GNS3 stands for Graphical Network Simulator. It is developed by a team of individuals from all over the world. Unlike other dynamips graphical front-ends, GNS3 just makes sense and it is strongly linked with dynagen. Anything you have learned about dynagen can be used with GNS3.
You may run simulations, or configure each device, from a simple workstation to a powerful Cisco router.
To allows complete simulations, GNS-3 is based on two existing projects:
NS-3 , a discrete-event network simulator for Internet systems, targeted primarily for research and educational use.
Dynamips, an IOS emulator which allows users to run IOS binary images from Cisco Systems.
GNS-3 is an open source product that may be used on multiple platforms, including Windows, Linux, and MacOS X.
· Design of high quality network topologies.
· Emulation of Cisco routers.
· Load-balancing on multiple hosts/hypervisors when in emulation mode.
· Topology import and export.
· Image exports (PNG, JPEG, BMP, XPM).
Requirements:
· Qt >= 4.2
· Python >= 2.4
· Sip >= 4.5 if you need to compile PyQt
· PyQt >= 4.1
Limitations:
· You will need your own IOS image to run GNS3.