The (Many) Cable Types And Their Purposes Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial

The (Many) Cable Types And Their Purposes Cisco CCNA / CCNP Home Lab Tutorial
One of the most common questions I get from CCNA & CCNP candidates who are setting up their own home labs is "What cables will I need?" The answer is "It depends." As you know from your exam studies, the physical layout of your lab is what determines the cables you'll need. Let's take a look at the most common home lab cable types & when you will need them.

Straight-through cables have a few uses in a CCNA / CCNP home lab. You'll need them to connect a switch port to an AUI port on a router (and you'll need a transceiver for that as well). If you have an ISDN simulator, straight-through cables can be used to connect a router's BRI port to the simulator.

DTE/DCE cables are used to connect three routers via their serial cables. If you are planning on using a frame relay switch in your lab, you'll need several of these. You can also get some great practice in by directly connecting three routers & bringing the connection up (and making sure it stays up!). This is valuable practice for your CCNA exam.

Crossover cables are used to connect switches & permit them to trunk. If at all possible, get three switches in your home lab. This will permit you to gain valuable experience in manipulating root bridge election, working with STP, & generating EtherChannels.

Finally, there is that precious blue cable, the rollover cable. Rollover cables (sometimes called "rolled cables") permit you to connect a host gizmo directly to a router or switch's console port. These cables have a way of disappearing around an IT shop, so make sure to take eight home - & leave it there!

Octal cables are used to connect an access server to each of the other routers & switches in your lab.