Possible CCNA Home Lab

[Arthalen]

Im into the theory of studying for the CCEnt on my way to studying for the full CCNA hopefully by the end of the year.

I've just done some training Cisco IOS configuring switches, and decided that a Home lab of actual equipment is definitly the way to play

So, as I already work in IT I've managed to scavenge some equipment, and wanted some advice from the Cisco heads in here on the best way to configure up all the equipment I've got.

Routers:
4x Cisco 2610XM (Yes, 4 routers!)
All routers have a single dedicated ethernet 100BaseT ports.

Switches:
1x Catalyst 2950

Interface Cards:
3x WIC-1T Serial Interface Cards
1x WIC-2T SS Serial Interface Cards
1x PRI ISDN NM

Now I was think of the following Configuration

Router 1 & WIC-2T Serial (Dual SS Interface on card)
linked via DCE/DTE X-Over cables to
Router 2 & WIC 1T Serial
Router 3 & WIC-1T Serial

This would then give me a nice little Frame Relay cloud to use. Not much of a cloud, but a start all the same. Then I would need to buy another WIC-1T, but in doing so I could link:

Router 3 & WIC-1T Serial (Second Interface)
linked via DCE/DTE X-Over cable
Router 4 & WIC-1T Serial

To give me a further single serial link using PPP.

Lastly, Router 2 would be linked via Ethernet to the Catalyst 2950 switch and then I would plug a laptop into the switch to configure/test/play/get geeky with all the cisco devices.

So as a start, that seem any good ?

PS I do intend on getting a second switch as well for Inter-VLAN and Spanning Tree practice.

 

[Arthalen]

Thanks guys that's really useful. I bought all the necessary leads and extra Wic card last night along with a reel of Cat 5, so hopefully by the weekend I'll be fully up and running.

Last night was interesting journey through Db60 and SS interfaces, cables and different layer 2 protocols - learning a lot through research of this kit as there is an absolutely amazing variety of kit out there.

My Advice to anyone Reading this who wants to spec out there own lab:

Switches: Stay away from Cisco 1900 switches as they do not support Cisco IOS. The cheapest suitable switches I could find are 2924s (£30-35) or step up to a cheap 2950 (£55+). Remember that you don't need hundreds of ports and that 12 port switches are good enough.

Routers: The cheaper the better! Look particularly for either 2500 or 2600 series routers, with a recent Ios version (12+). The key with routers is to ensure they have the required interfaces. Be wary of routers that need a seperate transceiver to convert a Ethernet Aui port into a 10BaseT Rj45 jack. At this stage I would recommend sticking to Routers that have a Ethernet port and DB60 Serial ports. You can then use a serial cross over cable to link two routers together to do basic routing scenarious.