ccnp switch lab

john_samson

Hi
Is Boson Netsim enough to pass CCNP Switch exam? I dont have money or space to invest in a home lab nor I am interested in going to some training center or rent some switches. I just want to practice it on some simulators but GNS3 donot suppport much switching . So should I buy Boson Netsim and is it enough for ccnp switch?
Please tell me.
Thank you all

Danielh22185

GNS3 will eventually support switching, take a look at: https://gns3.crowdhoster.com/become-an-early-release-member

I am hoping by signing up I can utilize it for my studies as well.

You can also look into rack rentals, which is generally pretty inexpensive.

john_samson

Can you tell me when GNS3 ver 1 with switching will be available to non-paid members? If I dont contribute any money to the project will I not be able to use full version?
Also, what are the benefits of paying the minimum amount of money for the upgradation cause?

Thanks & Regards

Minary

What's missing from packet tracer that it won't work ?

fredrikjj

I wouldn't count on the new GNS3 supporting features that the current IOU releases don't support. Specifically for SWITCH this would be mainly the security features, the FHRPs, and some QoS.

PS.
Basically, the most cost effective way to study for CCNP Switch and still get complete hands on experience is to use IOU for most things (STP, EtherChannel, VTP, VLAN), GNS3 for the FHRPs, and then supplement with rack rentals for the remaining stuff (security, QoS). Technically, using IOU is probably illegal, depending on where you live, if you don't have a licence for it. I can also see it being possible to just learn the security stuff on paper and still pass if you are really struggling with money. Going this route however means that you will probably get pwned if there's a PVLAN sim on the exam. Another alternative is to use IOU + a single 3560 that you beg/borrow/steal.

Once Cisco Modeling Lab (previously VIRL) is released, I predict that this will change since, presumably, it will support all features that are used in the CCIEv5 lab. I also predict that certain hardware dependent features will be changed from "configure/implement" to "describe" on the next version of CCNP SWITCH to align it with the CCIEv5/Cisco Modeling Lab feature set.