Cisco Equipment Question

mjlynden

Hi Gurus,

I have started a new job and have access to a few pieces of Cisco equipment that I would like to use to run through the CCENT/CCNA curriculum.

The equipment list is as follows:

• Catalyst 2950
• Catalyst 2950 w/ 2x Gig ports
• Catalyst 2960-S 10G
• Catalyst 3500-XL
• Catalyst 3550 (x3 24-port, 1x 48-port)
• Catalyst 3560 POE-24
• Catalyst 3560G

From what I have listed above, what would you use?

Appreciate any advice/tips/suggestions.

- Matt

davenull

all of these are good switches for CCENT/CCNA, you can use any of them to practice STP and Etherchannel, it doesn't matter much. Now, for CCNP or CCNA Voice some of these would be more useful than others

mjlynden

davenull wrote: »

all of these are good switches for CCENT/CCNA, you can use any of them to practice STP and Etherchannel, it doesn't matter much. Now, for CCNP or CCNA Voice some of these would be more useful than others

Thanks for your reply davenull.

If I wanted to pick equipment that would be an all-rounder for CCENT/CCNA and CCNP what would you recommend?

- Matt

davenull

I hear Layer 3 switches are needed for CCNP. I'd get both 3560 for sure and a couple of 3550s, prefer ones that support PoE (if there's any), just in case you go the voice track. Number of ports and speeds are not very relevant for a home lab.

Edit: if they are not free to take home, just use a couple of 3550 and a couple of 2950. You'll see the difference between L2 and L3 switches, and it's plenty for CCNA, and maybe even CCNP - it's going to be revised in January.

JoJoCal19

davenull wrote: »

it's plenty for CCNA, and maybe even CCNP - it's going to be revised in January.

Which one is being revised in January?

Alex90

jojocal19 wrote: »

which one is being revised in january?

ccnp r&s

TechGuru80

Well it already is revised but you still have the option of taking the old version. The CCNA just changed at the end of last year.