Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly DNA Center) is the one lab almost nobody can build at home. Cisco's own virtual appliance calls for 32 vCPUs and 256GB of dedicated RAM just to boot, before you've added a single Catalyst 9000v fabric switch (4 vCPUs and 18GB each) for it to orchestrate. LabFabric gives you a live, ready-to-use Catalyst Center appliance already orchestrating a real SD-Access fabric, so you go straight to configuring instead of provisioning hardware you don't have.
The problem
You onboard a new edge switch through Plug-and-Play, but it never shows up in the fabric topology. Discovery seems to complete, yet the switch stays stuck and unassigned.
What you'll practice
- Provision an SD-Access fabric from the Catalyst Center UI
- Onboard edge switches and access points via Plug-and-Play
- Read live telemetry and health scores in Assurance
- Automate fabric changes with the Intent (REST) API
- Troubleshoot connectivity between the underlay and the VXLAN-encapsulated overlay
The topology
The lab runs a three-tier SD-Access fabric on Catalyst 9000v switches: a border node handling traffic to the outside world, a LISP control-plane node tracking every endpoint's location, and edge nodes where access points and hosts connect. It's the same border/control-plane/edge split you'd design against in a real SD-Access deployment, orchestrated end-to-end by a live Catalyst Center controller.
Topology diagram
Frequently asked
Do I need my own Cisco DNAC license or images?
No. The Catalyst Center appliance, controller license and switch images are pre-loaded. You just log in and start configuring.
Can I break the fabric and start over?
Yes. Each session resets to a clean fabric state, so you can experiment freely. Misconfigurations don't carry over to the next booking.
Why can't I just run this myself in EVE-NG or GNS3?
You can try, but Cisco's own Catalyst Center virtual appliance alone calls for 32 vCPUs and 256GB of reserved RAM, and each Catalyst 9000v fabric switch it orchestrates needs another 4 vCPUs and 18GB. That's more compute than most home-lab servers have in total, before you've configured a single VLAN.
Ready to run this lab yourself?
No setup, no image sourcing. Book a session or ask for a live demo.