Hardware to use for CCNA LAB 8_28_2011

infringer

Take note this post was made on 8/28/2011
and is subject to change.

In order to find out weather your switch is current enough for CCNA study you should visit this web page.

Download Software - Cisco Systems
Check for your switch and see if it supports the latest version IOS 12.4 if it does not support it you may want to consider either not purchasing or using it.

As for your router you will want to visit the following webpage and be sure that it too supports the latest version of IOS.

Download Software - Cisco Systems

This I believe is 12.4 as well you will want all of your equipment to support the same IOS because you may fall into a trap to where you try to add a command that is not supported by a device on your network.

If you do not have the latest IOS you are not able to access the latest and greatest command sets which from the command line interface which is very important to have this ability.

I have written this in hopes to save you some of the trouble that I have went through in wasting time and money. In essence it is important to get something as current as your budget will possibly allow! Because many devices you get for your labs now that may be on the edge of working for CCNA may reach there end of life for support within the near future.

This has been a learning and a trying time for myself and hopefully this helps some people plan a bit better before they buy.

Currently the 2950 & 3550 is a highly suggested switch
Currently the 1700, 1800, 2600XM, and 800 series are suggested as well.

Weather or not something is suggested means nothing if you do not know the date of the suggestion and are not aware of the latest versions of IOS. This is all stuff to take into consideration when purchasing equipment.

Certification Studies change with time it is important to keep current when researching what is needed for both physical and digital goods such as certified based training materials. If you have outdated study materials or equipment with any certification exam you will be setting yourself up for failure ... You also want to make sure that the suggestions you get are up to date as well. It can be very discouraging to spend a lot of time and money all to find out that your still in the same shoes you were when you started your journey to becoming certified.

I hope this saves people some of the hassle that I went through so far in the early parts of my journey.

universalfrost

thanks for posting.

I am building my lab to renew my ccna (for the 3rd time) and work towards me ccnp

Blobby

Thanks for posting - I'm just trying to decide between building my own lab & self teaching or just spending the $2k on a course. I'm leaning towards doing it myself to save money; I've been around non Cisco networks for a while so I figure I can do it. But like you said, there's a lot of old information out there, and for someone new to this it's pretty overwhelming.

One question I have is, if I buy a couple of 1721s on ebay, will I need to pay Cisco to use the 12.4 IOS? If I follow your link to Download Software, I see lots of locks and things on the actual download links. Really what I'm asking is, when I buy a router from ebay is that the end of it or do I get myself into a big licensing mess?

Thanks,
Blobby