Setting up a CCNA Lab - Topology advice.

sixarm

Hi guys,

I'm currently studying for my CCNA and I've got myself some Cisco hardware to work with. I have 3 x 2600 routers and 3 x 2950 switches.

At present I have one 2600 connected via Fa0/0 to a port on my Netgear DSL router to allow me access from work. What I was after was some advice as to how to physical connect the rest of my routers & switches to get the best out of them in terms of the various configuration and troubleshooting required for the exam.

Unfortunately I don't have any WIC's for the 2600's so I'm stuck with using the Netgear as the gateway device at present.

Thanks in advance.

Dave.

phantasm

This is how my lab is setup. It works fine for me, It allows me to do what I need at the moment.

sixarm

Thanks for the reply.

You have quite a bit more hardware than me! The other annoying thing is that all my routers are 2611XM's so I'm limited to two FastEthernet interfaces on each device.

A CCNA qualified friend of mine suggested connecting them in series [2600 to 2950 to 2600 to 2950 to 2600 to 2950].

phantasm

You're going to want to get WIC's though. They're needed so you can do serial communication such as PPP and Frame Relay. As for connecting them all in series... I don't know aout that... never done it. Lets see what other members have to see.

Kaminsky

The idea of having a home lab is to build a topology that works and then tear it all down and build up a completely different topology and make that work.... Then tear it all down again...

brown9

The topology will depend on where you are in your studies. If you're still focusing on CCENT level stuff, then just having a way to connect everything together will be enough.

If you're up to CCNA level then I would strongly recommend at least 2 wic-2t (or similar) cards. This will allow you to practice WAN links and do more with routing protocols as you will be able to have a lot more connections overall.

I'd encourage you to just try plugging stuff together in different ways and seeing how it works, it may not be the quickest way to do things but it will give you much needed experience.

Great starter LAB by the way, that should be perfect for CCNA and a great base for future studies. Mine setup is almost exactly the same (2x2610xm, 1x3640 and 3x2950. My routers also have serial wics)

LBC90805

If you are in the ICND2 then you are going to want something like a 2520 so you can do Frame Relay.

sixarm

Well, I passed ICND1 last Friday, so I'm properly chuffed about that. I've already started on ICND2 and the few topics I've covered already are really interesting.

My Lab for ICND1 consisted of two of my 2600's with one of the 2950's hanging off one end. The routers utilised RIPv2 to share routes and that was pretty much it. The switch config was fairly basic too and I only messed about with the various switchport security modes. There wasn't a great deal of hands-on stuff with ICND1, so I'm looking forward to getting fully stuck in with the ICND2 topics.

I've already prepared my lab for ICND2 and will be utilising all three 2600's & 2950's. I can't wait!!

ptlinva

Phantasm - What software did you use for your network diagrams?

Any suggestions by anyone would be appreciated!

Thanks!
-Paul