CCNP Lab Rental

Hi guys ...

I've been lurking for a while, and I just wanted to get some feedback on something. I have a pretty extensive lab I've been building and adding to for the past three years. I recently moved to a new townhouse and I now have FIOS service, being that I moved from downtown DC to the VA suburb of Reston. 15 Down, 2 Up.

Anyway ... I have a static IP, with a pretty good Netscreen sitting out front as my firewall and H/W VPN endpoint. I have been thinking of renting lab time out to people who don't have the resources (or patience) to put together a similarly sized lab. I would like some feedback - for starters, is there anything more that I might need in terms of equipement to interest people. And secondly, and probably more important, is renting lab time really viable, where to advertise (other than ebay), etc. I don't expect to make a great deal of money on it, but it would be nice to pick up a couple hundred dollars a month or so ... my FIOS service is right around $100 - it would be nice to rent enough lab time to offset the cost of that ... anything extra is gravy.

Anyway ... here is a rough approximation of what I have:

A mishmash of about 15 2500 series routers
A pair of 3640's with FE modules - these support IOS 12.4
Five Catalyst Switches (3512, 3548, a pair of 2924's, and an old 2901 set based switch)
An old 4000M with 6 serial connections (Frame Switch)
A 2509 Term server (Probably would need to get a 2516 for more async connnections
PIX 515

Is there anything else that I would need? Personally, I work more on the Security and Voice side of the network, I am actually the Security Engineer/SOX Compliance "dude" for my company. I'm studying for my CCSP right now, and I plan to upgrade the 3640's to support whatever I need for the CCVP. I don't have, and am not really interested in getting the CCNP, although that may change when I complete the SP and VP.

Anyway ... feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

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Comments

mikej412

CreoleLakerFan wrote:

And secondly, and probably more important, is renting lab time really viable

While Cisco may look the other way when people buy used equipment off eBay and use the IOS without a valid license in their home lab -- once you start a business, even just to recoup the cost of your FIOS connection -- then you are competing with Cisco Partners that have invested HUGH amounts of money in their rack rental business. Once you're on the radar, some of those guys will eventually complain to Cisco -- probably even if you gave away free access.

silentc1015

How do you have FIOS in Reston??? I live in Sterling and all we have is 1mb DSL! Argh!!!!!!

GT-Rob

Ya I would keep it on the downlow if you can, maybe even keep it local.

As for viable, there are companies out there not charging very much for very big pods. Yes sometimes you may not get the exact time you want, but you can generally got a day on a large mix of 2800s and 3560s from some places, for about $30. Not to mention there are already some free ones out there (obviously long wait times). So take that into consideration when deciding how much to charge.

virusc

my FIOS internet 30mb package in Vienna, VA is $45

I would not keep all of your lab on. It must be close to 1000 watts or so which is around $40-50 a month to power I believe.

Has anyone ever heard of cisco going after someone about this? It would be clear that it was for learning only and most of the equipment is to old to be of any use for a company.

CreoleLakerFan

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'm looking forward to participating in these forums more and more over the coming months as I get myself in gear for my CCSP/VP.