CCENT/CCNA lab?

jabokim

What would you recommend for a CCENT/CCNA lab for practice? (how many switches, routers, etc etc.) Thanks for any help

Cisco Inferno

I prefer 3 switches and 3 routers. This allows you to do all the labs pretty much; in book and free online ones.

Multiple switches help you learn things like VLAN and Trunking between them.
Multiple routers help you learn routing protocols like OSPF, etc.

This is what I have.
3 2620xm Routers.
3 2950c Switches.

For the Routers

• If you want to use 26__xm routers, get whichever is cheapest (2610xm, 2620xm, 2611xm or 2621xm).
• Sometimes the higher end models like the 2621xm and 2620xm are cheaper at times on ebay.
• The 262_xm ones are just faster in processing but that is nothing you can notice in a home lab with only a few things connected. The 26_1xms also has an extra ethernet port which doesn't really matter.
• Make sure you get them with 128mb ram and 32mb flash mem as minimum to be able to install IOS 12.4T. It is the recommended version for the exam as well as the highest ios these can run. Do not worry about IOS15 as it hasnt change much at all and it is the next one up from 12.4T. It also supports IPv6 if you get the advanced IOSes such as ios12.4T Advance Security etc. If the router does not already have these upgrades, you can easily upgrade this yourself for less than $10 bucks.
• Do not get the non-XM version as these do not have expandable memory. Hence the "XM". These cannot run 12.4T.

For the Switches

• The 2950 switches come in multiple flavors. Plain 8 or 12 port Standard Image ones and then the ones that can run the Enhanced Images (followed by a letter). Pick any one that can run the EI as which does matter to your studies. The only difference are the extra ports on the right side. They usually run the same price so choose the cheapest.
  • 2950T has 2 extra Gig ethernet ports. Clearly does not matter in your lab environment.
  • 2950G has 2 extra GBIC ports that do not matter in your lab environment.
  • 2950C has 2 extra fiber ports that once again do not matter.
• Do not worry about the IOS versions on these as they cannot be upgraded any farther than 12.1 Enhanced I believe.
• IF you wish to go into CCNP territory afterwards, replace one with a 3550 switch running its enhanced image. (EMI). It is a multilayer switch that can also work at layer3 (routing).

Cool, so now you have your routers and switches. But now what???
You're going to have to connect them!

Accessories!

• WAN interface cards and cables for your routers! You are going to want to find a means to connect your routers to each other. This is done via WAN cards. There are also multiple flavors. The common way are serial cards such as the WIC-1T or WIC-2T.
  • Cheaper and smarter option: Get some WIC1DSU-T1V2. These do not use bulky serial cables and only require a special T1 Crossover cable to connect(looks like a normal ethernet cable). The cards and cables are cheaper than the serial method above. About $3 for a 1ft cable (long enough) on eBay. $5 per card as well. I have 6 (2 for each router) so that I can link each router to the other 2 like a triangle.
• Crossover Cables This is to connect switch to switch! So that you can practice trunking. I have 6. They cost about $1 on eBay for 3ft.
• Straight Through Cables Any techy has an abundance of these at home! But make your life easier by buying shorter 2-3ft ones on eBay for about $1 each. This connects hosts and routers to switches. I have too many but around 6 is fine.
• Console Cables You're going to need these to configure your devices. It is Serial on one end and rj-45 on the other. These are super cheap. Just get one for each device.
• USB to Serial Adapters No new computer has a serial port! These take advantage of USB. Again, super cheap.

How I hook up from my computer to my devices
I purchased a cheap PCI Dual Serial Card ($5 on ebay!) for my desktop to have 2 Serial Ports. Then I have a cheap 4 port USB Hub with the adapters mentioned above. This lets me play with 6 devices without constantly unplugging and plugging.

You may also use serial extension cables and usb extension cables to suit your room/office design. Once again $2-3 bucks on eBay.


Good Luck with your studies and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Jon_Cisco

There are already a lot of posts discussing labs so I won't get into any specifics.


I don't recommend a lab if you end goal is CCNA. For beginners that just want the basic exposure to Cisco I think packet tracer is the easiest to work with. It simple and there are lots of examples available online to work with it. If you want to get into more advanced settings then GNS3 will allow you to use the actual IOS which has a lot more features then packet tracer. Most notably you can use the debugs to see what is going on.

So the basics:

2 or 3 routers. I like 1841s
2 or 3 switches. Maybe 2950s

Several crossover cables
Several straight thru cables
Console cable
A serial connection (built in or usb adapter)
power cables for each
a power strip


Possible additions:
Serial connections of some type
cable that matches the serial connections.

Good Luck!

jabokim

Thanks for the great advice!

Cisco Inferno

I forgot to mention, If you wish to simulate hosts connected to a switch, buy some cheap usb to ethernet adapter. Fire up some virtual machines with bridged networking to use them. Then enjoy pinging from your host to vm when they are on different vlans, switches etc.

boffinson

Hi,

I am looking to setup a lab for my CCNA and then CCNP (work is asking me to pass both of them).
So I understand that for switches a couple of 3560's are the way to go.
I'm unsure on what routers to get. Can someone advise

Thanks

Putney

3 or 4 1841 routers would be nice as they're quiet, otherwise you can go for the 28xx series like the 2801/2811 which also have the ability of doing voice if you lean that way.

Otherwise, GNS3.

boffinson

Thank you sir