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Packet Tracer 5.0

What’s the news?

PT 5.0 is CCNA-level simulation, visualization, and collaboration software free for all students, instructors, and alumni of the Cisco Networking Academy. Here we talk to its inventor, Dennis Frezzo, and find out all about the latest version.

Hi Dennis, Can you tell us why there was a need for a new version?

In a learning community as large as Cisco Networking Academy, there are many different requests to make PT support more protocols; devices; and curriculum, assessment, activity authoring, multiuser, and gaming features. We try to support the Discovery and Exploration courses, as well as a wide variety of related CCNA teaching and learning tasks.

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How did you develop it?

PT 5.0 is based on prior versions of PT. It consists of over 400,000 lines of C++ code. It is not using real Cisco IOS; it is rather a medium-fidelity pedagogically-oriented model of the key features of networking protocols, networking devices, and the Cisco IOS. A small team based in San Jose, CA, consisting of interaction designers, educational psychologists, networking subject matter experts, and of course software engineers and programmers develops PT, though we are looking forward to more extensive community involvement in this development process in the years ahead.

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Was it trialled in the field and in academies before you took it to market?

Yes, a Beta Test on PT 5.0 was conducted from February to June 2008, and was well received.

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What are the principal changes this time?

The new version greatly surpasses the learning benefits of previous editions, providing new opportunities for creativity and interactivity in the classroom. New features include:

  • Additional support for an expanded list of platforms which now includes Windows (Windows XP, Windows 2000, Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium) and Linux (Ubuntu and Fedora).
  • Additional support for an expanded list of protocols, including IP version 6, multi-area Open Shortest Path First, route redistribution, Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol, Secure Shell and multilayer switching.
  • Multi-user functionality supporting collaboration, competition, remote instructor-student interaction, social networking and gaming.

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How often will you continue to update Packet Tracer moving forward?

We plan on major releases once a year; maintenance releases at the 6 month intervals in between.

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What is the benefit of a simulator?

Simulators are not meant to replace experience with real equipment; however they have several key benefits.

First, every student can have access not just to their own device, but to their own entire network on which to practice--simulators are inherently student-centric in allowing students nearly unlimited access to virtual devices.

Second, since PT simulates with good fidelity the "physics of CCNA-level protocols and devices", every student can build their own "microworld" as customized or complex as their curiosity dictates and pursue their own lines of inquiry and "what if" questions.

Third, in a simulator, you can add many visualization features, such as the animated packet “envelopes”, which can then be opened and the PDU processing and protocol details explored in further depth.

Finally, simulation software running on multiple machines can been interconnected with multiuser features for practice, cooperative and competitive activities, and of course games.

Packet Tracer 5.0

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Student/Instructers Q&A's

We asked students and instructors to give us some questions for Dennis. He took time out from his busy schedule to answer your questions directly. We’ve included a sample of your questions here.

Question:
Hi Dennis, I have already download Packet tracer the Linux-Ubuntu version but it has ".bin" extension. How to install such package on Linux-ubuntu distribution?

Answer:
To install the Linux BIN packages, set the permission to be executable (chmod +x PacketTracer5_*.bin) then execute the binary in the terminal.

Note:
The installation packages are compressed executable shell scripts with a bin extension whose contents are the EULA and rpm (Fedora) or deb (Ubuntu) packages. The packages can be uninstalled using the system’s package manager. While the package manager for Ubuntu allows integration of a EULA, the Fedora package manager does not. So for consistency, a bin wrapper was used for both distributions.

Question:
Hello Dennis, I'm currently doing CCNA Exploration through the Open University in the UK.

I wanted to put forward a suggestion for consideration for any upcoming release of Packet Tracer.

Currently, when using the 'File/Open' menu, Packet Tracer (Windows version at least) presents the reference topologies directory which is within the installation directory of Packet Tracer itself.

Often when I am working on a topology, I save progressive versions of it as I am working on it and consequently want to open previous versions of the topology, which have been saved in a directory in my main documents directory.

Using packet tracer, I constantly have to navigate through the directory structure in order to find a file I may have just saved seconds previously.

Would it be possible to include an option for a default working directory, so we can change it to whatever directory we happen to use most?

Answer:
In Packet Tracer 5.0, we added "Recent Files". Up to five recently opened files will show up in the Files > Recent Files menu.

Question:
Hi, I’m a student in a Cisco Academy.

I use packet tracer 5.0, and I’d like to ask why there are no full real updated Cisco products of - switches and routers etc - so that students and instructors can be up to date with the new series, such as 2800 and so on..?

Answer:
Thank you for your comments. First, there are some “newer” devices such as 2811 routers and the 3560 multilayer switch. PT is not intended to be a high-end design tool with up-to-date products, but is rather educational software for teaching and learning at the CCNA level. Packet Tracer uses a simplified model of the real Cisco IOS; the team chooses a common, stable build of the Cisco IOS to model. Actually modeling the full Cisco product line or many versions of the Cisco IOS is not feasible for reasons of time, cost, and complexity (and we recommend you always use real equipment in addition to Packet Tracer). Please submit your enhancement requests to the help desk. We value your input and prioritize the most requested features for the next major release.

Thanks very much indeed to Dennis and his team. We look forward to hearing your feedback on our NetAcad Advantage forum on Facebook.

 

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