Pursuing CCNA/CCNP for work & school. Seeking help.

Hello,

First off I would like to take the time to say this community is excellent. I have been provided with a wealth of knowledge thanks to the members of this website. So here is my situation..I have six more classes remaining(pertaining to the CCNA/CCNP) until I complete my bachelor degree. I've decided to test out of these classes by pursuing the certifications on my own, saving time, a lot of money, and not only obtaining college credit but two certifications as well. I've put in a lot of time scouring all over this website (including the FAQ sections) as well as other locations for information. I'm decided to set up my own lab, and as someone who is new to Cisco I'm having a hard time deciding what to purchase. I'm the kind of guy that likes to think ahead so I want this lab to be CCNA as well as CCNP ready. I'd like this lab to cover as much of the exam as possible, and I believe having the latest IOS is crucial as well. I think I've narrowed my decision down to the Cisco 1841 Router & 3550 Switch. My questions for you guys is do you believe these are good choices? If so, how many of each should I purchase? Will I have any issues connecting these together? What specifications should I make sure are present before purchase? What type of cabling will I need? I would greatly appreciate your help.

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Comments

TurK-FX

well, would say get one 1841 and 3550 to use latest IOS on them and use all the layer3 functions you can get from 3550. you need 3switches and 3 routers to fully utilize your practice. you can get 1x 1841, 1x 2600series router and may be 1x 1760. and get 1 3550 switches along with 2x 2960. This way, you can keep the cost down. you also need some dce/dte cables and serial modules for routers.

TurK-FX

for cabling, you need DCE/ DTE cable. But if you are going to practice frame relay, you need different kind of serial cable. Just connect 2 routers together, you need back to back serial cable. also you need cross-over cables for switches. and straight thru if you are going to connect routers to switches.

My advice, you also do some extra studying. Usually college classes are not enough to pass the test.

Legacy User

I remember how I excited I was piecing together my first lab. Can't forget working on it drenched in sweat. For the routers try to get ios versions 12.4 version it gets the job done and 15.0 doesn't let you do much unless your upgrade the ios or get a trial for 3 months.

lantech

I was wondering, what would be a good price on an 1841? And will the 1841s support MPLS?

Roguetadhg

You don't need to worry about MPLS for CCNA/CCNP.

Currently all you'll need to worry about is FrameRelay for the "WAN". You gotta do some other reading for MPLS, which I encourage, but for the studies - worry about one thing at a time.

CSKroll

Thank you for your input TurK-FX this was very helpful. So in terms of modules how many serial modules should be present on each device for proper cabling? Also, in terms of cabling how many dce/dte, back to back serial, cross-over, and straight through will I need? I plan to self-study and test out of these classes by obtaining the certs, and I'd like to get as much experience as I can (frame relay included).

CSKroll

You hit the nail on the head dmarcisco. I am extremely excited and eager to put this lab together, and begin learning. :] I'll definitely have to get my hands on 12.4. Will I need to max out the DRAM and Flash to run the most full featured IOS available for the given models I purchase?

TehToG

I can only speak for the 2600s but they'll need upgraded dram and flash. (if you intending on doing this yourself, most models require a rommon upgrade to see the extra dram

oli356

CSKroll wrote: »

So in terms of modules how many serial modules should be present on each device for proper cabling? Also, in terms of cabling how many dce/dte, back to back serial, cross-over, and straight through will I need? I plan to self-study and test out of these classes by obtaining the certs, and I'd like to get as much experience as I can (frame relay included).

Well if you have 3 routers, your normally have 2 dce/dte cables, it depends on the topology you want to use though.
Same with switches, your want to make a "triangle" out of them, so that's 3 crossover cables. All about the topology..

CSKroll wrote: »

I'll definitely have to get my hands on 12.4. Will I need to max out the DRAM and Flash to run the most full featured IOS available for the given models I purchase?

With the 1760s I had 64 dram and 32 flash and never had any problems. As long as you can put the IOS version on you need, then your fine for flash. No need to max out the dram either..

CSKroll

oli356 wrote: »

Well if you have 3 routers, your normally have 2 dce/dte cables, it depends on the topology you want to use though.
Same with switches, your want to make a "triangle" out of them, so that's 3 crossover cables. All about the topology..

With the 1760s I had 64 dram and 32 flash and never had any problems. As long as you can put the IOS version on you need, then your fine for flash. No need to max out the dram either..

Which software package will be sufficient for my CCNA & CCNP studies?

CSKroll

Also, with a 3 router and 3 switch setup should I stick to strictly WIC-2T modules or should I have both WIC-2T & WIC-1DSU-T1?

oli356

CSKroll wrote: »

Which software package will be sufficient for my CCNA & CCNP studies?

12.4 blabla will be fine, as long as its 12.4. I have access to all the IOS downloads on Cisco.com but didnt spend any time looking what is different between them.

oli356

CSKroll wrote: »

Also, with a 3 router and 3 switch setup should I stick to strictly WIC-2T modules or should I have both WIC-2T & WIC-1DSU-T1?

It doesn't matter if you use wic-1t or 2t. I used 1T for my home lab. Now at work I'm jut using Ethernet.

CSKroll

Thank you everyone for all your help. I just ordered all my lab equipment. Can't wait to get started!