Need help building bcmsn ccnp lab

ndut2

Hi guys sory if the the topic may be has been post.

I need help on building ccnp lab for this exam.Currently i just bought 2x2950 from ebay. It come with standard image and later i find out that this switch which are WS-CS2950-24 cant be upgraded to enchanced image . Is this switch with standard image enough for practice ? Any recommendation of which module of switch needed to complete this exam properly ? Cisco Catalyst 3560 8 port can it be used ?

Thank you very much guys for your help.

dtlokee

You can use the 2950 SI, they're fine for L2 switching stuff. You can also use the 8 port 3560, or the 3550's still have lots of life left in them if you want to go for something a little less expensive.

aueddonline

so when you say the 2950 SI, is the 2950G no good for the layer 2 stuff in the exam?

dtlokee

The 2950G is fine, that is a later revision than the SI version of the 2950. I think the G also implies it is an EI (Enterprise Image) so you can utilize the QoS features and things of that sort.

aueddonline

you had me worried there for a bit, I'm hopefully going to be finishing up on the bsci soon so I'll be looking to build a switching lab I've got a 2950g and I was thinking maybe two more of them and one or two 3550 emi

ndut2

thank you for your suggestion dtlokee btw i just bought another 2 2950 switch so i got total 4x 2950 SI. is this enough to practice bcmsn other than layer 3 switching? any more switch that i should add other than layer 3 switch to complete most of the lab ?

I feel like a total idiot to buy another 2 switch with SI

What book should i get for BCMSN ? Any recommendation for study material ?

dtlokee

You should be fine with the SI switches, I would prefer 4 2950's than 1 or 2 3550/3560 because you can do more with spanning tree. The newest IOS for the 2950 can handle PVST+, RSTP (rapid-PVST+) and MST just like the 3560. They will support VTP and etherchannel (you wont have all of the load balancing options), port security and so on. I would look to add one L3 switch so you can practice L3 routing. If you go with the 3550 you will be missing some of the features like private vlans and QoS features are different (not tested on BCMSN)