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Cisco Home lab.........!

gauravshar
Level 2
Level 2

Hi,

Is it a good option to have home lab to practice for cisco exams (CCNP, CCIE etc)?

I'm looking for arranging a cisco home lab for me. One of the guy I contacted is actually selling his lab consisting of 2613 routers (having token ring interface). Being a modular router I can add a couple of more modules to make it ready for my lab. I need consultation on what extra modules will I need to purchase (decent combination of LAN and WAN ports). Is it a good deal if I pay $100 for 5 such routers (without any module except token ring).

--gaurav

17 Replies 17

n.nandrekar
Level 4
Level 4

I would recommend you to check the prices on amazon / e-bay first before purchasing it. Make a list of all modules required for the lab and see how much extra it will cost. I personally dont have exp. in this but from what I have heard from friends, you get stuff pretty cheap on e-bay and this doesnt sound like a very good deal.

Second thing is that if you are planning lab for CCIe, then you need very specific equipment that would be used in the CCIE lab. Buying 5 2613 wouldnot be useful for CCIE. Look at what equipment is used for the CCIE track you are planning and then decide on the equipment.

Regards,

Niranjan

Thanks for the reply Niranjan. These lot of 5 routers are actually listed on ebay. I'm planning fo CCIE routing and switching. I'll buy switches in next month probably. I'm intrested in buying routers right now. I believe 5-6 routers with different capabilities (LAN/WAN) would be sufficient for practising OSPF, BGP and such protocls, isn't it? I'm looking for 2600 series because I want MPLS commands to be working on them as well.

Need your help!!

sirdudesly
Level 2
Level 2

The 2613 series are pretty tired routers these days and a fair amount of things just simply won't work on them, I don't think non XM routers can run 12.4 even with max flash (I seem to remember a trick where you could load 12.4 into RAM using rommon to use 12.4 on non XM routers)

Well, guys.... I've to take care of my funds too, keep this thing also into consideration. However, 2500 series routers are also what I'm looking forward for. How is chosing 2500 over 2600 a better / worse option.....?

--gaurav

Don't go for 2500 at all, they're pretty much past it (and there is labs in there that I can say fairly confidently that you won't be able to complete on a 2500)

You see 2500's used occasionally as a frame relay switch and in that role they're still ok but too limited for the new ccnp material from memory.

So what do you think is the ideal equipment for preparation/practice. 2600 ruled out, 2500 ruled out, what next... ?

--gaurav

how about 3640 and 7200???

My God, must be kidding me... (:))

How many thousand dollars?? ..and how many of such devices?

--gaurav

I wouldn't totally rule out the 2600 series, the 2600XM (note the XM) are still ok.

The 1700 series is your other option, you can usually find them pretty cheap and ram/fash is cheap for them and they're modular.

They're really the two cheap but still useful options

I agree 7200 might not be a good option as it might be really costly. Would be required if you are planning for CCIE -SP. But 3600 is pretty easily available i guess.

My friend bought 1 on e-bay for just $15. But to his badluck, It got caught up in customs in india and they were demanding almost $100 for its release from him. He let it go.

Anyways, 3640 is a modular router and supports MPLS too. I have actually used it to practice MPLS when I was doing CCIP. So dont rule-out 3640. Also keep an eye on 7200 .. just in case you get a good deal somewhere.

Regards,

Niranjan

Niranjan,

Usually how much % is the customs duty when we get the item shipped from US?

--gaurav

Hi Gaurav

If you have not seen it already, check out Wendell Odom's blog http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/27576

He has a good article on putting together a CCNP level lab and covers 3 different budgets. He also goes into explanations on what you can cover and what is not by each different lab setup. It is really useful and informative.

HTH

Best Regards,

Michael

3640's can be had quite cheap these days but really need network modules to be of any use

What would you say to another option where you do not need to buy any routers at all? ;) To cover ALL routing I would recommend to use GNS3 hypervisor software that runs actual IOS on a PC and has a pretty good GUI where you can connect your virtual routers in any fashion you want. All you need is a powerful PC running Linux and GNS3 which is free. Just google GNS3 and check it out.

-serg

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