Computer Networks

Lab 1

Lab Contents:

1- Interface Overview

2- Cable Standards

3- Creating a First Network

i. Interface Overview

When you open Packet Tracer, by default you will be presented with the following interface:

This initial interface contains ten components. If you are unsure of what a particular interface item
does, move your mouse over the item and a help balloon will explain the item.

No. Component Description

1 Menu Bar This bar provides the File, Edit, Options, View, Tools,
Extensions, and Help menus. You will find basic commands
such as Open, Save, Save as Pkz, Print, and Preferences in
these menus. You will also be able to access the Activity
Wizard from the Extensions menu.

2 Main Tool Bar This bar provides shortcut icons to the File and Edit menu
commands. This bar also provides buttons for Copy, Paste,
Undo, Redo, Zoom, the Drawing Palette, and the Custom
Devices Dialog. On the right, you will also find the Network
Information button, which you can use to enter a description
for the current network (or any text you wish to include).
 3

3 Common Tools Bar This bar provides access to these commonly used workspace
tools: Select, Move Layout, Place Note, Delete, Inspect, Resize
Shape, Add Simple PDU, and Add Complex PDU. See
"Workspace Basics" for more information.

4 Logical/Physical You can toggle between the Physical Workspace and the
Workspace and Logical Workspace with the tabs on this bar. In Logical
Navigation Bar Workspace, this bar also allows you to go back to a previous
level in a cluster, create a New Cluster, Move Object, Set Tiled
Background, and Viewport. In Physical Workspace, this bar
allows you to navigate through physical locations, create a
New City, create a New Building, create a New Closet, Move
Object, apply a Grid to the background, Set Background, and
go to the Working Closet.

5 Workspace This area is where you will create your network, watch
simulations, and view many kinds of information and statistics.

6 Realtime/Simulation You can toggle between Realtime Mode and Simulation Mode
Bar with the tabs on this bar. This bar also provides buttons to
Power Cycle Devices as well as the Play Control buttons and
the Event List toggle button in Simulation Mode. Also, it
contains a clock that displays the relative Time in Realtime
Mode and Simulation Mode.

7 Network This box is where you choose devices and connections to put
Component Box into the workspace. It contains the Device-Type Selection Box
and the Device-Specific Selection Box.

8 Device-Type This box contains the type of devices and connections available
Selection Box in Packet Tracer. The Device-Specific Selection Box will change
depending on which type of device you choose.

9 Device-Specific This box is where you choose specifically which devices you
Selection Box want to put in your network and which connections to make.

10 User Created Packet This window manages the packets you put in the network
Window* during simulation scenarios. See the "Simulation Mode"
section for more details.
 4

ii. Cable Standards

Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP)

1- Straight-through Cable:
 If the two RJ-45 connectors of a cable are held side by side in the same
orientation, the colored wires will be seen in each.
 If the order of the colored wires is the same at each end, then the cable is
straight-through
 Use straight-through cables for the following cabling:
o Switch to router
o Switch to PC or server
o Hub to PC or server

2- Cross-over Cable
 With crossover, the RJ-45 connectors on both ends show that some of the
wires on one side of the cable are crossed to a different pin on the other side
of the cable.
 Pins 1 and 2 on one connector connect respectively to pins 3 and 6 on the
other
 5

 Use crossover cables for the following cabling:

 The green and orange

iii. Creating a First Network

1. Start creating a network by first selecting the End Devices. Add a Generic PC and a
Generic Server to the workspace.

2. Under Connections, select the Copper Straight-through cable (solid black line) and
connect the devices with it. The red lights on the link indicate that the connection is
not working. Now, use the Delete tool to remove the Copper Straight-through cable,
and use a Copper Cross-over cable (dashed line) instead. The lights should turn green
at this point. If the mouse pointer is held over either device, the link status will be
shown as “Up.” The network should look similar to this:

3. Click on the PC. While paying attention to the link lights, turn the power on, off, and
on again. Follow the same steps for the server. The link lights turn red when the
device is off. This means that the link is down or is not working. The link lights turn
green when the device is turned back on.

4. Try all three ways to learn about the devices. First, mouse over the devices to see
basic configuration information about them. Second, click on each device with the
Select tool to show the device configuration window, which provides several ways to
configure the device. Third, use the Inspect tool to view the tables the network
device will build as it learns about the network around it. In this example, open the
ARP table. Since the devices have not been configured yet, the ARP tables are empty.
Always remember to close the windows after viewing them or they will clutter the
workspace.
 7

5. Open the PC configuration window and change the settings using the Config tab.
Change the display name to Client and set the DNS server to 192.168.0.105. Under
Interface, click Fast Ethernet and set the IP address as 192.168.0.110. Packet Tracer
automatically calculates other parameters. Make sure that the Port Status box is
checked. For future reference, note that other Ethernet interface settings, such as
bandwidth, duplex, MAC address, and subnet mask can be modified using this
window.

6. Go to the Desktop Tab and click on IP Configuration. Notice that the IP address,
subnet mask and DNS server can be changed here as well.

7. Open the Server configuration window and go to the Config tab. Change the display
name to Web Server. Click Fast Ethernet and set the IP address as 192.168.0.105.
Make sure that the Port Status is also on. Click DNS and set the domain name as
www.firstlab.com. Set the IP address as 192.168.0.105 and click Add. Finally, check
to make sure that the service for DNS is on.

8. Reposition the network devices by dragging them to a new location. Add a network
description by using the “i” button on the upper right corner. Then add some text
labels within the Logical Workspace by using the Place Note tool.

9. Load a background grid using the Set Tiled Background button.

10. Save your work using the File > Save As option and create a meaningful filename.