anyone have complete CCNP switching lab simulations for cisco packet tracer

jhk505

got an idea of what simulations would be in CCNP switching and was wondering if anyone have complete cisco packet tracer files for CCNP simulations. Thanks in advance.

f0rgiv3n

Just a heads up: the dominating opinion around here is that you need real switches for the CCNP Switch labs. You can get what you need for fairly cheap (2 3550s, 2 2950s). I can't imagine packetracer would give you the experience/labs/features that you need to truly be prepared for the exam.

lordy

For the switching part of CCNP you really need physical switches. The reason is that they have ASIC's chip that do a lot of the work that can not be emulated by Packet Tracer or GNS3.

As f0rgiv3n has said, get two 3550's and maybe a 2950, that should be sufficient. You can sell them afterwards.

jhk505

is it possible to just use emulator to do this? I heard from someone who have obtained CCIE that you can use emulator in linux to do the CCNP lab something called dynamip (can't remember the exact name). I can maybe ask the professor to give me an access to internetwork programming lab in order to do actual lab with cisco routers/switches but not sure whether that's viable option.

dmcneil330

There are simulators that simulate some of the features but there can be a slew of abnormalities that surface when using them to study. It is best to get some real hardware to practice the configs. As said previously you can get by with just 2 3550s and 2 2950s you may need to update the IOS images but you can do almost everything except some PVLAN configs and certain load balancing things.

Combine that with the OCG (official certification guide) and the SWITCH lab manual and you'll be in good shape. It woudln't hurt to go ahead and get the FLG (foudnation learning guide) too.

Kory

Personally I have never been able to get packet tracer to work with port channels. The links constantly flap. And you NEED to know how to set up port channels in all their variations for the exam. That pretty much makes packet tracer out of the question.

I know this is less than ideal, but my own lab only has 1 3550 and 2 2960's. It found it sufficient for everything but private vlan stuff. I just rote memorized the commands for that. Again, not ideal, but it worked in a pinch.