The University of Lahore

Lab#3

Computer Communication & networks

Course Instructor(s) Iqra Khan

Lab Instructor(s) Iqra Khan

Section(s) S, T
Semester Spring 2017

Department of Computer Science & Information Technology

The University of Lahore, Lahore

 In this lab we will get to know packet tracer a network simulator
software/tool that simulates network devices and its environment. We
will also learn to create a simple network topology in packet tracer
after getting a brief introduction of packet tracer layout components.

Packet Tracer:

Packet tracer, a powerful network simulator, is used to simulate real networks with unlimited number of
devices, technologies and their protocols. Protocols included but not limited to, are: OSPF, IP, TCP,
TELNET, CSMA/CD (Ethernet technologies), SMTP, POP3 (we will discuss some of these protocols in class
and lab). We can create our own topologies and learn about their networking and troubleshoot
problems without have to buy new expensive devices i.e. using virtual devices. Packet tracer is owned
and managed by CISCO.

Interface overview:

The layout of Packet Tracer is divided into several components as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1
The components of the Packet Tracer interface are as follows:

1. Menu bar This is a common menu found in all software applications; it is used to
open, save, print, change preferences, and so on.
2. Main toolbar This bar provides shortcut icons to menu options that are commonly
accessed, such as open, save, zoom, undo, and redo, and on the right-hand side is an icon
for entering network information for the current network.
3. Logical/Physical workspace tabs These tabs allow you to toggle between the Logical
and Physical work areas.
4. Workspace This is the area where topologies are created and simulations are displayed.
5. Common tools bar This toolbar provides controls for manipulating topologies, such as
select, move layout, place note, delete, inspect, resize shape, and add simple/complex
PDU.
6. Realtime/Simulation tabs These tabs are used to toggle between the real and
simulation modes. Buttons are also provided to control the time, and to capture the
packets.
7. Network component box This component contains all of the network and end devices
available with Packet Tracer, and is further divided into two areas:
a. Device-type selection box This area contains device categories
b. Device-specific selection box When a device category is selected, this selection
box displays the different device models within that category
8. User-created packet box Users can create highly-customized packets to test their
topology from this area, and the results are displayed as a list

Packet tracer provides networking and end devices along with various type of connections
(see point 7). In order to create a topology, we will have to select some of the devices and put
them in our main window (4).

Components and connections used in this lab:

1. Ethernet crossover cable is a type of Ethernet cable used to connect computing

devices together directly. It is most often used to connect two devices two computers
(via network interface controller) or two switches to each other.
2. Straight through cables are used to connect devices of different types, such as a
computer to a network switch or hub.
3. End Devices can be computers, laptops, servers, phones, tablets, printer etc.
 Figure 2: Cross-over cable
Lets practice to create some simple topologies in packet tracer. After covering some CCN
labs, we will get to know more interesting functionalities of packet tracer and also get to
know all available components in packet tracer. Remember it is a very vast tool with
complex functionality and you cant learn it in 2 or 3 labs.

Topology1: Creating a simple topology in Packet Tracer:

1. From the network component box, click on End Devices and drag-and-drop a Generic PC icon
into the Workspace. As we need to connect two end devices, drag-and-drop another one.
Change the names of your PCs (In this case HP and Dell).
2. After that click on Connections, then click on Copper Cross-Over (cable), then on Dell, and select
FastEthernet0.

Figure 3
After this, click HP and select FastEthernet0. The link status LED should show up in green,
indicating that the link is up.
 Figure 4
1. Click on the Dell, go to the Desktop tab, click on IP Configuration, and enter an IP address (any )
and subnet mask. In this topology, the default gateway and DNS server information is not
needed as there are only two end devices in the network.
2. Now click on the HP and assign an IP address to it in the same way. Make sure that both of the
IP addresses are in the same subnet.
3. Close the IP Configuration box, open the command prompt, and ping the IP address of the
device at the end to check connectivity.

Topology2

What is a network topology without a single network device in it? Add an Ethernet switch to this
topology so that more than two end devices can be connected, by performing the following
steps:
1. Click on Switches from the device-type selection box and insert any switch into the
workspace. Put the cursor on the switch to see all the available ports (see Figure 5).

Figure 5
2. Remove the link between the PC and the laptop using the delete tool from the common
tools bar.
3. Choose the Copper Straight-Through cable and connect the PC and laptop with the
switch. Do this by selecting switch ports FastEthernet0/1 and FastEthernet1/1 with
FastEthernet0 port of Dell and HP PC. At this point, the link indicators on the switch are
 orange in color because the switch ports are undergoing the listening and learning
states of the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP). We will discuss this protocol in class.

Figure 6

4. Once the link turns green, as shown in the previous screenshot, ping again to check the
connectivity.

Figure 7

5. To save this topology, navigate to File | Save As and choose a location. The topology will
be saved with a .pkt extension.
Lab Task

Create the above discussed topologies in Packet tracer tool and take their screen shots. Assign IP
addresses and subnet mask. Connect them with ports. Using Place Note feature in packet tracer, write
the IP address and connected port number on each device. Include the snapshots of ping result also in
both topologies. Save the topologies.