Common Open Research Emulator (CORE) vs GNS3
Common Open Research Emulator (CORE)
nrl.navy.milGNS3
gns3.comSide by side
| Figure | Common Open Research Emulator (CORE) | GNS3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Network Simulation Software | 7.5 (#18) | 8.0 (#8) |
| Integrations | CORE documentation includes provided services for EMANE, FRR, Quagga, SDN, and XORP. | GNS3 supports Docker instances, QEMU-based appliances, hypervisors including VMware, VirtualBox and Hyper-V, and connections to real networks. |
| Purpose | CORE emulates networks on one or more machines and can connect emulated networks to live networks. | GNS3 lets network engineers emulate, configure, test, and troubleshoot virtual and real networks. |
| Support | The repository points users to GitHub-hosted documentation and a Discord channel for support discussions. | GNS3 points users to its documentation and community for help, questions, and bug reports. |
Plans
Common Open Research Emulator (CORE)
No plans published.
In their own words
Common Open Research Emulator (CORE)
Common Open Research Emulator (CORE) has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
GNS3
GNS3 is free, open-source software for emulating, configuring, testing, and troubleshooting virtual and real networks. Its graphical client works with a virtual machine, and servers can run locally or remotely. Users can combine emulated devices running actual images with simulated devices, including a built-in layer 2 switch. It supports appliances from vendors such as Cisco, Brocade, Cumulus Linux, and HPE, as well as Docker, QEMU-based appliances, VMware, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, and connections to real networks. The GNS3 Marketplace offers preconfigured appliance templates with recommended settings. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux; documentation recommends the GNS3 VM for most Windows and macOS setups and complex topologies. Users must supply their own Cisco IOS images. There are no monthly or yearly license fees, and device capacity depends in practice on the host computer’s CPU and memory. GNS3 is used for networking education, certification practice, proofs of concept, demonstrations, and interoperability testing. A server has no authentication enabled by default and should be restricted at the network level.