Seeking advice on CCNA Lab Hardware I've just been offered...

scottishkiwi

I'm planning on starting my study for my CCNA early next year so keeping my eyes open for cheap hardware to build a home lab.

I've just been offered the below for NZ$105 (approx. US$75 / £50)

1 x Cisco 1721 router
1 x Cisco 2651XM router
1 x Cisco 2950 switch
1 x Cisco 3550 PoE

I was no the look out for 1841/2081/2811/2821 etc. however the guy said he used this setup as his own home loab so curious to hear from other here what they think? Is it worth buying or should I save my money and put towards other hardware?

Thank you in advance!

OctalDump

Most of that gear is a bit long in the tooth even for a lab, but the price seems about right. The 1721 probably is too old, the 2651XM might do (no IOS 15, though), the 2950 is probably past it, and the 3550 should be ok. You don't really need physical gear for CCNA, so getting your hands on anything is good enough.

Ideally, 3 18x1 or 28x1 routers and 2 or 3 of 3560, 3550 or 2960. If you are planning on doing the CCNP 'soon', then the 3560 is what you want. You also want the cables to connect the gear, particular the WAN serial links and what not. That's one advantage for buying a kit like this, it should have the necessary modules and cables.

You can probably get an 1841 for under $100 (at least you can this side of the Tasman), and a 3560 for about $100. The 2960 aren't that much cheaper, it seems. You need also to consider the RAM/Flash on the 1841 to know if it will support IOS 15, and what modules, cables etc are included.

Honestly, buy it, but expect to buy some more gear later on - probably another switch and a replacement for 1721.

clarson

The big thing with the routers is how much memory do they have. As that limits which ios they can run. It would be preferable that they have 128/32. and of course a 12.4 version of the ios. And, the 1721 uses a power adaptor. The router isn't any good without it. You do need serial wics. So, hopefully it comes with a few of those. And, like mentioned above, cables do come in handy especially console cables with usb adapters.
Anyway, if it comes with enough memory, serial wics, a power adaptor and cables your getting a good deal. if it doesn't you have decide what those items are going to cost and see if you want to invest the time and money to get things working.
Your going to want a 3rd router. And, it would be nice to have it run version 15 of the ios. So, still keep an eye out for one. But, this hardware will get you going a long way towards the ccna

scottishkiwi

Thank yo for your advice OctalDump and Clarson.

I thought about your comments and decided against the purchase.

I am not in a rush and have the time to look out for better routers so will do that. I have in fact come across another lab package although seems a bit more than I need however if I can negotiate a good price with the person may go for it.. they are not nearby so courier costs are going to add on about $100 which I need to consider this.

The new setup I am considering is as below but as I am not in a rush may just let it go and keep my eyes open unless someone tells me this is a good setup that I should't pass up making and to offer on.. but what amount of offer I'm not 100% sure? OctalDumps mentioned 1841's being <$100 but I am unsure of the rest!

Note: I'm in New Zealand so my $$$'s are NZ$ not US$


8U Rack with the following:


Cisco 877W
Cisco 1841 128Mb RAM
Cisco 1841 384Mb RAM
Cisco 1841 384Mb RAM
Cisco 2801 Router
Cisco 3750 24 Port switch
Cisco 3750 12 Port switch (all SPF)
Cisco 3550 Switch
Cisco 2950 Switch
Cisco 2511 16 Port Terminal Server with RJ45 ports


WICS:
4x HWIC-4ESW
4x WIC-4ESW
2x SHDSL
3x BRI-NT/TE
4x WIC-2T
4x WIC-1T


SPF Modules:
9 Fibre
1 GE


Cabling:
4x Lengths of Fibre cable
3x Cisco back to back serial smart cable
2x Cisco DCE/DTE cables for WIC-1T
2x 3750 stacking cables
40M of UTP (cat5e and cat6)

OctalDump

I was going to recommend trademe, but seems like you've found the site already.

$1000NZ does seem about right for this gear. If you assume $100 each for the 1841s, $150 for the 2801, $50 for the 877, that'd be $500. Add another $300 for the switches (it depends very much on the specifics, from $40 to $150 each), and then you are left with the terminal server and all the cables/modules/WICs.

It is more than you will need for CCNA, so you do have a risk that you won't ever use it all.

Like I said, the big advantage of buying a kit is all the cables/WICs etc you get with it.

Another option is to try Australian eBay and see if people will ship. You need to careful of import duty, though. If the total with shipping is under $400NZD, it should be ok - and that would get you maybe a couple of routers/switches. It mightn't work out cheaper, but there's probably more variety.

pinkiaiii

probably stupid question but why so many people hang up on console cables and converters-I mean its just a simple converter from com port to rj45-given that its outdated and most MB dont use such connection you'd think they wouldn't retail more then 2-3$ for bundle.

That said some smart a$$ in my college decided to borrow one,and once insturctor came over went over stuff even i checked out the cable was there,he goes someone stole the converter-in front of wide angle security camera in the lab didnt even knew that each pc had one hooked to the end,before seeing actually one-guess tells a lot about learning us.

On the side note,heard that cisco isnt about hardware as all the cash they make is from IOS and them flash cards cost a fortune,not quite sure of amounts but it was something near thousand $ for gig or so - and yet you can get usb or simple flash card with 50x that just for mere 30-60 bucks,even ssd drives or new generation ones m2 ssd or server ones are like more 10-20$ per GB.

So would id be correct just to interpret that cisco being buy any competition and stay number one exploits such and every possibility,since it takes like 30mins to flash new IOS of fraction mbs it consists off-when comparing to any other memory type used in industry be it hdd or some nand flash where you can load almost 20gb system in less then 20 minutes to get fully running.

Might be off topic,but just interested in such perspective,since heard it more then couple of times that cisco is more of competitive player that will rather buy someone out,to stay on top.Thus questions remains as being still new to all this,are they truly better in QoS and general fault tolerance or is it more like apple hype type situation,where one might have cheaper options,but someone will always say if it aint cisco its cheap etc,even thou we know that apples company fortunes dont come from innovation nor expenses they put into their devices rather making it seem they invented something that was done by someone else ages ago.