3550 vs. 3560 Lab

BroadcastStorm

Just poking around, I don't wish to get into this twisting vortex yet, but I'm curious any reason why you guys use a 3560 switch instead of a 3550 switch for your CCIE lab?

I have 4 3550 leftover from my CCNP studies, and 2 3750.

PsychoFin

Check out this handy comparison link from INE:

Catalyst 3560 and 3550 Comparison | INE

Those 3750s that you have are just like 3560s except that they also do stacking. A lot of people just get rack time to practice the few odd commands that you have to know off of the 3560, and do most of their labbing on their own 3550s.

Regards,
Fin

BroadcastStorm

I don't understand the reason behind rack, I would assume that if you're studying for CCIE that you're already in the network field and you already have cheddar to purchase your own lab, I mean unless you need to fiddle around newer technology like Nexus stuff.

Thanks for the link, so I can sell my 3550 if there's a big gap.

Brain_Power

I have 2 x 3550 and 1 x 3560. The 3560 is PoE for future Voice labs. If you plan on studying voice then get a 3560 PoE.

PsychoFin

BroadcastStorm wrote: »

I don't understand the reason behind rack,

Well, some people might not have the space or cash required to build a rack, or they might live in such a country where shipping and/or customs would kill their bank. In these cases rack rental would come out as a cheaper, more cost-effective approach.

But yeah, even 4 x 3550 and GNS3 wouldn't be too expensive these days, to be honest.

down77

PsychoFin wrote: »

Check out this handy comparison link from INE:

Catalyst 3560 and 3550 Comparison | INE

Those 3750s that you have are just like 3560s except that they also do stacking. A lot of people just get rack time to practice the few odd commands that you have to know off of the 3560, and do most of their labbing on their own 3550s.

Regards,
Fin

Great link and I would also recommend that anyone considering 3550 vs 3560/3750 pay close attention to the commands that INE has highlighted. Rack time is a great and comparatively cost effective way of mastering this content!

Just my 0.02 but fiddling around with NX-OS (which I spend a LOT of time in) doesn't always provide value towards the CCIE R&S studies, and in some cases can hinder them. I would make sure to master the IOS on the lab blueprint for both ISR and Catalyst platforms.

Zartanasaurus

I imagine the big thing is that the CCIE lab uses 3560s and QoS on the 3550 vs the 3560 is different. 3550 also doesn't support private-vlans. My lab is 4x 3560s. They were spare 100mb switches that we had in storage.

shodown

When I was working this track the 3560's were still pretty expensive. I used 3550's and was planning on using rack rentals for the 3560 specific features

Forsaken_GA

shodown wrote: »

When I was working this track the 3560's were still pretty expensive. I used 3550's and was planning on using rack rentals for the 3560 specific features

They've come down in price alot. I picked up a pair for under $400 each back in February, and my coworkers looking are occasionally finding them on ebay for under $200.

gorebrush

I sold all my equipment thinking I'd never need it again...

I had a few 2500's (ancient) 2950's (useful) 3550's (probably would have gotten me through a CCIE)

Now I just see this as an opportunity to go buy some 3560 PoE's (I could think about Voice then too)

shodown

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

They've come down in price alot. I picked up a pair for under $400 each back in February, and my coworkers looking are occasionally finding them on ebay for under $200.

Yeah I got a 3560 8 port for my IE Voice lab pretty cheap