Upgrading IOS

I've been offered 4 pieces of equipment by a colleague to use for my lab.

2 x 2621
2 x 2950 (1 x 24, 1 x 4

He thinks the IOS versions on this equipment is 12.1. If I bought this kit off of him would I be able to upgrade to 12.3 or 12.4? Would I have to pay for the upgrade and how would I go about it?

And is this equipment suitable for a CCNA lab?

Cheers

Charlie.

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Comments

nmqtabt

I planned to buy these routers and switches according to source of recommended minimum to practice for lab other than that for upgrading, I don't know yet and hope will learn more from you folks...

IT Man

Those devices should be enough to study for the CCNA exam and you can upgrade them to 12.4 on the routers but I think the IOS for Layer 2 switches is 12.1 or 12.2. The upgrading of the IOS doesn't cost anything but you will need an account on Cisco's website.

tiersten

IT Man wrote:

you can upgrade them to 12.4 on the routers

The latest version of IOS for a 26xx router is 12.3. You can put a 2600XM 12.4 IOS onto it but it is unreliable due to lack of memory.

IT Man wrote:

I think the IOS for Layer 2 switches is 12.1 or 12.2

It is just based on how old the device is and not whether it is layer 2 or 3. A 2950 is old and the latest IOS for it is 12.1.

IT Man wrote:

The upgrading of the IOS doesn't cost anything but you will need an account on Cisco's website.

No. It isn't free. IOS for a router requires a SMARTnet support contract. IOS for switches used to only require guest level access but at some point they changed it. If you have a SMARTnet contract then you can actually download IOS for anything but they may charge you if they notice you downloading things you shouldn't be.

IT Man

tiersten wrote:

IT Man wrote:

you can upgrade them to 12.4 on the routers
The latest version of IOS for a 26xx router is 12.3. You can put a 2600XM 12.4 IOS onto it but it is unreliable due to lack of memory.

IT Man wrote:

I think the IOS for Layer 2 switches is 12.1 or 12.2
It is just based on how old the device is and not whether it is layer 2 or 3. A 2950 is old and the latest IOS for it is 12.1.

IT Man wrote:

The upgrading of the IOS doesn't cost anything but you will need an account on Cisco's website.

No. It isn't free. IOS for a router requires a SMARTnet support contract. IOS for switches used to only require guest level access but at some point they changed it. If you have a SMARTnet contract then you can actually download IOS for anything but they may charge you if they notice you downloading things you shouldn't be.

My apologies if my response was incorrect.

When I said layer 2, I was referring to his 2950 not any layer 2 switch.

I also have been able to download IOS's from cisco even before I had a contract linked to my account so I was unaware of any change to that system.

Either way, thats for informing me.

VantageUK

Thanks for the replies.

I bought this yesterday. What do people think?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CISCO-CCNA-Router-Switch-Lab-2610-2500-2600-2924-CCNP_W0QQitemZ110315939886QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Networking_SM?hash=item110315939886&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1308

nel

VantageUK wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

I bought this yesterday. What do people think?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CISCO-CCNA-Router-Switch-Lab-2610-2500-2600-2924-CCNP_W0QQitemZ110315939886QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Networking_SM?hash=item110315939886&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1300%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1308

over priced mate. You can buy 2500's dirt cheap nowadays off ebay if thats the model your are aiming for. i would recommend a minimum of 2950's too however i know there's some folk who have used the same switch as you.

Netwurk

Well at least the guy gave you cables and max memory.

Keep in mind that the 12.4 IOS on a non-XM 2610 is not going to work very well, even at max memory.

The guy has 2516's in the picture, but claims they are 2501's. Not sure what to say about that.

US$ value for all that gear is probably around $150, and since the pound is worth more....

You might still be able to cancel the order - it's worth a try. The guy has a 100% rating, so I would guess he is someone you can work with.

Good luck from a Yank from Philly (not to be confused with a Yankee fan, as all us true Philly fans wouldn't be caught dead in pinstripes)

gorebrush

Could have sold you 4 x 2500, a 1900 switch (admittedly useless) and a 2908-XL (Meh, it's OK, but could do better) for less than that dude.

VantageUK

I'm not too concerned about it being overpriced (well, maybe a little bit then) I was just wanting to know if it's a suitable lab setup. I ran all this by the network team at work and they agreed it should be sufficient.

Oh, and how much is reasonable for a second hand 2950?

tiersten

Around £40-£50.