Way to test TRILL in a virtual lab

labtrill

I don't have access to devices to run TRILL for testing and learning purposes, so is there a way to set-up a virtualized lab to try it ?

What would be the virtualisation system, the vendor, the software, the version…

Best Answer

There are few devices that support standards based TRILL in the real world.

Traditional Cisco IOS is probably the most /supported/ network OS for running in a hypervisor; however, in Cisco land the NXOS platform is the only platform that supports Fabric Path (Cisco's TRILL), and that won't work in Dynamips or IOU.

Furthermore TRILL is a L2 technology. Switches are hard to virtualize because of the special forwarding hardware (TCAM) used in them.

In short I'm afraid you're out of luck on using virtual switches to test TRILL.

Related Solutions

Is it possible to emulate device other than Cisco and Juniper in GNS3 or any other environment

What I recommend is to setup a virtualized environment. Either through Vmware workstation or preferably ESXi with vSphere if you have a server to spare. That gives you a very flexible solution.

Add a VM for Dynamips
Add Olives if you like
Add ASA either via Dynamips or separately
Add the Cisco CSR1000v VM
Add a VM for Arista

That makes it easy to run inter vendor labs and you can connect them through the VM network which makes it simple to setup. I have a lab like this now and it's hosted by a friend so a VPN in to a box he setup (virtual) which is my GW. Then I can configure vSphere and anything I like and run it on the server.

If you have a powerful laptop which 8GB RAM or more you can run a lot of stuff directly on your laptop. Most of these things are RAM heavy but not that heavy for the CPU.

Cisco – How to set up secure remote access to the home lab network

I would pick up a cheap Cisco router/ASA/pix device and set it up with port forwarding/DMZ on the ATT router so all packets going to your public IP that aren't receiving traffic for connections like your wife, go to the router/ASA/pix. Then I would configure it as a remote VPN termination point.

An ASA5505 will probably set you back $200. But you might be able to find an 1800/2800 series router to work with for less. If you get an ISR like those, make sure it has the security IOS or you have a way to get the security or better IOS on it.

As you most likely have a dynamic public address, I would use something like no-ip.com or another dynamic DNS service to have a domain that points to your public IP and updates when it changes. This might be configurable on the ATT router or you may need to run software on a computer in the network.

This would allow secure access to your private network. Once on the VPN, you could connect to your lab equipment via SSH/HTTP/Console depending on how you setup the internal side.

EDIT: If you're already doing port forwarding/DMZ to your company router, then you would need to ask them to allow you to have a VPN termination point on it for your private network.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Is it possible to emulate device other than Cisco and Juniper in GNS3 or any other environment

Cisco – How to set up secure remote access to the home lab network

Related Topic