Anything to be desired? - CCNA

szkizzer

Ok, simple facts before i begin:

--NOT loaded with money (surprise!!!).
--I'm not quite a beginner, but I know stuff at a Net+ level (almost).
--Ive spent most of my .money buying Cisco Stuff during pass two days and for three A+ exams. That turned out to be pretty good. A+ certified baby.

Ive tried my best at gathering stuff, and only have enough money for one more shot. OK here goes:


Ive read Frame Relay is BIGGG stuff at Cisco, along with other Cisco Stuff. So Ive decided to build my own home lab. I bought these parts, during the last two days and well I want you guys to tell me if I could set-up a Frame-Relay with this.

(Ive found the last IOS for these things (Like 12.3/2/1) and will load them up if possible.)

- 3 Cisco 2501's (2 serial ports)
- 1 Cisco Catalyst 2924 Enterprise Switch (24 ports)
- 1 Cisco 2524 (1 Serial Port and one T1/Fractional T1 module).

[They all have there regular AUX/Console ports]

Please dont bash if I did something wrong, and Im thinking of buying a 2600's type router in there somewhere - If I cant get the 2420. But the 2600's router doesnt come with 4 Serial ports. And right now, I can get my hands on a 2600 with 4 serial ports(or a 3620, with only one serial, but two emtpy slots for future modules), If I cant set up a frame relay, should I go for it.So another question:

How many more router's do I need to be able to set up a frame relay?

With the Current Equipment, what can I do and what can I not?

Right now, I have a budget of 200 Dollars, that I could use it on. Ive already got the DTE/DCE Cables and the transcievers to connect to the switch. So is it possible, to set up a frame relay. With this current equipment or the 2600 with 4 serial ports(if and when i buy it).

One more thing, thanks for putting up with me, and reading all this. If i did something wrong, please dont flame, and leave any tips you can for a beginner.

Again, Thank you very much and if there's something i forgot to put in there, or have a question for ya'll, Ill be sure to post it here.

Netstudent

YOu could probably make one of those 2501's a frame-relay switch. Then you could use 2 more routers as Frame-relay DTE's.

A 2600 with a NM-4as would definately work. Maybe a cheaper route for your budget would be a 2520 with 4 built in serial ports.

To setup a true frame-relay connection you need 2 DTE's and a router to simulate the DCE(frame-relay cloud). So 3 routers minimum for a point-to-point frame-relay link.

Darthn3ss

also, you're going to need a router with a 100mb (2620 works, or you get a 2610 or 3600 with fast ethernet card) for intervlan routing and stuff if you want to go that route.

szkizzer

Super Awesome....

So if I chose to - I can set up a frame relay with the 2501's right? This is great, cause everywhere I read, they ask for a router with 4 serial ports, and like 4 routers. Anyways, but Im still gonna get me that 2600 with the 4 serial port Card, and hook those things up so I can get all the VLAN, root bridge, and trunking stuff all stored up in my brain.

Thanks yall - Im soo happy now.

Netstudent

Make sure that the 2600 you get can do intervlan routing. Any 2620 can do it and only 2610's with 12.3 IOS can do it. There are reputable members(dtlokee) who claim a 10Mb Ethernet interface can do intervlan routing with 12.3 IOS. Not quite sure about the actual feature set he was referring to.