A physical enterprise-style training lab: real Cisco switching and routing, two Dell PowerEdge servers running Proxmox, and Rocky Linux / Ubuntu VMs. Built to train students toward the CCNA 200-301 and RHCSA — and for the instructor to learn on, too. Everything here is training equipment; students are expected to break things and fix them.
The network as built through Phase 7: management VLAN 100, the new guest trunks to both Proxmox hosts, and the proposed (not yet configured) VM migration.
See the topology →
Console navigation, read-only show commands, VLAN 100 access ports, switch management
SVIs, trunks, spanning-tree roots, and saving configs — marked USED vs REFERENCE, with the actual
lab examples.
Open the Cisco cheat sheet →
Minicom console access, ip link/address checks, Proxmox vmbr0/nic0 layout,
Rocky NetworkManager, Ubuntu Netplan, hostnames and admin access, plus the mini diagnostic checklist.
Open the Linux & Proxmox cheat sheet →
| Role | Equipment |
|---|---|
| Core switches | SW-CORE-01 / SW-CORE-02 — Cisco Catalyst 3850-48T-S |
| Access switches | SW-ACCESS-01 — Catalyst 2960X-24TS-L · SW-ACCESS-02 — Catalyst 2960-24TT-L |
| Routers (routing exercises) | R-CORE-01 / R-CORE-02 — Cisco 3725 |
| Virtualization | PVE01 / PVE02 — Dell PowerEdge R320, Proxmox VE (independent hosts, not a cluster) |
| Instructor workstation | Dell OptiPlex 7060, Rocky Linux — console access via Minicom |
| Student VMs | Rocky Linux 9.8 and Ubuntu Server 24.04 VMs, one environment per student |
| Device | Address |
|---|---|
| SW-CORE-01 | 192.168.100.2 |
| SW-CORE-02 | 192.168.100.3 |
| SW-ACCESS-01 | 192.168.100.4 |
| SW-ACCESS-02 | 192.168.100.5 |
| PVE01 (Proxmox) | 192.168.100.10 — https://192.168.100.10:8006 |
| PVE02 (Proxmox) | 192.168.100.13 — https://192.168.100.13:8006 |
| Instructor workstation (OptiPlex) | 192.168.100.30 |
VLANs in the design: 100 Management · 110 Student 1 · 120 Student 2 · 130 Shared Services · 210 OSPF Branch A · 220 OSPF Branch B. Management stays on its own protected ports so student exercises — and student mistakes — can't take down the infrastructure used to fix them.
show / status commands first, always.copy running-config startup-config).