Is this a good buy for a lab

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?

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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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Comments

thenjduke

Are they 2600 xm routers? I would see on getting more flash and dram for routers.

amtt81

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 (232137595

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)

tiersten

No.

You don't want 2900XL switches. Look for 2950 at a minimum.

amtt81

really, how come?

networker050184

amtt81 wrote: »

really, how come?

Check the FAQ or search for one of the other numerous lab threads.

amtt81

whats the difference between the 2610 and the 2610 xm - and is that really necessary for the scope of CCNA labs?

jbrad95706

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.

(It talks about non-XM vs XM etc...)

tiersten

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.

amtt81

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.

bruceinsac

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

mella060

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.

mikej412

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.

wbosher

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.

mikej412

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.

wbosher

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!!

mikej412

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.

wbosher

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.

Not a big deal, I've got a 2620 and a 2620XM anyway.

thenjduke

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.