Craftworking

Cisco Lab

I started getting Cisco certified around 2000. I enrolled in the Cisco CCNA certifaction program at my local community college. The course was designed to pass the CCNA exam. As far at this goes, it was top notch. I highly recommend it. The course is divided into two basic parts, Cisco specific and general theory. Not only does it prepare for the CCNA exam, but gives the foundation for futher study. I am currently working on getting my first CCIE certification.

The only complaint that I with the course I took was the lack of lab equipment. There were 20 students and only 3 racks of routers. I managed to get very little time on the gear.

With this fustration I looked in to building a CCNA lab in my home. I found out that the cost was very low. You can get by with 3 routers and 1 switch. I started out buying 3 2501 routers and on 1900 switch. I also purchased a Xyples terminal server, which was much cheaper that the Cisco recommended 2516. At the time I think I spent around $400.

You can get by with some low cost routers. You can pick up a Cisco 2611 for under $50 now and will be perfectly adequate. The switch can be as simple as a 3550. Make sure you get the EMI version. EMI supports layer 3 routing. I have seen these as low as $50. You should get two of these to practice vlan trunking.

When I looked at the blueprint for the CCIE routing and Switching exam, the equipment list is just a bit different, a lot od it is the same but more routers and switches.

If your going to build a rack intending on getting the advanced certifications, build a CCIE rack to start with. What my lab consists of is 5 2611XM routers, 1 3640 router, 1 1841 router, 1 2811 router, 2 3550 switches, and 2 3560 switches. Also for convience I am using a 7505 for a frame relay switch.

You need to check the current blueprint on what equipment will be used for the exam you will take.

There are a few companies out there that sell training materials that will prepare you for the Cisco Exam. I am currently using Internetwork Experts. You will need to get one of these programs to prepare for the exam.

Another alternative is to virtualize the routers using GNS3. This has become very popular. However GNS3 doesn't support the switches, so you will have to at least purchase those.

Personally I like using real routers. Part of the CCNA exams is to know how to build an ethernet cable. Plus you will bun into the physical layer issues that you need to be able to troubleshoot.

Make sure that when purchasing gear that you get the latest IOS preloaded on them. Buying IOS can get extremely expensive.