CCNA Lab set up

[durga]

I Believe we have lot of CEans who have given thier CCNA exams. One thing which I am unable to find - is a proper lab set up .
I understand the minimum requirement would be a set up 2 routers and switch , but I am not sure what would be an ideal set up and what specific router models to be used.
Anyone?

[vik001ind]

Visit this site
TechExams.Net CCNA LAB: The Hardware

[durga]

thanks , will go through it. Actually I came across one more set up here:
Cisco Blog: CCNA Archives
found the article well describing but quite old..

[ash]

Durga, do you really intend to purchase second hand Cisco routers and switches?

[durga]

I fear, yes and no.
if the second hand ones dont go good, its just a waste of my money and first hand ones are quite expensive.
as of now I am deciding upon 2960 catalyst switch and still looking for the router though.
I need to decide on the number of routers/switches as well.Not sure if I can accomodate all in a single months budget

[ash]

What is your budget? Also, what do you plan to do with this lab? Because if its just to learn, then you can use Cisco network simulators.

[durga]

budget is around 300-500AUD.
It is mainly for learning and some hands on experience.Somehow I came to a conclusion working on real switches would be better than simulators.

[ash]

Fair enough I've got limited experience with Cisco hardware, but I know owning some will be more fun. Maybe the first place you can look is Ebay Australia.

[1] 2nd hand Cisco Catalyst 2950 switch
[2] 2nd hand Cisco 2621 Router OR 2nd hand Cisco 2620
[3] 2nd hand Cisco 3640 Access Router

You can use the 3640 router to simulate the WAN cloud and/or PSTN network if you want to try out VoIP projects.

I think all 4 items combined will fit your budget. I feel the second hand devices will work well enough, since you don't need to run them 24/7 in a critical enterprise environment (i.e you can afford the random resets ) What is important is that the IOS software is fully functional.

[durga]

hey thanks for that heaps of info..
not sure , but I assumed (again) IOS would be provided with the switch. For second hand ones that should not be a problem though , again given that they worked well before.
I read in cisco site ( I think) that 3640 is enough, but was thinking whats a big difference between 3640 and 3620.

[ash]

The software would be provided with the routers and switches, it would be strange if it was otherwise. However, in terms of learning the latest IOS version that CCNA (and onwards) covers is another thing. You'll need to check with the Cisco hardware sellers.

You can check here for the differences between 3640 and 3620:
Cisco 3600 Series Multifunction Platforms (3620 and 3640/3640A) [Cisco 3600 Series Multiservice Platforms] - Cisco Systems