ccna lab please help

I want to get my ccna by Aug. I read Todd Lammle ccna book. But I don't have hands on experience. Are the labs for ciscokits.com all i would need to pass the ccna or is there someone better to buy from?. I want a lab that of course have labs to configure with the equipment that i have. I want to get my ccnp after my ccnp. Or i might go for ccna voice. But for now i NEED to get my ccna asap.

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phantasm

Please read this forums FAQ. We have this question on a weekly basis:

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/6434-ccna-faq-please-read-before-posting.html

jeff113

Ok I went through the faq. I would have to say that they are really outdated most from 4-5 YEARS ago. So again i'm back to my questions as stated above. Thanks to anyone for there help.

notgoing2fail

For CCNA there really aren't that many complex labs. The most complex I can think of is settuping ROAS. Router on a stick.

Two 2950 switches would do and a router with 10/100 interface card so you can do inter-vlan routing.

It would be nice to have a couple routers so you can see how EIGRP,OSPF, RIP update each other. And for STP, the two 2950 should be ok.

bermovick

notgoing2fail wrote: »

For CCNA there really aren't that many complex labs. The most complex I can think of is settuping ROAS. Router on a stick.

Two 2950 switches would do and a router with 10/100 interface card so you can do inter-vlan routing.

It would be nice to have a couple routers so you can see how EIGRP,OSPF, RIP update each other. And for STP, the two 2950 should be ok.

haha; good ol' NG2F answered a question I hadn't gotten around to asking here. I'll second what he said, as the lab I assembled when I started my CCENT was 2x 2950 switches and 2x 2610 routers. Probably cost me about $130 total off eBay. The only thing extra I think I'll need for ICND2 is modules with additional 10/100 interfaces for the routers. A 3rd router may also help for frame-relay I've heard.

notgoing2fail

bermovick wrote: »

haha; good ol' NG2F answered a question I hadn't gotten around to asking here. I'll second what he said, as the lab I assembled when I started my CCENT was 2x 2950 switches and 2x 2610 routers. Probably cost me about $130 total off eBay. The only thing extra I think I'll need for ICND2 is modules with additional 10/100 interfaces for the routers. A 3rd router may also help for frame-relay I've heard.

Oh yes FR, I've forgotten about that. That's most definitely something he'd have to know for the CCNA. They will get you on FR, especially on the DTE/DCE clocking side of things....."show controllers" etc etc....

I've been meaning to do a FR lab since I haven't done one in awhile....unlike ISDN, FR just doesn't seem to want to go away!!

phantasm

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Oh yes FR, I've forgotten about that. That's most definitely something he'd have to know for the CCNA. They will get you on FR, especially on the DTE/DCE clocking side of things....."show controllers" etc etc....

I've been meaning to do a FR lab since I haven't done one in awhile....unlike ISDN, FR just doesn't seem to want to go away!!

We still have some X.25 at my job!! lol.

notgoing2fail

phantasm wrote: »

We still have some X.25 at my job!! lol.

Wow! Quick! Go to monster.com and look for that ONE company asking for X.25 and tell them your come at a high price!

notgoing2fail

Oh yeah, don't buy ANY 2900XL switch models. Do not be fooled, these things cost more to ship than what they are worth.

Now, if you really really want some, and you just can't sleep at night because you really want a 2912XL or 2924XL, I coincidentally have two you can take off my hands...

alan2308

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Oh yeah, don't buy ANY 2900XL switch models. Do not be fooled, these things cost more to ship than what they are worth.

Now, if you really really want some, and you just can't sleep at night because you really want a 2912XL or 2924XL, I coincidentally have two you can take off my hands...

And depending on your needs, I have a couple more I don't mind parting with. Now who was it that was saying a little while ago that they were going to take them all? Mine are unfortunately still here.

And OP, dont forget to check Wendell Odom's blog and his certskills web site. He covers what you need for CCNA and CCNP labs in very great detail.

stuh84

phantasm wrote: »

We still have some X.25 at my job!! lol.

Same here, half of what we do is based upon X25. Blame banks unwillingness to adopt a new technology (because as we know, IP is just so modern and hasn't been around for more than 20 years already obviously) as to why there is still a high proliferation of X25 out there.

Kaminsky

notgoing2fail wrote: »

Oh yeah, don't buy ANY 2900XL switch models. Do not be fooled, these things cost more to ship than what they are worth.

... or 3500XLs. Switches I would aim for 2950T if you can and 3550 SMI or higher if you have the resources. 2950 (without the "T") may be OK for CCNA but not higher.
Routers are many and varied (so there is no right answer) though you should commonly look at the cheap desk mounted 1721 or the 26**XM (the non XM may be ok for CCNA but not higher). There is also the 3640 router which is a nice chassis but comes with no way of networking it unless you add cards to it so you have to factor that into the cost.

However, a lot of folks think it is the box that is important. It isn't. It is the IOS image you can run on that box and the connections you can make to it from your home lab. Currently the exam level of IOS you will be facing for routers is 12.4T so you need to be looking at a box as close to that as possible. If there is a router with lower too much than that level of IOS, you are going to be looking at upgrading it by getting your hands on a higher level image. (a lot easier said than done) However, even if you get an OK image file, you need to look into if your router has the flash memory space and DRAM main memory to hold it and load it. Again, you might think you are getting a good deal of ebay or craigslist but if you have to fork out a lot of money to get it to the required level, it may turn out not to be such a bargain.

Switches are on a lower level of IOS than routers generally and not so easy to upgrade typically because they are wired in. I am not sure of the exact IOS image level requirement for switches for CCNA and higher but it needs to be able to handle a lot of STP features, VLANs, 802.1Q trunking and Etherchannel and the different security methods around securing individual ports on the switch.

Don't worry so much about layer 2 or layer 3 switches for your CCNA. A switch is a layer 2 device but they can be layer 3 to allow them to act as a router as well. You will be looking at whether you need one of these after the CCNA.

You also have to consider interface cards, especialy serial interface cards such as WIC-1T and WIC-2T with a back to back serial cable. These allow you to set up pretend WAN circuits between 2 routers and you will also need at least 2 or 4 of these to get frame relay working which is still a subject on the CCNA. This is where you will hear such things as "a Frame Relay Router" which is basically a router in between two or more other routers that is pretending to be the ISP fluffy WAN cloud in the middle. There are AIM modules you can get with multiple serial ports that you can put into a capable router that allow you to configure it to act as if it is routing traffic across the carrier's network between geographically seperate sites.

You will also need straight-through, cross-over, X.21 serial and a console cables to wire up your lab but you should try to keep these as short as possible or your lab ends up looking like a nightmare.

Well, that's enough to be getting on with. Home labbing is interesting and very good at giving you real world, hands on experience and gives you confidence to do it in the real world but it can get addictive.

Time for someone to post about the benefits of using simulator software instead of real lab equipment

notgoing2fail

Kaminsky wrote: »

... or 3500XLs. Switches I would aim for 2950T if you can and 3550 SMI or higher if you have the resources. 2950 (without the "T") may be OK for CCNA but not higher.
Routers are many and varied (so there is no right answer) though you should commonly look at the cheap desk mounted 1721 or the 26**XM (the non XM may be ok for CCNA but not higher). There is also the 3640 router which is a nice chassis but comes with no way of networking it unless you add cards to it so you have to factor that into the cost.

However, a lot of folks think it is the box that is important. It isn't. It is the IOS image you can run on that box and the connections you can make to it from your home lab. Currently the exam level of IOS you will be facing for routers is 12.4T so you need to be looking at a box as close to that as possible. If there is a router with lower too much than that level of IOS, you are going to be looking at upgrading it by getting your hands on a higher level image. (a lot easier said than done) However, even if you get an OK image file, you need to look into if your router has the flash memory space and DRAM main memory to hold it and load it. Again, you might think you are getting a good deal of ebay or craigslist but if you have to fork out a lot of money to get it to the required level, it may turn out not to be such a bargain.

Switches are on a lower level of IOS than routers generally and not so easy to upgrade typically because they are wired in. I am not sure of the exact IOS image level requirement for switches for CCNA and higher but it needs to be able to handle a lot of STP features, VLANs, 802.1Q trunking and Etherchannel and the different security methods around securing individual ports on the switch.

Don't worry so much about layer 2 or layer 3 switches for your CCNA. A switch is a layer 2 device but they can be layer 3 to allow them to act as a router as well. You will be looking at whether you need one of these after the CCNA.

You also have to consider interface cards, especialy serial interface cards such as WIC-1T and WIC-2T with a back to back serial cable. These allow you to set up pretend WAN circuits between 2 routers and you will also need at least 2 or 4 of these to get frame relay working which is still a subject on the CCNA. This is where you will hear such things as "a Frame Relay Router" which is basically a router in between two or more other routers that is pretending to be the ISP fluffy WAN cloud in the middle. There are AIM modules you can get with multiple serial ports that you can put into a capable router that allow you to configure it to act as if it is routing traffic across the carrier's network between geographically seperate sites.

You will also need straight-through, cross-over, X.21 serial and a console cables to wire up your lab but you should try to keep these as short as possible or your lab ends up looking like a nightmare.

Well, that's enough to be getting on with. Home labbing is interesting and very good at giving you real world, hands on experience and gives you confidence to do it in the real world but it can get addictive.

Time for someone to post about the benefits of using simulator software instead of real lab equipment

This is extremely well said and if you haven't read it yet you should take the time to read it.

He basically posted about what the average new CCNA runs into time and time again. Posts like these should be stickied in some way or allowed for a "canned" response. LOL....

tiersten

Kaminsky wrote: »

Currently the exam level of IOS you will be facing for routers is 12.4T so you need to be looking at a box as close to that as possible.

12.4T? I thought it was 12.4? CCIE wants 12.4T.

Kaminsky wrote: »

Switches are on a lower level of IOS than routers generally

IOS for a router and IOS for a switch are different branches. You can't compare version numbers.

Kaminsky wrote: »

not so easy to upgrade typically because they are wired in

Huh?

Kaminsky wrote: »

There are AIM modules you can get with multiple serial ports that you can put into a capable router that allow you to configure it to act as if it is routing traffic across the carrier's network between geographically seperate sites.

NM not AIM. AIMs are fitted inside the router and do things like VPN acceleration or allow you to run CUE.

Kaminsky wrote: »

You will also need straight-through, cross-over, X.21 serial and a console cables to wire up your lab but you should try to keep these as short as possible or your lab ends up looking like a nightmare.

You don't want a X.21 cable as that will mean you end up with a DB15 on one end. You want sync serial cables that have a DB60 or SmartSerial plug on the ends.