boson vs home lab?

mattman26

can some give me a little run down on the advantages/disadvantages of boson's net sim vs building a home lab?


Thanks,
mattman

SharkDiver

MattMan,

While you may be able to do more on Boson NetSim because they can easily simulate any feature, you lack the actual hands-on experience that you get with real equipment.

With real equipment, you get to experience real problems like an Ethernet cable issue, or forgetting the password and having to do a password recovery. Hands-on is always nice. That being said, I would definitely suggest a little of both.

joshmadakor

Home lab is a lot of fun, but can get pricey of course. If it's within your means and you're serious about it, I would suggest at least some real hardware.

xbuzz

Depends how far you want to go up the chain of certs too I guess. If you're just stopping at CCNA then it might not be worth getting a physical lab, but if you're intending on going CCNP in the near future then it might be a good investment.

Roguetadhg

Pros:
Boson:
Cheaper
Easier to create environments
Easier to manage

Lab:
Troubleshooting equipment hardware
Troubleshooting Softoware
When it comes to certifications and interviews - You either had hands on experience, or you didn't.
It's a great conversational piece.
Harder.
Looks damn cool.

Cons:
Boson:
It's a simulator. Not an emulator.
You have three registrations before you need to get tech support to give you more registrations. (Ie: Formatting, New hardware, etc... You're out of luck)
Access-List support seems problematic.
At most, You need to use the internal telnet command line. No outside terminal emulator supported

Lab:
Expensive.
Takes time to setup for labs.
Power requirements.
Space requirements.
It will make a room hot.


Just what I could get off the top of my head.

alxx

add packet tracer and gsn3 + a few switches + free online labs (packet life , freeccnaworkbook)

CBT Nuggets

I prefer to have my own lab that covers as much as possible but you need the space and budget.
And not all equipment is quiet

Mrock4

home lab > GNS3/Dynamips > boson > nothing

Home lab might be the most expensive, but in all reality it's an investment in yourself, and if you learn the gear well, it'll pay off. Something is better than nothing though.