What a rack!

..thought the title would get some of you more questionable types in here.

But really, got my rack on the way (finally). Here's what it's composed of:

3x 2611XM's
3x 2501's
3x 3640's
1x 2511 (Terminal server)
1x 2522 (Frame switch)
4x 3550's

They'll be going in a 24U rack here in my "computer cubby". Most will be running 12.4, and most have max memory as well. I didn't list the modules since I haven't ordered *most* of them. I have a few extra NM-1E2W's, but I need to get some 2E2W's and a couple of WIC-1T's to match up with the INE topology. I'll be picking those modules up over the next few weeks most likely. I just wanted to get the bulk of it all in place and racked up!

I'm like a kid in a candy store. I owe my wife a big thank you.

So, if anybody is counting:

Mike spends: $3,500

Wifey: $30 (nails done) + $100 at the mall

Yup, seems fair to me

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laidbackfreak

Mrock4 wrote: »

So, if anybody is counting:

Mike spends: $3,500

Wifey: $30 (nails done) + $100 at the mall

Yup, seems fair to me

WHAT ???? you let her spend 30bucks on nails!! sheesh lmao

nice rack btw

dynamik

These threads never cease to disappoint me!

networker050184

dynamik wrote: »

These threads never cease to disappoint me!

I know what you mean. I get excited when I hear rack and then realize its only some old network gear....

RobertKaucher

I'm sure he would be willing to post pics of his wife's nails, if you guys asked nicely.

Seriously, though. Nice rack...

Kaminsky

networker050184 wrote: »

I know what you mean. I get excited when I hear rack and then realize its only some old network gear....

Wrong website NW.... Wrong website.

laidbackfreak

networker050184 wrote: »

I know what you mean. I get excited when I hear rack and then realize its only some old network gear....

now I cant be the only one that gets excited by network gear can I ?

pitviper

laidbackfreak wrote: »

now I cant be the only one that gets excited by network gear can I ?

I was just thinking the same thing

pml1

Mrock4 wrote: »

Mike spends: $3,500

Wifey: $30 (nails done) + $100 at the mall

Yup, seems fair to me

Mike, help the rest of us married guys out. How in the world did you get your wife to go along with that deal?

dynamik

pml1 wrote: »

Mike, help the rest of us married guys out. How in the world did you get your wife to go along with that deal?

The nails, makeover, etc. allow her to be picked up by other men easier, so she can get others to spend money on her while he's playing with his routers and switches.

Mrock4

pml1 wrote: »

Mike, help the rest of us married guys out. How in the world did you get your wife to go along with that deal?

We've talked about it a while. She's actually pushed me to buying it when I was hesitant. She views it more as an investment for our future versus a liability. That being said, we're not rich by any means, but we just place the CCIE as a priority for not just me, but our family.

She said today after I told her that the stuff was finally on the way, "Now you won't have an excuse to slack, because I WILL remind you how much we spent"

You guys are hilarious. I expected some funny responses, but you guys always take it to the next level...

I'll have some pictures up in a few days. I'm trying to gather all of the little pieces right now. I also have to do some serious cable management on my PC, as it's become a rat nest, and I need room for the rack to sit next to it..

itdaddy

funny how all of us look to see what he posted when he says
" NICE Rack!"
ahaahhhahahahah

and then a bunch us network engineers get all bumbed out because
he really does have a nice rack! haahahahaha

dude I am jealous you do have a nice rack..yeah I love real stuff better than the sims though sims do have their place nothing beats the real deal

laidbackfreak

itdaddy wrote: »

sims do have their place nothing beats the read deal

spot on daddy same with either set of racks pics\sims meh time n place, but we ALL want to get physical hands on with the genuine article much more fun

Mrock4

itdaddy wrote: »

I love real stuff better than the sims though sims do have their place nothing beats the read deal

I think now is probably a fair time to discuss why I decided to go with real equipment. It seems pretty obvious, but it actually was a tough decision at first.

Here's the thing. I used to be a huge proponent of dynamips/dyangen. I think they're still top-notch for layer 3 "tech labs"...I still use dynamips to lab things up real fast, and it works great. My problem came when I realized I spent more time playing with my ubuntu system and dynamips than actually labbing. This just didn't seem efficient..spend more time messing with software instead of learning the technologies? Not good.

So anyway, it came down to, having a real rack not only allowed me to lab at anytime (without paying for credits), it also allows me to more efficiently manage my time, IMO. And then in the end, everyone agrees if you can swing it, real equipment is best. I still intend on running dynamips on my laptop, so in my case, it's not really a case of either/or, it's both..with more emphasis on the real stuff.

Just my $.02. I was really on the fence for a while, and considered doing the QinQ trick to integrate switches with dynamips, but I already had too many bugs with dynamips on my ubuntu box..that would only complicate things.

Edit: FYI, an upgrade from Ubuntu 8.10 to 9.04 broke my dynamips install, and it was a huge pain to fix. I ended up wiping it and installing 8.10 again from scratch just to get it to work again. This is when I decided I was done with troubleshooting random bugs and strange anomalies with my install.

sides14

Thats too funny. The ladies will remind you. They definitely want a return for the investment. Nails and shopping today, diamonds ands BMWs tomorrow.

ilcram19-2

wow i dont think i would spend that much money specially having a few 2500 in there not including the light bill, i just use plained old GNS3 and work experiance, hey but the lab is good but i dont think is worht 3500dlls

Mrock4

$3,500 includes INE Vol II, TCP/IP Vol II, along with the rack/PDU's. That brings the total to about $2,700'ish. Oh, and throw in a few hundred for shipping too.

To each his own. I'll enjoy my rack regardless whether or not anyone approves

...AND my cisco gear will be pretty great to play with too

Forsaken_GA

Mrock4 wrote: »

$3,500 includes INE Vol II, TCP/IP Vol II, along with the rack/PDU's. That brings the total to about $2,700'ish. Oh, and throw in a few hundred for shipping too.

To each his own. I'll enjoy my rack regardless whether or not anyone approves ...AND my cisco gear will be pretty great to play with too

Ah, I was wondering what drove your cost up so much. I didn't count any training material in my cost estimate for the rack, as I was going to purchase that regardless. I've easily spent a grand in books, and I'll be dropping the $3.5k for INE's full CCIE 4.0 course in the second half of the year (though if they decide to run a good discount deal, I may take a chance and pull the cash out of savings and buy it early)

hex_omega

Gorgeous rack.

Mrock4

The reason I included the costs is because I bought all that stuff at the same time..a la tax return.

I've also spent probably $1,200 in books, $800 for INE's Advanced technologies class (online CoD), $400'ish (or whatever it was, I bought it a while ago) for INE Vol I. That was the materials I had until today..then I ordered the stuff I listed before (INE Vol II, TCP/IP Vol II, etc)...I was just bundling it together since that was the total amount I spent today, and my wife spent a total of maybe $100 in the end (after a trip to the mall)...

I don't want to overplay things, but hopefully it all turns out well. I purchased a new surge protector for my desktop/rack with more outlets, got a 2U cable management block, box of cable to make my CAT5 custom, etc. There's a bunch of tiny little things that I threw in there.

SephStorm

311 views. Nough said.

mikej412

SephStorm wrote: »

311 views. Nough said.

But how many of those are the same people coming back to see if any pictures have been posted yet

Mrock4

mikej412 wrote: »

But how many of those are the same people coming back to see if any pictures have been posted yet

So that's what old people do all day..just keep hitting "refresh" on TE?

It's OK mike..we all get old eventually..just some sooner than others

TheShadow

Mrock4 good for you go get um. The responses to this thread gave me a great laugh after being depressed waking up to find that the over flow in my pond was plugged and I had to shoo my Koi fingerling's back in and manually lower the level in the rain. It is not supposed to rain like this in So. California.

You are lucky to have a wife that understands educational investment. Besides it is still a lot cheaper than motor-homes, boats, dirt bikes etc. that are only used three or four times a year.

Wonder does Donald Trump like big racks. Just a rhetorical question.

mikej412

Mrock4 wrote: »

So that's what old people do all day..just keep hitting "refresh" on TE?

I'm thinking it's the young guys. Most of the old guys here have seen more than enough racks in their life and can wait until there is a thread update before they come back to the thread.

SysAdmin4066

sides14 wrote: »

Thats too funny. The ladies will remind you. They definitely want a return for the investment. Nails and shopping today, diamonds ands BMWs tomorrow.

Mine is pricing the new Lexus SUV versus the Acura SUV. Says it's her new mommy car (the "old" mommy car is an Acura TL fully loaded w/nav, just purchased for mommy from a new mustang fully loaded). So I have free range on my tech spending, as long as mommy and baby (soon to be babies) are taken care. For the other married guys, just tell em you're investing in your career, which you are. Degrees cost gobs more, remember that. Pound for pound, the CCIE is a steal.

rfult001

To quote the other site we all spend too much time on throughout the day: "Pics or it didn't happen..."

Seriously, you're leaving us hanging here. You've impressed us with the description now let's see it.

Mrock4

rfult001 wrote: »

To quote the other site we all spend too much time on throughout the day: "Pics or it didn't happen..."

Seriously, you're leaving us hanging here. You've impressed us with the description now let's see it.

Fair enough

..the 3640's should arrive tomorrow..the rack and the rest (mostly) should arrive by Thursday this week.

The CCIE is expensive to prep for, but I also agree that it is a fair deal given the perks of gaining the CCIE credential..there's definitely a great ROI.

I'm ready to get rolling, but I still need the serial cables. In the meantime I'll be custom cabling all of the ethernet once the 3550's get here.
We ended up purchasing me a new computer desk yesterday to replace my old beat up one, and in the process I cleaned up my PC cables and whatnot to make room for the rack. Now the waiting game begins.

Mrock4

Wife called me at work to let me know the 3640's arrived this evening. She said "the boxes are bigger than our daughter!"..kind of funny I thought. That's only 3 routers, there's many more on the way

Would put pics up, but I'm pretty sure pics of 3 3640's on the floor would be lame. Will wait until Thursday evening (assuming UPS doesn't drop the ball on delivery), when I get it all semi-in place.

It's hard to focus on reading TCP/IP Vol I when I got all this gear...arghhh..

hexem

good luck with the ccie, and it's nothing when you compare it to other "hobbies" :P beside's nothing motivates you more than having spent that much

Mrock4

The 3640's arrived! They look great (minus some paint or something on the top one), The rack and other gear should arrive in a little under two days. Can't wait to mount it all up! Pic attached of the gear, and of the boxes I came home to after a long night at work...can't beat that!

And before someone asks..NO the pink chair isn't my lab chair

mikes3640s-972-x-648-300x200.jpg

3640sbox (648 x 972).jpg

mikes3640s2 (1283 x 855).jpg