Lab Equipment JNCIA thru JNCIP

qplayed

Hi Guys,

I'm currently looking into JNCIA-Junos thru JNCIP-ENT/SP(when its released in May). I currently have 3x J2300's, I found a good deal locally for a few J4300 but unsure if these will be enough for the tracks I am pursuing.

TIA

stuh84

I believe the only issue with the J-Series is they dont run the latest versions of JUNOS. Maybe using what you have, and adding one or two SRXs should cover it?

I'll let other people chime in on this, but thats my impression on it.

qplayed

that's what I was thinking...anyone else care to chime in? and how many more SRC or J would I need?

Aldur

The J routers will be more than enough to get you through the JNCIA-JUNOS. However, the ENT and SP tracks are going to be a different matter. For the ENT track the J series should be enough for the routing side, but the ENT track also cover switching, and there is no real switching capabilities with a J router. If you were to pick up a few SRX routers the interfaces can be placed into switching mode and you can practice most of the switching concepts pertained in the ENT track. This is definitely true for the JNCIS-ENT level, but may not be true for the JNCIP-ENT level. I'm not to familiar with what exactly is going to be required for that level in regards to switching.

The SP track is going to be another matter all together. That track covers routing, provider switching/bridging, CoS, VPNs, etc. For the routing and most of the VPN stuff, except for VPLS, the J routers will suffice. But the provider switching/bridging is whats going to be hard to come by. As of now the bridging aspect of it can only be done on an MX router, which to say the least most people, including myself, don't have the funds to pick one up. So if you can get access to some MX's you'll be doing pretty good.

So to sum it up, ENT track, possible on J's and SRXs. SP track not possible alone on J's, and MX exposure will be needed.

HTH

qplayed

thanks aldur...on pricing . I have a local guy offering me 3x j4300 and 2x srx 210h(new) for around $1500 altogether. What do you think? This would make my lab 3x j2300, 3x j4300, 2x srx.

We have some MX routers at work I can possibly play with and a couple of ex 4200..

Aldur

Hmm, not too bad of a deal at all to tell the truth.

From what I've seen, you can pick up a j4300 on ebay for between 200-600$ and you can pick up a srx210H for between 500-1000$

So 1500$ for 3 J4300s and 2 srx210H would be a decent deal indeed.

qplayed

thanks!

sacredboy

Guys, I would appreciate if you could share me some thoughts regrading the quantity of switches and routers for JNCIS -> JNCIP lab.

Mooseboost

I can't say much for the non-security tracks, but for security I did well with my lab primarily consisting of two SRX devices (240H and a 220) and that covered most of what I needed.

I did manage to get a virtual Junos device running in GNS3. For the JNCIA - I think one device would suffice. I don't know if HA pairs are covered in ENT - if they are you will want identical devices to set it up.