CCNP Switch lab options

Hello everyone,

I am about to start studying for CCNP Switch and I want to know what my options are as far as labbing goes.
I really want to avoid buying switches so if gns3 or VIRL is an option id like to go for that, or perhaps theres a decent ad cheap rack rental service that would be a good choice?

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Comments

koz24

VIRL should be able to do *most* of the SWITCH labs. What it can't do is L3 Etherchannels, Private VLANs, or SPAN/RSPAN. GNS3 with the latest IOU images should be able to do 99% of the labs.

There are free switch labs out there but as you can imagine it is a pain in the neck to schedule a time slot for them.

Silverymoon

Virl only supports PVST.

nickelito

koz24 wrote: »

GNS3 with the latest IOU images should be able to do 99% of the labs.

Okay, this sounds interesting to me. Are there any good guides on setting this up?
Is it fairly stable aswell?

Simrid

I believe it's pretty stable. There's plenty of guides on youtube and Google.

I believe this can be set up by using a VM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6BjEIin2Jw

koz24

Yes it is very stable and uses far fewer resources than VIRL or Dynamips. I actually use unetlab over GNS3 these days but they both use IOU. For CCNP, you can give your virtual machine 4-8 gigs of RAM and you are good to go. For CCIE, I gave my vm 16 gigs and it runs IPX's full topology like a champ. The best part imo are the pictures with active links. Unified Networking Lab

Danielh22185

IOU in GNS is the best! Granted it does have some limitations but those are far and few between. I wish I would have found it before I spent $2-300 on some equipment.

koz24

Yeah, IOU is way better than Dynamips imo. Loads/reloads much faster, uses less resources, and you don't have to deal with setting Idle CPU, etc. In fact the CCIE lab is based on IOU so anything you can't do in IOU won't be on the test anyway.

The latest IOU images definitely do L3 Etherchannels now and looks like they take SPAN/RSPAN and Private VLAN commands, though I haven't tested if they work or not.

Danielh22185

koz24 wrote: »

Yeah, IOU is way better than Dynamips imo. Loads/reloads much faster, uses less resources, and you don't have to deal with setting Idle CPU, etc. In fact the CCIE lab is based on IOU so anything you can't do in IOU won't be on the test anyway.

The latest IOU images definitely do L3 Etherchannels now and looks like they take SPAN/RSPAN and Private VLAN commands, though I haven't tested if they work or not.

Nice I will have to see where I can find a better copy.

nickelito

Thanks alot guys, ill look into setting this up

Another question, how resource heavy is IOU? I have a fairly weak laptop which i could run like 8-10 routers in gns3 before the system became too slow. Will this machine be sufficient for whatever topology ccnp switch will demand?

Danielh22185

nickelito wrote: »

Thanks alot guys, ill look into setting this up
Another question, how resource heavy is IOU? I have a fairly weak laptop which i could run like 8-10 routers in gns3 before the system became too slow. Will this machine be sufficient for whatever topology ccnp switch will demand?

If you can run upwards of 8-10 routers previously you should be fine. The lab complexity will be mostly testing things with 2-6 switches at most times, give or take...