Hi All,
I have started working in my lab.
I have zero practical knowledge regarding connections in lab environment. Today, I faced an issue wherein I was unable to connect my Lab PC to lab router. Both are connected to same patch panel. PC is present at port number 8 and router is present at port number 42 on patch panel with various other connections.
Can someone please explain me how patch panel works (series/parallel/separate)? Can someone kindly explain me how am I suppose to connect or configure router in such a situation?
@deanwebb I am not sure where was I suppose to create this thread. I have created here (Home and Small Office Networking) as I think it suits the best here.
Dipen
A patch panel is layer 1 OSI model. It will just allow you to connect cables to transmit a signal.
Check if you can ping the router (layer 3) and if not, if you have ARP resolution (layer 2). If there's no ARP, it's cabling and you probably didn't connect the cables correctly on the patch panel. If you see ARP, cables are fine and it's likely something else (configuration of the router).
You might need a cross-over cable to go from router to PC, depending on the age of the router. It's usually auto-MDIX these days I guess.
PC to switch and switch to router normally work just fine.
PC to router should either go through a switch or use a crossover. Or console in.
patch panels usually come in pairs, they are a way to extend network connections
i..e patch panel A in room 316, patch panel B in room 319, these two are connected with cat6 cabling port by port,
so port 1 on patch panel A in room 316 goes to port 1 on patch panel B in room 319, port 2 to port 2, port 3 to port 3, etc,etc.
so my server in room 319 can be connected ("patched") to port 1 on Panel B.
and I would connect ("patch") port 1 on panel A in room 316 to the switch (say port 1),
The server now has network connectivity.
I connect my laptop into the switch (say port 2),
put switch port 1 and switch port 2 in the same vlan (say vlan 1)
assign the correct network IP to the laptop (so it's on the same network as the server) and ping the server.
Hope that helps.
Hi All,
Just wanted to update on what I tried to do today.
I connected switches and routers to PC via console cable directly using putty. I learned the importance of DB9 connectors as I was struggling with basic connections at first.
@ristau541 I understand how patch panels work now (as you explained) as the PCs in the lab weren't connected to network before (may be they disconnected it for one side as no one was using it much).
This might sound funny to you guys but, I learned a good lesson from it:
Till now I thought that we connect everything to patch panels as if we do circuit connections on a bread board (in series or in parallel). Now, I realize that I simply had to do something different. I connected my pc to a switch via console cable and then connected the switch to a router via another cable.
I just want to know in real world is it the same? Is a router always connected to switch via cable and is near to it?
Also, I tried to connect switch to pc via horizontal run (which runs from a wall where pc's are... to a rack where the patch panel is and a switch can be connected to it). I did not succeed. I will try again on Monday and update here.
I will also try to add pictures from next time so that it gets easier to understand for everyone :)
Pictures will help, and I have to say that you have a bright future ahead of you, dipenshah. You want to know why the answers are the answers, and that is a sign of a great student.
Routers and switches are best connected when they are close to each other. That has been my experience.
@deanwebb thank you for confirming regarding routers and switches connection.
The words you said are really motivating [emoji4]
Thanks :D
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Hi All,
I wanted to update on what I tried to do yesterday and today.
Yesterday:
I have started documenting what I have learned in a video format.
I have made a video showing how our college lab(Redcom lab) is connected to Internet.
After learning about how wiring works in our lab, I have connected my lab PC to the switch using patch panels and then connected switch to routers using Ethernet cables. Huge success for me as I was struggling with it initially.
I was also able to connect switch and router by using the Tera term software.
Today:
I am trying Router on a stick Inter-Vlan configuration. I tried it first on cisco packet tracer and was able to ping from one end of pc to another end.
I am now trying to implement the same on hardware using Catalyst 2950 switch and Cisco 1760 Router along with 2 PCs.
I faced yet another small issue, i.e. how am I supposed to connect 2 PCs to a switch (which has single console port)? One of my PCs is connected to my Router via patch panel 15 and another PC is connected to Switch via patch panel 16 with their respective consoles.
So after struggling for few minutes by taking Packet tracer as a reference I realized, the importance of connecting console of routers and switches to my laptop instead of the PCs I am using to connect router and switch via patch panel.
Now, I can use my PCs by connecting them to Switch ports via patch panel and connect switch's console with my laptop, configure it and then remove the connection between switch and laptop and move on to router to configure.
I haven't tried this yet and will let you know the results once I try this one out.
Cheers,
Dipen
That is correct. You can also set up SSH on the switches and routers to permit management without using the console port.
So with SSH I won't need to connect anything to console port of switches and routers? How would that work? Via Internet? I am very interested to learn about its working!!
I thought for SSH we must have a PC connected to one of the console ports of a Router or Switch! :o
SSH connects to port 22 of the IP of the device.
It does require that the device have at least a self-singed certificate.
Personally I would suggest you a book "The Illustrated Network: How TCP/IP Works in a Modern Network", is a great book and even now sometimes i read it,even though is kind of boring to be honest. But if someone was suggesting me that book when i was in university it would be the best thing they could do.
I know, after one point and especially when he will speak for routing protocols etc it will be kind of tough for you, but the first chapters are great to get a fundamental start.
very simply:
if you assign an ip address to VLAN 1 on your switch, say 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
and connect your pc to the switch, say on port 1, in VLAN 1
and give your pc an IP address, say 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
using your PC you should be able to telnet to the switch using a terminal emulation application ,say putty.
telnet to 192.168.1.1 should get you to the switch.
there are some other small details that may be needed to successfully log in and get into configuration mode.
Quote from: deanwebb on March 22, 2016, 10:20:41 PM
It does require that the device have at least a self-singed certificate.
How do we verify that whether my device has a self-signed certificate?
Quote from: ristau5741 on March 23, 2016, 07:12:43 AM
very simply:
if you assign an ip address to VLAN 1 on your switch, say 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
and connect your pc to the switch, say on port 1, in VLAN 1
and give your pc an IP address, say 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
using your PC you should be able to telnet to the switch using a terminal emulation application ,say putty.
telnet to 192.168.1.1 should get you to the switch.
there are some other small details that may be needed to successfully log in and get into configuration mode.
I tried to configure my switch as you suggested. Here's what I did:
1. Connected my lab PC to switch via console. (Pic 1 & 2)
2. Assigned Vlan1 interface with ip address x.y.z.ab 255.255.255.0 instead of 192.168.1.1 as I am not allowed to make changes to my lab PC (limited access). Hence, I tried to bring switch into same network as my lab PC is.
3. I tried to telnet to the switch using a terminal emulation application using both Putty and Tera term.
4. Only thing I am facing issue with is to understand "connect your pc to the switch, say on port 1, in VLAN 1". Do you want me to remove console cable after I assigned the IP address to switch and connect it to front panel of switch i.e. in one of those 24 ports? I tried that as well.
My switch is connected to the router via patch panels (Pic 3).
No Success :(
Quote from: GeorgeS on March 23, 2016, 05:42:06 AM
Personally I would suggest you a book "The Illustrated Network: How TCP/IP Works in a Modern Network", is a great book and even now sometimes i read it,even though is kind of boring to be honest. But if someone was suggesting me that book when i was in university it would be the best thing they could do.
I know, after one point and especially when he will speak for routing protocols etc it will be kind of tough for you, but the first chapters are great to get a fundamental start.
I am going through the book and it looks good so far as it has one network topology and entire TCP/IP explanation around it :)
Make sure you "no shut" the VLAN 1 interface.
Edit: I forgot to read step 4. In step 4 you need to use an Ethernet cable to connect like you have in the picture.
Quote from: routerdork on March 24, 2016, 03:20:24 PM
Make sure you "no shut" the VLAN 1 interface.
Edit: I forgot to read step 4. In step 4 you need to use an Ethernet cable to connect like you have in the picture.
I made sure that my VLAN1 interface was "no shut". I follow it more as a rule whenever I try to configure :) Also, I verified by typing "show ip int brief" it shows everything is up for VLAN1 interface.
For 4th step am I supposed to connect my PC to switch ports on "Port 1" or my VLAN considers any port as port 1? What I mean is, if I have 24 physical ports, do I need to define which physical port is going to be my virtual port or it is handled by the switch.
I configured my switch and then disconnected it from the PC on which I was configuring. Taking same PC into consideration I connected it to switch port 1 via Ethernet and then tried to telnet it.
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One more detail which is bugging me: I have routers connected to each other and I have router(console) connected to my PC via patch panel. But, it should somehow be connected to internet as well right? How is my router going to be on a network if I remove connection between my PC and router and likewise my switch as well. So, if my switch is connected to a router but not to a network, I don't think I will be able to telnet or SSH it?
I am attaching a picture to show how internet is connected to patch panel(one at top) and how 2 patch panels are interconnected (one at top and one at bottom). The internet connected patch panel is connected to switches and routers connected patch panel(one at bottom).
1st red box is internet.
2nd small red box is connected to switch (and they are my 2 lab PCs - 16 & 17).
3rd red box is connected to 1st.
the light blue Cisco cables are console cables. ment to directly connect a PC or Laptop to the console port of the device via either a RJ45/DB9 Console cable or a RJ45/RJ45 Console cable wiht a DB-9/RJ45 converter. the cable pin outs are different on console cables than a typical network cable.
not sure why you have the console cable connected to the patch panel.
The light blue Cisco cables are connected to patch panels which are connected to Lab PCs. Instead of connecting directly from switch to lab PC I connect it via patch panel and configure it.
Update: Today I was able to access switch(port not console) from my laptop via Ethernet cable. Also, I was able to telnet it!
I configured my switch in college's network subnet from console connected to lab PC (as mentioned above) for ex: if my lab pc has x.y.z.ab/24, I gave my switch IP address as x.y.z.ae - vlan1 which acts on all ports (verified using) "show vlan brief".
I guess I will soon be able to configure router on a stick configuration :)
Lessons learnt:
1. Patch panel broadcasts data.
2. I can access my switch via ports as well.
3. I wanted to assign random IP address to my switch and access it from Internet which I realized is not possible may be due to access limitations.
Please let me know if any of the points don't make sense I will try to elaborate and explain[emoji3]
Best,
Dipen
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I am trying out various configurations on Cisco 2950 switch and 1760 router.
Today I'm going to try standard and extended ACLs using a router, 2 switches and 3 laptops.
I want some suggestions on what all concepts (topologies) I can apply or practice using a simple router and a switch combination (1 router & 1 switch).
I looked into gns3 vault labs and many of them require 2-3 router, switches, etc.
Dipen
Quote from: dipenshah on April 07, 2016, 10:36:41 AM
I am trying out various configurations on Cisco 2950 switch and 1760 router.
Today I'm going to try standard and extended ACLs using a router, 2 switches and 3 laptops.
I want some suggestions on what all concepts (topologies) I can apply or practice using a simple router and a switch combination (1 router & 1 switch).
I looked into gns3 vault labs and many of them require 2-3 router, switches, etc.
Dipen
how many interface does the 1760 have.
simplest would be
pc - switch - router - switch - pc
ACL on router to block ICMP, try to ping from one to other
Apologies for late reply. The 1760 routers have just one interface. But, I guess I can use InterVlan concept here and divide my router interface into 2 sub-interfaces and try to ping from one end to another :)
Quote from: dipenshah on April 11, 2016, 02:13:17 PM
Apologies for late reply. The 1760 routers have just one interface. But, I guess I can use InterVlan concept here and divide my router interface into 2 sub-interfaces and try to ping from one end to another :)
Router on a stick is a bit more complex, but will do the job.
@ristau why did you say it is a complex job? On 04/09 I tried router-on-a-stick with 2 laptops one router and one switch. I did everything right. My configuration was working on Packet tracer as well.
I was able to ping from one laptop (network a) to another laptop's(network b) default gateway and from another laptop (network b) to my default gateway (network a). But, I was unable to ping from one laptop to another on real hardware. I assigned sub-interfaces to router, divided my switch into Vlans and connected laptops to respective Vlans as well.
I tried router on a stick 2 weeks back it was working fine. I am not sure what went wrong :(
Please suggest me what can go wrong in such a scenario.
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Now I will try to use a wireless router (as network b instead of another laptop) and will try configure this wireless router. Connect my phone via Wifi to that network and see if my packet flows from laptop (network a) to mobile (network b)? :rolleyes:
Hah!! I got my answer!! :partay:
Firewall was preventing the packets! I was getting a response from network b's default gateway but not from Laptop. I turned off the Firewall and voila they are able to ping each other :XD:
Firewall? Like Windows firewall?
Because you can also permit traffic through the firewall. Just create the rule for it. That is why I always say...
:notthefirewall:
Yes, Windows firewall.
I will keep that in mind :) Thanks [emoji4]
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