Starting my journey to CCNP

Hi Guys,

So i took taking an extended long break after CCNA Security now i have decided to start with CCNP. I am thinking of starting with ROUTE, then SWITCH and TSHOOT and this is the lab equipment i am getting.

Lab Equipment
1)Four 2620XM 128/32 Routers
2)Four 3550 EMI Switches
3)2511 terminal server

Some WICs and Nm-4a/s for Frame relay etc.

Just for fyi the lab will cost me about $4000

Books
Official certification guides for ROUTE by Odom, SWITCH by Hucaby and TSHOOT [ these are the only books available in my country do let me know if any other suggestions]

So wish me luck and do let me know if any other suggestions for lab\ path to CCNP come to your mind and i hope everyone will support me with any doubts queries etc like always

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Comments

shodown

thats kinda pricy. I was able to get 2651XM for close to 200 and 4 3550s for around the same price each.

logicmyfoot

dude im in India

peanutnoggin

WOW!! $4000 is extremely expensive. I'm not really aware of the prices in India, but if you can afford it... by all means do it. That's an excellent lab for your CCNP studies and you should be able to perform everything you need with the exception of Private VLANs (need a 3560 or higher). Good luck in your studies... One last suggestion... Checkout Jeremy Stetch's Packetlife.net which is a free community lab with an extremely good lab of equipment. Again, best of luck to you... HTH.

-Peanut

Netwurk

3350's?

Did you mean 3550's ?

Not sure how the currency works in India my friend, but hopefully you make it to your next port of call.

davidspirovalentine

Ouch 4 grand!!!

For that I would get... hmm... a Macbook pro with a corei7 proc, 8 gigs of RAM and run GNS3!!!

But as posted above, if you can afford it go for it!

When I did my CCNP I used GNS3 for routing and real switches from work.

Good Luck,

REgards,
David

logicmyfoot

peanutnoggin wrote: »

WOW!! $4000 is extremely expensive. I'm not really aware of the prices in India, but if you can afford it... by all means do it. That's an excellent lab for your CCNP studies and you should be able to perform everything you need with the exception of Private VLANs (need a 3560 or higher). Good luck in your studies... One last suggestion... Checkout Jeremy Stetch's Packetlife.net which is a free community lab with an extremely good lab of equipment. Again, best of luck to you... HTH.

-Peanut

yeah it is expensive as hell , i did consider 3560 but they are like $1600 each here so

I did check Packetlife.net however unfortunately some guy from India abused the lab by making multiple accounts , so my ISP is blocked\ banned.

My ISP is banned.

Yeah for Private VLan i'll probably book 3-4 hours @ gigavelocity or someplace else

logicmyfoot

davidspirovalentine wrote: »

Ouch 4 grand!!!

For that I would get... hmm... a Macbook pro with a corei7 proc, 8 gigs of RAM and run GNS3!!!

But as posted above, if you can afford it go for it!

When I did my CCNP I used GNS3 for routing and real switches from work.

Good Luck,

REgards,
David

hmmm.......... thats a good suggestion as well

. Tell me for SWITCH will i only require switches , i mean lets say i am implementing router on a stick lab so the router emulated via GNS3 how will it be connected to the real switches?? forgive me if its a noobish question i have only used Packet Tracer for this till now

peanutnoggin

logicmyfoot wrote: »

hmmm.......... thats a good suggestion as well . Tell me for SWITCH will i only require switches , i mean lets say i am implementing router on a stick lab so the router emulated via GNS3 how will it be connected to the real switches?? forgive me if its a noobish question i have only used Packet Tracer for this till now

You can definitely use GNS3 and real switches together. If you check the forums (or even the web) for GNS3 with real switch configurations, you'll be sure to find your answer. As another idea, you can run an image for a router and use a 16 port switch module in the router and have it act the same way as a switch. You still will not be able to private vlans, but you can configure pretty much anything else. HTH.

-Peanut

Ryuksapple84

Hey,
Good luck! I started studying for my Swtich exam and I don't think I will be labbing up for that one. However, the Route exam is going to require a lab.

peanutnoggin

Ryuksapple84 wrote: »

Hey,
Good luck! I started studying for my Swtich exam and I don't think I will be labbing up for that one. However, the Route exam is going to require a lab.

Do you plan on reading the book and taking the exam without hands on? If so, more power to you... I recently took that exam and I can't imagine passing the exam without hands on. As the saying goes... "to each his own"! Good luck

-Peanut

logicmyfoot

Ryuksapple84 wrote: »

Hey,
Good luck! I started studying for my Swtich exam and I don't think I will be labbing up for that one. However, the Route exam is going to require a lab.

Good luck to you dude

, but honestly without a lab and hands on it just doesn't fells right to me

logicmyfoot

hi guyz,

Would you all recommend replacing real routers by emulating in GNS and i buy these four 3550 in order to reduced the cost??

Forsaken_GA

logicmyfoot wrote: »

Some WICs and Nm-4a/s for Frame relay etc.

You don't need to worry about frame relay for the CCNP specifically, as it isn't covered, so if you have other interface options you'd be ok to take them.

Using a frame relay switch does give you alot of flexibility in designing your topologies though

logicmyfoot

just wanted to cover it for future endeavors