Emulate the TG13 network on your own computer

To help you get started on your lab environment, we built the IPv4 topology implemented at The Gathering in GNS3 for you to play with!

We did not include MPLS, VRFs and multicast in this lab configuration because it is not relevant to the CCNA objectives. The physical topology is already set up and cabled, so feel free to configure this on your own! We will upload our configs at http://ftp.gathering.org after TG13 if you want some reference.

These are the steps you need to follow in order to get this up and running on windows:

Download GNS3 from sourceforge

1. After the installation is complete, get a hold of the Cisco images. In this project, the following images were used:
2. c7200-advipservicesk9-mz.124-15.T10.image (ISP)
3. c3725-adventerprisek9-mz.124-15.T14.image (everything else)

Unfortunately we cannot provide these images on our website due to licensing issues.

1. Download the GNS3 project from our FTP server, extract it and place it on your C:\ drive
   http://ftp.gathering.org/TG/2013/Tech/GNS3.zip

2. Place the Cisco IOS images in C:\GNS3\IOS\

3. Start GNS3 and make sure that you idle PC values are set. You do this by right-clicking the router after it has been powered on, and then click “idle pc”. This will make GNS3 calculate the values for you. Read more about how to do this on [http://www.gns3.net/gns3-simplest-topology/

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1. Click file->open and select “C:\GNS3\The Gathering 2013\topology.net”

This should get you up and running. Have fun – and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Fun facts

Some fun facts from us…

Link up/down

Our D-Link access switches have logged 133,184 link up-events and 128,996 link down-events.

Some switches have more link up-events than others (x-axis is switches, y-axis is count)

This may be reboots, cables unplugged and plugged back in, eventual power outages and other things.

Access lists

Our access lists have protected the D-Link access switches against 25,670 connection attempts. This is probably random port scans.

There is an obvious glitch Wednesday night…
This shows temperature from both inlets and outlets as well as some chips!

Lowest temperature reported from nocgw is 15 degrees Celsius. No wonder we were freezing 🙂

Spanning tree

Spanning tree on the D-Link switches have blocked 11 loops.

Stats and monitoring

As some of you know we have a couple of nice systems for statistics and monitoring.

We use Weathermap for the big picture:

It’s available at http://stats.tg13.gathering.org/

Our good friends in Tech:Server have created their own monitoring system. Most of the system is not really useful for anyone else, but they have made some of it available for the public.

NMS can be found at http://nms-public.tg13.gathering.org

Gain hands-on experience with Cisco using GNS3

![GNS3 topology](/media/images/old/www.gns3.net.

T minus 5 min

From the past 24 hours:

Pizzaboxing the fiber:

Fantastic :Support @ work 😀

And some strange lengths was measured oO

Men @ work:

We <3 other parties also 😉

We play the guitar in the NOC 😀

Everything seems to be in order! 🙂

WE CAN HAZ INTERWEBZ!!!!!111one

T minus 2 days

We have been working two full days now. We have internet, we have met some problems which have been solved in good time and we are still on track. The morale is high 🙂

Only two work days to go before TG13 is a reality…
http://tiny.cc/TG13-Countdown

We had to take the temp on the workers…

Different kinds of work equipment…

Working with the goods… 😛

But the focus is high to get everything done in time:

And then there is some who like to watch the green screen 😛

Jon is working hard with the DHCP and DNS preparations 🙂

And the discussions are many:

And the truth is that the ship is cold to work in without all the participants oO

Please! Come and warm us soon! 🙂

Our NOCGW core is up and running 🙂

And our TeleGW is up and running 🙂

And some interesting placements of the equipment are always called for:

And we have awesome new and fresh mouse pads 😀

Our awesome Tech:Support team is working with good mood and motivation 🙂

Lovely Mathias was taken off guard 😛

But when we came with good intentions, he gave us the grand tour 😀

Our lovely CrewCare chief and the worlds best participant ombudsman together 🙂

Packing the equipment (20.03.2013)

Soon… http://tiny.cc/TG13-Countdown

So the equipment is packed and made ready for shipment. Saturday everything will be shipped to Vikingskipet and we will start configuring the network 🙂

Packing securely:

And finding trolls behind the equipment 😛

Marking everything properly 😀

We <3 our sponsors 🙂

Not much space to move in:

Men at work 🙂

Fredrik is demonstrating how you use the “wrapping machine” 🙂

Pleased with the result 🙂

And since this is the same problem every year…
Documenting, picture #1/2

(the “loose” one on the bottom, straight through, the top most angle through the cutter and the “tightening wheel”)

Documenting, picture #2/2

(Aligned it should look like this, fastening them together with the clip, thus the top most are cut when done)

Dave Täht, Bufferbloat researcher, to visit

Dave Täht will be doing research at The Gathering on the size, and scope

of lag related network problems over the internet and wifi.

Source: CableLabs

For more info on the bufferbloat problem, see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bufferbloat
http://www.bufferbloat.net/projects/cerowrt/wiki/Bloat-videos

Cisco equipment testing – Day 2 (13.03.2013)

We are starting to sweat… we are closing in on TG (http://tiny.cc/TG13-Countdown) and there are still so much to do oO

But we are working on, enduring… and we will of course continue our work until we deliver the best network in Hamar 😉

Installing ESXi from a Linux computer was apparently a hassle:

Setting up our temporary network for the equipment was not 😛

FAIL! 🙁

But after a reboot, everything was in order:

And the cake was not a lie! <3 teh cake! 😀

Waiting for switches to boot, yet another time.
This time because of licenses:

And in the meantime we took our time to be in awe over a E1 card:

SO CUTE

People are tired of waiting for booting switches:

And finally we count the fiber patch cables:

I hope we counted right 😛

And we “labeled” our retro couch (in case of theft):

What the CCNA is and why you should become one

The :Net crew have received a lot of questions regarding certifications over the past few years, so we have decided to create a dedicated category to help you on your way to become certified!

The CCNA is a great first step into the world of networking. When it comes to certifications within networking, a Cisco cert is no doubt the better choice. Not only does it teach you how to configure Cisco equipment, but it also give you a solid understanding on how networks work!

You can achieve the CCNA certification by choosing one of two ways:

1. Take the ICND1 (CCENT) and ICND2 exam
2. Take the CCNA exam

To learn more about the CCNA, we encourage you to create an account on Ciscos learning network. This site is packed with useful information to help you on your way to become Cisco Certified. https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/ccna

If there is anything you would like to know more about, or any particular subject you would like us to discuss, post your questions in the comment field and it may be the topic for our next post!