Nooblet about to drop bank on lab gear...

Hi everyone,

Sorry for another annoying "What Lab Should I Buy" post. My wife made me ask before I opened the wallet

Been lurking around here and reading up. I have searched 20+ CCIE blogs, 3-4 forums, INE, Cisco, bla bla bla... Most lab writeups seem to be based on what will work now, with little thought as to down the road.

My end goal is CCIE R/S, Voice + Wireless.

I want to buy one lab. I don't want to buy a bunch of cheap gear I can't use later (I would however love to find cheap gear I could actually use in 2.5 years for my CCIEs). I'm not looking for gear that can "almost" do all that is on the test. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of guy.

From what I have been able to tell IOS 15 should be whats on the CCIE labs by the time I get there (planing 2 years out) for both switches and routers. Unless they ruin my plans and poop out an IOS 19 by then...

I plan to get my supplies from recyclers or from sniping on fleebay. The lab kit sales I have seen, are absurd to say the least (what utter rubbish they shill for huge prices)!

Here is what I am thinking (and by thinking, I mean have bids ready to go unless someone says "Stop! You noob, your way off base!")...

Access Server
(1) AS2511-RJ $200 (Already bought it. Not great deal, but it's SUPER clean, came with all the rollover cables, mounts, power cord and a fancy doohickey to make it Ethernet friendly]

Routers
(1) 2811, 2821, 2851, 3825, 3845 $125- 150 each (I don't like the 1841 form factor and I read that 2801s are super noisy and can't do voice)
GNS3 for the rest (I already have the needed images).

Switches
(3) 3650, 3750 (V04 - V06) (one with PoE) $135 - 165 each (Some lucky person just scored 2 3750s in great condition.. for $63 shipped!)

It's looking like the 3825s and 3650s are the best deals. As far as I am able to tell all of these models should be able to use the latest IOS and should be able to use the next as well. (however, certain 3650s seem to be a bit old for the latest IOS)

As far as mods go... Most of the used routers seem to come with at least one WIC-1DSU-T1-V2.

I know I'll need more for CCNP & CCIE but I just want what will benefit me for CCNA right now and be useful later.

I do have an old 2950G sitting around, so if I can skip a 3750 for now, that would be nice.

Any quick thoughts from the forward thinking?

Thanks!
~Brewzer

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Comments

Roguetadhg

Hell. You get rep just because you said "doohickey". That's an awesome whatcha-ma-call-it, you got there!

As far as building the lab once, and being happy with it... I don't know how good that'll be. As IOS 15 is coming right down the corner.

Honestly, build a CCNP-level lab. Switches. use GNS3 to emulate the routers. It'll be heck of a lot cheaper, and less "Ah ****, unusable" feeling just in case!

Brewzer

Whoo Hooo! I like your "How to study" post BTW.. epic <--- that word is not used enough these days.

veritas_libertas

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Hell. You get rep just because you said "doohickey". That's an awesome whatcha-ma-call-it, you got there!

As far as building the lab once, and being happy with it... I don't know how good that'll be. As IOS 15 is coming right down the corner.

Honestly, build a CCNP-level lab. Switches. use GNS3 to emulate the routers. It'll be heck of a lot cheaper, and less "Ah ****, unusable" feeling just in case!

I've come to the opinion that a couple of routers to learn with for the CCNA is plenty and emulate the rest in GNS3. You do need at least one router with FastEthernet to study for ROAS (Router-on-a-Stick). Buy a couple of 2950s, but do not go crazy since it's 3550s and up for the CCNP SWITCH exam.

Brewzer

Thanks for the reply's!

I did mention in my post that I was looking to buy routers & switches for just my CCNA that can handle IOS 15 today...

It's looking like that may be a good plan.

Just to re-hash what I posted above... I plan to buy (at least) one 2800 or 3800 series router and three 3750/3650 switches. I plan to use GNS3 for the routers (I want to get my hands on one of them for some RL XP).

Mrock4

I understand your idea of "one lab" but in reality all labs are pretty much a thing of their own..they change over time. You say you want to go down the CCIE R&S route, so that is obviously pushing much of your decision on lab gear. Instead of $400 in lab gear, you're looking at thousands. Now, the only downfall? You don't know if that gear will be relevant by the time you get to the CCIE.

Realistically, you're looking at a few months to take your CCNA, then maybe 6-12 months to get your CCNP (if you choose to), then another 6 - 24 months for your CCIE. Sure, IOS 15 is likely coming down the road, but you could potentially be wasting a lot of money as these tracks are all likely to change- not just the R&S. In addition to that, GNS3 will not run IOS 15.

Another thing to consider is, even if you bought gear that could not run IOS 15, you'd be able to do a vast majority of the topics with that gear anyways. It's not like it'd be a total waste.

Finally, how much experience do you have in the networking field? This is quite an extensive purchase if you don't have any (or little) experience..just saying, I love cars, but I wouldn't buy a $10,000 tool set until I got my hands dirty in a garage and decided if I wanted to do that as a career.

Just trying to help- please don't take these words as trying to shoot down your plans..I'd just hate to see someone spend more than they really need to.

Brewzer

Mrock4,

I am used to Cisco's SMB Lineup and GUI

I own a small ITSM business in the Seattle area. I have on hundreds of occasions been hired to do light networking (install cabling, servers, switches, phone lines, security systems, wifi printers, connectivity issues, etc) for clients ranging from Mechanic Shops and Doctors Offices to Bellevue City Hall and even Microsoft.

Last week I installed 18 desktops, 3 printers, a Cone-beam Xray, a Cisco WiFi AP, a Cisco 48 port SMB switch w/ PoE, a nice Lenovo 1U w/ NAS and UPS and a 4 camera security system. I configured everything from the Switch & AP to the Server 2008 R2 AD, DNS, DHCP and gave the owner VPN access. I ran all the cabling and power. It was a long week.

IE: I am not a kid looking to get started (not that there is anything wrong with that!)

Like your quote.. "I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big." I am thinking big. I am thinking CCIE.

I can't imagine a non-ISR 15 IOS based test being the future, so I am trying to get a head start now with my CCNA equipment. I am thinking that what I buy now will likely be like a 2611xm is today. Not everything, but good enough. Especially since the ISR2s are already sneaking about.

If you think I should just nab a few cheap IOS 12.3 routers and 12.1 switches I can, but I am worried that once everyone see's the topology writing on the wall, those ISR1s are going to jump in price. Then I am going to be stuck with a few hundred bucks worth of paperweights.

Mrock4

Nothing wrong with thinking big- I encourage it! Just making sure you know what you're getting into- which it sounds like it does.

I would *highly* advise running 12.4 on everything actually, so I don't disagree with you at all, but I'd just get the essentials first (as you mentioned, 2611XM is a good example)..you can still use the 2611XM on the IE. Even if you can't in a couple of years, you'll surely be able to use it as a backbone router in the absolute worst case scenario.

Brewzer

Mrock4 wrote: »

...you can still use the 2611XM on the IE... you'll surely be able to use it as a backbone router in the absolute worst case scenario.

Perfect! That's what I needed

2600XMs are dirt cheap and good for today, if they have a use later, I'll buy em!

Sadly, I don't think there is a switch equivalent. AFAIK 2950's will never run IOS 15 or be a useful backbone

Thanks Mrock4! Your either very cool, or you have a bunch of 2600XM's on ebay right now.. hmmmm

Mrock4

No items on ebay- I DO have a couple of XM's at home though! As well as 1841's, which I *am* a fan of for their size.

Brewzer

I bet they are nicer to listen to as well.. but I have a perfect little spot in the man-cave (garage) and a nice rack to buy.. Those 1841's will just look silly (like Justin Bieber or Canadians) next to the uber tough 3845.

I have read that if you can put up with logs, those 2821s will run fanless...

Mrock4

Brewzer wrote: »

Those 1841's will just look silly (like Justin Bieber or Canadians) next to the uber tough 3845.

Justin Bieber is canadian, so it works out. Obviously I have a daughter!

Roguetadhg

Woa. Woa! Wait a minute! Bieber isn't a girl?

Where was I for this news announcement?

goldenlight

I recommend building a lab for the ccnp exam.

Check Odom blog out and certificationkits. com Lots of good reading

I recommend building it slow.. looking on ebay for good deals.

YOu can allways add to your ccnp configuration

Brewzer

From what I have seen, Odom's blog is about as up to date, as my dead Grandma. She thought phones were weird.

I also tend not to take my information from people trying to sell me things (Cisco is hoping I sell their stuff for them, so the more educated about their product I am, the better for them).. certificationkits makes more money the more poor choices I make...

Slow building labs = slow learning lab owners (can't learn on what you don't have!)