CCNA - Changing at all and is this equiptment still relevant

vage

2[H]4U
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Jan 10, 2005
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So I want to start getting my Cisco certs, and was wondering if I get it right now, will it still remain valid for a while?

Also, I found someone on craigslist that is selling the following equipment, and I was wondering if it is still relevant in the exam:

- 2 Catalyst 1900 series 24 port switches
- 1 Catalyst 2900 Series 16 port switch
- 2 2524 routers
- 1 2507 Router
 
I've been doing quite a bit of research on this as well, and this site has lots of good info:
http://www.certificationkits.com/
Also, if you are interested in emulating the routers instead of buying them:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1414407

My current plan is to snag a couple of 2924-ish switches(and possibly later a 2950), a dual-port pci server nic (or 2) and emulate the routers in dynagen, binding their interfaces to the nics to connect out to the switches.
 
I do know that having 2950 switches is a must.. the 1900, 2900(except for 2950 2960) and 2900XL will do you very little. 2950's are what you want. As for the routers you mentioned, they run a older version of IOS, I would suggest finding 2600 series routers and if you can afford it 2600XM models because they can run 12.4. But, for CCNA, the 2500 series will probably get you through, just will be slightly different than 12.4 and they will not be able to do ROAS(Router on a stick) I would suggest going over to http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/ they have the most information
 
get yourself some 1760's. They're cheap because no one uses them, they have 2 WIC and 2 VWIC slot and they run 12.4. I used them for CCNA and I'll be using them for CCNP/CCNA Security/CCSP.
Run a search on ebay for "cisco 1760" and check the buy it now options...

When I'm done my base lab will look like this:

5x 1760 routers
1x 3550 Switch (24 port EMI)
2x 2950C Switches (24 port EMI)
6x WIC-2T
----------------------------------------------------
total: $755

the most expensive part of this lab is the 3550 because it's a layer 3 switch. it ran me $250 alone.

Wendell Odom has a site (http://www.certskills.com/) that has a great write up on lab gear for the CCNA/CCNP. You should check it out
 
Ya, the stuff you listed is pretty much to obsolete to be of much use. I'm pissed at my 1760... Paid nearly a grand for it 5-6 years ago while I was overseas. Get back stateside & put it behind my 12megabit cablemodem and get crap performance. Come to find out it tops out at less than a megabit routing or NATing. My new $100 Linksys thrashes it for performance.

1760 is a great learning tool though & is understandably being dumped cheap these days.

My CCNA expired 3-4 years ago, about to gear up to reactivate it.
 
I'm not sure if anyone else will agree with me but I really recommend just using Dynamips to emulate the needed OS. No sense in paying hundreds of dollars for power consuming blinky lights when you can have what you need emulated.

But that's just my take. AT LEAST learn the basics and when you feel emulation is no longer useful then buy the hardware (AKA L3 Routing)
 
I'm not sure if anyone else will agree with me but I really recommend just using Dynamips to emulate the needed OS. No sense in paying hundreds of dollars for power consuming blinky lights when you can have what you need emulated.

But that's just my take. AT LEAST learn the basics and when you feel emulation is no longer useful then buy the hardware (AKA L3 Routing)

I would suggest using GSN3/Dynamips for the routers and get some physical switches.
 
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