HOME LAB SETUP

21ctl

i am considering two options

OPTION 1

i intend to buy a destop(for my dynamips) since my laptop is not giving me the full requirment that i need. MY destop config would be:

Core 2 duo
3.2GHZ processor speed
2GB RAM

OPTION 2


i am saving towards buying some switches especially 3550 switches online and some couple of routers to supplement my dynamips and give me a real life feel of what i am doing.


i have been looking at cablesandkits.com and i am quite impressed with the stock that they have.

i want to find out if anyone in the house has petronized them before and what was the experience like?

i would be glad if i get some responses because i would be making some purchases in a few week time

thanks

GT-Rob

I have and some people I know have dealt with them. They are a good company and I would buy from them again.

mikej412

I like them and have used them several times -- and that's not just the candy bar bribe they send with every order talking.

A combination of Dynamips/Dynagen and at least a couple of real routers and layer 3 switches is a good idea.

It's nice to have a couple real routers to test some of the LAN QoS stuff, but you can practice the configurations on Dynamips.

An Option 3 would be to use Rack Rental for when you want to do the full practice labs and need the 4 layer 3 switches. Also good in case you get a couple of 3550s and want to check out some of the specific functionality of the 3560 switches.

21ctl

so about my desktop config setup, do u guys think that it would be ok to carry like 10 routers at full configuration especially when running BGP

i would be buying 2 3550 switches in 2weeks time

GT-Rob

It should be able to use. Just make sure you read up on how to optimize dynamips, and make sure you are running it in native linux (not vmware or anything)

Ahriakin

I'd add at least another Gig of ram though, 3600 Dynamips defaults to 128MB of ram per router and I think the 7200 is 256, plus some overhead so you will start hitting the ceiling soon enough with 2Gb

Edit: Don't mean to hijack, but my own question. Is native really that much better than the Win32 version of Dynamips?

21ctl

a friend told me that instead of buying the core 2 duo that i should go for the new

Core @ Quad 2.4MHZ processor with 4gb ram, that these would offer me all that i need in dynamips

i heard that installing 64bit xp do come with some issues that some application would not work.

what do u guys think?

tiersten

21ctl wrote:

Core @ Quad 2.4MHZ processor with 4gb ram, that these would offer me all that i need in dynamips

2.4MHz? Speedy!

You'll want as much RAM as you can get and as many processor cores you can get. A quad core + 4GB of RAM will be plenty.

21ctl wrote:

i heard that installing 64bit xp do come with some issues that some application would not work.

If you want 4GB of RAM to be actually usable then you'll need a 64 bit OS. XP and Vista do not support the full 4GB in the 32 bit editions. The service pack will change the reported memory size to 4GB but it can't use it.

You'll have issues with some drivers and some programs if you're running the 64 bit version of Windows.

keenon

this really depends on how you think about it.. i like having the virtuals running on my pc..

upside.. the lab is portable, cheaper as the laptop with duo core and 2gb ram ($475) or higher for what you want ..

downside switching works at a 2900xl level, you have tweaking to do with images ( ram and idlepc not to overload the cpu).. i run 3640s with 64 to 128 ram.. 128 is min for 12.4.. i do remember finding a version that would run at 96mb.
still would need to get switches for the full feauters

rack ownership..
upside.. its always available, its in reach, resell and upgrade as needed

downside.. cost upward of $1500 to 10k.. with the average price of 3550s about 500 on ebay and 3560s about 900 for a 8 port with the lab having 4 switches .. not counting routers this can get pricey fast.
space and power allocation. lastly the resell and upgrade

hybrid.. you can connect the virtuals from the pc to live switches with some extra ethernet ports and configurations.. this could complement both and drive the cost down [/u]