Basic RouterOS under VirtualBox

Following my post on Installing Mikrotik RouterOS in VirtualBox, here is some basic configuration setup if you want to play around with RouterOS.
For real hand-on experience better to buy small a Mikrotik (e.g RB750, RB951G-2HnD) , they are very cheap. Check here for the products and prices.

Add more Ethernet Interfaces

One simple way to add more interface is to use USB-to-Ethernet adapters. Once installed check that they appear correctly under host OS Linux.

Installing GNS3 v0.8.6 on Linux

Below are the basic steps for installing GNS3 v0.8.6 on Linux Mint 15 ( should also work for other similar flavors) using the excellent work by  claydon_dan as posted in GNS3 Forum.

This version makes things much easier in installing GNS3 and Dynamips using PPA (Personal Package Archive). Reposting the steps below.

Step 1: Add PPA to your system

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gns3/ppa

How to find motherboard model in Linux

There are many ways, using command line in LINUX, to see the motherboard model of the computer. 
You can use lshw or dmidecode. Read more on cli syntax from man commands.

Installing TFTP server in Linux

I recently needed a file server to keep boot images and configuration files to be transferred on switches and routers.

I decided to use TFTP because of its simplicity and low memory requirements
Below the installation steps  used on a  computer loaded with Linux Mint 14.

Installing Mikrotik RouterOS under VirtualBox

MikroTik RouterOS is a Linux based operating system that runs on proprietary hardware (RouterBOARD), or on standard x86-based computers. Some training videos here.

You can install it in VirtualBox and play around with this virtual device.
For real hands on experience with Mikrotiks , better buy the actual equipment since they are cheap.

Go to their website and download the latest Router OS for PC/86

At this time v5.18 is latest stable available version. Also available in torrent.

Create a new Virtual Machine in VirtualBox as per example below.

xDSL- Loop qualification

Below some material found on the web ( webinars, application notes, white papers, articles etc.) on DSL troubleshooting , mostly from companies that manufacture xDSL Testing equipment.