Advice appreciated

mguernsey

I'm pretty much a complete neophyte when it comes to Cisco, but I decided I need to pick this stuff up if I want to get out of Helpdesk/Desktop Support oblivion. Roommate decided he wanted to help and got hold of two 3550's from work. Both are SMI and one runs the 12.1 iOS while the other runs 12.2 - are two 3550's sufficient to get through the CCENT?

My plan is to pass the CCENT before investing in any equipment (assuming two 3550's are enough), but if the majority opinion is that I need the recommended 3 switches and 3 routers then it will heavily influence my decisions. Money is not a particular concern, but if I can study well enough with just two switches then I will go forward with what I have, thankful that I have such an awesome friend.

Looking to the future, what would be a good third switch and router trio to go with the 3550's as I study for ICND2? Having a very hard time trying to decide which combination of switches and routers would complement my existing lab.

J_86

You don't really need to use real equipment to pass CCENT or even CCNA. You can use packet tracer (from Cisco) or GNS3. That being said, two 3550's is a good start, if you want to use real gear. I would add some routers to that. Check ebay, cragislist places like that. That is where I have found all of my gear.

What book(s) are you using to study for the CCENT?

cpartin

You have two great switches to start a lab with. I'm of the opinion that you don't necessarily need physical routers, but switches are very nice to have. Since you're trying to start off small, I'd use GNS3 for your routing practice. Read their website for how to set the software up properly (especially about idle-pc) because people screw this up all the time. The switches you have will allow you to practice the physical aspects of hooking up to equipment, and doing things like password recovery and playing in ROMMON which you can't really duplicate in software. Might want to grab a 3rd switch, like a cheap 2950 (<$50) just so you can create some more interesting topologies to play with.

Also, go read this thread for more info on lab setup options.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/81293-how-study-ccent-ccna-tutorial.html

mguernsey

I'm using the Cisco Press book by Odom, but I want to get at least one more book to study from - I saw some good things said about Lammle's 7th edition book so I'll probably order it this week. My weakest area is the labs, so I definitely need to spend some time there - I'm nowhere near ready to take the ICND1 test by the end of this month, but late November/early December could be possible.

YFZblu

For CCNA two switches (for STP) and two routers (to exchange routes) will be sufficient. As far as which models, I worked with 2950 switches and 2600 series routers, had zero problems.

Regarding your 3550's, those devices will be just fine as well.

oli356

I always recommend 3 routers and 3 switches. With 3 switches you get a proper feel for STP, which is always taught with 3 switches and you can also see VTP better, things like the transparent switches.

With 3 routers you can setup frame relay and routing protocols

JeanM

Hello,

The 35xx series will be enough even past CCNA level. For ICND1 you can get by with just packet tracer, for ICND2 you need to do more labbing where if you can afford physical hardware it's only a plus.

I would pick up a pair or three 26xx/36xx series.