Equipment, its beaten to death.. i know :)

Ok, so i have ran the search function a few times now

what i am looking for is a kit thats good for the CCNA exam but is also sufficient for the CCNP exam..

yes, i just started studying for the CCNA and i plan on having all the equipment / labs/books/ref handy...

budget roughly 500 bucks for the routers/switches.. i can do more if needed but would like to keep it around this price.

from about 20 min of researching right now i have seen that i should stay away from the 1900s and get a 2900s switch? quantity 2

for routers.. pref a 2600 series is pref? quantity 2 ?

cables .. find cheapest?

i found this kit online .. pls let me know wwhat you think.. greatly appreciate the time spent reading this

http://ciscokits.com/cube/ccna-router-switch-kits/cisco-ccna-3-router-3-switch-lab-kit-/prod_92.html

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Comments

EdTheLad

If you want to buy hardware buy 3 2950 Catalyst switches, a couple of nic cards for your pc,dont but any routers.Install dynamips on you PC, emulate a couple of routers and away you go.

tokhss

Ed,

thanks for your reply.... dynamips sounds like a good idea.. so all i really need is a few good switches and thats it? lol

newbie question, what about the hands on experience.. router cable switch .. etc .etc.. ??

thanks

Darthn3ss

you could pick up a say 2950's and a 2620... or if you shop well maybe ven 2 2950's and a 2600XM series router.

tokhss

thanks for the replies.. can more people join this discussion please.. would like to know what others would do

Thank you

dtlokee

tokhss wrote:

thanks for the replies.. can more people join this discussion please.. would like to know what others would do

Thank you

There are like 20 threads just like this one, go check them out also.

If you don't want to do the dynamips route, get a 2520 for a frame switch, and 3 2501/2505/2507/2514/2516 (whatever as long as you have a serial interface and an Ethernet interface), and you can do all the required routing functions using c2500-is-l.122-15.T17.bin for the IOS version.

as for the SDM, and serurity parts, you'll need somthing else the 2500's won't do, you could substuitue a 2600 (2620/21 or an XM series) for one of the 2500's with a wic 1t. You'll need some switches too, I would go with the 2950's but that's just me.

mikej412

Check out the CCNA FAQ for more hardware opinions.

The major change for the 802 exam seems to be the need to run SDM -- here's 3 current links
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28902
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28866
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28994
Rather than the previously suggested 2610 for router-on-a-stick, you might want to consider an XM version that supports SDM, or one of the other routers supported.

Since you should be learning about the routers -- not a simulator or emulator -- I'd usually not suggest Dynamips for the CCNA forum, but SDM is the one exception where I'd mention it.

I don't see walking into a job interview being able to boast about having never touched a router as a selling point to get the job.

Once you've figured out what to do with a router, then consider Dynamips (and Dynagen) as a portable practice environment.

Depending on what the updated books cover for wireless, you may want to consider getting a Cisco Wireless Access Point.

Slowhand

I recently picked up some 2950 12-port switches on eBay for about $160 each, and a couple of 3640 routers for about $175 apiece, so you're not looking at a fortune to get good hardware. Sometimes you'll see liquidators and wholesalers doing the "Buy It Now!" sales on eBay, which can get you a fair price on some of the equipment without having to get into a bidding-war. Also, check out Craig's List in your area, to see if anyone is selling or giving away Cisco equipment you can use for your studies. Remember, when you're searching a site like eBay or Craig's List, search by keywords like "cisco", "catalyst", and the model number, like "2950", "3640", "PIX 501", or "2600".

mikej412

There's also the recent Home Lab thread -- stevcha built a nice lab.

A 3rd switch is also nice to have.

If you don't want to get 3 2950s, then look at the 2924XL Enterprise model -- but you should get at least 1 2950.

EdTheLad

mikej412 wrote:

Check out the
Since you should be learning about the routers -- not a simulator or emulator -- I'd usually not suggest Dynamips for the CCNA forum, but SDM is the one exception where I'd mention it.

I don't see walking into a job interview being able to boast about having never touched a router as a selling point to get the job.

I dont think its worth the cash getting the hardware to simple touch and plug a cable in.Take a 2500, no modules, so all you can do is plug in a console,serial and ethernet cable, thats it.For any of the semi decent jobs available you will hardly touch the hardware.The important thing is to know the cli and technologies. Even if your router had modules what are you going to do?

If you want to be hardware savvy a switch will do, it has a console port ethernet port and you can change config register setting to your hearts content.All your missing is a serial link, difference on the serial between dynamips and a router serial is dynamips doesnt need clockrate configured, thats it.
As far as software goes, every ios version has bugs, if dynamips has afew of its own, not that i have noticed does it matter? Anyway thats my opinion when it comes to hardware.

I never use my lab anymore, just dynamips!
Ed 1 Mike 0

dtlokee

EdTheLad wrote:

mikej412 wrote:

Check out the
Since you should be learning about the routers -- not a simulator or emulator -- I'd usually not suggest Dynamips for the CCNA forum, but SDM is the one exception where I'd mention it.

I don't see walking into a job interview being able to boast about having never touched a router as a selling point to get the job.

I dont think its worth the cash getting the hardware to simple touch and plug a cable in.Take a 2500, no modules, so all you can do is plug in a console,serial and ethernet cable, thats it.For any of the semi decent jobs available you will hardly touch the hardware.The important thing is to know the cli and technologies. Even if your router had modules what are you going to do?

If you want to be hardware savvy a switch will do, it has a console port ethernet port and you can change config register setting to your hearts content.All your missing is a serial link, difference on the serial between dynamips and a router serial is dynamips doesnt need clockrate configured, thats it.
As far as software goes, every ios version has bugs, if dynamips has afew of its own, not that i have noticed does it matter? Anyway thats my opinion when it comes to hardware.

I never use my lab anymore, just dynamips!
Ed 1 Mike 0

There's a difference, you're studying for CCIE so you have the physical part down. For CCNA it is an important step to learn. I once interviewed somone who pased the CCNA (using a simulator for all his lab practice he said) who plugged an Ethernet cable into the WIC-1BU and didn't know why it wouldn't work. I agree 100% about using dynamips (I use it all the time as well), but you need to fully understand the physical part too.

mikej412

EdTheLad wrote:

Even if your router had modules what are you going to do?

Learn not to plug 3 modules in one slot -- since that's a common mistake some of the new guys make with dynamips.

But that could also be from lack of reading or improper study material, since I remember learning about modular routers (and looking at the pictures) before I bought my first 2500 router.

I guess if they got the real switches and used dynamips with that, it would still beat the lame simulators hand down. And if they are smart enough, setting up Dynamips (with Dynagen) shouldn't take much longer then figuring out how to use a remote rack.

But I still use my real hardware when I'm at home... along with 3 Quad Core PCs for Dynamips

I guess if a simulator is better than nothing, then Dynamips & real switches is better than a simulator -- but real hardware when starting out is still probably best.

But yeah, Ed 1 -- it is a valid option for the CCNA

tokhss

think i am gonna go with the hardware option guys.. money isnt much of a concern to skip hardware over dynamips and i love having more hardware .. prob build a lab at somepoint.

prob start of with a 2x 2950 / 2600 series / wireless router .. i do have a an old 2500 sitting somehwere in my garage with a dsu/csu or something like that lol cant even remember and some serial cables... i used to work on this stuff back when i was in college for a company called cybernet communcations .. fun job, hands on, but my boss was a major D.. but that was almost 5 years ago.. pretty much forgot it all ..

Univ3rs@l

tokhss wrote:

Ok, so i have ran the search function a few times now

what i am looking for is a kit thats good for the CCNA exam but is also sufficient for the CCNP exam..

yes, i just started studying for the CCNA and i plan on having all the equipment / labs/books/ref handy...

budget roughly 500 bucks for the routers/switches.. i can do more if needed but would like to keep it around this price.

from about 20 min of researching right now i have seen that i should stay away from the 1900s and get a 2900s switch? quantity 2

for routers.. pref a 2600 series is pref? quantity 2 ?

cables .. find cheapest?

i found this kit online .. pls let me know wwhat you think.. greatly appreciate the time spent reading this

http://ciscokits.com/cube/ccna-router-switch-kits/cisco-ccna-3-router-3-switch-lab-kit-/prod_92.html

tokhss,

Have you thought about using simulators at all? I found it very useful...the software I used was CCNA network visualizer its about 190 bucks. If your interested you can find it at www.routersim.com

Although, I did like fooling around with the real hardware. My work let me use two 2500 series cisco routers. Unfortunally, they didnt not have any routers and I could only the 2500 series at work so I just bought the Network visualizer. Its really cool stuff. Just a idea as you could save a little cash for your self and buy yourself something really nice for when you pass the exam

EdTheLad

Univ3rs@l wrote:

tokhss,

Have you thought about using simulators at all? I found it very useful...the software I used was CCNA network visualizer its about 190 bucks. If your interested you can find it at www.routersim.com

Although, I did like fooling around with the real hardware. My work let me use two 2500 series cisco routers. Unfortunally, they didnt not have any routers and I could only the 2500 series at work so I just bought the Network visualizer. Its really cool stuff. Just a idea as you could save a little cash for your self and buy yourself something really nice for when you pass the exam

You must have some vested interest in that company, this is the worst advise i've seen in months.Go out and buy a ccna simulator for 190 bucks, it will have limited commands and those limited commands will work 50% of the time.
Or get dynamips for free, which uses the actual ios software, feels like a real router and works great 99% of the time.