Rack rental for CCNP labs

silalavalsilalaval Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
in CCNP
Hi,

Can anyone recommend a rack rental service for me to do the Cisco Switch Labs and eventually route?
Thanks
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Comments

  • networker050184networker050184 Mod Posts: 11,962 Mod
    For ROUTE I'd just go with GNS3 personally and save yourself the money.
    An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made.
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  • silalavalsilalaval Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
    networker050184 wrote: »
    For ROUTE I'd just go with GNS3 personally and save yourself the money.

    Agreed, GNS works fine for Route. But what about the SWITCH exam?

    I used to have a lab but sold it a couple of years ago and I really dont miss the noise and mess (I get that at work)

    Where do we get rental to practice the SWITCH labs?
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  • thenappyonethenappyone Member Posts: 37 ■■□□□□□□□□
    You can do some of the labs with Packet Tracer, but for the most part I used real equipment
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  • late_collisionlate_collision Member Posts: 146
    I'm pretty sure that just about everyone uses real equipment for the SWITCH labs.

    3550's can be had for under $100, there are a few on ebay for under $75 shipped. Pickup a pair of those and a pair of 2950's and you should have what you need for SWITCH.

    We get your complaint about heat and noise, but I think all will agree there is a certain amount of suffering that must be done if you are serious about getting your CCNP
    RFC 1925: The Twelve Networking Truths
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  • silalavalsilalaval Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
    yep... Guess I will need to clear some space for the lab then... my wife wont like it...icon_cry.gif

    Ahh the stuff you do for the love of IT :)
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  • silalavalsilalaval Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Bought 4 switches off ebay (cheap)

    2x 3560
    2x 3550

    Guess those will do for a while. I also had an ASA5505 which will sit nicely on top :D
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  • martell1000martell1000 Member Posts: 389
    did anyone try to do the SWITCH exam stuff onGNS 1.0 alpha with IOU boxes?

    i still have 4 switches on my desk from my exam preparation, and i wonder if i should get rid of em. i played around a little bit with the alpha and some L2 images but didnt get to do the "fancy" stuff yet..
    And then, I started a blog ...
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  • silalavalsilalaval Member Posts: 33 ■■□□□□□□□□
    IMHO, if you are learning, you cannot afford for the software to fail you...I think switch should be learned either on equipment at home or rack rental.

    GNS3 for switch is not an option for me yet as I don't want to waste time troubleshooting the software and fixing it all the time. Otherwise, packet tracer would do just fine.

    Switches are cheap now.
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  • fredrikjjfredrikjj Member Posts: 879
    silalaval wrote: »
    Hi,

    Can anyone recommend a rack rental service for me to do the Cisco Switch Labs and eventually route?
    Thanks

    I used INE. It's actually a lot more expensive than some of the cheaper options out there, but they allow you to book an arbitrary amount of time (in 30 minute blocks) and I needed short sessions on short notice, rather than the 3-4 hours blocks the others offer. I also didn't need more than $100 worth of time, regardless of who I went with.
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