in order to work, other features are simply buggy in currently available L2IOU versions. The one that are likely not to work
are L3 Etherchannel, ISL trunks, DHCP snooping, Private VLAN, SPAN/RSPAN/ERSPAN, Port-security, Voice VLANs, MLS QoS and
QinQ.
A. Cisco has released an IOS-XE version that work in VMware and KVM. Actually, you can already use it with GNS3 (please see this news
(http://www.gns3.net/news/cisco-csr-1000v-and-vmware-fusion-howtos/)for more details) but we want to make it easier.
A. Cisco has a version of NX-OS than can run inside VMware ESX/ESXi. So in theory there is a way to use it with GNS3, we do not have
more info because our focus is on routing & switching and security.
A. Cisco is planning to release a virtual IOS-XR named XRv early next year. After this release, it should be possible to integrate IOS-XR in
GNS3.
Q. Will you provide ways to train for Cisco Data Center and Voice certications?
A. Our focus is currently on Routing & Switching followed by security but we plan to check what can be technically done for Data Center
and Voice in the future.
A. IOS 15.x is currently only supported by the Cisco 7200 router in GNS3 but thanks to the IOU (IOS on Unix) integration, more IOS 15.x
versions will be supported and with less resources too.
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Q. Will you add more Cisco devices like ISR or other platforms?
A. No, the issue is that these devices have specialized hardware impossible or extremely hard to emulate. New Cisco devices will come in
the form of VMware/KVM/VirtualBox appliances (see IOS-XE, IOS-XR and NX-OS questions above) and IOU images.
A.One of our user managed to run Arista vEOS within GNS3! See this forum post (http://forum.gns3.net/topic6787.html) for more
details. So all we need to do is maybe streamline this a bit and here it is, Aristas EOS platform in GNS3!
A. HP is starting to have some simulation/emulation products out there that can potentially be integrated in GNS3. We also have to see if
a partnership is possible with HP. So yes probably in the future but not for the rst release of the new GNS3.
1700s have one or more interfaces on the motherboard, 2 subslots for WICs (excepting on 1710s), an no NM slots.
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1710
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080088
1720
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080092
1721
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080092
and 1750
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080092
1751
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080088
and 1760
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(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps221/products_data_sheet09186a0080092
WIC cards
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2610
2611
Network Modules
WIC cards
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3620
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_data_sheet09186a0080091
3640
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_data_sheet09186a0080091
3660
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_data_sheet09186a0080091
Network Modules
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NM-1FE-TX (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_data_sheet09186a0080091b89.html) (1
FastEthernet port)
NM-16ESW (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps259/product_data_sheet09186a00801aca3e.html) (switch
module: 16 FastEthernet ports, maximum of 2 modules per router)
NM-4T (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_tech_note09186a00800a93f3.shtml)(4 serial ports)
2691
3725
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3745
Network Modules
NM-1FE-TX (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_data_sheet09186a0080091b89.html) (1
FastEthernet port)
NM-16ESW (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps259/product_data_sheet09186a00801aca3e.html) (switch
module: 16 FastEthernet ports, maximum of 2 modules per router)
NM-4T (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_tech_note09186a00800a93f3.shtml)(4 serial ports)
NM-NAM (Network Analysis Module, not working).
NM-IDS (IDS Network Module, not working).
WIC cards
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7206
PA slots: 6
Note: VXR chassis, NPE-400 and C7200-IO-FE are the default in GNS3.
Chassis types
STD
VXR
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NPE-100
NPE-150
NPE-175
NPE-200
NPE-225 (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps341/product_data_sheet09186a0080092132.html)
NPE-300
NPE-400 (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps341/product_data_sheet09186a00800ae715.html)
NPE-G2 (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps341/product_data_sheet0900aecd8047177b.html) (requires the
use of NPE-G2 c7200p IOS images)
Input/Output Controllers
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps341/products_data_sheet09186a0080088
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Port Adapters
PA-FE-TX (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps2033/ps2546/product_data_sheet09186a0080091c92.html) (1
FastEthernet port)
PA-2FE-TX (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps2033/ps2546/product_data_sheet09186a0080091c92.html) (2
FastEthernet ports)
PA-4E (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/interfaces_modules/port_adapters/install_upgrade/ethernet/pa-
4e_10baset_install_cong/3493over.html#wpxref54014) (4 Ethernet ports)
PA-8E (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/interfaces_modules/port_adapters/install_upgrade/ethernet/pa-
8e_10baset_install_cong/3494over.html) (8 Ethernet ports)
PA-4T+ (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps2033/products_data_sheet09186a0080091cd2.html) (4 serial ports)
PA-8T (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps2033/products_data_sheet09186a0080091cd6.html) (8 serial ports)
PA-A1 (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/modules/ps2033/products_data_sheet09186a0080091d78.html) (1 ATM port)
PA-POS-OC3 (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/interfaces_modules/port_adapters/install_upgrade/pos/pa-pos-
oc3_install_cong/3577over.html) (1 Packet-Over-SONET port)
PA-GE (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/interfaces_modules/port_adapters/install_upgrade/ethernet/pa-
ge_gigabit_ethernet_install_cong/pa_ge.html) (1 GigabitEthernet port)
At this moment, it is not possible to emulate Catalyst switches with Dynamips/GNS3. This is due to the impossibility to emulate ASIC
processors used in those type of devices. However you can use the EtherSwitch module with 2600s, 3600s and 3700s Series. Keep in mind
that this module works differently (uses the vlan database etc.) and doesnt support the following features:
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Trunk Failover
Trusted boundary (extended trust for CDP devices)
Unicast Mac Filtering
UniDirectional Link Detection (UDLD)
VLAN Access Control List (VACL)
VLAN Aware Port Security
Weighted Tail Drop (WTD)
A special version of Qemu called PEMU is embedded into GNS3 for emulating the PIX 525 Security Appliance
(http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2030/ps2118/index.html). PIX software up to version 7.2(4) is supported.
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Juniper routers
JunOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junos), the Operating System for Juniper routers is based on FreeBSD (http://www.freebsd.org/),
an UNIX Operating System that runs on PCs. At this date JunOS versions for Juniper M series are known to work in GNS3.
Hosts
Thanks to Qemu and VirtualBox, GNS3 can run many operating systems like Linux or Windows as well as a lot of appliances. To save you
time, we provide ready-to-use Qemu and VirtualBox images that integrate Linux Microcore (command line) and Linux Tinycore (small
graphical interface). These images are designed to not use much memory, allowing you to run many virtual hosts. They include the
following tools and features:
Console support
IPv6 support
iperf, tcpdump, iproute2 and iptables
SSH and telnet servers
D-ITG (Distributed Internet Trafc Generator)
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Performance
Dynamips/GNS3 uses a fair amount of RAM and CPU in order to accomplish its emulation magic. Instructions can be found in the user
documentation to reduce this but you may also consider the following advices:
Use c36xx, c37xx or c7200 IOS images. They are usually more stable with Dynamips.
Run Dynamips/GNS3 on Linux or Mac OS X if you can, performance is better and Dynamips is far more stable.
Try to not use the latest IOS images, for instance versions >= 12.4, depending of the IOS features you want, running 12.3 or 12.2
versions requires a lot less memory and CPU.
Of course, the number of routers you can run at the same time also strongly depend of your amount of RAM and CPU. On average users
can run 10 to 15 routers with routing protocols congured without any problem. Some have even ran more than 100 routers on the same
PC.
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Posted on March 26, 2015, in GNS3, My Home lab(Hardware and Virtual Networks). Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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