CCNP v2 Lab gear

Hey,
Just curious to know what people are using for labs, real gear or Boson sim etc. While doing CCNA I went with real gear. I have two 2950's in my lab setup, and want to add either two 3550's or 3650's. Am I correct is saying that the 3550's wont support IOS15.0 and private vlans. so maybe i should just concentrate on obtaining the 3560's. I'm halfway through the new OCGv2 switch book by "DH" 300-115 at the moment, so it would be great to get some perspective. Thanks

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theodoxa

The 3550s won't do Private VLANs, IPv6 (I've seen some sites that claim they can Process Switch IPv6 with the right IOS), or VTPv3. To run IOS 15, you will need a 3560-24TS or 3560-48TS. The PoE models (24PS/48PS) don't have enough (you need 32 MB) flash memory to hold IOS 15. If you want to do stackwise, you'll need a couple of 3750. I use real equipment, though I have done some Routing in GNS3, though I have had stability issues with larger topologies. I've never tried Boson NetSim (too expensive to risk.)

Murph

Thank for that theodoxa, I thought as much. going to get myself two 3560's on ebay, hopefully I can get them cheap enough!. Yeah, Boson Netsim looks pricey alright. Thanks again!

StussyNz

Also interested to find this information for when I do start labbing for the new CCNP:Switch Studies! - Currently Studying the CCNP:Routev2 Material at the moment and will be using GNS3 for all labbing needs

Priston

At work I pretty much have an unlimited selection of hardware to choose from.
Currently my lab consists of
2x 6504-E
6x 2811 (3 routers and 3 emulating PCs)
3x 3560G

I really need to pull out my lab manual and start labbing everything though.

OfWolfAndMan

theodoxa wrote: »

The 3550s won't do Private VLANs, IPv6 (I've seen some sites that claim they can Process Switch IPv6 with the right IOS), or VTPv3. To run IOS 15, you will need a 3560-24TS or 3560-48TS. The PoE models (24PS/48PS) don't have enough (you need 32 MB) flash memory to hold IOS 15. If you want to do stackwise, you'll need a couple of 3750. I use real equipment, though I have done some Routing in GNS3, though I have had stability issues with larger topologies. I've never tried Boson NetSim (too expensive to risk.)

I will agree with all of this, however wanted to add something about the 3750. They do support Stackwise (Which is an easy config and a few minutes of overview), but if it is a standard 3750, it does not support IOS 15.x. 3750x, 3750g, and 3750v2 support it, but not the standard.

JustFred

The 3560-24TS does not support IOS 15.

fredrikjj

There's little point in paying a lot more just to get some extra features and 15.0 when the things that actually require some lab time (mainly spanning tree), is identical in 12.x. That's what I think anyway, but if money isn't an issue, go for it. Alternatively, you could also just use IOU and supplement with some rented rack time.

Priston

JustFred wrote: »

The 3560-24TS does not support IOS 15.

I heard IOS 15 isn't supported on 3560 (non-G) because some of the models don't have 32MB of flash. Since the 3560-24TS has 32MB it should work. It's just a lab

, if it was production doing something unsupported would be a whole different story.

JustFred

Good to know Preston. I have the 3560 POE and TS. I will try IOS 15 on the 24TS.

theodoxa

I'm running 15.0 on both of my 3560-24TS. The 3750-24TS are running 12.2.

azaghul

JustFred wrote: »

Good to know Preston. I have the 3560 POE and TS. I will try IOS 15 on the 24TS.

I just loaded up v15.0 on my 48TS's at the weekend...running fine...if you have access via CCO, download v15.0 from the 3560v2 packages.

JustFred

Thanks Az, will do just that