CCIE R&S and Voice – Home Lab Pix

klampkin

Hey guys I wanted to share our CCIE home lab pictures with you all.

I recently passed my CCNP Voice and I am currently studying for my CCIE Voice written exams, with the goal of passing it before Nov. 20^th deadline for IE Voice v.3.

My (Voice) lab includes 3 x 2811, 1 x 3725 (PSTN), 1 x 3750, 1 x 3550, 5 x 7961, and 1 x 7960 . My lab server is a Dell PE 1950 Server w/ 16 GB Ram running VMware ESXi 5.

These pictures also include my husband’s lab. He is studying for his CCIE R&S.

His (R&S) lab includes 2 x 3750, 2 x 3550, and a “Frankenstein” Ubuntu Server w/ 32 GB Ram to simulate routers using dynamips/dynagen. He says that GNS3 is for newbs.

An access server and a USB KVM are utilized to provide console access to the Cisco EQ and the servers. The switch at the very bottom provides connectivity into either lab topology.

We are using the INE training and lab topology.

By the way, that CCNA Data Center Study Guide, I won that at a raffle drawing at the Dallas-Fort Worth Cisco User Group. Todd Lammle was at the last meeting, and he gave away several books: his new CCENT, CCNA, and the Data Center one that I have pictured here. Yes, I really drove up from San Antonio to meet Todd. It’s the least I could do, after his book helped me pass CCNA!

Zartanasaurus

Really nice setup there. The benefit of the husband-wife IT lab combo is now you get to fight over who gets rack time instead of fighting about the other person ignoring you to go study.

And tell your husband that Ubuntu is for n00bs.

powmia

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

And tell your husband that Ubuntu is for n00bs.

Them is fightin words!

instant000

One thing I learned during the lab build process is that the Voice track is not for cheapskates!

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

The benefit of the husband-wife IT lab combo is now you get to fight over who gets rack time instead of fighting about the other person ignoring you to go study.

I made sure that we didn't have to share most equipment or power. We do share the access server and a switch for accessing the lab network, so those are the two pieces that are always on. Everything else is powered and networked separately.

And tell your husband that Ubuntu is for n00bs.

powmia wrote: »

Them is fightin words!

Not going to fight over it. Zartanasaurus is right. People use GNS3 because it's an easy way to get their emulation going. I chose Ubuntu because it was an easy way to get Linux running. I seriously have my stuff set up in an "easy" way.

I want my labbing to be easy. The easier it is to get in and out, the better. Everything about how I set up Ubuntu was about being easy.

I use a thumb drive based install, so I stick in the thumb drive, boot from USB, and Ubuntu is installed. I then copy over necessary files like startup script, ios, topology file, etc. Then, it's just a matter of a few sudo apt-gets and modifying crontab. I have a readme file, so I don't even have to think when I ever have to do a clean reinstall. I just follow the directions, and I'm set up and running within an hour. Updates take most of the time. I would go for full automation of it, but I'm studying Cisco right now, not Linux, so five minutes of effort for a reinstall I might do once a year is good enough for me right now.

I use the Ubuntu machine as a remote dynamips server. I have scripts that run to autostart my topology. I basically flip a power switch and all the switches boot up, and the server boots up and starts the processes. I lab from a Windows-based machine, and I use a batch file to launch some putty shortcuts to get into the lab EQ. (She uses SecureCRT.)

The next phase of development would be setting up a remote power switch so I could turn the lab up or down from the other side of the world. Then, I'd just launch a VPN, and be able to lab from anywhere I might be. As it is now, I have to coordinate power up/power down or just leave it running all the time. So I guess I'm looking for an affordable IP-based power switch, for those times when you just need to reboot the server:
The Website Is Down.

^^ Classic video.

Oh well, back to Volume I.

Flyingput

I have a collage who is a dual CCIE and his wife is CCIE too. I can't imagine their dinner topics, haha

nerdydad

Nice setup, I love network gear pron threads.

Here's a picture of part of mine.

snadam

I had a chuckle, as we have the same wire shelf for our gear! Albeit mine is not nearly as impressive.

gorebrush

I could do with posting a pic of mine, especially as I'm going to finish building my new 4U ESX Server too....

instant000

snadam wrote: »

I had a chuckle, as we have the same wire shelf for our gear! Albeit mine is not nearly as impressive.

I've used this wire-shelving for multiple things:
Desk area, Book Shelf, and Lab Rack. I thought it was a little pricey when I first got it a few years back, but the versatility has more than paid for itself. I have a printer sitting on some in another room.

I'm a bit on the frugal side. I first see if I can reuse what I already have, before going out to make a purchase, LOL. I was only convinced to get a dining room table after my wife reminded me that I could also use it as a study location.

Of course, I am not as cheap as these people:
Extreme Cheapskates: TLC

Hehehe.