Why Create your own Lab Packs in Boson NetSim?

By Brian Scheibe

I had a chance to talk to a customer on the telephone this week who was planning to teach a CCNA 640-802 class to students located around the country. His plan was to use laptops configured with NetSim for CCNA in the classroom so that he did not have to transport bulky Cisco equipment.

As we talked I realized that he was unaware that he could create custom lab packages that contain personalized documentation, topologies, and configurations. In fact, NetSim allows an instructor can create custom lab packages that have the school logo, grading functionality, and beginning configurations using the Lab Compiler. The Lab Compiler is included in every version of NetSim.

He became even more excited about NetSim when he realized that students could be assigned homework customized to follow his class syllabus. Students could practice the commands and configurations they learn in class and thus better prepare themselves for the next day’s lecture. The grading function can be used to enable students to work through the steps in the lab and easily determine if they have completed the homework successfully.

Custom labs can also be used by an instructor to test a student’s knowledge about specific networking concepts. Multiple labs can be added to a single lab pack, covering a variety of concepts, making it possible for an instructor to create a lab pack that contains all the custom labs he will use during a course. However, Boson NetSim for CCNA already includes 96 CCNA level labs that can be used by a student to learn commands used to perform a variety of network configurations.

As you can see the Lab Compiler is a feature that makes Boson NetSim for CCNA a great tool for learning the commands needed to configure routers and switches in labs which target the Cisco CCNA 640-802 certification exam.