Building a Lab

Since I will be going for CCNA and CCNP I have decided to build a home Cisco lab. I have read up on other posts about what people have bought etc and I have come down to 4 2811's and 4 3560's. Is there anything else anyone would recommend that I buy or change up or just stick with these for the CCNA and CCNP. Note I have not bought anything yet.

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koz24

You don't really need the routers. You can connect your pyhsical switches to GNS3. Get the E or X models of the 3560 so you will be CCIE future-proof.

GDaines

Buy mostly WS-C3560-24TS not PS if you can as they can be upgraded to IOS 15 whereas the PoE 'PS' models cannot.

Of course if you can afford gigabit switches go for them, but then if budget wasn't an issue you wouldn't be asking here what's worth buying.

I have a mix of 2960 & 3560 switches, plus 1841 and 2811 routers. Didn't see the point in buying older models when the prices on eBay are virtually the same. Check what IOS is installed, whether you're getting rack mounts (in case you need them) and/or any expansion cards and cables. Drop on the right sale and you can grab yourself a real bargain but jump in and buy the first ones you find and you'll suddenly realize you've made a mistake and have to pay out for extras.

jah8887

I appreciate everyones input. I will look at all of these ideas and find out the best one to go with. Thanks.

clarson

Yes, you should try to get rack mounts with the equipment as maybe someday you will want to rack them. the amount of memory is important with routers, more is better. you should try to get at least 512d/128cf (you'll need 512d if you ever want to do voice). And, your going to need serial ports, at least 10 for the ccnp. how many wics depends on whether the ones you purchase have 2 port per wic. And, of course, you will need the appropiate cables to go between the ports. While you might never need to eject the compact flash card, it is always nice to have ones that work.

GDaines

clarson wrote: »

While you might never need to eject the compact flash card, it is always nice to have ones that work.

Clarson is referring to the fact that many are sold with broken eject buttons and are often no cheaper, so you may as well look for ones that are not broken.

With regard to the serial ports my setup consists of an 1841 router which was my first router that I set up for Internet access, so I decided to keep it, and four 2811 routers. One of the 2811's has an 8-port NM-8AS serial card, and all the others have at least one WIC-1T card (among other expansions).

Currently I'm not running IOS 15 on anything, but I have IOS 15 images for all my devices (actually to be honest I have to buy the 3560 I recommended you look for as mine are PoE which I bought before I learned you can't upgrade them).

theodoxa

clarson wrote: »

...the amount of memory is important with routers, more is better. you should try to get at least 512d/128cf (you'll need 512d if you ever want to do voice).

Note that DRAM is usually very cheap on eBay (there is a seller in SC who I have bought a lot of memory from). Upgrading the DRAM on a router is really no different than upgrading a PC. If you are comfortable installing your own memory, it is frequently cheaper to just buy the cheapest functioning router and upgrade the memory yourself.

fmitawaps

I have 3 2811 routers and 3 3560 switches for my CCNA home lab. I bought 3 of the 3 foot long crossover ethernet cables in one color, and 3 normal 3 foot long ethernet cables in another color, as well as 2 7 foot long ethernet cables to connect to laptops more easily.

If I were to add anything, maybe I'd get a serial cable and a couple serial add-in cards to put in the routers, but I can probably get by fine without them.

I felt it'd be a waste to buy any switch that couldn't do layer 3, so I chose 3560s. Also, my 6.1 student packet tracer works well, but it is still just a bit different than using real equipment for practice.

ebohlman

For serial cards, consider the WIC1-DSU-T1 V2 (you need the V2 for 1800/2800 models, though they'll work in older stuff like 2600 or 1700 series). You can connect them with T1 back-to-back cables, which are just plain Ethernet cables with pins 1 and 2 swapped with 4 and 5 at one end. The cabling will be cheaper (especially if you can make your own cables) and less bulky than the ones for WIC-1Ts and the like.

Also, though the standard RAM modules for 2800s are DDR2100 ECC, you can use non-ECC (desktop) DDR2100s or DDR3200s, which are dirt cheap (512M DDR3200s go for about $5).

fmitawaps

GDaines wrote: »

Buy mostly WS-C3560-24TS not PS if you can as they can be upgraded to IOS 15 whereas the PoE 'PS' models cannot.

Why can't 3560-24PS switches be upgraded to IOS 15? What's different about 24TS versions?

theodoxa

fmitawaps wrote: »

Why can't 3560-24PS switches be upgraded to IOS 15? What's different about 24TS versions?

The PS models come with 16 MB of Flash memory and the TS models come with 32 MB of Flash memory. IOS 15.0SE is just over 16 MB in size and won't fit on the PS's 16 MB Flash.

No_Nerd

I guess I need to build one of theses to prep for my goals. Maybe If I am lucky I can keep the budget under 2K

clarson

I always recommend for labs that you start small and build as you advance in certifications. For starting with a ccna home lab, you will only need 3 routers and 2 switches along with wics and cables. and rack mounts, pdu, and a rack if you want to start packing and stacking. And, of course, books and studying materials.

I'm not sure what prices in Hawaii are like or how much shipping that far is going to be. But, in the continental US, you can get a pretty good ccna lab for under $300 (that is just for hardware and no rack or pdu).

No_Nerd

Shoots Sounds good to me I will look into putting something together .

fmitawaps

I would say 3 routers and 3 switches to be the minimum for a CCNA home lab. I have several different training video series, and have already seen 3 router / 3 switch labs several times, and I have a long way to go in my videos yet. If you only have 2 switches you won't be able to do some configurations. 3560s aren't expensive on ebay.

No_Nerd

So something like this then ?

Cisco CCNA CCNP Home Lab 8 Star 4XROUTER 4XSWITCH 1841 2960 L3 3560 300 115 | eBay

fmitawaps

I found a good deal on ebay, and paid $260 for mine. I got my routers from one seller and the switches from another. That kit looks kind of expensive, plus it has older models of equipment. I got my 3 routers for $100 and my 3 switches for $160. Then some straight through cables and a few crossovers in a different color. Now I'm going to get 3 of the WIC-2T dual serial modules and a couple serial cables for them, that'll be another $100.

I may add more switches later, but I'm not going to buy any switches that can't do layer 3. I may not NEED it, but I'd like to have it.

Isn't it amazing how we look at a new electronic item and think how amazing and high tech it is, then only 5 years later, that amazing high tech item becomes "oh, that old junk over there".

clarson

Well, yes something like that. But, there is a lot gotyas there too.
1) they don't give a model number of the switches. yes, they do give the generic 2960 and 3560 models. Now they could have just made it generic so they didn't have to change the ad every time the exact switch model changed. Or, Cisco makes several versions of these switches. Some better than others. And, they don't want you to know that you aren't getting a better version. The better versions will run the lanbase version of the ios. Their 2960 switches have a lanlite version of ios installed. for the 3560s, they a 12.2 version of ios listed. Some 3560s can run version 15 of the ios, some can't. guess what kind your getting? and what kind you want to have?
2) you need a frame relay switch/router. What you do need is a router that you can configure to be a frame relay switch. You should be able to do that with any router in your lab. And, the router that you use for the frame relay switch needs enough serial ports. The 2600xm they are using has 4 serial ports. So, you could use an 1841 with dual port wics. An 1841 would run version 15 of the ios and only cost about $10 more. But, dual port wics and cables do cost more. Or, get a 2811 that has 4 wic slots. Just use 4 single port wics just like the other wics in your lab. And, a 2811 is about $20 more than a 2600xm. It will be a bit more for shipping being a 2811 is bigger and heavier. But, worth the extra $20.
3) do you really need a power strip and cable ties shipped from kansas?
4) are you going to rack mount the equipment? they only include rubber feet for stacking.
5) what the shipping cost will be? shipping to honolulu is about 3x what it is to be shipped to LA (at least it is for me)
These are all questions to get answered before making a purchase.

No_Nerd wrote: »

So something like this then ?

Cisco CCNA CCNP Home Lab 8 Star 4XROUTER 4XSWITCH 1841 2960 L3 3560 300 115 | eBay

clarson

Do these labs need 3 switches or 3 networks?

Because a 24 port switch can be divide into three 8 port vlans. That gives you 3 networks on one switch.

fmitawaps wrote: »

I would say 3 routers and 3 switches to be the minimum for a CCNA home lab. I have several different training video series, and have already seen 3 router / 3 switch labs several times, and I have a long way to go in my videos yet. If you only have 2 switches you won't be able to do some configurations. 3560s aren't expensive on ebay.

theodoxa

clarson wrote: »

Do these labs need 3 switches or 3 networks?

3 Switches for certain Spanning-Tree scenarios.