Lab help

i just need sum quick advice really.....

i am studying the ccna modules at uni as a part of my degree and i want to setup a home lab to get some hands on experiance, as i feel last yr was all theory - and to be honest unless i am working with things and doing things with my hands aswell as with books then i dont remember it very well at all!

so what kinda of gear will i need to start my very own first little cisco lab?

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Webmaster

Your question is one of the very reasons why we set up the CCNA FAQ topic. Check the section that says "I want to setup my own home lab what should I buy and how do I set it up?"

www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7268

marlon23

You can use Dynamips&Dynagen - It is better than any Boson NetSim or RouterSim and for free.

It allows you to run real IOS image on your PC, and even run instances and emulate their connection by serials, frame relay, ethernet... (and do something like link output of fa0/0 to your PC's NIC.. yeah, so you can connect this emulated network to real world!).
So you have all the avaiable commands (cos you running real IOS) and for FREE. Only problem is to how legally optain a copy of IOS... And I dont know if it can handle switch IOS (but you can buy 1 or 2 switches and use NIC feature to make switch labs, like trunking.. and save a lot of $$$ on routers)

BubbaJ

marlon23 wrote:

So you have all the avaiable commands (cos you running real IOS) and for FREE. Only problem is to how legally optain a copy of IOS...

A legal copy of IOS is expensive. I see people buy routers and switches all the time, but they never buy IOS to run on them. They depend on a copy being left on the device, or someone will "give" them a copy. If you call this what it is (theft), they get very hostile about it. It seems that it would not be O.K. to steal the hardware, but it is O.K. to steal the software (Cisco's bread and butter). I just don't see the difference; theft is theft, and if you don't have the license in hand, you don't have the right to use IOS.