In todays project I am taking the VLAN Network we built in a previous project and adding a DHCP server for automatic IP Assignment on devices, and a Cloud Connection to allow remote users access. Below I’ve provided a link to the previous project below that we are going off of, as well as a link to the finished DCHP project file, and a link to download and setup Cisco Packet Tracer and practice some networking yourself.
https://www.netacad.com/about-networking-academy/packet-tracer
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t5BP5Xg44XOlvrFcwcPZT9oKvGIxmSTi/view?usp=sharing
What is DHCP?
DHCP refers to a network protocol that automatically assigns devices IP Addresses. The alternative to DHCP is manually configuring all IP Addresses, this would mean every device on even a large network would have to be configured by hand, and each IP Address would need to be tracked in a database. This leads for more work for IT Staff, more opportunity for mistakes as each IP Address needs to be accounted for, and limited scalability. DHCP takes care of those problems for us by dynamically assigning a new device with a usable IP Address. This protocol is huge for large scale businesses and saves so much time and resources. DHCP also ensures IP Addresses are used efficiently, and is a great way to make Network management easier and more reliable.
Cloud Network Access
In this project we connected our network to a simulated cloud environment. Cloud networks are a way to access and manage resources over the internet, as opposed to having a local connection to the network. Physically, the cloud refers to remote servers that can serve as a storage space, or process data for anyone with an internet connection(with the right permissions). Cloud networks are a huge part of network infrastructure today, and SaaS applications like Microsoft 365 or Salesforce support a large number of businesses. Cloud technology allows us to do a lot of unique things, hosting data that is readily available to users across the internet while still keeping data secure. When using a VPN, the Cloud can be a great place to help with website hosting, keeping transactions secure.
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/cloud-computing-dictionary/what-is-the-cloud
Project
The goal of this project is to connect and configure a DHCP Server so new devices on our network are configured automatically. We will have to make a new VLAN network for management devices under our network as well. We also want to add Cloud connectivity using a PT-Empty router. PT Devices in Cisco Packet Tracer can be used to configure a cloud network, and they used to offer a device specifically for cloud connections called PT-Cloud, that came with multiple modules installed already. Our PT Empty will serve the same purpose, we just need to install the modules and configure them manually.
Lets begin todays project by adding in our physical components and getting everything connected.
Well add in one server connected to our switch, and then add a PT Empty Router connected to our original router. The image below shows how I have laid these out in the project.
Configuring DHCP:
Well start by assigning an IP Address for our DHCP server and configuring a VLAN 1 – Management, for our DHCP server.
Under the desktop tab for the DHCP Server we can assign a static IP Address that will belong under our management VLAN.
- IP Address:
192.168.1.3 - Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0 - Default Gateway:
192.168.1.1(this should match the router’s IP for VLAN 1).
Next we can start configuring DHCP rules on our server. Under the Services tab, find DHCP and we can begin adding our groups for each VLAN.
- For VLAN 10 (Sales):
- Pool Name:
Sales-Pool - Default Gateway:
192.168.10.1(router’s subinterface for VLAN 10) - DNS Server: (optional, e.g.,
8.8.8.8) - Start IP Address:
192.168.10.10 - Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0 - Maximum Number of Users: (e.g.,
50)
- Pool Name:
- For VLAN 20 (Engineering):
- Pool Name:
Engineering-Pool - Default Gateway:
192.168.20.1(router’s subinterface for VLAN 20) - DNS Server: (optional, e.g.,
8.8.8.8) - Start IP Address:
192.168.20.10 - Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0 - Maximum Number of Users: (e.g.,
50)
- Pool Name:
When setting up a DHCP Pool, its important to use the correct information. We made sure to start each DHCP pool at .10, allowing us to configure some static IP Addresses below this number if we would like to. These are known as Reserved IP Addresses, and some networks use different standards to configure these reserved addresses. We also configured a max user number, allowing us 50 users in each VLAN network. We could have selected an even higher number, but I don’t need to for a small network like this. We also configured each VLAN with a DNS server, allowing them to connect to websites without knowing the direct IP Address.
Next, we can begin to configure the management VLAN on the switch. Open the switches command line to begin:
Switch> enable
Switch# configure terminal
Switch(config)# interface vlan 1
Switch(config-if)# ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
Switch(config-if)# no shutdown
Switch(config-if)# exit
Switch(config)# ip default-gateway 192.168.1.1
Switch(config)# exit
Switch# write memory
Awesome, next we can configure the VLAN network on our router as well. Open the routers CLI:
Router> enable
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/0.1
Router(config-subif)# encapsulation dot1Q 1
Router(config-subif)# ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
Router(config-subif)# no shutdown
Router(config-subif)# exit
Router# write memory
Awesome, now our PCs should be able to connect to the management VLAN without any issues. But we still need to assign our router with the DHCP instructions so it knows where to send those DHCP requests. Well need to assign each other VLAN to point to our server for DHCP. Lets begin by opening up our router 0 CLI once more and start configuring:
Router(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/0.10
Router(config-subif)# ip helper-address 192.168.1.3
Router(config-subif)# exit
Router(config)# interface GigabitEthernet0/0.20
Router(config-subif)# ip helper-address 192.168.1.3
Router(config-subif)# exit
IP Helper Address basically refers to the DHCP Process. When the PCs on our network send out a DHCP request, that request will get sent to our network router, Router 0. From there the router will now see that DHCP requests should be sent to our server in VLAN 1, and the signal now leaves headed for the switch, and then ends up at our DHCP server where the process takes place.
We can test this configuration by simply requesting DHCP from one of our PCs. If an IP Address is assigned this way, our DHCP server should be up and running! Make sure the IP Addresses are under the correct VLAN networks though, otherwise well end up with some misconfigured PCs.
Configuring Cloud:
Next, we can begin configuring our PT Empty to simulate our cloud environment. The first step will be opening the physical interface for the device and adding in 2 modules to the router. First, well need to hit the power switch, then I added 2 PT-ROUTER-NM-1CE modules in Ethernet0/0 and Ethernet1/0.
We can now power on our PT Empty and begin configuring our simulated cloud environment. Under the configuration tab we can begin assigning IP Addresses to the connection with the Router and our Laptop as well.
Well start with Ethernet0/0, which is our connection to Router 0.
- IP Address:
209.165.200.1 - Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0
Now, we can configure Ethernet1/0. Under the config tab we can assign an IP address:
- IP Address:
192.168.30.10 - Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0
Okay, our PT Empty should be configured now to simulate a cloud environment and connect with a remote user on our laptop. Next step will be setting up our laptop for connectivity with the cloud, and then we are ready to begin testing!
Open the laptop and find the desktop tab, and open the IP Address configuration.
Set static IP settings:
- IP Address:
192.168.30.10 - Subnet Mask:
255.255.255.0 - Default Gateway:
192.168.30.1
Our last step is setting up our Router 0 to connect properly with the cloud environment.
Open Router 0 CLI and begin with the commands:
Router> enable
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)# interface Ethernet0/0
Router(config-if)# ip address 209.165.200.2 255.255.255.0
Router(config-if)# no shutdown
Router(config-if)# exit
Router(config)# ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 209.165.200.1
Router(config)# exit
Just like in the real world, we want to ensure all internet traffic is forwarded to our cloud. I made sure any signal routed to the PT Empty router can reach its destination, and I also set a default route out to the PT Empty for all internet traffic. We do this by running the ip route command. This command establishes a default route where all unknown destinations are forwarded to PT Empty.
Now, we can begin testing our project by sending some pings. We should be able to ping any devices in our network and get a successful message in this configuration, and now our remote users can fully connect with our PCs in this network.
Summary
This project was a great way for me to learn more about the cloud and its functionality in networking. Configuring this lab taught me about how routers direct traffic to external networks, and I’m really glad i got some hands on experience configuring a network like this. Adding in a DHCP server was something I wanted to do for a long time now, and it was super easy and helpful. We can even take this project further and configure another DHCP pool for devices that connect remotely VIA the PT Empty cloud. DHCP is definitely a tool that helps making expanding the network much easier, now I can add multiple PCs to the network super quickly. Overall, this project was a really fun way to push my networking skills further and learn more about the real world applications for cloud technology. Getting hands on experience configuring these networks in Cisco Packet Tracer was really helpful for understanding how these concepts work and how to implement them in the real world. If you have any questions or comments, there is a comment section below or you can reach me directly using the contact page. Thank you very much for reading and I hope this post is helpful!
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