Expanding my network horizons (beyond Cisco)
Some of you might remember a few months back I posted asking for some ideas how what to spend my free time summer working on. I ended up choosing to dive into wire shark, read one book and half way through another. I have also been getting more network related questions at work, but not always on Cisco gear.
Because work is focusing more on networking in general and I am enjoying the wireshark stuff immensely I have decided to build up my home lab a bit. I have a 12U mini rack on its way, I am hunting for two 3750s w/ipservices images on them but want to add in other vendors so I can at least be comfortable working on one should I find some on a client site.
Right now my list is:
This leaves out L3/Routing for the most part, which I deal with very little if at all. I plan on using the 3750 as a break out switch with GNS3 for any routing that I may want to simulate.
Because work is focusing more on networking in general and I am enjoying the wireshark stuff immensely I have decided to build up my home lab a bit. I have a 12U mini rack on its way, I am hunting for two 3750s w/ipservices images on them but want to add in other vendors so I can at least be comfortable working on one should I find some on a client site.
Right now my list is:
- Dell powerconnect 24 port (~$50-$80)
- HP Procurve 24 port ($30-$50)
- Avaya/Nortel (if i can find an affordable, current version)
This leaves out L3/Routing for the most part, which I deal with very little if at all. I plan on using the 3750 as a break out switch with GNS3 for any routing that I may want to simulate.
Comments
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joelsfood
Member Posts: 1,027 ■■■■■■□□□□
I'd probably skip the Avaya/Nortel myself, thoug that varies by customer base. Definitely add Juniper, and if you want to get beyond basic switch, F5, Fortigate, Sonicwall, Palo Alto and maybe Arista, to name a few. Juniper and F5 can be done virtual though