Purchasing components for my CCNA Lab over the weekend. Can anyone please review?

Hi,

I was originally looking at those pre racked offerings on ebay but after researching over the past few days I am going to stay clear and buy the individual components myself.

Routers:
I want them to run CCP and IOS 15.1 as I want 100% of the command line functionality used in the exams available to me in a real world environment. I want IPv6/Advanced IP services and maybe CCP to run on each of them, which I know requires more DRAM/ Flash. CUCM on at least one would be preferable.
My options are the 1841 256/64, the 2801 256/64, and the 2811/2821 512/128.
Obviously the 2821 512/128 stands out as it is the best of the bunch - my question here is do I need 3 of these to get what I want?
From what I have read IP base does not cover all the commands used, so I don't want that.
Basically as much functionality as possible.
I also want 3 routers - Most companies don't have just 2 routers and the 3rd will create a more complex environment.
Do I really need 3 of the 2821's to meet my criteria or will one or two give me enough to work with.

Switches:
Apparently the 2950's cover about 95% of the commands in the exams. I would like switches that cover it all.
I want to move on to CCNA: Security so port security is a must.
The 3560 seems the way to go but again, do I need 3 of these? Is it overkill?

Modules etc:
I'm open to suggestions here based on the hardware.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read the above. I've been quite confused however *think* I now have an understanding of what I am about to embark on. Please correct me if I am wrong and any advice at all would be really appreciated!

Thanks

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Comments

Heero

Virtualize the routers. Cheaper, less hassle, and fully featured. You will probably still need to buy a switch or two.

wgroom

1841s do not run voice. I would suggest two 2821s (CUCME on one, and an MGCP gateway for CUCM on the other) and an 1841 for data. Add in a couple of 3550 PoE switches, and you will have a nice lab that will carry you into the CCNP stage. That is the lab I have setup at home. Also a server that meets the CUCM / CUCx / Win2K8 criteria for VMs.

MTciscoguy

*******

particle1

Heero wrote: »

Virtualize the routers. Cheaper, less hassle, and fully featured. You will probably still need to buy a switch or two.

Are you referring to the Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Switches/Cisco CSR 1000V Routers? Or something else?

theodoxa

For Voice, I'd go with the 2811 or 2821. The 2821 will take more DRAM and EVM modules, but is also twice the size of the 2811. For non-Voice, the 1841 is a much better option as it is smaller and quieter (but doesn't support voice).

Cisco 1841 -- 2 x HWIC No CUCME, 2 x Fast Ethernet
Cisco 2801 -- 2 x HWIC, 1 WIC/VWIC/VIC, 1 VWIC/VIC, CUCME 8.6 or below (depends on IOS), Confusing Module Slots, 2 x Fast Ethernet
Cisco 2811 -- 4 x HWIC/WIC/VWIC/VIC, CUCME 8.6 or below (depends on IOS), 2 x Fast Ethernet
Cisco 2821 -- 4 x HWIC/WIC/VWIC/VIC, CUCME 8.6 or below (depends on IOS), 2 x Gigabit Ethernet, EVM Module Support

theodoxa

Heero wrote: »

Virtualize the routers. Cheaper, less hassle, and fully featured. You will probably still need to buy a switch or two.

1. GNS3 won't run IOS 15.1 except possibly on the 7200.
2. CSR-1000V doesn't have CUCME and ideally needs a dedicated ESXi server, which will run more than the cost of ISRs (1841, 2811, 2821).
3. Packet Tracer isn't much use beyond CCNA. It has extremely limited voice (basically the ability to configure a few IP Phones and DNs. No CCP.

particle1

Thanks for the input so far - I am definitely looking into the options.

One thing that does concern me about all of this is the noise that the hardware will generate, and how to deal with.

Is it something that bothers people? I personally don't mind but I know the gf will...

MTciscoguy

A lot of us, put them in a separate room, so the noise is not so intrusive, I have also seen enclosures that work quite well for quieting things down, in fact someone on here just posted a picture of his lab and it was in a closeable cabinet.

It is located as the last post in this thread.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/15235-post-your-lab-pics-55.html

particle1

MTciscoguy wrote: »

A lot of us, put them in a separate room, so the noise is not so intrusive, I have also seen enclosures that work quite well for quieting things down, in fact someone on here just posted a picture of his lab and it was in a closeable cabinet.

It is located as the last post in this thread.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/15235-post-your-lab-pics-55.html

Thanks a lot! Thats exactly what I am looking for

zaaa

OP - sorry I am a bit late on catching your thread. I built my own lab recently for CCNA. I just passed my CCENT, and had no issues with my lab. My lab is posted on the same page that MTciscoguy linked.

I wanted a similar setup to yours, but I wound up going with a mix. I have the following:

1x 2821 512/128
1x 3560
2x 1721
2x 2950

I put serial wic's in all the routers, so I am able to connect the routers through that, or use just the one ethernet port on the 1721's with vlans. I only have 15.1 iOS on the 2821. Here are some problems I run into with my setup:

1. 1721 images run like crap in GNS3. (maybe I'm just a tard but I could only get them to boot once and I found threads of other users with the same issue)
2. 2821 images don't work at all in GNS3.
3. The iOS version on my 1721's and 2950's are not a featured enough version (they are the "base" versions) which do not allow me to setup ssh (among other features).

If I had to do it over again, I would have gotten something other than the 1721 routers. Maybe the 1841 with a better iOS image. The switches are really a non-issue as I find myself just using VLAN's on the 3560 most of the time. Only having iOS 15.1 on the 2821 means I can only test ipv6 commands on it. I thought that would be an issue but it really isn't. I basically place the 2821 on my network and use ipv6 on my own network for testing purposes when I want to mess with ipv6. The ipv6 commands are practically the same as the v4 commands anyway. Overall, I don't miss not having 15.1 on my other devices.

I went with the lab option as it cost very similar to buying Boson NetSim, and I have actual equipment. Plus, I plan on using the 2821 on my network as my router when I'm done with it...because why not?

You could always sell the equipment to re-coup some cost as well, where you can't really do that with software.