yet another lab at home question

convenientstore

Hi, I have read all around the forum for home at networking section but one thing that puzzles me for ccna home lab is

I am thinking of buildling a home lab with perhaps
1)one 2950 12 ports
2)3 2501

I am thinking 2950 is expensive, like so perhaps like 1900 series, so

1)one 19xx around $50 to $60 including shipping
2)3 x $60 = $180

With that I should be able to do all rip/igrp/ospf/eigrp lab(right?) and I can do some basic vlan and inter vlan lab(just to get concept and meorizing the 29xx commands.

Question is
1)with above setup, will I be able to do rip/igrp/ospf/eigrp setup?(I don't see why not.
2)where is the best place(other than ebay) to get extra ram & cable?

Does anyone else have link or on this forum where the cheapest setup they had for ccna?

I am using rest(like frame relay and others) with boson....

Grigsby

The only thing you might want to be aware of is that there is some veriation in the config of the 1900 series and the 2900s.

Things like how to configure the vlans and a couple of others, but I am having some difficulty remembering. Basic navigation is the same old Cisco.

Infact I have a 2924, and it is different from the 2950s and the 1900s. Go figure. All you need to know though is the 1900 and 2950 setups, and I actually do not think I saw any 2950s on the exam, just 1900s. Your Boson Sim chould touch on both.

As far the routers, 3 2500s was all I had, though if you can get a 2600 or even a 1700 with some modular interfaces, they can be a nice touch to a lab setup for the CCNA.

As far the protocols, the 2500 hardware devices will be able to support an IOS that is capable of running RIP and OSPF, and IGRP and EIGRP which ofcourse are going to be available. RIP and RIPv2 are standard.

J2tehk

1)with above setup, will I be able to do rip/igrp/ospf/eigrp setup?(I don't see why not

Yes you can do all the routing protocols listed above.

2)where is the best place(other than ebay) to get extra ram & cable?

To be honest the cheapest is ebay for me. I've ordered all my cables and upgrades through ebay.

If a 2950 is too expensive try to see if a 2924 is in your price range.

mikej412

convenientstore wrote:

I am thinking 2950 is expensive, like so perhaps like 1900 series

What -- no Emoticon "spewing!"

No -- 1900 = doorstop or boat anchor.

Change the 19xx to a 29xx XL Enterprise switch. I paid $1 for my 1900.

The 29xx XL Enterprise might be useful if the new CCNP exams haven't given up on ISL trunking (and the old stuff for multicasting).

3 Switches would be great, but you can survive with 2... and you won't die if you have just one.

The 29xx XLs don't have the range option the 2950 has... and there are some Multicast and QoS differences -- but those show up in the old CCNP exams (don't know about the new exams).

< I paid $22 for my 29xx XL on ebay, but people still bid them up over $100 -- at that point, spend the extra $$$ -- I paid $153 for my 2950-12>

Grigsby

I bet QOS is going to be a larger part of the CCNP program, especially with VoIP.

Danman32

1900 was dropped from the exam, and ICND training v2.2. 1900 command set for VLAN is quite different than on 2950 so you might get confused if you use it. However, if you are simply using it as a switch to support STP functionality, but not to practice configs, that might work as a 2nd or 3rd switch.

Obliged

The current CCNA exam is based on the 2950 with Enterprise IOS on it.
You should get a 2900 series Switch. I am using a 2924 and it works great for home labs.

FYI : The Cisco 2950 workgroup switch has recently reached EOL with Cisco. The prices on these switches should start dropping.