CCNP Lab (Physical)

TehToG

I got a rather good deal on some routers and so I was wondering if someone could give me an idea if this would be enough for CCNP. I'm planning to play about with it for a few months while I get my MCSA:2012 but I want to fall back on the Cisco stuff when I get bored with the MS stuff.

4 x 2950s
1 x 3550
3 x 2801
1 x 1841
1 x 2610

After my MCSA I'm looking to go after CCNP or CCNA voice and I was wondering if someone could comment on how suitable this would be. I'm looking to add a 3560G or 3750 POE into the mix if I can find one cheap enough.

edit: I do have a few ESXi hosts too. I'm hoping not to have to run a GNS3 instance as they're not that powerful

theodoxa

You will need another Layer 3 switch for CCNP, preferably a 3560 or 3750 for IPv6 and PVLAN support. 2 x 3560 would be even better, but 3550s will cover most of the CCNP topics. The 2801's are good for Voice since they support VICs/VWICs/PVDMs (Analog Voice) and VoIP. I used a 2801 as my CME router [before I decided to focus on CCNA: Security and CCNP: R&S instead.]

If you want to run the TSHOOT topology, it is based on 4 x 3750 Switches, 6 x Routers (4 x Your Network, 1 x Frame Relay Switch, and 1 x ISP for BGP), 2 Servers, and a Client PC. You can substitute 3560's (only changes the port numbering -- 3750 uses 3 numbers separated by slashes and the 3550/3560 use two numbers separated by slashes) or 2960's at the Access Layer (You will have to change the Port-Channel numbers to single digit as the 2960 doesn't support 2 digit Port-Channel numbers).

TehToG

Thanks this is exactly the sort of info I'm after. I'm currently trying to add a 3750 POE switch but I'm just waiting for one at the right price on eBay. I do have a GNS3 Workbench VM but my ESXi hosts have limited ram and the other VMs I need can be pretty RAM hungry. If I have to occasionally shut down some pcs and power up the GNS3 VM for some topologies then that's alright.

Am I right in assuming the 3750s numbering is different because they're stackable and need the extra digit?

Is it worth beefing up the 2801s RAM/Flash to run IOS 15?

theodoxa

TehToG wrote: »

Am I right in assuming the 3750s numbering is different because they're stackable and need the extra digit?

Yes. First digit is the stack position.

Is it worth beefing up the 2801s RAM/Flash to run IOS 15?

RAM is [usually] cheap on eBay. No sense in not maxing it out. I bought all my RAM from a seller in SC (http://stores.ebay.com/Memoryk?_trksid=p2047675.l2563)

JeanM

theodoxa wrote: »

RAM is [usually] cheap on eBay. No sense in not maxing it out. I bought all my RAM from a seller in SC (http://stores.ebay.com/Memoryk?_trksid=p2047675.l2563)

+1. Good seller, I bought ram for my routers from them/him as well.

TehToG

The flash is pretty expensive over here in the UK ($15-20 for 128mb) for some reason. The ram seems cheap enough though. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a restriction in place for upgrading the RAM/flash like there is with the 2600XM series (where an updated rommon is needed).