Cabling Your Access Server Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial

Cabling Your Access Server Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial
A Cisco home lab is an invaluable study tool when you are preparing for CCNA & CCNP exam success. one time you have gotten a couple of routers & switches, you'll quickly get tired of moving that blue console cable every time you require to configure a different tool. The solution to this problem is purchasing & configuring an access server (AS).

For those of you new to access servers, note that these are not white boxes walking Microsoft operating systems. These are Cisco routers that permit you to connect to all the routers & switches in your home lab without moving a cable. You can physically or logically connect to the access server & work with all your devices from there.

When you are pricing access servers, remember that you do NOT require an expensive AS. Right now on ebay there's access servers costing up to $5000 - this is not what you require to buy. What you are looking for is something like a 2509 or 2511, which is going to run you anywhere from $100 - $200. It's cash well spent, because one time you get an AS, you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

The only additional hardware you require is the cable that will physically connect your AS to the other routers & switches in your home lab. The cable you require is called an octal cable, so named because one end of this cable is actually eight ends, all terminated with a numbered RJ-45 connector.

twice you have got your AS & this cable, you are ready to configure your AS. Connect the cable to the AS as described above, & then you will connect one of the RJ-45 connectors to the console port of each one of your routers & switches. Make sure to note the number that is on the cable itself right below the connector, because that is very important. In the next part of this home lab tutorial, I'll tell you exactly how to configure your access server for best results, along with a few troubleshooting tips.


The large end of the cable is going to be connected to the AS itself. The cable will connect to a port on the AS that will have "async 1-8" directly above the physical port. it's this port that makes an AS different from other Cisco routers.