Gearing Up For CCNP R & S
Hey all,
New to the forum and i've heard / read a few contradictory statements regarding gear and iOS versioning.
My current lab is;
- 2950 x2
- 1841 x1
- 2611xm x1
- 2811 x1
I am looking to get 2 more L3 switches and a router. However none of these devices have the latest iOS, works support contract doesn't include the 1841, and i can't seem to find the 2611 in the downloads section, and we don't have a contract for the 2800 series.
Any ideas / tips?
Thanks
New to the forum and i've heard / read a few contradictory statements regarding gear and iOS versioning.
My current lab is;
- 2950 x2
- 1841 x1
- 2611xm x1
- 2811 x1
I am looking to get 2 more L3 switches and a router. However none of these devices have the latest iOS, works support contract doesn't include the 1841, and i can't seem to find the 2611 in the downloads section, and we don't have a contract for the 2800 series.
Any ideas / tips?
Thanks
Comments
Best of luck!
[X] CIPTV2 300-075
[ ] SIP School SSCA
[X] CCNP Switch 300-115 [X] CCNP Route 300-101 [X] CCNP Tshoot 300-135
[ ] LPIC1-101 [ ] LPIC1-102 (wishful thinking)
Thanks for the response! So you don't think i need to upgrade my routers to iOS 15?
When you say mix them up with GNS3, do you mean somehow integrate them or just use both when there is something lacking?
I had a little play with GNS today, but couldn't find a decent guide to help me set it up, are you able to point me in the direction of a good guide?
I started with trying to get it going through virtual box and find the linux files and GNS IOU for virtual box (found an older guide so not the most recent one for Vbox).
Gave up on that shortly after and used some existing iOS files that i had, which unfortunately were not compatible with GNS!
Only one i had that worked was 7200.
Just quickly ebayed 3650 (daaaamn!) I would love to get hardware, is there an alternative to the 3650?
As i understand GNS3 doesn't do switching natively and you need to add in a module? Do you happen to have a guide for the switching image setup as well ? :P
I know i am a pain!
Thanks!
I'd say this is a good starting point to get you an idea of GNS3 with IOU. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/setting-up-cisco-l2-l3-devices-gns3-152-ccnaccnp-preparations-yee?trk=hp-feed-article-title-comment
Make sure you use VMware Workstation Player though (for hosting the GNS3 VM) as it works seamlessly with GNS3 AAAND install the VMWare VIX API from their site (otherwise GNS3 won't be able to automatically start the GNS3 VM when you fire GNS3 up).
Once you get GNS3 working and the GNS3 VM installed, you can use these for your labs:
- Layer 2 (Switching): i86bi-linux-l2-adventerprisek9-15.2d.bin
- Layer 3 (Routing): i86bi-linux-l3-adventerprisek9-15.5.2T.bin
How you get these images is entirely up to you
Just take your time with getting it working - there are several useful clips on YouTube as well as resources/guides on the GNS3 forums. I'm telling you, once you get it running, you won't be able to take that smile off your face for the rest of the day. You can even study if you're away just by running these things on your laptop.
EDIT: yes, you can integrate GNS3 with your physical routers or switches even. There's a CLOUD device in GNS3 which you can actually configure to use a REAL network adapter to send/receive traffic so you can link the GNS3 devices to whatever you have your laptop connected to..that's what i did for CCNP voice to get my physical phones working, ISDN etc.
[X] CIPTV2 300-075
[ ] SIP School SSCA
[X] CCNP Switch 300-115 [X] CCNP Route 300-101 [X] CCNP Tshoot 300-135
[ ] LPIC1-101 [ ] LPIC1-102 (wishful thinking)
I'll be sure to hit you up if i have any issues :P
The community here's great so any questions, fire them away; you'll learn a lot of cool stuff
[X] CIPTV2 300-075
[ ] SIP School SSCA
[X] CCNP Switch 300-115 [X] CCNP Route 300-101 [X] CCNP Tshoot 300-135
[ ] LPIC1-101 [ ] LPIC1-102 (wishful thinking)
I've read that going into switch first is easy as its relatively fresh In The brain after ccna?
[X] CIPTV2 300-075
[ ] SIP School SSCA
[X] CCNP Switch 300-115 [X] CCNP Route 300-101 [X] CCNP Tshoot 300-135
[ ] LPIC1-101 [ ] LPIC1-102 (wishful thinking)
Took a bit of fiddling but w00t!
Now just need to get vmware workstation to auto start with it
Enjoy your new lab!
[X] CIPTV2 300-075
[ ] SIP School SSCA
[X] CCNP Switch 300-115 [X] CCNP Route 300-101 [X] CCNP Tshoot 300-135
[ ] LPIC1-101 [ ] LPIC1-102 (wishful thinking)
Was that 3650 recommendation a typo (3560)? Why would you need those for a CCNP switch lab? I'd say either a 3560 or 3750 since they both can run IOS 15 (which I don't think is absolutely needed). I'm using 3560's for my lab and have been able to do everything but stackwise and VSS so far and we have a bunch laying around since we're refreshing them with 3650's for production.
[X] CIPTV2 300-075
[ ] SIP School SSCA
[X] CCNP Switch 300-115 [X] CCNP Route 300-101 [X] CCNP Tshoot 300-135
[ ] LPIC1-101 [ ] LPIC1-102 (wishful thinking)
sriddle.co.uk
uk.linkedin.com/in/simonriddle
I currently have 2 options;
WS-3560-TS running iOS 15.0(1)SE - 2 for $225, a little expensive for me but doable.
OR
WS-3750-24ts running iOS 12.2 - 2 for $150 - much more doable.
I have read a few threads and some say 12.2 is fine for ccnp switch and some say it misses a bit and 15 would be better. On the other hand, some recommend 15.4 as well!!
Don't know where you are located but that is pretty pricey for the United States.
That's why i am trying to see what i can get away with!
I bet you could get by with 3750's running 12.2, but if you progress to ccie, that version of the ios might not have the QoS support that you need.
And you might be able to get by with 2960's or even 3550 for access switches
with that being said i'm using all 3560's with version 15 ios.
3x3550
That is the most cost effective lab in my opinion that also support workbooks that assumes 4 layer 3 capable switches, like INE's CCIE workbook. From what I've seen, 3550s are very cheap right now.
I ended up ordering 2 x3560's
So my complete setup now is:
- 3560 x2 (ios)
- 2950 x2
- 1841 x1
- 2611xm x1
- 2811 x1
I think i am pretty much set with this, would you agree?
Cheers
Of course, you can learn the technology without having that much equipment. But, if your labing with the same topology as the TSHOOT exam, when you get there, you will have a leg up. It is a timed exam, but you will have the experience of knowing how things are suppose to work. You will know the equipment names, the interface addresses, how they are suppose to be connected together, and probably have done some troubleshooting with the same setup already. It is suppose to be the easiest of the ccnp exams, but why make it harder.
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/52366-8599/TSHOOT%20Exam%20Topology.pdf