Pearson Ccna Network Simulator For Anyone

Packet Tracer was originally designed as an educational aid for Ciscos Networking Academy (better known as NetAcad) but is an excellent simulator for anyone pursuing an entry-level Cisco certification, such as the CCENT or CCNA RS.

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When studying for the CCNA, CCNP, or CCIE, choosing the right network simulator or emulator can be a tough decision.

Yes, despite the title, well cover both.) And theres no best way to go about making your selection.

Realistically, its not feasible to test each program individually.

So, youll probably rely on recommendations and everyone has an opinion.

Whether youve been advised by a coworker, supervisor, or a thread on Reddit, everyone has their favorite simulator or emulator.

Someone who primarily uses GNS3 will always claim that its superior to VIRL, and vice-versa.

Similarly, there are camps staked out on the simulator side, too.

Pearson Ccna Network Software Has Its

Building a Practice Lab Related training from CBT Nuggets Start training Objectively, each piece of software has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Lets take a step back and look at the software itself and drop the horse race.

Our analysis focuses on two simulators and three emulators: Cisco Packet Tracer Boson NetSim GNS3 VIRL EVE-NG These are the most popular software for gaining hands-on Cisco lab experience for the routing and switching track certifications.

Many of these tools can also be used to test networking technologies for deployment in the real world.

However, we will focus as much as possible on the certification exam use case.

We will not give a blanket recommendation as to which particular piece of software is best.

Our intent is to focus on the pros and cons of each particular software, leaving you to decide.

Lets begin by diving into the first category of software simulators.

What are Network Simulators A simulator is a piece of software that, as the name implies, simulates a network topology composed of one or more network devices.

The network devices being simulated are not real network devices, and are not capable of passing live network traffic the same way that a real network device could.

Instead, each network device is a piece of software pretending to be a real network device to the best of its ability.

As a result, network devices within a simulator are limited to the commands and features programmed into the simulation.

For this reason, many advanced features (such as DMVPN, Policy Based Routing, and so on) that real network devices are capable of are not present in simulated counterparts.

The key benefit of simulators is that they tend to be extremely lightweight.

Simulator software can run on just about any modern computer without worrying about processor, memory, or storage requirements.

What is Packet Tracer Packet Tracer is Ciscos visual simulation tool that simulates network topologies comprised of Cisco routers, switches, firewalls, and more.