Lab for the CCENT

campfire

Hey everyone,

I recently just purchased a Todd Lammle book and have started studying for the INCD1 exam. My work has a Cisco 3550-24 PWR Inline Power Switch that they said I could take home and use. Will the 3550 be a good switch to use, and what else will I need to have a basic lab environment for testing?

Thanks for your time!

oli356

3550 is overkill for CCENT. It's a layer 3switch, you only need a L2 switch such as 2950s, but if work are letting you use it then perfect.

I always recommend 3 routers and 3 switches for a CCNA lab, 1 switch is fine for CCENT though.

jsb515

read over this thread it will help you

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

BeTheNetwork

Quick answer, a free-to-use device like the 3550 is a good find. Make sure you are running good code. Definitely read the How to study for the CCENT/CCNA tutorial.

Roguetadhg

They gave you a 3550-pwr. Damn I'm jealous!

campfire

oli356 wrote: »

3550 is overkill for CCENT. It's a layer 3switch, you only need a L2 switch such as 2950s, but if work are letting you use it then perfect.

I always recommend 3 routers and 3 switches for a CCNA lab, 1 switch is fine for CCENT though.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I figured I might as well use it since they're letting me.

Since I'm just getting started I'm going to set up a lab with one switch, will I also need 1 router with the switch?

campfire

jsb515 wrote: »

read over this thread it will help you

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

Thanks for the link.

I read through that but just had a couple questions.

It looks like for the minimal, Roguetadhg says that 1 switch and 1 router will work. So would the 3550 with lets say a 1721 router be a good place to start?

campfire

Roguetadhg wrote: »

They gave you a 3550-pwr. Damn I'm jealous!

Heh yeah!

So I see on your thread you say that a minimal that will work is 1 switch and 1 router. Would a 1721 router work okay with the 3550 switch?

Thanks again.

Roguetadhg

it should as it was suggested multiple times by different people on TE. I personally don't have any 1721s. There's more to hardware than just the model version - memory, ios, flash. All of that comes together for what it can support and what you can do with it!

Look at pictures of the model, know what you're getting yourself into. Plan for it. Make sure you know if you need modules (Serial/ ethernet, fiber), Memory, IOS. You can find all that on Cisco's website by doing a simple search on their website.

In my brief experience - more memory is never a bad thing.

oli356

campfire wrote: »

Thanks for the link.

I read through that but just had a couple questions.

It looks like for the minimal, Roguetadhg says that 1 switch and 1 router will work. So would the 3550 with lets say a 1721 router be a good place to start?

I just don't see the point in 1 of each. You can only learn the commands, you might as well use packet tracer for that. 2 routers you can send data across networks. 3 routers you can really use routing protocols better.

For CCENT then 1 switch is fine. For CCNA you won't be able to do STP or VTP with 1 though.

Illumanati

oli356 wrote: »

I just don't see the point in 1 of each. You can only learn the commands, you might as well use packet tracer for that. 2 routers you can send data across networks. 3 routers you can really use routing protocols better.

For CCENT then 1 switch is fine. For CCNA you won't be able to do STP or VTP with 1 though.

just wanted to say, I liked your post. thank you for sharing, thats it!