2950 Switches have arrived

A

AMD_Gamer

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Just got my 2950T-EI switches in the mail. I picked them up with an offer buy on ebay for $160 shipped. The packaging was very well done and the switches look to be in perfect condition. I have to run to class but powering them all resulting in the sys led going green, I will check them out further later.

They came just in time as I am about to start the Lan Switching section of my CCNA study guide.

only minor problem is they have the 12.1(11r)EA1 release IOS which is not the latest version, would this really matter?

vutLt.jpg


RkN6V.jpg
 
in addressing your question of if it matters...

Personally that could have been 160 dollars saved. All you need to pass your ccna is GNS3 and a self study guide.

I read the official cisco study guide, used GNS3 and talked on some forums and got my CCNA in 3 months.
 
Destonomos said:
in addressing your question of if it matters...

Personally that could have been 160 dollars saved. All you need to pass your ccna is GNS3 and a self study guide. I plan to build a nice rack for my lab also to get hands on with rack equipment.

I read the official cisco study guide, used GNS3 and talked on some forums and got my CCNA in 3 months.
Click to expand...

GNS3 only does routers? And I am aware that you can do the switch stuff in packet tracer.

However, I believe if you are serious about networking then having a physical lab is the way to go.

Why would you want to be Cisco certified without ever touching a Cisco device?
 
AMD_Gamer said:
However, I believe if you are serious about networking then having a physical lab is the way to go.

Why would you want to be Cisco certified without ever touching a Cisco device?
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Agreed. Nice switches.

Got myself three 1760's and a 3550... looking to pick up some 2950C's here real soon and 2 more 1760's for CCNP studies.

Cisco Feature Navigator... learn to love it :)

the version of the IOS on there is like the second release IOS for 12.1... it's not terrible, but at least you have the enhanced image feature set
 
Dytralis said:
Agreed. Nice switches.

Got myself three 1760's and a 3550... looking to pick up some 2950C's here real soon and 2 more 1760's for CCNP studies.

Cisco Feature Navigator... learn to love it :)

the version of the IOS on there is like the second release IOS for 12.1... it's not terrible, but at least you have the enhanced image feature set
Click to expand...

Why the 2950C, it is the same as the T version I have but with the fiber ports.
 
cuz it's cheaper ;)

I can pick up two 2950C's for $120... and with a baby just about here, I can use all the scrap money I can get.
 
Yeah I picked up a pair of 2950Cs a couple of years ago for $120 on craigslist


Looks like you should be able to download the latest release pretty easily by googling the file name, this looks like the latest for the 2950s:

c2950-i6k2l2q4-mz.121-22.EA13.bin
 
aaronearles said:
Yeah I picked up a pair of 2950Cs a couple of years ago for $120 on craigslist


Looks like you should be able to download the latest release pretty easily by googling the file name, this looks like the latest for the 2950s:

c2950-i6k2l2q4-mz.121-22.EA13.bin
Click to expand...

thanks for the info, that will be some good practice lol.
 
Why do ppl try to bomb a thread like this with dren like you could of saved money by using gn3. The OP was asking about IOS versions.. Not if he should use an emulator. Enough is enough. I use both. I like my real lab better.. It got me comfortable with cisco equipment.

Anyways its great to update the units its ths first thing I did when I got my 2950s.. Let us know if you have any questions.
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CiscoInside said:
Why do ppl try to bomb a thread like this with dren like you could of saved money by using gn3. The OP was asking about IOS versions.. Not if he should use an emulator. Enough is enough. I use both. I like my real lab better.. It got me comfortable with cisco equipment.

Anyways its great to update the units its ths first thing I did when I got my 2950s.. Let us know if you have any questions.
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
Click to expand...

I agree, the guy was like me, bought a nice toy that he could afford, to learn and play with learn from and then perhaps use later on in his own home setup.
 
nothing better than using the real thing. I know when i passed my ccna, sometimes it helped me to visualize myself plugging shit in or setting this up, or that up, etc, etc. When you enter commands in, it helps to know what to expect as output. I say, good buy there. Worst case you have a couple of 10/100 switches. Good work man. Now look for some cisco 2621's with dual fast Ethernet ports
 
Another benefit to real hardware is the upgrade process itself, you don't have to consider your memory and flash when picking an image for an emulator, you don't even have to flash via tftp in the first place, granted thats not difficult but it's still good to get exposure. I think you should go ahead and pick the wrong image for your hardware so you can see just what happens and get familiar with the recovery process, tftpdnld through rommon is a much bigger pain in the ass than the normal copy tftp method.

Hardware is good. I can see dynamips becoming especially useful when the lab setups get more complex (and more expensive) but I agree, I think it's great to start with real equipment, especially switches which have a real use at home afterwards and dynamips cant do switching.
 
I had 3 switches shipped from this company yesterday for the same price (per switch). Will report when they arrive.
 
aaronearles said:
rommon is a much bigger pain in the ass than the normal copy tftp method.
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haha, i had to do this like 8 times on a bunch of equipment recently. It sucked, but it really isn't that hard. The hard part was figuring out what command send a break key from a linux laptop.
 
the syntax is just annoying, and if I remember correctly it's case sensitive or something retarded, I dunno - again not hard but the exposure is good.
 
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AMD_Gamer said:
GNS3 only does routers? And I am aware that you can do the switch stuff in packet tracer.
Click to expand...
You can do switches with GNS3, 16 port switch module works perfect on almost all tasks in both the CCNA and NP. You can get by without the switches, not that its a good idea :p

AMD_Gamer said:
Why would you want to be Cisco certified without ever touching a Cisco device?
Click to expand...
couldn't agree more, but ive met more morons that thought they knew what they were doing without any certs and physical experience than those that had certs and only experience with emulation. It happens A LOT.

We all know how I feel about the physical vs virtual.... the 2950 really is a waste, the 3550's on the other hand are so cheap right now that its worth it due to the L3 functionality. Hey, you can always play with SPAN and other control features :D
 
AMD_Gamer said:
These ones here? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230537876838&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

The shipping and packaging was very good, my switches were tightly packed in peanuts and wrapped very nicely in a huge anti static bag. I was worried how they said Grade B condition but the switches I got look great.
Click to expand...

Yes, those. Thanks for posting your pics/description. I am immediately pleased with the decision to pick these up.

I don't see 2950s as a waste at all. It's about build-up.
 
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dje said:
Yes, those. Thanks for posting your pics/description. I am immediately pleased with the decision to pick these up.

I don't see 2950s as a waste at all. It's about build-up.
Click to expand...

They also included the power cords.

I am getting ready to test them out here, I will report back in a few hours.
 
What terminal program do you guys like to use to access CLI. I am going to try putty, seems to do console/telnet/ssh.

does it really matter?
 
From what I've seen with 'b grade' hardware (i haven't ordered much, I'm not trying to define a law here) is that usually the b-grade is to cover any scratches it picks up during packing/shipping. Most of the b-grade stuff I have is in near perfect condition cosmetically, but if it were to get scratched during shipping (not totally destroyed internally), then the seller wouldn't owe you for the cosmetic damage.
 
AMD_Gamer said:
What terminal program do you guys like to use to access CLI. I am going to try putty, seems to do console/telnet/ssh.

does it really matter?
Click to expand...

Putty is great and will work perfectly for you. I use it at home but I use SecureCRT at work.
 
AMD_Gamer said:
What terminal program do you guys like to use to access CLI. I am going to try putty, seems to do console/telnet/ssh.

does it really matter?
Click to expand...

i use putty. you just change the port to 23 for telnet. I'm not sure that those switches you have can do ssh, so you are probably limited to telnet. either way putty works great.
 
AMD_Gamer said:
Yeah but one thing at a time lol. Also, I think if i get all the lab equipment then have a rack building and setup day that would be fun.
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thats cool. yeah, the rack isn't that hard to configure..i think i built mine in like an hour, and i was taking my time..of course i was by myself too, which makes it harder. (thats what she said)
 
dje said:
Yes, those. Thanks for posting your pics/description. I am immediately pleased with the decision to pick these up.

I don't see 2950s as a waste at all. It's about build-up.
Click to expand...

I spent the night testing them out and both seem to work great. One of them I had to do a password recovery but the other had a clean empty startup config so it was good.
 
I configured my switches with an ip address and when I use my browser to connect to the switch for the web console it works fine but when i click on "Web Console - Manage the Switch through the web interface." it says homepage.htm not found.

does that mean the previous owners of the switches deleted that file to disable web console access and configuration?
 
I wasn't aware that 2950's were manageable via web. Doesn't mean they aren't, I just have never done it.

You won't perform any web configurations for the CCNA. The web interface is disabled on our production switches as it is considered a security risk.
 
I was not aware they had web gui support either. I would not waist time with that.. Cli
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Received my switches yesterday. Packing was as described -- very impressive. Haven't done a check-out yet, but cosmetically they are in great condition
 
AMD_Gamer said:
Does anyone use Cisco Network Assistant?
Click to expand...
I tried to use it today on a 2950 that was reset to factory defaults. poked at it for a hour before I gave up :p
I could never get my web browser to connect to the default 10.0.0.1 that was stated in the cisco user guide.

I'm also hoping to figure out how to update the IOS version. For the record I have "c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-19.EA1c.bin" currently installed on it. I love google at times like this :D
 
pwrusr said:
I tried to use it today on a 2950 that was reset to factory defaults. poked at it for a hour before I gave up :p
I could never get my web browser to connect to the default 10.0.0.1 that was stated in the cisco user guide.

I'm also hoping to figure out how to update the IOS version. For the record I have "c2950-i6q4l2-mz.121-19.EA1c.bin" currently installed on it. I love google at times like this :D
Click to expand...

I got CNA working just fine with my switch. I don't think the switch has a factory default ip address? I configured it with an ip in the vlan 1 interface then connected to that IP with CNA and it works great.
 
Don't waste your time with the web GUI. Nobody uses it and no one will take you seriously if you use it.

The IOS CLI is powerful, quick, and efficient if you know what you're doing. Struggle with it for a bit and it will pay dividends in the long run.
 
just2cool said:
Don't waste your time with the web GUI. Nobody uses it and no one will take you seriously if you use it.

The IOS CLI is powerful, quick, and efficient if you know what you're doing. Struggle with it for a bit and it will pay dividends in the long run.
Click to expand...

I figured as much... poking around with my 2950 seems much eaiser via CLI then tring to get the GUI to work right. pop a console cable in the back and have at it.
 
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