CCENT (100-101 ICND1) lab

sharpy56

Hi All,
Just wanting to know what sort of devices that you need for the CCENT labbing - will also be looking to go for the second exam to obtain the CCNA (can the same devices be used for both?)
Thanks in advanced!

theodoxa

Packet Tracer is adequate if you've got access to it. GNS3 is OK for routers, but I've had issues with the console ports locking up with more than a handful of Routers running simultaneously. If you go with live equipment, the 640-802 (or 640-822 + 640-816) should be doable with 3 routers, though 4 is preferable (to have multiple Frame Relay PVCs). If you want to play around with STP (Spanning Tree Protocol), you'll need a bare minimum of 2 switches, and preferably 3. Even though I had enough switches, I did most of my STP labbing in Packet Tracer. I used a combination of live equipment, Packet Tracer, and GNS3 for Basic Configuration, Frame Relay, Leased Lines, Routing Protocols, etc...

The rule of thumb is anything that can run 12.4T Advanced IP Services or higher (1760, 2600XM, 3745, etc...) would be fine for routers [for the 640 CCNA). Some labs [such as Frame Relay and Leased Lines] should be doable with pretty much any Cisco IOS-based Router with a Serial or T1 connection (2 or more) on the Frame Relay Switch. Honestly, I'm not quite sure what labs require 12.4T [for CCNA] as I never ran any labs on anything less [as 1760s were cheap enough]. Frame Relay, Leased Lines, Routing Protocols certainly don't. I know there's a topic (Licensing) or two on the 100-101/200-101 (new CCNA) that require IOS 15 (1841, 2801, 2811, 2821, etc...)

For switches, the 2950 would be fine, though if you can afford a couple, the 2960 is great and will serve you on into CCNP. I've fallen in love with Layer 3 switches, but there is nothing in the CCNA that requires one. They are required for CCNP and CCIE, though.

Ltat42a

Some good here, also look at the thread in my Sig below for lots of other Lab info, scroll down to Post #4.

hth