VoIP simulators out there?

Dr_Atomic

I know that, for example, Boson has their simulators for CCNP, which are really good programs for simulating actual lab equipment. Great stuff if you're studying routing and switching. But does anyone know if there's a program out there which does the same thing for the CCVP? (I'm not talking about VMWare). It seems that the voice track is a bit too complex for the simulators just now - I dunno.

peanutnoggin

I think you can use the routers in GNS3 to do the CME stuff, but that's for CCNA Voice. Other than VMWare running your CUCMs, I'm not sure if you're going to find anything else or it would've been posted here. Just my thoughts... HTH.

-Peanut

tiersten

What peanutnoggin said. Buy real lab gear or rack rentals.

pitviper

tiersten wrote: »

What peanutnoggin said. Buy real lab gear or rack rentals.

I agree - Voice and Security tracks can get pretty expensive!

You can do some stuff with GNS3 (CME, SiP, gatekeeper, and so on) but it’s limited (no voice interface emulation – FXS, FXO, PRI, T1 CAS) and honestly it’s not very fun.

Dr_Atomic

tiersten wrote: »

What peanutnoggin said. Buy real lab gear or rack rentals.

Buy real lab gear. Yeah - all it takes is money. And lots of it.

And rack rentals have their drawbacks. You have an eight-hour block to work your butt off with in order to get your money's worth. And if you get stuck, time's a tickin' and you wind up losing money, especially if it happens at the 1-hr mark. You really have to race the clock in rack rentals.

I think whoever can come up with a viable and easy-to-use simulator for VoIP like Boson will make a lot of money.

tiersten

Dr_Atomic wrote: »

Buy real lab gear. Yeah - all it takes is money. And lots of it.

I never said it would be cheap :P It is just that simulation options for Cisco VoIP just don't exist at the CCVP level. If Dynamips+CME and a CUCM VM aren't enough then there isn't much you can do apart from buy lab gear or rack rentals. If you buy lab gear then eventually you should be able to resell it and recoup some of the costs that way but resale always comes with its own issues.

Dr_Atomic wrote: »

I think whoever can come up with a viable and easy-to-use simulator for VoIP like Boson will make a lot of money.

Unless Cisco come out with something themselves, I don't see this happening any time soon. The features and options required for CCVP are just too vast to feasibly simulate. It would be a massive project that takes a large amount of money + time to even get 50% of what you need for a CCVP lab.

peanutnoggin

Dr_Atomic wrote: »

Buy real lab gear. Yeah - all it takes is money. And lots of it.

And rack rentals have their drawbacks. You have an eight-hour block to work your butt off with in order to get your money's worth. And if you get stuck, time's a tickin' and you wind up losing money, especially if it happens at the 1-hr mark. You really have to race the clock in rack rentals.

I think whoever can come up with a viable and easy-to-use simulator for VoIP like Boson will make a lot of money.

I agree with you...

I wasn't saying it as if it were cheap. Believe me... I'm planning on pursuing my VP once I'm done with my NP, but that will not take place until early next year sometime. I think with patience though, you can find good deals on the equipment needed. Good luck!

-Peanut

mikej412

Dr_Atomic wrote: »

And rack rentals have their drawbacks. You have an eight-hour block to work your butt off with in order to get your money's worth. And if you get stuck, time's a tickin' and you wind up losing money, especially if it happens at the 1-hr mark. You really have to race the clock in rack rentals.

Gradedlabs has 5-1/2 hour voice lab sessions available for $15. Buy "tokens" in bulk and it goes down to $12 per 5-1/2 hour session (if I've mastered the Token to $ exchange rage and the token thing in general).

If you're working your butt off to learn the CCVP (and CCIE Voice) material you should be able to study and prepare for your lab sessions so that you're prepared to use your time to it's fullest potential.

If you get stuck, you should work through it -- since that's why you're using a real rack rather than just memorizing configurations. If you can move on to another lab you planned, you can review and study what you need during the week to come back to that issue in your next lab session.

After a lab session or two you'll eventually figure out you should have some idea what you'll be working on next lab session -- and the session after that. And just like in real life -- you may be working on one thing, but have to jump to another.

If you spend the time (and money) on real hardware (or rack rentals) and gain the knowledge and skills to earn your CCVP, then it's usually worth it.

If you don't put in the time and effort (and money) the best you can do is become one of those ccvps (lowercase to indicate disdain) who couldn't make a phone call if someone gave them a pocketful of change and access to a pay phone.

oooooooooooooooooooooh CCBootcamp has Wireless Racks!!! I guess I'll find that link again and post it in the CCNA:Wireless Forum.

chmorin

Other than online labs and VM and GNS3, everything will need to be physical. As said, Voice and Security tracks can get expensive.

mikej412

Voice, Security, and Wireless can get expensive.

That's why I'll usually suggest that someone persue the CCNP after the CCNA (and some actual Cisco Networking experience) -- unless they have an opportunity at their current job or an offer for a job that will give them access to the Voice, Security, and/or Wireless job tasks (and hopefully a work lab to learn more).

The CCNP (after you've gotten some work experience) not only lays a good foundation for the other more specialized Cisco Professional Certifications, but should pay well enough to let you fund your own home lab or purchase rack rentals for the "more expensive" Cisco Professional Certifications -- or should qualify you (if you have and can demonstrate the knowledge and skills) for more advanced Networking positions in larger organizations where you may gain access and responsibilities for some of the other advanced/specialized professional skills.

mobzi

pitviper wrote: »

I agree - Voice and Security tracks can get pretty expensive!

You can do some stuff with GNS3 (CME, SiP, gatekeeper, and so on) but it’s limited (no voice interface emulation – FXS, FXO, PRI, T1 CAS) and honestly it’s not very fun.

Pitviper remark sums it up.

As far as a boson-like/nearest simulator for CCVP is concerned which focuses on CVOICE stuff (voice interface emulation – FXS, FXO, PRI, T1 and GW/GK etc)... you can do it well around 58$, check this:

Networksims.com Home Page: The Best Cisco Simulator (Emulator) in the World with router, switch, PIX, and wireless simulation for CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, ONT, ISCW, BSCI, BCMSN, SND, SNPA, and much more

Download the demo, install it and see it for yourself; contains a pdf of lab manual detailing around 40-50 CCVP lab practice scenarios.

Indeed, not sufficient on it's own but when combined with effective utilization of GNS3 & VMWare resources as demonstrated by Blindhog.net, you can expect 80-90% coverage of CCVP stuff.

In addition to above, yet another wise & cost-effective solution as a next step to above especially under constraint budget, would be to go for a very focused hardware rather than buying a full-blown rack of enterprise-level VoIP/IPT:

1. As josh suggested @blindhog, simply buy a 2621/51XM with NM-2V, VIC-2FXO (or VIC-1FXO if it exists ) & VIC-2FXS and you can experiment a whole lot of things... it wont take more than 250-350 US$ approx. (180+30+70+50 respectively)

2. Build a "Hybrid lab" as much possibly as you can:
a) Purchase L2/L3 switch and then go only for a single ISR eg 2801:
7200emu.hacki.at :: View Forum - Dynamips with real Switches
b) Not a CCVP/IE-V Lab but a proof-of-concept:
Build your own CCIE rack

I understand option 2 will bring out host of new issues but remember you don't need a 15 router lab; just a HQ, BO1 & BO2 so dual port adapters would even do the job well.

I hope experienced seniors will provide us more in-depth guidance.