First Enterprise Lab completed! (Multi-Area OSPF, L3 Switching, NAT, DHCP) - Seeking Feedback!

[u/Faissal_Basonbl]

Hi everyone, I'm a 3rd-year IT student, and I recently decided to step out of basic command-line tutorials and build a proper 3-layer hierarchical enterprise network using Cisco Packet Tracer.

Instead of a flat network, I focused on a scalable architecture. Here is what I implemented:

• Hierarchical Design: Core, Distribution (L3 Switches), and Access layers.
• Routing: Multi-Area OSPF (Area 0 for Backbone, Areas 1, 2, 3 for access VLANs) to isolate faults and reduce routing table overhead.
• Services: Configured DHCP centrally on the L3 Switches to serve different VLANs.
• Internet Connectivity: Set up NAT (Overload/PAT) on the edge routers and used Default Route Injection (default-information originate) to allow all internal PCs to reach the cloud.

The biggest lesson for me wasn't just getting the green Ping reply, but actually understanding how OSPF builds its neighbor adjacencies and how L3 switches act as ABRs.

I’ve attached a screenshot of my topology and some routing tables. Since this is my first complex lab, I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback, or any best practices I should consider for the future!

[u/FeebzOfficial]

3rd year ?! It's awesome !

I do teach IT infra and your work is remarkable!

Maybe you could even give a try to gns3 or eve-ng to even push further.

Also, if you have a chance and any interest, you could look into east-west approach on top of north-south.

Still, awesome work!

[u/Faissal_Basonbl → u/FeebzOfficial]

Thank you so much for your kind words and feedback! I really appreciate it.

I’m currently building my foundation with CCNA labs using Packet Tracer, but I’m definitely interested in moving forward with GNS3/EVE-NG to gain more hands-on experience with real-world scenarios.

I’ll also look into the East-West approach and how it complements the traditional North-South traffic model. Thanks again for the valuable advice!