Hardware questions *help!*

jsb515

Hello,

I'm new to CCNA and begun setting up a lab in my office at work.. Right now I have 1 Cisco 3550 & 2950 switch and now i'm looking to get some routers. I've been scanning these forums and read few articles that the 2501's are good to start but need ram upgrades and IOS upgrades to be any good this true? or they still worth starting with? I was looking to grab 2 2501's and 1 2610. I already have 1 WIC-1T and 2 WIC - 2T cards that I got out of some 1700 series routers that have no power supplies.

If I got with the 2 2501s and 1 2610 what kind of cables will I need to set all this up with my switches?

MAC_Addy

I'd recommend 2x 2610xm's or 2620xm's.

jsb515

would I need any other WIC cards or what I have been good enough for the 2610xm?

jsb515

would the 2501s just been enough for me now to get the basics and then I upgrade later? I can get 2 of them for $20

MAC_Addy

Just WIC-1T will be fine for CCNA. I have 2 2501's, and they definitely do well for CCNA, but if you want to go for CCNP then they won't do.

jsb515

yeah I figured by the time I get the hang of everything ill have enough money saved up to upgrade the setup to move on to ccnp

just to make sure I have everything to get started and hookup here is a list..

2 - 2501s
1 - 3550 switch
1 - 2950 switch
2 - Cisco Router to Router DCE/DTE DB60 3ft Crossover Cable
1 - WIC 1T
2 - WIC 2T
1 - console cable

anything else I need to hook all this up?

JeanM

You'll need some cat5/6 ethernet cables, straight and crossover. 2 routers/2 switches are good, but for some labs you'll want at least 3 switches and 3 routers. Pick up a couple more routers if they are only $20 ! I paid under $40 for my 2620s, but then I also had to purchase serial wic cards.

If I was going to do it again, I would just get the XM series instead, they support 12.4IOS for example.

jsb515

got tons of cat5/6 and cross cables no issues there lol well I got a 3750 PoE 48 sitting in my office that my work is going to let me borrow but I figured for my 3rd router I would go the XM route but just wanted something to get started with.

JeanM

If you'll want to lab frame relay, you'll need a router that will have multiple serial ports...you'll then connect your other routers to it using serial ports (that's also why you'll want more than 2 routers here). So for example with the 26xx series you'll end up putting a nm-4/as or 8a/s card that will give you 4-8 ports .... But for the most part what you have already will be good to start with as others have said.

jsb515

Would this be a good investment for my next router?

Cisco 2610 Router 64 DRAM / 16 FLASH & WIC-1DSU-T1

Will that run the latest ios?

JeanM

Depends, and no. Latest it can do is 12.3.... you have to look at 26xx XM for 12.4

Upgrading System Memory, Internal Flash, and Boot ROM in Cisco 2600 Series Routers  [Support] - Cisco Systems

jsb515

just bought 1 2620XM router from ebay $82 free ship. Now my question is how will I hook up all 3 routers to my 2 switches? what cable and WIC will I need to use in the 2620xm?

JeanM

The router as you know a moduler device, it has a couple ports built in, the console/aux port and the ethernet port. It will take modular cards that will provide you the interfaces needed for a specific application.

Look through this if you haven't alredy -
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/routers/ps259/product_data_sheet0900aecd800fa5be.html

One way to interconnect the routers together is by use of serial connections, look up wic1t and wic2t cards, and then the matching cables. There are different types of serial cables, you would get the cables to match the cards you purchase. So in your case, you can purchase one wic2t cards and two smart serial (to match the wic2t end) to db60 serial cables (to match the ends of the 25xx routers you got), that will let you connect the two 2500s to the 2620xm as an example.

The switches will usually connect using cat5/6 cables, unless you have switches that use modular cards as well with faster interfaces (fiber or 1 or 10gb)

jsb515

i have 2 WIC 2T and 1 WIC 1T card already so would I need to put the 2 WIC 2T in it and get 1 or 2 smart cables with serial connections to the 2501s? or can I just use the 1 WIC 1T card and but another DB60 router to router cable?

if I put in two of the WIC 2T into the 2620xm and bought 2 smart serial to DB 60 cables would this be the right combinations to hook up with the other 2 2501s ?

JeanM

It depends on what you are trying to do.... if you already have the wic2t, install it in the 2620xm..that will give you two smart serial ports...you can buy the cables as I said earlier that will be smart serial on one end and serial on another.

If you put two wic2t cards in your 2620 you'll have 4 ports, so if you get more routers you can connect them as well.... I can't tell you how to config it as there are many ways to do this.

You can reference the links on the cisco site to verify compatibility and such between cards and routers as well...

jsb515

ok think i got it, just ordered two serial to db60 cables. Thank for your help Jean.