Yarmouk University
Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering
Technology
Computer Engineering Department
CPE 563: Computer Networking
Laboratory
Week 1: Introduction to Packet Tracer
(Building, Configuring and Simulating
Network Topologies)
Basic Information:
Student Name:
Student ID:
Student Section Number:
Objective: Learn how to use packet tracer for building, configuring and simulating
network topologies.
Outcomes: the student should be able to:
1. Use packet tracer and explore its components.
2. Build network topologies that contain End Devices, Routers and Switches.
3. Configure End Devices and Router IP information using GUI.
4. Test the connectivity between hosts using Simulation mode on any network topology.
5. Learn how the broadcast mechanism is performed in the network.
6. Learn the functionality of the frame’s forwarding in the switch.
7. Learn how the ARP protocol works.
Packet Tracer – Creating a New Topology
What is Packet Tracer? Packet Tracer is a protocol simulator developed by Dennis Frezzo
and his team at Cisco Systems. Packet Tracer (PT) is a powerful and dynamic tool that
displays the various protocols used in networking, in either Realtime or Simulation mode.
This includes layer 2 protocols such as Ethernet and PPP, layer 3 protocols such as IP, ICMP,
and ARP, and layer 4 protocols such as TCP and UDP. Routing protocols can also be traced.
Version: This lab is based on Packet Tracer 8.0.
Step 1: Start Packet Tracer
Step 2: Choosing Devices and Connections
We will begin building our network topology by selecting devices and the media used to
connect them. Several types of devices and network connections can be used. For this lab
we will use End Devices, Switches, Hubs, and Connections.
Single click on each group of devices and connections to display the various choices. The
devices you see may differ slightly.
Step 3: Building the Topology – Adding Hosts
Single click on End Devices.
Single click on the PC host.
Move the cursor into topology area. You will notice it turns into a plus “+” sign.
Single click in the topology area and it copies the device.
Add three more hosts.
Step 4: Building the Topology – Connecting the End Devices to Switches and Routers
Adding a Switch
Select a switch, by clicking once on Switches and once on a 2960-24TT switch.
Add the switch by moving the plus sign “+” below PC2 and PC3 and click once.
Connect PC2 to Switch0 by first choosing Connections.
Click once on the Copper Straight-Through cable.
Perform the following steps to connect PC2 to Switch0:
1. Click once on PC2
2. Choose FastEthernet
3. Drag the cursor to Switch0
4. Click once on Switch0 and choose FastEthernet0/1
5. Notice the green link lights on PC2 Ethernet NIC and amber light Switch0
FastEthernet0/1 port. The switch port is temporarily not forwarding frames, while it
goes through the stages for the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) process.
6. After a about 30 seconds the amber light will change to green indicating that the port
has entered the forwarding stage. Frames can now be forwarded out the switch port.
4 3 2 1
5 6
Repeat the steps above for PC3 connecting it to Port 3 on Switch0 on port FastEtherent0/2.
(The actual switch port you choose does not matter.)
Move the cursor over the link light to view the port number. Fa means FastEthernet, 100
Mbps Ethernet.
If you need the ports’ numbers to be always displayed on the topology, do the following:
1. Go to the main menu bar and select options.
2. From the drop-down menu select preferences.
3. From the preferences window check Always Show Port Labels in Logical
Workspace. Also, from this window you can show the link lights (by checking Show
Link Lights) and the devices models (by checking Show Device Model Label).
Adding a Router
Select a router, by clicking once on Routers and once on a 1941 router.
To connect a switch0 to router0 use Straight-Through cable as below:
Same as before but choose Gig0/0 as the physical port of
Router0 connected to Gig0/1 of Switch0.
Connecting Switch0 to Switch1
To connect like-devices, like two Switches, we will use a Cross-over cable. Click once the
Cross-over Cable from the Connections options.
Click once on switch0 and choose Gig0/2 (actual port does not matter) then on Switch1 and
choose Gig0/2.
Step 5: Configuring IP Addresses and Subnet Masks on the End Devices
Before we can communicate between the hosts we need to configure IP Addresses and
Subnet Masks on the devices.
Click once on PC1.
You can set the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server of the End Device
by selecting the Desktop tap then choose IP configuration
The information is automatically saved when entered.
To close this dialog box, click the “X” in the upper right.
Verify the information
To verify the information that you entered, move the Select tool (arrow) over each host.
Deleting a Device or Link
To delete a device or link, choose the Delete tool and click on the item you wish to delete.
Step 6: Configuring Router Interfaces with IPs and subnet masks.
Using GUI:
Click once on Router0 then choose Config tab to select the interface we want to configure
with IP address and subnet mask, assume the IP is [Link]/24 for Gig0/0 interface.
IP Address
Subnet Mask
Then activate the interface by check the checkbox beside On (interfaces of the router are
shut down by default)
Repeat step 6 for interface Gig0/1 on Router0, assume the IP is [Link]/16.
Step 7: Verifying Connectivity between hosts using Simulation Mode
In this task, we will use the Simulation mode of Packet Tracer to follow ping packets
(message used to test the connectivity) in our routed network environment.
1. Before starting the simulation, add a Server from the End Devices categories and
connect it to interface Gig0/1 on router0. Set the IP information for the Server as you
did for PC1, assume the following IP information is used:
IP of Server: [Link]
Subnet Mask: [Link]
Default Gateway: [Link]
Lab Work:
Task 1: Simulate a Virtual Network with an Ethernet Hub
1. Create network topology in the packet tracer like this one:
[Link] [Link]
This scenario consists of a LAN with a server and two workstations connected by an Ethernet Hub.
2. In the Packet Tracer window, change from Realtime mode to Simulation mode.
a. In the lower-right corner you will see the following:
This shows that the current mode is “Realtime” – traffic flows without any pause or slowing.
b. Click the “stop watch” icon behind the Realtime icon:
You are now in Simulation mode – traffic will flow but each packet will be sent individually and in slow
motion. This will allow us to watch the traffic on the LAN.
3. In simulation mode, we can control the “types” of traffic we see in Packet Tracer. For this lab, we only
want to see ping packets (test messages to check connectivity).
a. In the Edit Filter dialog box, clear the check mark next to Show All/None. All the check marks
should disappear.
b. Still in the Edit Filter dialog, enable the ICMP protocol by putting a check mark in its box.
c. Click anywhere outside of the Edit Filter dialog to make this dialog disappear. Your Event List
Filter should look like that shown in this figure:
4. We will now create a simple test message inside of Packet Tracer. Click on the icon that looks like a
closed envelope (the “open envelope” creates a complex message which is more than we want right
now).
5. Now click first on PC0 (in the main packet tracer pane) then click on Server1. This action specified the
source and destination of our test packet. An icon of an envelope will appear next to PC0; it is “ready”
to send.
6. In the main Packet Tracer window, click the button for “Capture / Forward” one time only.
Task 2: Simulate a Virtual Network with an Ethernet Switch
1. Create network topology in the packet tracer like this one:
Both topologies test connectivity should success
In your words, write your observations and conclusion
from this lab.