Hard to get DC rack time!

in CCIE
I knew it was hard to get rack time for the CCIE-DC, but I didn't think it was this hard! These vendors are booked up pretty solid. I'm actually thinking about not going down the data center path ...okay that's just absurd, of course I will!!
It's just a little frustrating. Being that I had my own lab at home for the CCNP R&S, it feels weird to now struggle to get lab time, not to mention pay for rack rentals. This stuff isn't cheap! I guess most of my pay check will be going to tokens.I'm currently studying for the CCNA-DC, where I plan to then do the CCNP-DC. But I really want some exposure to the mock labs. I just feel the need to get some hands on experience, plus it will solidify my CCNP-DC studies. CCIE-DC is definitely in the books and I will strive to get it.All you DC study heads must have a lot of patience for those rack rentals or planned WAY ahead of schedule.

Current Study Discipline: CCIE Data Center
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
Comments
i.e. UCSPE I believe covers the UCS, and I think you can get some good NX-OS coverage on the 1KV or VIRL or whatever, but ultimately I think tokens will have to be the way everyone goes, unless they are lucky enough to have very understanding employers who just happen to have spare Nexus kit floating about... I don't see that likely either, this stuff is not cheap, as you point out!
Now with the UCSPE piece, it actually helps me out. I noticed that on INE, when you add the UCS and SAN modules it really books up the time. But if you go just N7K and N5K, you can squeeze in some rack time. Can I still complete some of the labs, if not make my own utilizing just the N7Ks and N5Ks? I would think I could, but I've never done a rack rental with INE, so not sure how the topology would be using just those modules. Thoughts on that one guys?
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
2, 4, 8
Rest either require SAN (which is still in the readily available tech rack) or require the mock lab rack (either you need full vdc, or you need actual server hardware fvor n1kv, etc)
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-37827
https://developer.cisco.com/web/unifiedcomputing/home
Cisco SEAL, Cisco SWAT, Cisco DeltaForce, Cisco FBI, Cisco DoD, Cisco Army Rangers, Cisco SOCOM .ιlι..ιlι.
What issues were you having?
For FI practice, UCSPE works well.