I find using a terminal server to connect to routers while labbing very efficient. I personally don’t like having 10 windows open when configuring devices. I tried it back when I started studying for my R&S but found I made more errors than worth. Since then I have gotten used to jumping between terminal sessions on one screen.
Like most I used Dynamips when I studied for the SP. I built a quad-core PC at home with Ubuntu. My laptop at the time was running Windows XP, but during my 4 months trial I got a Mac Book Pro. Obviously I had to study whenever I had time regardless of the platform. So I configured the same setup across all three platforms.
Configuring a terminal server in Dynamips requires a real interface to be bridged to a virtual router interface. This is done by using a loopback interface. This is done very differently on the three platforms:
- Windows XP (32-bit)
- Ubuntu 9.10 (64-bit)
- Snow Leopard 10.6 (32/64-bit)
The .NET file I used for the Internetwork Expert SP labs are at the bottom of the article.
