CCNA Home Lab Improvement Advise
Paper Tiger
Registered Users Posts: 2 ■□□□□□□□□□
in CCNA & CCENT
Hello folks,
First of all, it's a pleasure to join this forum. I've been checking here for months while working on my comptia trinity set. The forum has been a great help. Now, it's time to move forward and my current goals are CCNA, CCNA-V and CCDA. I'm going self-study route, all hands-on; no simulators, emulators….
I've been reading through many lab setup posts - special thanks to Mikej for conribution - and trying to do my due diligence choosing the CCNA & CCNA-V home lab equipment and need your critique of what to add or get rid off.
My current set is 3 routers & 3 switches:
The routers (3):
Cisco 2691
- Flash 128/ DRAM 256
- WIC-2T
- NM-HDV + PVDM-12x5 + VIC-1J1 (1 channelized J1 port)
- IOS 12.4(15)T12
Cisco 3725
- Flash 128/ DRAM 256
- WIC-2T
- NM-HDV + PVDM-12x5 + VWIC-1MFT-T1 (1 channelized T1/PRI port)
- MN-16A (Access Server)
- IOS 12.4(15)T8
Cisco 2611XM
- Flash 32/DRAM96
- WIC-2T
- Voice-1V + VIC-2FXS
- IOS 12.4
Switches (3):
1x Cisco 3550-24-EMI
2x Cisco 2950T-24
At this point, I need your advice for a further lab improvement:
Frame Relay:
Should I get 4th router explicitly for Frame Relay with a serial NM-4T or NM-4A/S interface, or upgrade the existing 2691 or 3725 as a frame relay by filling all 3 wic clots with WIC-2T interfaces. The question is whether 2691/3725 can handle 3 wic-2T's.
Also, is there any life left in Cisco 2522 Frame Relay routers, or is better to go with NMs on 26--XM's?
PSTN cloud for Voice:
For voice, there are 1 channelized J1 port (japanese spec) + 1 channelized T1/PRI port installed on the routers. Are 2 channelized ports sufficient to create PSTN cloud, or additional equipment will be necessary?
Also, I am not sure if J1 & T1 would be compatible, and most likely will replace J1 with T1.
Finally, how does Voice-1V with 2FXS on a third router fit the configuration?
Would greatly appreciate all your critique and recommendations.
First of all, it's a pleasure to join this forum. I've been checking here for months while working on my comptia trinity set. The forum has been a great help. Now, it's time to move forward and my current goals are CCNA, CCNA-V and CCDA. I'm going self-study route, all hands-on; no simulators, emulators….
I've been reading through many lab setup posts - special thanks to Mikej for conribution - and trying to do my due diligence choosing the CCNA & CCNA-V home lab equipment and need your critique of what to add or get rid off.
My current set is 3 routers & 3 switches:
The routers (3):
Cisco 2691
- Flash 128/ DRAM 256
- WIC-2T
- NM-HDV + PVDM-12x5 + VIC-1J1 (1 channelized J1 port)
- IOS 12.4(15)T12
Cisco 3725
- Flash 128/ DRAM 256
- WIC-2T
- NM-HDV + PVDM-12x5 + VWIC-1MFT-T1 (1 channelized T1/PRI port)
- MN-16A (Access Server)
- IOS 12.4(15)T8
Cisco 2611XM
- Flash 32/DRAM96
- WIC-2T
- Voice-1V + VIC-2FXS
- IOS 12.4
Switches (3):
1x Cisco 3550-24-EMI
2x Cisco 2950T-24
At this point, I need your advice for a further lab improvement:
Frame Relay:
Should I get 4th router explicitly for Frame Relay with a serial NM-4T or NM-4A/S interface, or upgrade the existing 2691 or 3725 as a frame relay by filling all 3 wic clots with WIC-2T interfaces. The question is whether 2691/3725 can handle 3 wic-2T's.
Also, is there any life left in Cisco 2522 Frame Relay routers, or is better to go with NMs on 26--XM's?
PSTN cloud for Voice:
For voice, there are 1 channelized J1 port (japanese spec) + 1 channelized T1/PRI port installed on the routers. Are 2 channelized ports sufficient to create PSTN cloud, or additional equipment will be necessary?
Also, I am not sure if J1 & T1 would be compatible, and most likely will replace J1 with T1.
Finally, how does Voice-1V with 2FXS on a third router fit the configuration?
Would greatly appreciate all your critique and recommendations.