Revamped CCVP Lab Setup

laidbackfreak

and when are you gonna open it up to me for rental lol

seriously nice looking rack..... I mean lab!

pitviper

laidbackfreak wrote: »

and when are you gonna open it up to me for rental lol

hehe - I'll have to hook the access server up to the ASA one of these days

tokhss

Very Nice PitViper..

my lab is going to look very similar to this.. yours is all nice n neat.. part of good net mgmnt is how clean the network is built out.

tokhss

Not to thread jack.. but heres my WIP... still waiting on another 2811 and 3 more vwics ..then its on. got some short serial cables to keep things neat. make some short eth-45/48s too. Pits pic is ideal.. wish i had your setup..way nicer.

burbankmarc

That looks pretty sick with the 2811s and that 3750. Is that an 877w? Work just bought a couple 881's and they're damn nice for SOHO equipment.

Where did you get your 3750 and 2811 from? If it's ebay then I dunno how you can afford that, or I guess I dunno how to play the game.

tokhss

Thanks.. its an 881W / 3750-48-ps from ebay.. i waited a long time for the right deal to come along.. grabbed this sucker up for 1k shipped.. i thought for sure i was going to get a brick but it TOK. the 2811s are from Ebay.. again.. waited and waited .. getting them for 550 shipped interfaces are fake.. some work, some dont.. but for the lab/price..u cant go wrong lol.

pitviper

I have switch envy Wanted a 3750 but ended up going with 2x 3560s instead.

Like tokhss, all of my 2811s/2821 are from ebay as well.

tokhss

PITVIPER.. i didnt want switch envy either.. after our convo.. i kept looking back at the 3560 and the 3750 and it just looked so much nicer lol.. im superficial

pitviper

tokhss wrote: »

PITVIPER.. i didnt want switch envy either.. after our convo.. i kept looking back at the 3560 and the 3750 and it just looked so much nicer lol.. im superficial

That's OK... I'm running a full 3750 IP Services IOS on the NME-16ES-1G-P module

pitviper

tokhss wrote: »

Not to thread jack.. but heres my WIP...

Looking good!!!! You going to pop that gear into a rack at some point?

tokhss

I hate you ! lol i really want one of those too... maybe at some point i will.

pitviper wrote: »

That's OK... I'm running a full 3750 IP Services IOS on the NME-16ES-1G-P module

tokhss

pitviper wrote: »

Looking good!!!! You going to pop that gear into a rack at some point?

Yeah.. i got a rack but im 50 50 on it right now.. im liking the space im saving right now without it. i got mini spacers for the 2511 and 2650 for air. the rest are all side vent as u know.

GuyManDude

Thanks for taking the time to post your lab specs guys. I really appreciate the help in figuring out what I need to build my own lab. The dilemma I have right now is whether to buy used vwic-2mft-t1 or vwic2-2mft-t1. Can the vwic-2mft-t1 and vwic-2mft-e1 cards perform all the channelized PRI stuff necessary for CCIE voice labs?

Those dang vwic2's are so much more expensive than the vwic's. Also, I am not concerned with buying knock off versions of the cards as long as they work. We need to save as much money as we can... Can anyone recommend a source of them?

TIA.

pitviper

Welcome aboard!

The general consensus is that the VWIC2s are unnecessary for a CCVP/CCIE:Voice lab. Old post here with comparison:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccvp/52792-vwic2-1mft-t1-e1-vs-vwic-1mft-t1.html

As for where to find them cheap, I went the ebay route for almost all of my gear.

tokhss

Ebay is the source Neo. less than 100 bucks on used equipment for the vwics. most sellers with high feedback will refund or you replace the card. i had 2 parts doa and got them returned or exchanged. well worth the cost savings.

also, agreed with Pit.. no need for vwic2/// vwics will do the job just fine.

GuyManDude

Thanks again. Can the VWIC-1MFT-T1 cards be connected back-to-back or do they require a CSU?

If they can be connected back-to-back, what cable would you use please?

pitviper

GuyManDude wrote: »

Thanks again. Can the VWIC-1MFT-T1 cards be connected back-to-back or do they require a CSU?

If they can be connected back-to-back, what cable would you use please?

They can be connected back to back. You just need a T-1 Crossover cable:

peanutnoggin

You can also try this little tool that will do the "crossover" for you, for $30 that is. Pretty cool looking tool, but more so for a network testing kit, I'm probably going to pick one up. HTH

-Peanut

Bl8ckr0uter

peanutnoggin wrote: »

You can also try this little tool that will do the "crossover" for you, for $30 that is. Pretty cool looking tool, but more so for a network testing kit, I'm probably going to pick one up. HTH

-Peanut

That thing looks sweet as hell. I think that (if it works well) I want one. I wonder if there are any throughput issues or anything like that.

azaghul

You can always get pre-made cross-over cables

hxxp://cgi.ebay.com.au/UTP-Voice-data-T1-E1-Crossover-back-to-back-Cable-5FT-/230416770484?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35a5e8e5b4

They work fine. Always get extra though, I bought 4 and 1 is temperamental.

sides14

I have to agree. Sweet little tool. I'll have to pick one up just to try it out.

peanutnoggin

Coincidentally, I was listening to Packet Pushers' podcast today (2nd or 3rd episode) and they mentioned this tool. Then I went to Jeremy Ciaora's blog and he had an article on it. That was so weird that a day or so after discovering this tool, these other places were talking about them. Still cool... I'm ordering mine today!!!

-Peanut

pitviper

I snagged one of those for my toolbag from ThinkGeek.com a month or so ago. It's cool but honestly, since most laptops and newer switches do auto-MDIX, the only thing of use is the T1 x-over which isn't used much and if needed, I would just make a cable (same with a loopback plug) since it's too expensive to leave the adapter behind! Would be nice for lab use if someone didn't want to make their own cables.

GuyManDude

Got myself some 2811 routers but they didn't come with rack mount kits. Can anyone that has a 2801 and a 2811 confirm whether the rackmount kits are identical please? eBay sellers use generic pics so I can't be sure and the price difference is silly. $7 vs 37 !!

One more question. Are the VWIC-1MFT-T1-DIR cards useful for our labs or should I stick to the non-DIR versions please?

Thanks again.

pitviper

Nice choice on the 2811s!!

GuyManDude wrote: »

Got myself some 2811 routers but they didn't come with rack mount kits. Can anyone that has a 2801 and a 2811 confirm whether the rackmount kits are identical please? eBay sellers use generic pics so I can't be sure and the price difference is silly. $7 vs 37 !!

Brackets are different between the 2 models.

GuyManDude wrote: »

One more question. Are the VWIC-1MFT-T1-DIR cards useful for our labs or should I stick to the non-DIR versions please?

“DI” should be fine (though you aren’t really tested on the added drop and insert function)
“DIR” model is NO GOOD – these only work in some really old wireless edge routers

tokhss

I find it that you can get really good deals on ebay for the 2mft - DI model.. i got a DI in my psnt switch .. think i got it for like 50-60 bucks? dont remember.. made in mexico =D lol.. pit have you noticed cisco prices on ebay have jumped up a bit for no reason ?? im trying to find my last 2811 for a good price and dang its just not happening!! >

Essendon

pitviper

tokhss wrote: »

pit have you noticed cisco prices on ebay have jumped up a bit for no reason ?? im trying to find my last 2811 for a good price and dang its just not happening!! >

Hmmm, I know that Cisco's year end is July 31st, and they usually slow to a crawl shortly after re-stocking distributors. Hopefully they aren't back ordered as I'm waiting on a couple of 2800s for a project @ work (ordered 2 weeks ago). I should probably check on that.

warquezho

nice wor pitviper

hypnotoad

I love the lab and the NIN backgrounds on the phones.