Cisco VIRL (part of The Cisco Learning Network) vs. Packet Tracer

Cisco VIRL/CML is obviously very well suited if you want to lab practically any Cisco based network platform. It does a fantastic job of supporting almost all feature sets in a production appliance. It may not be the best option if you require a very multi-vendor intensive solution for labbing purposes.

Incentivized

Very suitable for educational purposes or for training new employees on a virtual system. It is also very suitable for making initial designs for networks and presenting them to clients before starting implementation. Unfortunately, it is not suitable for network testing and penetration testing. Also, it is not possible to add Firewall devices from other companies.

• It allows for labbing complex environment topologies
• Interconnecting virtual nodes, which emulate network appliances, is extremely easy and intuitive
• Assuming you meet the minimum hardware requirements to run the virtual images, the nodes run relatively fast

Incentivized

• It contains most of Cisco's products in one place without the need to use a third party
• You can design and implement a complete network with all settings and export the configuration file
• Track and monitor connection status and data traffic

• Better support for multi-vendor labs. Since Cisco VIRLs uses KVM as its hypervisor, not all vendor images will be fully supported in the Cisco VIRL/CML environment. For these particular use cases, it's sometimes better to use GNS3 or EVE-NG.
• Since there are several free offerings out there that allow you to emulate network appliances (especially Cisco IOS based devices), I would love to see Cisco offer more cost-effective alternatives to engineers over their current pricing model.

Incentivized

• Improve editing tools for writing on the workspace
• Add tools to help integrate with network analysis programs
• Add features to enable the program to access the Internet

Cisco VIRL is a great network environment emulation tool when it comes to Cisco devices. However, I have run into some issues when trying to integrate other vendors virtual images into the Cisco VIRL/CML environment. For those specific use cases, I have had better luck with other emulation platforms like EVE-NG.

Incentivized

Cisco VIRL/CML provides a similar emulation environment to GNS3 and EVE-NG but I would argue that it's the best when it specifically comes to Cisco network appliances. This is because you will have access to latest Cisco virtual images with the best support in regards to current feature sets. If you run into any issues, you can also get support from Cisco. The same can't be said about free emulation programs like GNS3 or EVE-NG. However, when it comes to multi-vendor labbing, I have found better success with EVE-NG.

Incentivized

• It has allowed me to avoid mistakes when implementing changes on Cisco devices
• It has allowed me to better plan new network change implementations
• It has allowed me to be more confident in my network designs by providing me with a predictive model where I can gauge the effect that certain changes and new technology features will have on my network

Incentivized

• Improving group skills through practical applications
• Solve some problems related to network design
• The task can be solved at home, you don't have to be in the toffice