3550 switches

liven

Will any 3550 series switch be enough for the CCNP? Do all models of the 3550 switches support L3 routing?

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ITdude

You should be fine for CCNP but you will want to get one with an EMI aka IP Services image on it for full functionality.

kryolla

I personally wouldn't get a 3550 without EMI image or have access to get it

kriscamaro68

Just bought one of those for here at work with EMI and just so you know it doesnt support auto sensing on the ports. the 3560's do. Just something I found out after trying to enable it on there with no luck.

bighornsheep

kriscamaro68 wrote:

Just bought one of those for here at work with EMI and just so you know it doesnt support auto sensing on the ports.

Speed/duplex auto-sensing? 3550 SMI or EMI most CERTAINLY DOES support it. I've configured more than 40 of those.

ITdude

bighornsheep wrote:

Speed/duplex auto-sensing? 3550 SMI or EMI most CERTAINLY DOES support it. I've configured more than 40 of those.

I was just about to comment but you got there first.

mgeorge

3550 will cover 98% of all ccnp topics. But you must know the difference between the 3550 and later models which include the 3560 and 3750.

Also 3550's will NOT do private vlans. The commands are there but the feature was never implemented into the image. For this you will have to have some experince on 3560's and understand private vlan configurations and concepts.

kriscamaro68

bighornsheep wrote:

kriscamaro68 wrote:

Just bought one of those for here at work with EMI and just so you know it doesnt support auto sensing on the ports.

Speed/duplex auto-sensing? 3550 SMI or EMI most CERTAINLY DOES support it. I've configured more than 40 of those.

I tried running the auto mdix and it didnt even recognize the command. tried ? and didnt even show up under any of the commands. Do you know of any other way to setup the switch to recognize the cabling type. Such as using a straight through cable between switches? I know your suppose to use cross-over between two switches but thats what I meant by auto sensing.

cisco_trooper

kriscamaro68 wrote:

bighornsheep wrote:

kriscamaro68 wrote:

Just bought one of those for here at work with EMI and just so you know it doesnt support auto sensing on the ports.

Speed/duplex auto-sensing? 3550 SMI or EMI most CERTAINLY DOES support it. I've configured more than 40 of those.

I tried running the auto mdix and it didnt even recognize the command. tried ? and didnt even show up under any of the commands. Do you know of any other way to setup the switch to recognize the cabling type. Such as using a straight through cable between switches? I know your suppose to use cross-over between two switches but thats what I meant by auto sensing.

I'm not sitting in front of one of these at the moment but I don't think it is a command. I think the device just does it automatically.....

bighornsheep

kriscamaro68 wrote:

I tried running the auto mdix and it didnt even recognize the command. tried ? and didnt even show up under any of the commands. Do you know of any other way to setup the switch to recognize the cabling type. Such as using a straight through cable between switches? I know your suppose to use cross-over between two switches but thats what I meant by auto sensing.

Oh, auto-mdix, that's a different story. No, I think you're right about that on 3550. You need the newer generation 2960/3560/3750 for that. Even on the 10/100 6500 blades, I don't see the auto-mdix feature, only on the newer 6148 or 6548.

Cisco auto-mdix

cisco_trooper wrote:

I'm not sitting in front of one of these at the moment but I don't think it is a command. I think the device just does it automatically.....

No, this is not the case. You need to use a cross over cable or configure auto mdix on the switchport. I've heard from others that Cisco never implemented the auto-mdix ability until recently because people often reported problems with other vendors that had this ability. I guess it's only of those arguments that just depends on your preference. Personally, I think a cross-over cable should be used for switch-to-switch, the option is just a nice to have.

cisco_trooper

bighornsheep wrote:

kriscamaro68 wrote:

I tried running the auto mdix and it didnt even recognize the command. tried ? and didnt even show up under any of the commands. Do you know of any other way to setup the switch to recognize the cabling type. Such as using a straight through cable between switches? I know your suppose to use cross-over between two switches but thats what I meant by auto sensing.

Oh, auto-mdix, that's a different story. No, I think you're right about that on 3550. You need the newer generation 2960/3560/3750 for that. Even on the 10/100 6500 blades, I don't see the auto-mdix feature, only on the newer 6148 or 6548.

Cisco auto-mdix

cisco_trooper wrote:

I'm not sitting in front of one of these at the moment but I don't think it is a command. I think the device just does it automatically.....

No, this is not the case. You need to use a cross over cable or configure auto mdix on the switchport. I've heard from others that Cisco never implemented the auto-mdix ability until recently because people often reported problems with other vendors that had this ability. I guess it's only of those arguments that just depends on your preference. Personally, I think a cross-over cable should be used for switch-to-switch, the option is just a nice to have.

Good to know. I've always used a cross-over cable so I probably wouldn't have discovered this on my own....

liven

Ok what I am trying to do is get a switch setup I need for the CCNP track. I am not worried about the routers I got that part covered.

So would one 3560 and several 2950's be enough? Or should I get one 3560 and a couple of 3550's?

I really appreciate everyone's feed back!

Netwurk

If cost is not a factor, get the 3560. They usually sell for at least $1500.00 used.

A 3550 SMI goes for $500 and up. You can put an enhanced image on an SMI model and it will work fine.

Like others have said, the few features not supported by the 3550 can be read up on.

liven

Right on, I am just wondering how many do I need?

If a 3550 will be sufficient then I will get one. But I thought it was necessary to have 3 switches to properly study for the CCNP tests.

If this is true, what type of setup would be sufficient. Do all three need to be 3550 or greater?

Thanks

singh8281

if you're going to cover labs in BSMSN lab manual then all you need is 2 layer 3 3550 or 3560 and 2 layer 2 2950 or 2960 switches.

Netwurk

I have one 3550, two 2950's, two 2924's and a 2926.

There's not many labs that I can't do. A second 3550 would be nice, but probably is not necessary.

The 2924's are limited, but still useful if you can't afford all 2950's for your access switches.

The 2926 is an old CatOS beast, which is no longer of much help since the new exam dropped CatOS commands.

liven

okay well I have a 2950 and I think a 2924 or something similiar to the 2950... So I will get two 3550. Only because I can get those and another decent server for the price of one 3560.

What do you think?

liven

Netwurk wrote:

If cost is not a factor, get the 3560. They usually sell for at least $1500.00 used.

A 3550 SMI goes for $500 and up. You can put an enhanced image on an SMI model and it will work fine.

Like others have said, the few features not supported by the 3550 can be read up on.

I take it that I need the EMI image?

ITdude

EMI has support for routing protocols OSPF, EIGRP, ISIS & BGP - whereas the SMI only supports RIP & Static routes. The EMI image also supports Multicast routing, the SMI only support IGMP snooping so requires an external router to forward multicast.

So, if at all possible try to have one with an EMI(IP Services) image.

liven

THANKS GUYS!!!

So what would be the minimum image I would need to be able to get full Level3 routing (beyound RIP etc....).

Netwurk

Have you looked at the Cisco site? You don't need a CCO to get switch images. Just sign up for a guest level account.

I use the 12.2(40)SE image, which gives me full L3 switching. Filename is c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-40.SE.bin

There may be a newer one, I haven't checked lately.

gorebrush

I am considering spending heavily on a lab, bearing in mind my future choice of CCIE.

Was going to get some 3560's if I can find them cheap enough, I assume I can use these in a VoIP setup too?

Overall i'm trying to go for something as a long term solution to all Cisco certs...

liven

gorebrush wrote:

I am considering spending heavily on a lab, bearing in mind my future choice of CCIE.

Was going to get some 3560's if I can find them cheap enough, I assume I can use these in a VoIP setup too?

Overall i'm trying to go for something as a long term solution to all Cisco certs...

Good idea. I am trying to think the same way as you, however I am not sure were my career will take me. So I am just trying to get by for now!

gorebrush

Well I've pretty much steered my career into Microsoft based roles at the moment, but I want to steer it into Networking now.

At the moment I have a perfect opportunity as I administer a Cisco Network and VoIP system... see where I'm going ?

It's my first Cisco network, so using this knowledge, and my own lab/certs, I can go forth from there

Netwurk

gorebrush wrote:

At the moment I have a perfect opportunity as I administer a Cisco Network and VoIP system... see where I'm going ?

They have Cisco networks in the UK????

I thought you Brits were still all using sneakernet!

Just kidding. Good luck!