GNS3 is a Graphical Network Simulator that allows emulation of complex networks. You may be familiar with VMWare or Virtual PC that are used to emulate various operating systems in a virtual environment. These programs allow you to run operating systems such as Windows XP Professional or Ubuntu Linux in a virtual environment on your computer. GNS3 allows the same type of emulation using Cisco Internetwork Operating Systems. It allows you to run a Cisco IOS in a virtual environment on your computer. GNS3 is a graphical front end to a product called Dynagen. Dynamips is the core program that allows IOS emulation. Dynagen runs on top of Dynamips to create a more user friendly, text-based environment. A user may create network topologies using simple Windows ini-type files with Dynagen running on top of Dynamips. GNS3 takes this a step further by providing a graphical environment.
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