Well, I'm finally ready to spell it out - what would I buy with $800 for a CCNP lab? Your job is to tell us all how you'd tweak my suggestion, or what you'd do that was totally different. Also, if you want to join in the free book contest I announced yesterday, then make sure you post your alternative design using those same requirements.

Again, my assumptions:

• Prices, models, IOS's etc from this post about routers and this post about switches. I've repeated the prices here.
• I make no guarantees about whether this is right
• It's up to you to follow any Cisco legal stuff for IOS images
• I'm setting aside $100 of the $800 for non-specified items (more later on that)

I'm setting aside $100 for things like extra 2501's for FR switches, serial cables, access server, etc. You can't buy all that with $100. However, say you wanted an access server - 2509's look like they run around $100 on Ebay buy-it-now. Or, a pair of 2501's, plus 4 serial cables, to create a 4-port FR switch, looks like it'd run about $100 as well. But I'm not spelling those things out here, I'm just budgeting $100 of the $800, and leaving it to you to pick.

For reference, here are the prices I came up with in those earlier posts:

Even as I sat down at my desk to choose, I came up with lots of options. So, before I tell you the two build lists I chose, here are a few thoughts I had when making my choices:

• First, the 2950 switches with the Standard image support almost everything you need for BCMSN. Its $150 price tag, versus the $250 for the Enhanced image switches, makes the 2950 SI switch a nice fit for bang for the buck. (See this post for the details).
• Second, the 1710's fit a nice niche in that they support IPS (as usual, based on Cisco Feature Navigator), and they're the cheapest models I found that does support IPS.
• Third, CCNP is router-centric, so I kept thinking that if I skimped somewhere, it'd probably be on the switches.
• Finally, I tried to balance covering all the CCNP features with the benefit of picking a smaller number of different models of gear. (Well, I did try, in spite of what's listed below.)

Allright, here's my two suggestions, followed by pros/cons.

$800 Lab 1: Kitchen Sink

2 X 2950 w/ standard Image                $300

2 X 1710                                             $160

1 X 3640                                             $200

1 X 2501                                               $25

Miscellaneous reserve                           $100

Total:                                                    $785

Pros:

• Get most of the features needed for BCMSN
• Get all the ISCW security features I researched, including IPS (via 1710's)
• Get 3 routers (1710's and 3640) that support a wide range of BSCI features
• Get 2 routers that can form a serial link (2501 and 3640) which is needed for ONT QoS features

Cons:

• Missing  MPLS and the handful of switch features (including L3 switching) not found in 2950 SI switches
• This list uses 3 different router models and features sets.
• None of the routers can run IOS versions past 12.4 mainline.

$800 Lab 2: Router-centric

1 X 2900XL                                          $50

3 X 3640                                             $600

2 X 2501                                               $50

Miscellaneous reserve                           $100

Total:                                                    $800

Pros:

• Can practice MPLS including MPLS VPN P and PE routers
• Plenty of routers (meets Wendell's minimum of 4 strategy) for robust Routing Protocol exercises
• Get 3 routers (3640's) that support a wide range of BSCI features
• Can repurpose 2501's as FR switch when more $$ comes available

Cons:

• Practically useless for practicing BCMSN topics
• No IOS images past 12.4 mainline

So, what to do? Tell me what you'd change in my two build lists. Tell me what you'd do that's totally different with the $800 (with $100 reserve). And, if you meet the requirements I posted earlier this week for the contest, submit your build list like mine here, using all my same assumptions, logging in before you post, and I'll consider your suggestion as an entry in the contest.