CCNA Gear

For my home lab wht do I need for CCNA?

Do I need a Router and a Switch or will 2 Routers work just fine? I am thinking about getting the Dual Cisco 2501/2513 Router combo from Ciscokists and it comes with the latest IOS, all the cables and the memory cards.

The book I am reading says you don't have to really do any configuration of the switch except for give it a password. then on the next page it talks about commands needed to configure the switches. I think they ment to say "Routers" instead os switches.

Thanks!

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Comments

Darthn3ss

I wouldn't buy from cisco kits, simply because of the price. you can get the same thing cheaper on ebay. as far as switching goes, you will be doing more than configuring a password. Vlans, port security, STP stuff, etc

taktsoi

Darthn3ss wrote:

I wouldn't buy from cisco kits, simply because of the price. you can get the same thing cheaper on ebay. as far as switching goes, you will be doing more than configuring a password. Vlans, port security, STP stuff, etc

Thanks for your suggestions. I was looking into getting a toy there. I just checked ebay and found a couple of nice unit with good price. but....are they good....without warranty....???

How do you compare between 2500 and 2610? Which one has a faster processor? Will they crash while doing heavy BT?

jabb000

IF I buy from ebay how will I ( a newbie ) know if it has the latest IOS and what kind of cables and memory cards will I need?

mgeorge

Well lets keep it simple... Theirs a rule of thumb I tell my students..

ALWAYS buy 2500's with 16MB RAM and 16MB Flash, (this will save you time and money trying to upgrade it later)

Also ALWAYS buy 2600's with 64MB RAM and 16MB Flash, same rule applies

With this being said and done, you can run the latest version of any IOS on the routers, except for one.

IP Plus for 2600 series "c2600-is-mz.123-23.bin" requires 32mb flash. You can get around this by booting your router by a tftp server if need be. 32mb flash for 2600's are fairly expensive still.

hope this helps

Darthn3ss

memory is cheap, and find the cheapest thing you can get from ciscokits and they'll send you a disk with plenty of IOS's

psraj

This forum is very usefull.
I have 4 * 2501 routers, which I plan to upgrade to 16MB/16MB. Now, which is the minimum requirement for a swicth? Can I get a 2900 XL series from ebay? Do I need a newer router, or can pull through with 2501s ?

Thanks in advance.

Plazma

You need the 2 of the 4 routers suggested above

you also need 2 switches (2950's are perfect for this or higher)

its hard to do some of the inter-vlan stuff and STP/RSTP stuff with just one switch.

mikej412

Check out the CCNA Forum FAQ for home lab infomation.

If want to get a 2900 switches its probably safest to get a 2924XL-Enterprise.

psraj

Thanks guys, thats helpful. Whats the difference between 2950 with SI and EI? Can I go with SI for teh learning, will I miss any features with SI compared to EI?

bighornsheep

psraj wrote:

Thanks guys, thats helpful. Whats the difference between 2950 with SI and EI? Can I go with SI for teh learning, will I miss any features with SI compared to EI?

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps628/prod_bulletin09186a00800b3089.html

I've been waiting to get a 2950 as well, but so far I've been doing okay with just a 2924XL-A & 2924XL-EN. Besides, they're soo much cheaper!