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Is this a good buy for a lab

amtt81amtt81 Member Posts: 48 ■■□□□□□□□□
I read all the FAQs but what people use varies so much. Is this a good buy for a home lab for the CCNA - and to expand on later?

MODERATED LINK

basically,
1.Two Cisco 2600 Series Routers having 8MB FLASH, 32MB DRAM, 1 ETHERNET PORT and 2-SERIAL PORTS


2.Two Cisco 2924 Switches WS-C2924-XL-EN

4.2 Back to Back Serial Cables


5.2 Console Cables

for $290

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    thenjdukethenjduke Member Posts: 894 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Are they 2600 xm routers? I would see on getting more flash and dram for routers.
    CCNA, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCDST, MCITP Enterprise Administrator, Working towards Networking BS. CCNP is Next.
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    amtt81amtt81 Member Posts: 48 ■■□□□□□□□□
    It doesnt look like they are xm routers

    Router#show version
    Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
    IOS (tm) C2600 Software (C2600-IS-M), Version 12.2(20), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc2)
    Copyright (c) 1986-2003 by cisco Systems, Inc.
    Compiled Thu 29-May-03 23:31 by kellythw
    Image text-base: 0x80008088, data-base: 0x80CF9C0C

    ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 11.3(2)XA4, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

    Router uptime is 1 minute
    System returned to ROM by power-on
    System image file is "flash:c2600-is-mz.121-20.bin"

    cisco 2610 (MPC860) processor (revision 0x300) with 30696K/2072K bytes of memory.
    Processor board ID JAD06050CTQ (232137595icon_cool.gif
    M860 processor: part number 0, mask 49
    Bridging software.
    X.25 software, Version 3.0.0.
    1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface(s)
    2 Low-speed serial(sync/async) network interface(s)
    32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
    8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read/Write)
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    tierstentiersten Member Posts: 4,505
    No.

    You don't want 2900XL switches. Look for 2950 at a minimum.
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    amtt81amtt81 Member Posts: 48 ■■□□□□□□□□
    really, how come?
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    networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    amtt81 wrote: »
    really, how come?


    Check the FAQ or search for one of the other numerous lab threads.
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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    amtt81amtt81 Member Posts: 48 ■■□□□□□□□□
    whats the difference between the 2610 and the 2610 xm - and is that really necessary for the scope of CCNA labs?
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    jbrad95706jbrad95706 Member Posts: 225
    amtt81 wrote: »
    whats the difference between the 2610 and the 2610 xm - and is that really necessary for the scope of CCNA labs?

    CCNA Lab Main Post Summary | NetworkWorld.com Community

    There is a very good article about building a CCNA lab. I highly recommend reading all of it. icon_thumright.gif (It talks about non-XM vs XM etc...)
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    tierstentiersten Member Posts: 4,505
    What networker050184 said regarding the 2950s.
    amtt81 wrote: »
    whats the difference between the 2610 and the 2610 xm - and is that really necessary for the scope of CCNA labs?
    2600XM is an updated version of the 2600 which has a higher RAM + flash capacity and FE ports across all models. A 2600XM can run 12.4 and 12.4T whilst a 2600 is only officially supported with 12.3. You can wedge smaller + older versions of 12.4 onto a 2600 but it is unreliable due to lack of memory. You can't make a 2600 into a 2600XM.
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    amtt81amtt81 Member Posts: 48 ■■□□□□□□□□
    those were very helpful replies - thank you - i am off to read the article. i have read through the faqs page a bunch but it can be confusing for a beginner because there are so many variations and it seems that there is some personal preference involved. you cant necessarily say you need x, y, z for a good lab - maybe thats a good thing - it shows the flexibility of the equipment.
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    bruceinsacbruceinsac Member Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I am in a similar situation examining my choices for cisco hardware.

    While the kits offer the convenience of an all in one setup..the downsides are you can't tweak the package very afforadably (usually)

    If you break it down I find the WS-C2924-XL-EN going for $20 +13.44 USD for shipping on ebay.

    The 2610's I found from your same seller for $57 with shipping also comes with console cables

    I bought the console cables for 2.99 free shipping if you look around on ebay (still can find it)

    Serial cables vary but used to be around $10 each (might verify this one...)

    So roughly $67 for the 2 switches, $20 for serial cables, $114 for the routers with 2 console cables...

    Bottom line around $201 vs 290 and you still get the bonus material from your vendor for the $290 kit with the routers it seems.

    If money is tight and your learning still it might make more sense to grab up one or two items and get familiar with them as you hunt good deals as prices hopefully keep dropping. I also saw the 2610 available for about $30 shipped but no access to the testing material that is mentioned by your guy.


    The real advantage of the kit is the warranty I think.

    Hope this helps
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    mella060mella060 Member Posts: 198 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Ideally you should be looking at at least one router with a FastEthernet interface. You are fairly limited with just an Ethernet interface.

    Also get some 2950s if you can. They aren't that expensive and will serve you better in the long run.
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    mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    bruceinsac wrote: »
    but no access to the testing material that is mentioned by your guy.
    .... which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

    That testing materials and videos are probably pirated copyrighted material and the exam questions are probably **** used to ****.

    That eBay seller is making money off of people going for Cisco Certifications while simultaneously helping reduce the value of the Cisco Certifications.
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
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    wbosherwbosher Member Posts: 422
    As long as you've go at least one router with FE (to run ROAS), you can probably get away with the others only having ethernet couldn't you?

    The 2620 non XM has a FE port.
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    mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    A 2610 with the 10Mb Ethernet and an IP Plus Feature set 12.2(8 )T (or higher) will also do ROAS -- but it doesn't support SDM like the 2600XM routers do.

    If you have a 1721 for ROAS & SDM, then a cheap CCNA Lab can be filled out with 26xx and/or 25xx routers -- if you're not worring about also building a future CCNP/CCIE lab.
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
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    wbosherwbosher Member Posts: 422
    mikej412 wrote: »
    A 2610 with the 10Mb Ethernet and an IP Plus Feature set 12.2(8 )T (or higher) will also do ROAS

    That's interesting...everything I've read, or seen in video training like CBT or Train Signal, says that you need FE to do inter-VLAN routing. I might try that on my 2612 tonight.

    Cheers Mike!! :D
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    mikej412mikej412 Member Posts: 10,086 ■■■■■■■■■■
    wbosher wrote: »
    I might try that on my 2612 tonight.
    Isn't the 2612 Token Ring?

    The 2610 (and maybe 2611) are one exception to the 100Mb rule.

    The 1720 with 100Mb Ethernet is the OTHER exception to the 100Mb rule -- it doesn't support 802.1Q trunking.
    :mike: Cisco Certifications -- Collect the Entire Set!
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    wbosherwbosher Member Posts: 422
    mikej412 wrote: »
    Isn't the 2612 Token Ring?

    Yes, it has a Token ring port but also one ethernet port. I tried to set up ROAS once but it got a message saying the I couldn't do it on an ethernet port (can't remember the wording). Maybe it was just the IOS I was using?

    Just realised I can't upgrade the IOS anyway, until I get some more memory. icon_sad.gif

    Not a big deal, I've got a 2620 and a 2620XM anyway.
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    thenjdukethenjduke Member Posts: 894 ■■■■□□□□□□
    You want to get the latest IOS and work with that. I found this out the hardway getting three 2501 routers. That is okay I will mess with them.
    CCNA, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCDST, MCITP Enterprise Administrator, Working towards Networking BS. CCNP is Next.
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