CCNA/CCNP Home Lab

[Sone]

Doing a CCNA at the minuite and due to the lack of kit at college i am thinking of buying my own. Not sure what to get, what would you guys reccommend?

Thinking of either:
2 x 1600 Routers ~ £40ea
2 x 2500 routers ~ £75ea
2 x 2600 routers ~ £140ea

and either
1 x 1900 switch £40
1 x 2900 switch £??

Want to be able to expand the kit if i decide to do a ccnp, what do you guys think is the best value? and is a switch really required for ccna?

(my current fave is 2 x 2500 and no switch)

 

[V-Spec]

Doing a CCNA at the minuite and due to the lack of kit at college i am thinking of buying my own. Not sure what to get, what would you guys reccommend?

Thinking of either:
2 x 1600 Routers ~ £40ea
2 x 2500 routers ~ £75ea
2 x 2600 routers ~ £140ea

and either
1 x 1900 switch £40
1 x 2900 switch £??

Want to be able to expand the kit if i decide to do a ccnp, what do you guys think is the best value? and is a switch really required for ccna?

(my current fave is 2 x 2500 and no switch)

2500s are pretty decent boxes to learn on especially for the money, you can pick up 2501s off "the auction site" for £40-50. Just make sure it has 12.2t IOS installed. The main problem with 2500s is that they're based on ancient processors and take literally 5 minutes to boot up, 2600s are a lot quicker but are more expensive. If I were you i'd get 3-4 2500s with 12.2t IP Plus IOS. Then go from there. I wouldn't recommend a 1900 for learning the CCNA as the command syntax is very outdated and will confuse you compared to the 2950 commands which is pretty much what they teach. You can get a 2950 off the auction site for around £200-300. Expensive but very versatile.
Good luck in your studies

 

[Sone]

2500s are pretty decent boxes to learn on especially for the money, you can pick up 2501s off "the auction site" for £40-50. Just make sure it has 12.2t IOS installed. The main problem with 2500s is that they're based on ancient processors and take literally 5 minutes to boot up, 2600s are a lot quicker but are more expensive. If I were you i'd get 3-4 2500s with 12.2t IP Plus IOS. Then go from there. I wouldn't recommend a 1900 for learning the CCNA as the command syntax is very outdated and will confuse you compared to the 2950 commands which is pretty much what they teach. You can get a 2950 off the auction site for around £200-300. Expensive but very versatile.
Good luck in your studies

thnaks for the help, are 2900 series swithes ok? (WS-C2924-XL-EN)

 

[pdw8]

thnaks for the help, are 2900 series swithes ok? (WS-C2924-XL-EN)

Yes, they use the same IOS as the routers, the 1900 swirches use CAT OS which is pretty different and can confuse things. You should be able to get a 2924 for about £75 -100 on the auction site.

 

[Burbleflop]

on the auction site.

eBay isn't a swear word.

 

[pdw8]

eBay isn't a swear word.

Aye, but isn't it classed as a competitors site?

 

[Curiosityx]

CCNA/CCNP Setup

Routers
+ Cisco 2503 Ethernet Router 16D/16F IP Plus 12.3
+ Cisco 2501 Ethernet Router 16D/16F IP Plus 12.3
+ Cisco 2521 Router / Frame Relay Switch 16D/16F IP Plus 12.3

Switches
+Cisco 1900 Switch running Enterprise IOS
+Cisco 1900 Switch running Enterprise IOS

Accessories
+2 x serial DB60-DB60 crossover cables
+4 x cat 5E straight-through cables
+2 x cat 5E crossover cables
+2 x RJ45 / DB9 console cables
+2 x ethernet transceiver for 2501, 2503

All this is avalible as a bundle on the net for £295 + p+p I can mention where but im sure youll figure it out.

Ive bought one and i dont need anything else.

 

[Burbleflop]

Aye, but isn't it classed as a competitors site?

Nah, not unless you link to an item on eBay that OcUK sell. In any case, assuming that it were then hinting at it would be frowned upto too.

 

[V-Spec]

I've got 4 2500s in my CCIE rack, running 12.2, they're fine apart from a load of newer OSPF stuff is missing, the best 2500 i've got is a 2511 terminal server with 16 asyn lines, so I can plug each line into the aux port on the routers and console into each box via reverse telnet from the 2511, this is great for working on my lab remotley because I don't have to worry about the console connection if I kill an adjacency

 

[pdw8]

The more I think about it I really should make use of the resources available to me. I have 24/7 remote access to a lab in our office that has cisco 12000, 7500,6509;s, 7200VXR's, Juniper M40 and M160's and more stuff

 

[Curiosityx]

The more I think about it I really should make use of the resources available to me. I have 24/7 remote access to a lab in our office that has cisco 12000, 7500,6509;s, 7200VXR's, Juniper M40 and M160's and more stuff

 

[Sone]

CCNA/CCNP Setup

Routers
+ Cisco 2503 Ethernet Router 16D/16F IP Plus 12.3
+ Cisco 2501 Ethernet Router 16D/16F IP Plus 12.3
+ Cisco 2521 Router / Frame Relay Switch 16D/16F IP Plus 12.3

Switches
+Cisco 1900 Switch running Enterprise IOS
+Cisco 1900 Switch running Enterprise IOS

Accessories
+2 x serial DB60-DB60 crossover cables
+4 x cat 5E straight-through cables
+2 x cat 5E crossover cables
+2 x RJ45 / DB9 console cables
+2 x ethernet transceiver for 2501, 2503

All this is avalible as a bundle on the net for £295 + p+p I can mention where but im sure youll figure it out.

Ive bought one and i dont need anything else.

Been talking to that guy, think i am going to buy just a 2501 and 2503 off him. A little pricey but seems far easy than messing about getting everything separtly.

Does the 2521 being token ring cause you any problems?

 

[Nozzer]

Just remember the soundproofing as well

It's a good idea to have a grounding in TR if you've not used it before, a lot of major companies still have TR kit in their networks, even if they are phasing it out slowly.

 

[wsurfa]

The more I think about it I really should make use of the resources available to me. I have 24/7 remote access to a lab in our office that has cisco 12000, 7500,6509;s, 7200VXR's, Juniper M40 and M160's and more stuff

No T's or E's - bit light for a proper lab

 

[pdw8]

No T's or E's - bit light for a proper lab

Naah, we couldnt get approval for T640's for the lab and dont use E series, they are for ISP's not wholesale carriers.

 

[wsurfa]

have to be major budget for T's - although the last lab I was in had T and TX E, and some other toys. Unfortunately my knowledge of their workings runs to back of fag packet bad description of MPLS

 

[Skilldibop]

I used 2 2516s and a 1721 with a 2912XL. most expensive bit was the 1721 @ £110 off ebay. They're IOS 12.1 thought. you won't get a 1700 that price with 12.2t. Unless you DL it through Emule or whatever...

 

[Sone]

I used 2 2516s and a 1721 with a 2912XL. most expensive bit was the 1721 @ £110 off ebay. They're IOS 12.1 thought. you won't get a 1700 that price with 12.2t. Unless you DL it through Emule or whatever...

decied to get 1 x 2610, 1 x 2501 , 1 x 2503.

Need to get a switch aswell but havent seen many for sale.

How much was the 2912XL?

 

[Deleted member 58846]

This is mine for the CCNA,

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17580696

2 x 2610 (no switch at present, just bought a adsl wic), selling 2501 16/16

its some where in them posts.

 

[Shaz]sigh[]

I'm building a Lab atm, geared towards CCNP.

Not actually spent any cash yet but managed to acquire the following:

Actually I lie, just started spending money, bought a WIC 1T and a 2924 switch, need to now acquire...

2x2600s or 3600s (including NMs for frame relay)
1x2950
1x2924
1x2509/2511 or NM16(32) terminal server
Possibly an ISDN emulator but... doubt I'll get round to it.

For CCNA, I'd get...

2501
2503
2520

And a 2912 or 2924

Simple and cheap!