Development of a Network Lab Virtualization

Recently, we installed GNS3 into our computers after uninstalling Dynagen and Dynamips.

What is GNS3?

GNS3 is somewhat similar to Packet Tracer. It provides a GUI for Dynagen and Dynamips. Instead of having to type commands through a notepad, GNS3 is a friendly program that allows you to click and drag routers, computers, switches or servers and create a network topology.

A router’s configuration mode can be accessed by just starting up the router and then selecting Console after right-clicking it. The console, is the same as typing inside the configuration of a router in Packet Tracer, with the exception of the change in a few of the commands.

In order to use a specific router however, you require the IOS of the router in .bin format. Then, you have to add the IOS into the program.

After creating your network topology and configuring it correctly, you can save the file into a .net format file.

Comparing GNS3 to manually creating the .net file, GNS3 is more suited to those that want to practise and have a go at how Dynagen and Dynamips work whereas manually typing the commands on a notepad is more suited to those who have an advanced knowledge on how to work with Dynagen and Dynamips.