Going to study for CCENT CCNA R&S starting soon, advice for home lab?

MJK9550

What kind of lab set up should i have at home to practice for this>?

Study tips and advice?

All welcome, thanks!

koz24

Well you have a lot of options. How big is your budget? You can go all physical, a hybrid(something like 4 physical switches / routers in GNS3), or all virtual with PT switches(should be enough for CCNA).

If you mean the actual models for the equipment I'm not sure, but I will say that it would be wise to future-proof yourself if you plan on going further than CCNA. If you plan to stop after CCNA you can get some real great deals on cheap equipment, but CCIE workbook switches will cost a bit more, so again it depends on your budget.

By the way, if you are not sure, I would just get a 1 year subscription of the 20 device Cisco VIRL for $200(it's $80 if you are a student) and just use that. It's great for CCNA.

MJK9550

Thanks that sounds like the better option, I use cisco routers and switches at work so i dont really want to purchase the equipment. That lab sounds like my best bet, and i am a student so that is cheap. thanks

cmztech

Study tip:

Once you enter the "ah ha!" moment of how switches move frames, routers move packets, and you get quick at subnetting, then the rest will start clicking a lot faster. So, you might consider paying extra close attention to detail on those topics. (that's been my experience)

Techytach

You may want to consider just using packet tracer.

So far during my job hunt no one seems to care I spent a year playing with real Cisco routers and switches. But then again, when I land a job, that will probably be the one job that did. So don't listen to me.

mbarrett

INE has a very nice discussion on Youtube about this: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3UpcvaDU_Fm_KgOMRTCbuxKorA4hiCqV

That being said, your best bet for CCNA is probably Packet Tracer - or just go with a simulator or an online rack rental (I don't have a list, but there are more than one of them.)

GDaines

Techytach wrote: »

You may want to consider just using packet tracer.

So far during my job hunt no one seems to care I spent a year playing with real Cisco routers and switches. But then again, when I land a job, that will probably be the one job that did. So don't listen to me.

I've been in the job market for a while and decided to study for my CCNA when it seemed most jobs either required it or at least listed it as desirable. For any 'infrastructure' roles they always want to know what hands-on experience I have with Cisco gear, and whilst any gained in a commercial environment is always considered better, they are usually impressed that I've bought a (reasonably) modern lab which has given me actual hands-on experience. I'm also pretty sure that if I tried to claim hands-on experience using virtual/simulated kit they'd think I have a screw loose or something as in the job world it would, in my opinion, seem be seen as little more than playing, and hardly better than just watching videos.

That's not to knock the simulators and virtual environments, as study aides I'm sure they're an excellent option, but in the real world they want you to have touched and configured real routers, switches and firewalls.

GDaines

MJK9550 wrote: »

What kind of lab set up should i have at home to practice for this>?

Study tips and advice?

All welcome, thanks!

Personally I went for real equipment as there are plenty of things that you can only do on the real thing, but as already mentioned it can be a much more expensive route to choose, and whether or not the extra bits you gain make the financial outlay worthwhile are debateable.

If you do go for physical kit, buy modern kit that will take you beyond CCNA should you choose to continue down a Cisco path, don't be mislead into thinking models older than those I'll list are a bargain, they're not and you'll just have to buy even more kit later on to replace it. Looking back knowing what I know now I wouldn't have bought some of the devices I did, I'd have chosen more carefully. Ideally you want kit that is capable of running IOS 15, but it doesn't have to be running it yet (of course there are threads galore then on where to get IOS files to upgrade with, that's a whole new discussion). This is my kit so far:

1x 1841 router
4x 2811 router, all upgraded to 512mb
1x 2960 layer2 switch
2x 3560 layer3 PoE 'PS' switch
2x 3560 layer3 'TS' switch

If I was buying again I wouldn't have bought the 1841 even though it can run IOS 15 as four 2811 (2821/2851) routers is enough for most labs, certainly at CCNA level. And I wouldn't have bought the PoE 3560's which at the time I was not aware couldn't run IOS 15, I'd have made sure to look for 'TS' models and not 'PS' models. They might be useful if I look at 'Collaboration' as I'll probably need one to power my phones, or if I look at 'Wireless' to power my access points, but I should have crossed that bridge when I got to it.

The biggest issue with physical kit is the cost as there is so much to buy on top of what's listed above. To keep it all together you might consider a rack. I went for a proper 12U cabinet which I thought would be big enough at the time, but I see a lot of people pushing open-frame racks. Personally having felt the weight of some of my devices I wouldn't touch an open-frame, they look so flimsy. And I'm now at the stage I want to replace it with a 24U enclosure so I can add even more kit which means trying to sell the old one. Then you've got a power strip to plug everything in to, power cables, network cables, serial cables (and expansion cards), rack-mount kits (as often they're not included and by the time you realise you've bought kit without), and not forgetting memory and flash card upgrades you'll need if you want to install better versions of IOS or upgrade to IOS 15 as in most cases units are sold with default ram/flash.

It can be a money pit if you don't get the right advice before opening your wallet, but without at least some physical kit how are you ever going to practice factory resetting a device to remove unknown passwords, opening up a device to install memory, install expansion cards and troubleshoot cable problems when you thought you'd pushed it in properly but apparently you didn't?

carterw65

This is what I posted on another thread:

I am currently building out a new lab. I had a full blown CCIE INE lab before with like 10 routers and 4 switches, but I moved away from that.

What I have right now is a Dell 1950 iii server with 32G RAM and 2 processors running VMware ESXi with CSR1000V router VMs. You can run as many routers as your machine has memory for. I will be in the market soon for 4 3560E switches (the switches I had before weren't mine) to connect to the 2nd NIC of the server. Using the ESXi networking I can connect the CSR routers to the switches.

The Server only cost me like $150 and the ESXi and CSR are free (eval copies that you can refresh). I think this setup is a really cheap way to go and with switches will cost $800 or less. The key is this should be able to take you from CCENT all the way to CCIE if that is your goal.

If you want to run VIRL, I would not get the 1950 though. You will need a x5500 series processor or better. Mine only has L5420s and they don't support nesting. If you had a server that supports VT-x/EPT (nesting) it will work for the CSRs or VIRL.

I was doing OSPF labbing last night on it and it worked awesome. One thing is, if you only want it for CCNA or maybe CCNP, you don't need the 3560E switches, you can get by on a cheaper model and still have an awesome lab for pocket change.

Techytach

GDaines wrote: »

I've been in the job market for a while and decided to study for my CCNA when it seemed most jobs either required it or at least listed it as desirable. For any 'infrastructure' roles they always want to know what hands-on experience I have with Cisco gear, and whilst any gained in a commercial environment is always considered better, they are usually impressed that I've bought a (reasonably) modern lab which has given me actual hands-on experience.

Where are these infrastructure jobs? I've seen literally two NOC jobs over the last two months. And not any others I'd consider more network/infrastructure. Is it because of where I live? South West. Or is that more the normal rate we can look for/apply for network heavy jobs?

98% of IT here appears to be helpdesk, (windows) admin, or software dev.

8thdegreepwnologist

Check this thread http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/120784-mini-lab.html#post1035131

I found this post helpful by GDaines

"The best lab to buy would be a bunch of matching routers and layer3 switches capable of running IOS 15, but for CCNA they don't have to be just yet so you could start with older kit if you really want/need to. The 2811 router is a good choice as it ticks all the boxes, the 2821 and 2851 better again but they're bigger so you'll need a bigger rack, while the 1841 is okay as it'll also run IOS 15 but it's less expandable which will matter if you choose certain Cisco tracks. For switches look for 3560 'TS' models as the 'PS' models can't run IOS 15, but again at CCNA level you don't need layer3 so you could buy layer2 2960. That said, the lesser models that'll only work for CCNA cost a similar amount if you buy wisely so if I was starting again that's what I'd buy - 3x 2811 and 3x 3560-TS.

As clarson also pointed out, 90% of what you'll buy will come with default ram and flash, it'll be running IOS 12, and it might not include rack mounts or cables, so you need to budget for adding these. Calculate the cost to get a device up to full spec, then that's the price you're looking to beat when seeing kit advertised that is already expanded. For a 2811 router the standard spec is 256mb ram, 64mb flash, IOS 12 spservices, but what you really want is 512mb ram, 128mb flash and IOS 15 advipservices or adventerprise.

TIP: If you buy ONE device running the right version of IOS then you can copy it to your other devices that are the same model (you cannot use 2811 IOS image on an 1841 or vice versa though). However, just because the seller lists it as having IOS 15 doesn't mean it's the right IOS 15! I've seen unexpanded units listed as having IOS 15, but for the version you want they MUST HAVE 512mb or more ram and 128mb or larger flash card. If it's a lesser-version of the IOS then you're still likely to need to expand the device to install the preferred version, so watch that you don't spend more just because it says it's IOS 15.

Finally, where do you get the IOS files to upgrade? The only two methods we are allowed to suggest as they're the only two legitimate methods are to pay Cisco copious amounts of money for a SmartNet support agreement (which will be way more than you pay for the device), or buy at least one device with the correct IOS version already installed. "