A lil help pertaining to labs

Petrinoda

Hey guys. Recently passed the A+, Network+, And Security+ within the past 2 months and am moving forward into Cisco. I've been reading a lot on the forums about Cisco and there different model #'s. I'm not as savvy when it comes to Cisco as some of you guys on here and want your advice.

I do have $ to spend (I don't want to spend more than 300 if I don't have 2), but I was wondering reading through all these different models which ones do I NEED to pass the CCENT/CCNA. I see some kits offering 6-7 different router/switch combinations and other ones offering 2-3.

My real question is which type of configuration would I need or which model #'s/configuration setup ? I see all these pre-made kits and I'm not sure if that's the route I want to go or not. I looked through cragislist but I believe all the ones I found were over priced for what they were offering in my area. Any help would be appreciative guys. Thank u

MickQ

It's usually a good idea to read the stickies first.

jsb515

this seems to be a common question on here since I signed up lol but read this

Lab Gear

should be a good start, and just scan over the topics here and you will find what you are looking for. But most of us bought our gear piece by piece and usually stay away from kits.

Petrinoda

Yeah I am going to try and stay away from kits. I've read a lot of the stickies and feel as if some of them are outdated. I also feel as if when trying to build a lab kit by kit there's so many options/combinations of things that you can do. Almost a feeling of over whelming. That's why I figured I'd start this and see what rules to follow/not follow while trying to build a CCNA lab. I'm not sure the last time the test was changed so I'd like to get the most up to date things that I can without spending an arm and a leg.

I'll be taking my CCENT first and then going for the 802 after that.

Petrinoda

Would 2 routers with 2 switches be enough for the CCNA? I plan on taking the CCNA Security or CCNP afterwards but for just CCNA purposes.. Would that be enough to do the labs and everything?

I was also wondering if an access server would be suitable for a 2/2 configuration?

MickQ

It's been a while since I looked at building a CCNA lab, and to be honest, I didn't. I just used the boson netsim that I got in the back of a CCNA book. That was enough to play with the commands. I also had a quiet customer's network to try fancy things on in an isolated section, but the netsim did the trick for me.

For my CCNP I did buy some kit.
You'd need a 3550 (or two) and 2950 (or two) minimum for a decent lab.
You'll also need a router which has an image on it which is compatible with GNS3 - that way you can just use the image in a lab rather than having to buy loads of routers.

Petrinoda

Than you Mick.. I'll pick up 2 of each of those a long with a router

For a router choice would the 2500 series be enough or should I go with the 2600 series.. I guess preferably the xm model

MickQ

Personally I picked up a 2691 as I kept on being beaten to a 2621XM and wanted to sit the exam sooner than later.
Just take your time and check the listings on the GNS3 site as to what images are compatible. I've got an 877 sitting here thanks to my initial impatience. At least it's come in use recently

Petrinoda

Haha.. That's where I'm at.. I'm looking at all these options wanting to buy all these different things but I'm not familiar with the Ram size max outs .. IOS versio which should be 12.3 or up for CCNA / CCNP... N everything else to boot.

I found this
CISCO COMPLETE CCNA LAB PACKAGE 16/64 WIC-1DSU-T1 WIC-1T XM 2950 2610 2611 2620 0746320181783 | eBay

Comes with everything but I think it's still a lil high priced.

alxx

Before you buy to much
make sure to look at gsn3 and the free online lans like ccnaworkbook.com and packetlife.net

http://www.cbtnuggets.com/standalone?video=/freevideo/csco_642_902_02.mp4

I like having hardware but it will up your powerbill and take up a good bit of space
and can be quite noisy (especially 3660's , 3745's and 3640's)

Petrinoda

I like what they have to offer, but this is the path I want to pursue so I figured why not get hands on experience with the stuff and present pictures at an interview, because the job I have no is not IT related what so ever.

alxx

I'm the same , I don't work in IT (work in Engineering) ,just started (3 weeks back) working on optical networking equipment development (awesome job and great boss - zero micro managing). Fpga development - things like pcie bus comms, control of sfp and qsfp cages via i2c bus. Just two of us on the team ,me on fpga and drivers, boss on pcb design.

Big learning curve and a ton of reading.
Not helped by a couple of full on uni subjects (last two engineering subjects).
Had to back off from certs for a while.


Hands on experience is good

Maybe get 1 or 2 routers and same for switches until you are really sure you are going to go on with it and maybe wait until your going for ccnp before getting more equipment.

Or just get switches and use gsn3 for the routers or to have extra routers.
Would let you get newer switches/save money

remember DO NOT BUY A KIT UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF!
They are all older equipment for premium prices.

packet tracer and gsn3 let you get started now while you are researching equipment.

Cisco recommends ios 12.4t for ccna or newer

Petrinoda

I appreciate the response. I think that's what I'll do to start off. Just a couple of each for the CCNA and when I go for my Security or CCNP I'll get whatever else I have 2.