CCNA/Server setup

I'm needing a little help. I am AD Army and currently set to deploy in May. During my time there I plan to save up quite a bit of money and after I get back I plan to buy a couple of the CCNA or CCNP certification kits (router/switch kits). I also plan to get about 10 cheap but older working laptops as well as getting my hands on a few Operating Systems (Linux, XP-7, Server2k3-12, etc.). During deployment I plan to get my CCNA and MCSA (currently have Sec+). What I plan to do with this setup is create my own "in home/virtual corporation", I guess you could say, and try to create real-world problems within the setup or even invite experienced professionals to create the problems for me to go in and fix. The only problem is knowing that there are several different types of servers and several departments within any business, how would I go about actually completing this setup with just 10 or so computers (plus my own personal computer)? Would I be able to use virtual machines for this or would I need more computers? Thanks in advance.

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Comments

Asif Dasl

Mmm, okay.. Why not get a laptop and use GNS3 to learn Cisco, get a few switches and learn on those. The laptop can be used for windows and linux for general learning and certification if you wanted too. Owning your own "corporate" network will be a fun to do but probably overkill & expensive just starting out. That's just my thoughts on your plan. Do you have an idea what route you want to take? Cisco/Microsoft/VMware?

Zomboidicus

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Mmm, okay.. Why not get a laptop and use GNS3 to learn Cisco, get a few switches and learn on those. The laptop can be used for windows and linux for general learning and certification if you wanted too. Owning your own "corporate" network will be a fun to do but probably overkill & expensive just starting out. That's just my thoughts on your plan. Do you have an idea what route you want to take? Cisco/Microsoft/VMware?

To add what he said, you can either use VMware free version to virtualize all those OSs you listed, or purchase a microserver and put VMware ESXi on it. Then you can virtualize multiple Microsoft servers or Linux systems on it and have it talk with GNS3. That way you can get your feet with networking devices, servers and virtualized servers without having to pay much (or anything at all depending on how you obtain these OSs - do not ask me how to obtain them for free lol.) From there, perhaps you can decide whether you want to specialize in networks or systems.

The challenge of setting up virtualized environments can be as much fun as setting up the real equipment. At least that has been my experience.

jsetzler

That's actually really helpful. I've had basic hands on with both the networking and systems side and therefore with that, as of right now I'm not really leaning towards one more than the other. What microserver would you recommend?

Zomboidicus

It depends on your budget, but perhaps Shuttle microservers are a fit for you. Shuttle SZ77R5 in particular can support maximum of 32GB of RAM, so if you need run a handful of VMs, you can always upgrade it to support the load. You would also have to get a HDD, so maybe purchase a 250GB SSD. It may be missing a CPU too depending on model (I haven't looked at many of them), so it may be around $700 - $800 to completely set it up.

HP proliant microservers are less powerful so it may not fit your needs, but I believe the only thing you would need to purchase are harddrives. This could cost around $400 - $500.

You can also purchase a rackmountable HP proliant servers (DL360 - DL380, G5 - G7) from ebay for about $200 and up depending on the CPU, RAM and HDDs that are included. It won't look pretty sitting on a desk as these are meant to be mounted on a rack, so you may have to consider purchasing a rack. These are also loud as hell, so that is another con.

Also, none of these would have an OS on it.