Home lab worth it?

gbdavidx

Taking this cert more serious every day, i have been studying ccent the past couple of months and I want to sit for it in june and ccna in sept

Do you guy's find it helpful to have a home lab?

Money isn't a huge issue as I do plan on going for ccnp after a i find a job more geared towards networking

NetworkVeteran

I've never felt a need to buy SOHO routers from the stone age, with such great simulation / rental options out there.

To each their own. Do whatever will best inspire you to pass your exams.

Corza

You can do CCNA using packet tracer. After that you need real switches. If money is not an issue, buy a lab, hands on is always the best way to learn.

SharkDiver

I spent a few hundred on my own equipment for the CCNA and CCNP. I think there are many valuable experiences that come with having your own equipment. Things happen that you have to work through that you don't always get from a simulator.

Things like:
You get a switch and don't know the password, so you have to go through the password recovery procedure.
You hook two pieces of equipment together and can't get them to come up, because someone sent you a bad cable.
You need to upgrade the IOS.
You accidentally erase the existing IOS and need to figure out how to load the IOS using ROMMON.

If you work on these pieces of equipment at work, then you've probably done these things. If not, you may want to invest in some equipment to get real hands-on experience.

Also, it can impress an interviewer when they ask if you've ever worked on Call Manager Express, and you tell them you have three phones running on one in your dining room.

Cisco Inferno

I just built up my home lab and its definitely something that makes you want to learn more.
When I mention I have a full CCNA lab at home, people are super impressed. It definitely counts for hands on experience.

All in all, I payed about $200 tops for my gear.

ramrunner800

I've been using Boson Netsim, and found it to be completely sufficient for the purposes of learning what's necessary to do well on the exams. That said, I'm sure that the actual experience of choosing and buying routers, and physically working with the hardware, would be worth something.

PCHoldmann

If cost is no object, obviously set up a home lab. Since it is more likely that cost is a manageable object, I would say get a few routers and at least a couple switches. I tend to do most of my work on GNS3, but it's great to have some hardware to work with, and GNS3 is not strong on switching.

pamccabe

I have a catalyst switch at home and wish I had more equipment. Sure, you can do most things with GNS3 or Packet Tracer. However, it is a lot of fun to do all the labbing at home on real equipment. If you break something, you need to fix it to get things running. That is always fun. Besides, nothing beats experience of real equipment.

Santa_

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

All in all, I payed about $200 tops for my gear.

What are you running as a home lab?

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Agreed that a home lab can be more sufficient in learning and retaining the material. At least it is for me.

Cisco Inferno

I payed $177.50 shipped for a group of 3 2620xm routers each with WIC-T1DSU-V2s and max memory.
I payed $45.11 shipped for a group of 3 2950c switches.
I also payed $4.99 for a PCI to dual Serial port card for my desktop at home.
Console cables and ethernet cables were free from work. All these were purchased on eBay.

so yea..... $227.60 total.

veritas_libertas

I think it's worth it for the CCNA level in order to get the experience with the physical equipment. After the CCNA I'm planning to stick with GNS3 and some L-3 switches. I've already started selling off my old equipment as I migrate over.

dpjackal89

You dont need a home lab. I passed the CCNA by using packet tracer and even then I barely did any labbing. The labs on the CCNA aren't that serious. They are extremely easy.

goldenlight

its really up to you. I have only taking the CCent. Packet Tracer is really all you need to past the exam. NOt sure what the license disclousure is , but I have seen this program available on several networking sites for free.

REal equipment has more commands. If you are familiar with the command line in Packet tracer, you will be fine navigating your way through it.


I would save up your money for the ccnp lab equipment.

M-Ant78

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

I payed $177.50 shipped for a group of 3 2620xm routers each with WIC-T1DSU-V2s and max memory.
I payed $45.11 shipped for a group of 3 2950c switches.
I also payed $4.99 for a PCI to dual Serial port card for my desktop at home.
Console cables and ethernet cables were free from work. All these were purchased on eBay.

so yea..... $227.60 total.

I am new to Cisco, began studying about 3 weeks ago. Getting into the IOS as of now & need a switch to use. Would just one a Catalyst C3550 be good enough for me now to familiarize myself w/IOS as I learn the ins & outs?

veritas_libertas

You can't simulate Spanning-Tree or VTP without having multiple switches. I would actually recommend three 2950s and they are cheap to pickup.

M-Ant78

veritas_libertas wrote: »

You can't simulate Spanning-Tree or VTP without having multiple switches. I would actually recommend three 2950s and they are cheap to pickup.

As opposed to the one C3550? I just want to pay for something that will be useful down the road as well when my knowledge of this increases.

asoft

Having a home lab is expensive. As one member had pointed out, you come across bad cables, lost passwords, corrupted IOS, etc. For candiates, who works with time and money limitations, a home lab is not recommended. Further, for CCNP preparation, a little more advanced routers and switches will be required. The gear that you had purchased for CCNA may not suffice. The advantage of having a home lab is real world expereince, whereas the disadvantage is that you may wrap up things and may not use the equipment because somethings doesn't seem to work at all.

If you are buying hardware/software, buy from a reliable vendor.

veritas_libertas

@M-Ant78: You can try, but I don't see the point. How are you going to learn without labbing? Honestly, you can only simulate so much with two switches, I cannot imagine using only one. This is my opinion/experience only of course.

Cisco Inferno

M-Ant78 wrote: »

As opposed to the one C3550? I just want to pay for something that will be useful down the road as well when my knowledge of this increases.

I recommend 3 switches as others have mentioned.
the 3550 is a Layer 3 switch which can be used in CCNP studies as well. It will be fine with CCNA i beleive.
So in the meantime, get 2 more 2950 switches. Make sure they are 2950C, 2950T or 2950G and not the plain version (forget why). Get whichever is cheapest. (they are the same but have some slightly different additional connections)

M-Ant78

Thank you for all of the suggestions, and replies in reply to my ?'s, it is valued.

veritas_libertas

To explain my reasoning a little deeper, you cannot simulate the manipulation of Spanning-Tree with only two switches. For instance, imagine that you want to show which port on third switch in a triangle topology will go into Blocking vs. Designated. Also, imagine you want a VTP topology with the switch in the middle being transparent. You cannot do either of those with only two switches.

elderkai

Gear is pretty cheap on ebay. A 3640 can be had for like 50-70 bucks with a 3745 being about 100. A 2950 can be had for under 30 and 3550's vary, I haven't looked for awhile. You can also get the 1242 APs for about 40 bucks. If you want more of a bulk lab, though, you'll probably go with a cheaper router/set of routers.

shodown

Here is my thoughts on home labs.

I started buying mine in 2007, since then my salary has went up insanely high. On top if that I use it for consulting which it has more than paid for its self 10 time over.

So BUY a LAB. Start with GNS3, and get the basics going, but eventually get a lab. If you pimp your lab it will pay for itself in no time if you know how to use it.