Considering purchasing some cisco equipment for home lab (a few questions)

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itguru

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Sep 28, 2004
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As the title of my thread states, I am interested in purchasing some Cisco equipment for a home lab. I have taken CCNA 1 and CCNA 2 (however this was over a year ago) and just would like to confirm a couple things before I make my purchase. I am looking at purchasing:

-2611 Router Version 12.3 IOS
-2620 Router Version 12.3 IOS
-C3500XL Catalyst Switch Version 12.0 IOS

Would the IOS on the routers and switch support all the commands that I need for my CCNA?

Also, I would assume I could backup the IOS to my ftp server through the router commands, and burn it to cd myself, correct?

Is $399 a good price for all of this equipment? I know I could use dynagen, however I would like to eventually put this equipment into production in my home network once I become CCNA certified.

Thank you for reading! Any and all reply's are greatly appreciated!
 
i've just finished doing ccna 1 through 4 - the curriculum has changed, we were the last set of people at my college to study the old curriculum.

fairly sure most of the stuff is still the same, they have just dropped older things such as isdn, frame relay (i think), igrp etc.

as far as i am aware though they will still teach you spanning tree, ospf, eigrp etc which that kit is fine for. you will also learn some basic dsl, wifi, and security principles.

you might want to get three routers and drop the one switch for two 2950's?

i totally get where your coming from with wanting to get your hands dirty rather than just play 'virtually' with dynagen...at least at this level anyway...once you've got the hands-on stuff sorted though, dynagen can be useful for playing with more high end features if you don't want to layout some hard earned on the kit that goes with it!

good luck!

p.s. that reminds me, i really ought to dredge up everything i've just learnt and take the damn exam!
 
ben chi(f4) said:
I don't understand why people go out and spend all this money on equipment. You can pay ME for referring you to http://www.gns3.net/

nuff said ya heard!
Click to expand...

Agreed. Do your router work on GNS3, and if you want to drop some cash buy a nice(ish) multilayer switch. You can use clouds in GNS3 to connect your virtual devices with your physical hardware (or to a VM system).
 
The only real downfall to dynamips is the fact that it won't allow you to emulate complex switching.

... That's really only a concern for things like STP, VTP as far as CCNA goes and you can get enough from books and other switch sims to cover those holes. Then theres the WLAN problem that can be resolved with a linksys router.


If you decide to go for NP/IE or any of the wireless certs you need better switches and some LWAPP kit.
 
For sims, I like http://www.networksims.com/
1. Does the standard version contain all the simulators and challenges?
Yes! This is our most asked question ... the standard version includes router, switch, PIX/ASA and Aironet 1200 simulators, along with hundreds of challenges for CCNP, CCNA, CCSP, and so on. A key feature is that it includes new up-to-the-minute certification examples for CCNP ONT and ISCW, along with uniquely covering CCSP and Wireless certifications. Currently there are: 220 router labs, 120 switch labs, 100 PIX/ASA labs, and 75 Wireless labs, and lots of MCQs and fun activities ... and top-rate support!
The Standard version contains CCNA, CCNP, CCSP, Wireless, Network Security 1 and Network Security 2, whereas the Premium adds CCVP and some additional CCIE challenges, along with a second licence. It you try the demo, the standard version contains most of the challenges contained in it, the main difference is that you do not get CCVP or the second licence.
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Also, check on craigslist for Cisco hardware, generally you can find it there for cheaper than eBay.

In my area, craigslist posting for a Cisco2611 is $75ea and a Cisco2620 for $60ea
 
Cisco's Packet Tracer is another alternative to purchasing real cisco equipment, worked well for me.
 
Well, I tried dynagen and it rocks! I have read about it before, but never tried it until now. I am a believer! I can not believe how easy it was to set up, and how powerful of a tool it its! I look forward to using this in addition to the two 2620's and two 2924's I have!
 
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