Which IOS for my CCNP Lab?

I am at the point with my home lab that I need to start being concerned with the IOS version loaded on each device. Up until now I just worked with whatever image was on it when I acquired it.

I have the following:

(3) 2610XM
(1) 2621XM
(1) 3640
(2) 2950
(2) 3550

I was looking at this page on Wendell's Odom's site and it seems like 12.4T is best for the 2600 routers. However, I am finding a lot of flavors of it out there. The latest I have is named c2600-advsecurityk9-mz.124-9.t1.bin which does not seem like the latest 12.4 but does appear to be a "T" flavor.

I plan on using the 3640 for a Frame Switch so I doubt that the IOS matters much there. Odom's page on the 3640 show that the latest T train for 3640 is 12.3. Not sure if I need to be concerned.

After reading a post here I managed to download the latest switch images from Cisco for free so I have c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-22.EA14.bin and c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin. Not sure if that is going to be good or not.

I'm sure many of you have already been through this already so I wanted to get some opinions from the community.

Thanks

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Comments

networker050184

The 12.4 you have should be fine. The exam topics are pretty generic and don't really go into many specialized features.

Roguetadhg

That's what's in my 3550 switch, Neo.

I can't upgade a 3560

Zartanasaurus

The CCIE lab runs 12.4(15)T9 which is doable on a 2600. Good enough for the CCIE lab, good enough for CCNP practice I say. It doesn't matter what you run on the 3640 since you're just going to set it and forget it.

Carl_S_901

Zartanasaurus,

Should I be getting hung up on the version within 12.4T ? For example, I only have 12.4(9)T1 while you mentioned 12.4(15)T9 as the latest. Do I need to go hunt down some version history and look?

Carl_S_901

networker050184 wrote: »

The 12.4 you have should be fine. The exam topics are pretty generic and don't really go into many specialized features.

I basically figured as much but I did not want to get into a situation where I was labbing and something wasn't working right because of IOS version and I sit there and scratch my head all night trying to figure the topic out. I just want to make sure the IOS is a non-issue when studying.

Zartanasaurus

Carl_S_901 wrote: »

Zartanasaurus,

Should I be getting hung up on the version within 12.4T ? For example, I only have 12.4(9)T1 while you mentioned 12.4(15)T9 as the latest. Do I need to go hunt down some version history and look?

I wouldn't worry about it one bit.

spd3432

@Zartanasaurus -- I'm currently studying Route. I just took a quick look at the feature set for the advsecurity image the OP listed. It doesn't include IPv6 support. In your opinion, how critical will that missing piece be for him since the recommendation seems to be advipservices for CCNP route?

@Roguetadhq -- Don't know why you can't upgrade your 3560. Did you try a .tar file and CNA (Cisco Network Assistant)?

Carl_S_901

spd3432,

I am trying to get my hands on c2600-advsecurityk9-mz.124-15.T14.bin

I would like to have IPv6 support for sure. Would that image fix me up in that area (and all other areas)?

Thanks

spd3432

Carl,

I checked the Cisco Feature Navigator to see what's in the image you listed in your original post. Without checking, I don't believe any of the 2600 advsecurity images would have IPv6 included. A check of the blueprint for the CCNP Route exam shows that IPv6 is one of the major areas. I think the INE website shows which IOS images they have installed on their lab devices. The Cisco CCNP Route Lab Manual shows its "designed" around Cisco 1841 with Cisco IOS Release 12.4(24)T1 Advanced IP Services. It states other routers and Cisco IOS software versions can be used if they have comparable capabilities and features.
The Feature Navigator will allow you to look up by platform, image name, or feature set. --> Cisco Feature Navigator - Cisco Systems
For CCNP Route, you'll need: EIGRP, BGP, OSPF, IPv6 capabilities in your IOS images.

Zartanasaurus

I would definitely make sure whatever IOS version you're using has support for OSPFv3.

Nate--IRL--

Just something to note about 2950 switches (from a mistake I nearly made an hour or two ago on ebay), they come in two flavours Standard Image and Enhanced Image versions.

The SI version only supports normal spanning tree, where as the EI version supports RSTP and MSTP. Kinda important for SWITCH. Note SI is NOT upgradable to EI.

SI and EI comparison

2950 SI switch overview

2950 EI switch overview

Edit:- I know I'm going off on a tangent, but here is a concise comparison of 2590 v 2960 v 3550 v 3560 switches

http://packetlife.net/wiki/feature-comparison-catalyst-2950-2960-3550-3560/

Nate

Carl_S_901

Nate,

Check out the Software Section on this page and let me know what you think.

To me, Odom is saying that the feature sets have been merged and thus this is no longer an issue.

Carl_S_901

Nate,

Looks like one is EI capable (WS-C2950T-24) and one is SI capable (WS-C2950-24). However, I will try sticking c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-22.EA14.bin and/or c2950-i6k2l2q4-mz.121-22.EA14.bin (2 images I have) in the SI one and see what happens. The EI image supports 4096 VLANs and the SI image only supports 1001 so it should be easy to check. I just tested this on my WS-C2950-24 with current code of c2950-c3h2s-mz.120-5.3.WC.1.bin and it was only 1001.

Nate--IRL--

AFAIK the IOS images for SI and EI are the same file. The hardware determines which features from the IOS image are used. That said your mileage may vary.

The most notable feature missing from the SI is RSTP and MSTP, so give that a go on your SI and see how it goes.

Nate