CCNA and CCNP applicants listen to it all of the time: “Get some fingers-on experience”. From my non-public enjoy climbing the Cisco certification ladder, I can let you know firsthand that there's no getting to know like hands-on mastering. No simulator inside the international goes to provide you the enjoyment you'll get by cabling and configuring your personal routers.
Whenever I mention this to one in every of my college students, they constantly say it fees an excessive amount. The reality is, it is less expensive now to build your personal CCNA and CCNP lab than it has ever been. The mystery? Used routers.
The word “used” turns off a whole lot of human beings not a lot of us purchase used computers or used servers. Cisco routers, although, are strong. I in my view own a Cisco 4000 router that I use as a Frame Relay transfer in my lab that I’ve had for about four years, and I’ve never had a hassle with it.
The property information for modern CCNA and CCNP applicants interested in building their own labs is that the used Cisco system has in no way been extra ample or cheaper. eBay is a good manner to get a concept of what’s accessible and what the prices are, but you don’t ought to bring together your lab one piece at a time. Many eBay companies who sell used Cisco devices promote equipped-made CCNA and CCNP labs for one fee, inclusive of cables.
I asked one foremost seller of CCNA and CCNP labs, www.Ciscokits.Com, what the maximum commonplace questions are regarding building your property lab. Here’s what they'd to mention:
Why do I want actual routers instead of a simulator?
You want a bodily router because the simulators simply don’t have the capability to present you the “arms-on” you need to peer what takes place while you disconnect a cable or placed a cable in the wrong region. You will come to find quickly that errors you're making on Router 1 are affecting Router five all due to the fact you did not screw in a cable nicely. No simulator can simulate that.
How many routers do I need?
Two routers absolutely are required to look if whatever works. If you have got a totally confined price range, you may acquire value from handiest shopping a single router over operating with a simulator. However, you'll now not be capable of seeing the main issue we try to perform. The propagation of path tables! The best way you can see in case your configurations paintings is to have at the least routers. Therefore, I strongly propose that you buy a twin router package that incorporates all the accessories you need. Otherwise, you may spend days looking for all the little more pieces you want to get your lab up and running.
Do I need a transfer?
Well, it's miles nice to have. However, with handiest approximately 2 questions about the take a look at dedicated to “hands-on” transfer know-how, when you have to scrimp on something, skimp on the transfer.
What routers and switches should I purchase?
Choices, alternatives, choices! Which 2500/2600 router do I select? I will list a few pros and cons of each router below, in conjunction with modern-day expenses (observe that fees are normally lower if you buy a dual router package rather than an unmarried router). Please notice that prices are approximations.
1) Cisco 2501 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $94.Ninety-nine. The cheapest introduction router may support a massive majority of the instructions that you will need to learn to your CCNA check. All 2500 routers that we can talk to come with at least two serial ports and an Ethernet port.
You will need to feature a transceiver to this unit to transform the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 fashion Ethernet port.
2) Cisco 2503 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.Ninety-nine. This is the same as a Cisco 2501, besides it provides an ISDN port so you can entire all of your ISDN instructions for the CCNA test. You will need to feature a transceiver to transform the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-forty five-style Ethernet port.
You must be logged in to post a comment.