Build Multi-Vendor Network Labs in Minutes with AI

Real networks are multi-vendor. Your lab should be too.

Most lab tools make multi-vendor painful — source images from 4 different vendor portals, figure out each vendor's config syntax, and hope the protocols interoperate correctly. A 6-device AI multi-vendor network lab can take 2-3 hours to build manually.

With AI, it takes 2 minutes. Just chat to build network topologies — describe what you need in plain English and the AI handles the rest.

The Old Way: Manual Multi-Vendor Lab

Building a Cisco + Nokia + Arista OSPF lab manually:

Step 1: Source images (30-60 minutes)

• Download Cisco IOL from Cisco
• Download Nokia SR Linux from GitHub Container Registry
• Download Arista cEOS from arista.com
• Build Docker images for each vendor (vrnetlab Makefiles, docker import)

Step 2: Write topology (15-20 minutes)

• Create YAML topology file with correct node kinds, images, and links
• Plan IP addressing scheme across vendors
• Map interface names (each vendor names interfaces differently)

Step 3: Write configs (30-60 minutes)

• Cisco IOS: router ospf 1, network statements, ip address on interfaces
• Nokia SR Linux: /configure router ospf, area, interface in a completely different syntax
• Arista EOS: Similar to Cisco but with differences in interface naming and defaults

Step 4: Deploy and troubleshoot (20-40 minutes)

• Deploy with containerlab
• SSH into each device, apply configs
• Debug interoperability issues (MTU mismatches, area type disagreements, hello/dead timer differences)

Total: 2-3 hours for a 6-device lab.

The AI Way

With NetPilot:

Step 1: Describe what you need

"Build a multi-vendor OSPF lab with 2 Cisco IOL routers, 2 Nokia SR Linux routers, and 2 Arista cEOS switches. Use OSPF area 0 as backbone and area 1 as a stub area. Include 2 Linux hosts for testing."

Step 2: AI generates everything

NetPilot's AI:

• Designs the topology diagram with correct cabling
• Assigns IP addresses across all vendors
• Generates Cisco IOS config with router ospf, network, ip ospf area
• Generates Nokia SR Linux config with /configure router ospf in SR Linux CLI syntax
• Generates Arista EOS config with correct interface naming
• Sets matching OSPF parameters (hello/dead timers, MTU, area types) across vendors

Step 3: Deploy and practice

One click deploys to cloud-hosted ContainerLab. SSH into any device from your browser. Run show ip ospf neighbor on Cisco, show /state router ospf neighbor on Nokia — all working, all adjacent.

Total: 2 minutes.

Why Multi-Vendor Labs Matter

For Certification Prep

CCNP and CCIE increasingly test multi-vendor awareness. Understanding that OSPF works the same way but is configured differently across vendors is a key skill.

For Production Networks

Most enterprise networks run multiple vendors. Testing a change in a single-vendor lab gives you false confidence — you won't catch interoperability issues until production.

For Automation

Network automation tools like Ansible and Python need to handle multiple vendors. Practicing automation against a multi-vendor lab catches vendor-specific edge cases early.

Supported Vendors

NetPilot supports these vendors in a single topology:

• Cisco IOL — IOS routers and L2/L3 switches (upload image)
• Nokia SR Linux — datacenter switches with NetOps CLI (built-in)
• Arista cEOS — cloud EOS switches (upload image)
• Juniper cRPD — routing protocol daemon (upload image)
• Palo Alto PAN-OS — next-gen firewall (upload image)
• Fortinet FortiGate — firewall/UTM (upload image)
• FRRouting (FRR) — open-source routing with Cisco-like CLI (built-in)
• Linux clients — for traffic generation and testing (built-in)

Mix any combination in a single lab. AI handles the config syntax differences automatically.

Ready to build multi-vendor? Try NetPilot — describe any multi-vendor topology and get a working lab in 2 minutes.