Ccna

Hi!

I'm looking at putting together a home lab. *****Don't want to use Packet Tracer or GNS3******
Just wondering what I should purchase? Two routers and two switches? Three of each?

I also wanted to maybe make things more interesting, do you think it would be a good idea to buy a firewall? Or what do you think I could add in addition to the routers and switches to make my lab more interesting?

Thanks

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volfkhat

Don't know your background...
so i'd go with...
Packet Tracer.

LOL

heavyweight

*****Don't want to use Packet Tracer or GNS3******

heavyweight

C'mon someone please give me some help

v1ral

Go to Packet tracer and look at the devices they have. Buy yourself the following:

Switches:
2960, 3550, 3560, 3750

Routers:
2811, 2821

That should give you a solid foundation to build from as you progress and most of the ones listed are relatively cheap on Ebay. Hold of on a firewall until you have a solid grasp of the basics.

heavyweight

Will this carry me over to CCNP? Also what modules do I need? Should I have an ethernet cable running from every switch port?

v1ral

heavyweight wrote: »

Will this carry me over to CCNP? Also what modules do I need? Should I have an ethernet cable running from every switch port?

Yes it will be good even for the CCNP level. Are you sure you want to buy this now? Sounds like Packet Tracer will do you some good even for some of the CCNP stuff.

And no, you don't need to have a cable running from every port

heavyweight

The 2911 and 2921 are $1500+ on ebay are those necessary?

v1ral

Whoops sorry mistyped the routers. 2811 and 2821

heavyweight

Is this a good 3750?

Cisco Catalyst 3750G Series Poe 24 WS C3750G 24PS E V06 84108 483 0746320942599 | eBay

theodoxa

For Routers -- If you don't plan on doing Collaboration (Voice), then the 1841 is a good option. If you plan on doing any Voice, then I would go with the 2811. If money is really tight, the 1760 is an option, but won't quite cover 100% of the topics.

For Switches -- If you can afford it, I would go with the 3560-24TS or 3560-48TS. If you have time to wait for a good price, you can score them for $75. These will take you all the way through CCIE. If you can't afford that, the next best option is a 3560-24PS. The 3560-24PS can be had for just over $50 and will get you through CCNP. If you really want to spend a lot of money to play around with Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, the 3560E-48TD (48 Gigabit Ports + 2 10 Gigabit Ports) can be had for $225.

3560-24TS $75
3560-24PS $51

theodoxa

heavyweight wrote: »

The 2911 and 2921 are $1500+ on ebay are those necessary?

Not for Routing & Switching. The 1841 or 2811 will suffice through CCNP. If you want an ISR G2, the 1921 is much cheaper. These can be had for just over $300. If you do get one, make sure it has a printout of the boot sequence or show version command and look for "permanent" beside the securityk9 and datak9 licenses. Buying the licenses separately will cost more than the router.

heavyweight

I see the 2611xm being talked about within labs, would this be a good option? I want to pursue voice afterwards what is the difference between the 2821 and 2811?

ayseaf

heavyweight wrote: »

Hi!

I'm looking at putting together a home lab. *****Don't want to use Packet Tracer or GNS3******
Just wondering what I should purchase? Two routers and two switches? Three of each?

I also wanted to maybe make things more interesting, do you think it would be a good idea to buy a firewall? Or what do you think I could add in addition to the routers and switches to make my lab more interesting?

Thanks

check this

Cisco Ccent CCNA CCNP Home Lab Kit 3 X2811 iOS 15 2 X2960 iOS 15 1 X3560 | eBay

clarson

2811 is 1u in height and has 10/100 ethernet ports. the 2821 is 2u in height (also heavier). supports a lot more expandability and many more network modules. it also has 10/100/1000 ethernet ports

clarson

There are many older routers that can't run version 15 of the ios that are acceptable to use in a ccna lab (with the right amount of memory and ios installed). These include the 3640, 1721, 1760, 2600xm's, and the 3700's. the ccna test is written for version 15 of the ios. being these router only run version of the ios before version 15 there will be slight syntax differences that probably don't matter. Also, in general, you won't use these in a ccnp lab. in a ccnp lab you'd have all routers that run version 15 of the ios.

theodoxa

heavyweight wrote: »

I see the 2611xm being talked about within labs, would this be a good option?

A few years ago it would have been, but now the 1841 and 2811 can be had for a few dollars more.

I want to pursue voice afterwards what is the difference between the 2821 and 2811?

The 2821 has an EVM slot, more memory, and Gigabit Ethernet instead of FastEthernet. All nice, but nothing that you really need for a lab environment. It is also 2 RU vs. 1 RU for the 2811.

TWX

It doesn't hurt to buy others' packages of equipment depending on what they have and how badly they want it gone. Instructors are still teaching with 2621XM routers and 2950 switches, but I agree, at least go with the newer router.

If I hadn't managed to buy a package deal and had to buy piecemeal I'd probably have looked for C2960-8 switches, little 8-port managed Catalyst switches, the older green ones, many with the older Cisco logo as opposed to the current white ones with the simplified bridge logo. Some models have PoE, some models have an SFP slot, some models are Fast Ethernet, some models are Gigabit Ethernet. They don't have fans so they're quiet, and so far I have yet to find commands from their big brothers that don't work on them. If I wanted bigger gear I'd look for C2960G series, which I've seen a lot with ports 21-24 being either copper or SFP. If I wanted Layer 3 I'd look for C3560 or C3560G series. Most of the latter is pushing ten years old now but Cisco still has version 15 IOS available if 12 isn't good enough for you, so while companies are often end-of-life replacing them they still function just fine.

I'm actually keeping a hodge-podge of IOS versions just to compare the differences. I've got very old 12.1 on some ancient XL-series, later 12.3 and 12.4 on some more modern stuff, and some with version 15. In a large production setting with thousands of managed devices it's much more likely that things won't be updated just because so understanding the idiosyncrasies is helpful.

ebohlman

heavyweight wrote: »

Is this a good 3750?

Cisco Catalyst 3750G Series Poe 24 WS C3750G 24PS E V06 84108 483 0746320942599 | eBay

Yes. That's a pretty good price for a gigabit model with a full ipservices image.