V5 lab hardware

I haven't seen a thread dedicated to this topic yet; only a few posts here and there in the various v5 threads so I thought I'd make a new thread for this to be discussed.

I have a vested interest in this, as it looks like none of my current switches (2950, 3550) will support vtp v3, so I'm already looking at doing some sort of upgrade. 2960's and 3560's support vtpv3, but only 3560's support igmpv3. At least non-gigabit 3560's are currently going for as low as 55-60 on ebay right now. The lab itself uses 3560X models.

Additionally my routers are all 2600s which are ancient, plus one 2610xm which won't run ios 15. I haven't had quite as much luck finding a router model cheap enough to not make me wince that does. The lab from what I've read uses 2900 series routers.

Has anyone else researched this as well? If so feel free to post your findings and thoughts.

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Comments

gorebrush

It's in a thread on their forum.

networkjutsu

Here's the thread. That workstation is pretty tempting right now. My ESXi host is maxed out at 32GB.

Dieg0M

So new topologies are gonna be 20 routers and 4 switches?

networkjutsu

Dieg0M wrote: »

So new topologies are gonna be 20 routers and 4 switches?

Looks like it. He's limiting it to 20 routers. Now, the hunt for under $1K server begins. Anyone want to buy some routers?

bermovick

This is getting expensive to the point of ridiculousness. As if the price of the exam wasn't enough, you have the hundreds/thousands of dollars spent on books, study guides, workbooks, and another thousand potentially in hardware.

FloOz

Might just have to give in to rack rentals

tldees

Unfortunately it does cost quite a bit. One of the reasons I'm looking at going the server route is because I know I can use the server for other types of training (VMWare, SP, Juniper, F5, etc).

Brian did state in the thread that not all of the labs in the workbook will use all 20 routers, so maybe we could get by with a smaller set of routers for the majority of the tasks and rack rentals for full scale labs. The INE v5 workbook should be out this Friday, so we should get a better understanding of the type of equipment we need.

gorebrush

I'd argue you don't need any of it. You can get IOU if you look hard enough. GNS is free.

Don't get hung up on costs. Focus on technology.

gorebrush

Dieg0M wrote: »

So new topologies are gonna be 20 routers and 4 switches?

The new INE topologies will be that yes, I don't think the *actual* CCIE topologies will be this big, however.

deth1k

Why not just buy this:

https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/market/prod/productView.se.work?/nxt/rcrs/proieidentity/=21458&/nxt/rcrs/aisidentity/=2594#.U193fIFdU1I

This gets you:

100 Hours of IOU (a working one) , no slot reservation problem, you can dive in straight away.
1 Assesment Lab
10 Full 6 hour CFG labs (will be updated with more)
10 Full 2 hour TS labs (also updated soon)

All for $360, can't go wrong especially Real lab will be very close to C360 as it's developed by the same team. Which means same number of devices and same physical topology.

tldees

deth1k wrote: »

Why not just buy this:

https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/market/prod/productView.se.work?/nxt/rcrs/proieidentity/=21458&/nxt/rcrs/aisidentity/=2594#.U193fIFdU1I

This gets you:

100 Hours of IOU (a working one) , no slot reservation problem, you can dive in straight away.
1 Assesment Lab
10 Full 6 hour CFG labs (will be updated with more)
10 Full 2 hour TS labs (also updated soon)

All for $360, can't go wrong especially Real lab will be very close to C360 as it's developed by the same team. Which means same number of devices and same physical topology.

I'd definitely consider it as a supplement for my primary training. I think its a bit steep in the long term if the 1000 hour guideline holds true.

bermovick

gorebrush wrote: »

I'd argue you don't need any of it. You can get IOU if you look hard enough. GNS is free.

Don't get hung up on costs. Focus on technology.

I certainly hope so cause my budget can fit in a coin purse

ande0255

I really hope to see some good reviews for that $360 bundle, I think that'd be worth the money for some lab material straight from the horses mouth

EDIT:

Just added this to my cart, and it is showing the price at $306, not $360 - so might want to jump on that if your considering it before they change that typo

networkjutsu

gorebrush wrote: »

I'd argue you don't need any of it. You can get IOU if you look hard enough. GNS is free.

I am inclined to say that you don't really need a server to mimic exactly what INE uses. Some people use GNS3 and breakout switches to do their labs and worked for them. However, I think some people like the convenience of just dropping the initial config and be done with it. Yes, there are ways to modify the initial configs but I think some people would like to take the easy route. Just my lousy 2 cents.

networkjutsu

That Cisco link is meant for people who had significant lab time with v4.0 and trying to go for v5.0 lab exam. That said, it definitely wont be enough for someone just starting out with the lab preparation. The $360 can be used towards the used server to run 20 CSR1000v. Just my lousy 2 cents.

deth1k

Well still cheaper than INE material and you can always top your 100 hours with more, also unlike INE it's available now so you can start labing v5

Or you could use it as supplement to INE before heading for the exam.

gorebrush

If you buy INE workbooks vol 1 or 2 for $199 before Friday you'll get free upgrade to v5 workbook. There's just one new v5 workbook so $199 seems like a steal.

gorebrush

networkjutsu wrote: »

I am inclined to say that you don't really need a server to mimic exactly what INE uses. Some people use GNS3 and breakout switches to do their labs and worked for them. However, I think some people like the convenience of just dropping the initial config and be done with it. Yes, there are ways to modify the initial configs but I think some people would like to take the easy route. Just my lousy 2 cents.

Oh I agree, people do like convenience but I just think being lazy isn't a trait a CCIE should exhibit.

keenon

deth1k wrote: »

Why not just buy this:

https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/market/prod/productView.se.work?/nxt/rcrs/proieidentity/=21458&/nxt/rcrs/aisidentity/=2594#.U193fIFdU1I

This gets you:

100 Hours of IOU (a working one) , no slot reservation problem, you can dive in straight away.
1 Assesment Lab
10 Full 6 hour CFG labs (will be updated with more)
10 Full 2 hour TS labs (also updated soon)

All for $360, can't go wrong especially Real lab will be very close to C360 as it's developed by the same team. Which means same number of devices and same physical topology.

I actually like the assessment included- which is 99 alone. I wonder if the workbook(s) are online only.

Makes me think if buying additional assessments, if you would end up with the same or different ones

tldees

gorebrush wrote: »

Oh I agree, people do like convenience but I just think being lazy isn't a trait a CCIE should exhibit.

I wouldn't call it lazy. I can see people not wanting to deal with GNS3 little "quirks."

bermovick

tldees wrote: »

I wouldn't call it lazy. I can see people not wanting to deal with GNS3 little "quirks."

Sigh. Tell me about it. My RIP labbing today went nowhere because a L3 port (no switchport) on one of my "switches" (NM-ESW routers) refused to pass traffic. "encapsulation failed". Had to copy config off, delete them & drop new ones in, re-connect them and copy the config back in before it would work. Spent an hour "troubleshooting" why RIP routes weren't being received elsewhere in the network.

gorebrush

Well OK perhaps lazy was the wrong word. But quirks is something CCIE's will have to learn to live with. That much is fact.