Question about a CCNA home lab

TechnicalJay

Hey guys,

I'm very new to networking (Currently working desktop support for 2 years and looking to move up) and would like your input about a home lab. Do you guys think a home lab is worth it? I was looking on cert kits and found Basic 2 Router & 1 Switch CCNA 200-120 Lab Kit - CertificationKits . Would this be any good to practice on and would I need to buy anything extra for the lab?

Thanks.

NightEye00

Hi,

Real lab gear is absolutely far more better than PT but if you're planning to get "just" a CCNA, I suppose PT can give you enough oppportunities to try out the most important technologies/features as I'm preparing for CCNA now and I like doing PT labs even if it's sometimes a bit annoying not having all the needes commands in that. Btw, if you decide to buy real gear the most important thing is to check the IOS-version. The newer the better because later versions/releases have more commands.

Hope that helped

theodoxa

A home lab is definitely worth it. That said, most preassembled kits are overpriced. You can almost always beat the prices on eBay. The kit you posted could be assembled for under $100 (not counting the lab workbook).

theodoxa

CCNA: RS
CCNP: RS


Routers

3 x 1841 or 2800 Series
1 x 2811*
6 x WIC-1DSU-T1-V2*
4 x 1841 or 2800 Series
1 x 2811*
8 x WIC-1DSU-T1-V2*


Switches

3 x Layer 2 (2950, 2960)
or Layer 3 (3550, 3560, or 3750)

4 x 3560 or 3750 Series



*You will need a Frame Relay switch. This could be any router as long as it supports 4 serial links. My personal preference is the 2811 as it has 4 HWIC slots, allowing the use of WIC-1DSU-T1-V2 modules. Alternatively, any router with an NM slot could be used with an NM-4A/S or NM-8A/S or just about any router with 2 or more WIC slots if you use WIC-2T modules. This would require the other routers to use WIC-1T modules rather than WIC-1DSU-T1-V2. I suggest not buying WIC-1DSU-T1 modules unless they are V2. The V2 will work in most routers, while the older modules will only work in a 1700 or 2600 series. Both modules are super cheap.

Frame Relay Options:

DTEs using 1 WIC-1DSU-T1-V2 and DCE using 4 WIC-1DSU-T1-V2
DTEs using 1 WIC-1T and DCE using 1 NM-4A/S or NM-8A/S (Another option, the NM-4T only works in a very small number of models of router)
DTEs using 1 WIC-1T and DCE using 4 WIC-1T
DTEs using 1 WIC-1T and DCE using 2 WIC-2T

Malex

Yeah, while I'm about to take the CCNA with no home lab just PT, if I had the money I'd definitely get one. As theodoxa said, a home lab for just the CCNA shouldn't be more than around ~100 so you can probably find something cheaper. (I've spotted some good deals on Craigslist personally) Best of luck!

koz24

I always recommend a virtual/physical hybrid. Buy 4 switches(like the 3560e) and then connect them to GNS3 routers. You can buy physical routers but why? It is such a waste of money when GNS3 emulation does everything.

Premade lab kits are usually, but not always, over-priced and non scalable for future certs. CCNA Kits usually sell you cheap switches which are inadequate for CCNP/CCIE so you will have to buy new switches anyway. Might as well invest in something more future proof. If you are 100% certain you will stop at CCNA and have no interest going further, you don't need a physical lab. Just use IOU or Packet Tracer.

ciscofun

Yes, if you are just planning for CCNA, but if you are planning for CCNP and are actually working in the networking industry, you should buy a real lab too, 4 x 2811 and 4 x 3560 would be enough for your CCNA and CCNP

theodoxa

koz24 wrote: »

Buy 4 switches(like the 3560e) and then connect them to GNS3 routers.

The 3560-24TS should suffice if all you want it for is labbing. Even the 3560-24PS or any 3750 will work for CCNA and CCNP. The 3560E is a nice switch with 24 or 48 Gigabit Ports and 2 x 10Gigabit Uplinks (which can be converted to 4 x Gigabit Uplinks), but it is also expensive and very loud.

I have one that I use as the core/breakout switch in my lab with my ESXi servers (CSR-1000V Routers, Cisco vWLC, Active Directory Domain Controller, DNS Server, Certificate Authority, RADIUS Server, TFTP Server, etc...) connected to it, which allows me to benefit from the Gigabit (and possibly down the road if I can find some cheap 10GbE NICs, 10 Gigabit) ports. Unless you need to play with 10 Gigabit or need all your ports to be Gigabit or better, the 3560G and 3560E aren't really needed.

TechnicalJay

Thanks for all the replies! Really appreciate it guys.