Yes, for those of you who've been sticking with me on this seemingly un-ending ramble about CCNP labbing: it' finally reaching it's conclusion. I've covered all I'm going to about content on th eexams. Next, I'll spend a few posts making suggestions on gear, topologies, and build lists for building your own CCNP lab. I'll start by listing some thoughts about which switches to buy today, routers next post, and the pull together some build lists.
For budget, I'm going to fall back on the budget survey I asked about a few months back. Feel free to weigh in if you haven't already - I'll look at the results again before I put the final build list together. Or just post on today's page and I'll see it there. I was surprised at how few chose the "more than $1600" option - not because I think the economy's going great, but because it didn't seem like a lot. I'll try to stay frugal (just like Cisco!), and I'll probably then shoot for a final topo/build list of $800, $1200, and $1600. Unless you folks change my mind in the mean time, that is.
OK, today's topic is switches. It's been a while, so let me start with some choices I'm making for our sample labs:
To see more of the background, look to my CCNP lab post 2 and CCNP lab post 3. I won't rehash all that here, but I say that my criteria here is for CCNP prep, and CCNP prep only - no consideration for moving to another CCxP or CCIE cert.
Next, here's what I found today on Ebay for prices on the gear we discussed when we were kicking ideas about switches. As usual, my pricing goal is to get a general idea, but not to necessarily look for today's best bargains. So, I go to Ebay, search, sort by price, and select "buy it now only" so I can see what I really could get it for today without waiting on bidding to finish. I'm pretty much ignoring the number and type of interfaces, other than those that require more hardware (eg, for GBIC and SFP ports, I adjusted a bit mentally for those costs as well, versus those with copper gigabit built-in.) I also ignored shipping, again to make it more generic. Here's what I found:
2900XL: $50
2950 Standard $150
2950 Enhanced $250
These prices are a little lower than when I looked a few months back for the CCNA lab posts. Interestingly, there were a very large number of WS-C2950 (that have the standard image) available today on Ebay, with a few number of Enhanced image 2950's. There were several enhanced image switches at less than $250, but those didn't have 1000Base-T - but lots of $250 each did.
Also, be careful about which switches do and don't have the EI software - here's a good link to check those that have EI, and here's one for those that don't. Look to the bottom of the links.
Finally, I did check the 3550's, which are the lowest-price option to get into an L3 switch. The SI image 3550's (no layer 3 switching, but can be software upgraded to do so w/ Enhanced image) still seem to be around $600.
Now, for topologies. While you can learn something with just 1 switch, it's really helpful to have at least 2 switches, and with 3, you can do a lot more with STP practice. Here's a couple of sample topologies with 2 and 3 switches, respectively, that would be how I'd deploy the gear when doing switch-centric practice. This assumes I've got 3 routers, but they're cheaper, and I'm going to suggest a minimum of 3 routers in the next post anyway...
To close for today, here's what I'll suggest for the three CCNP lab budgets. You tell me where I'm missing, and maybe that'll influence what I put in the sample build lists in the coming week:
Admittedly, this is only part of the story - rest is coming - but comment away!
Odom, CCIE No, 1624, splits time between writing books for Cisco Press and teaching classes for Skyline ATS. In his 25-ish years in the networking industry, he has worked as as a pre-sale and post-sale SE for a few networking vendors, as well as a network engineer implementing network technology. Wendell has spent the majority of the last 15 years teaching, consulting, and writing about networking technologies, most of which in some way relate to Cisco products. His books include titles on QoS, CCIE R/S, as well as several titles related to CCNA certification, including the September 2007 book CCNA Official Exam Certification Library (CCNA Exam 640-802) (Read a sneak peek of chapter 7). Click for the list of current titles by Wendell.
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A few comments
I would highly suggest getting an access server (such as a Cisco 2509 or 2511 router). That way you can be connected to all of your switches and routers at once. This saves the effort of moving the console cable around and it also allows you to monitor console messages or debug info on other devices as you make changes on another.
Also, remember that education is an investment in yourself. Don't be afraid to purchase a good lab if you have the means. You'll learn faster and more completely when your lab fully supports what you are practicing. If you think about how much getting your CCNP will help your career and your salary in the long run, the cost of the lab pales in comparison. Plus, you can always sell the lab equipment on ebay when you're done and recoup a lot of your expenses.
Lastly, don't forget about Dynamips. It's free and can do the job for most of the CCNP topics. You can also take your "lab" anywhere if you have a laptop. Even if you get a physical lab, Dynamips is great for practicing on the go.
Access Server it is
Hey J,
I'll add an access server to the mix. Just trying to be cost-conscious!
Yep, Dynamips makes the budget change significantly, since you can do tons of the router work with no router hardware costs. I know it's become very popular. It's good to mention, and maybe I'll blog on it down the road. How long did it take you to get comfortable with Dynamips?
Wendell
Getting comfortable with Dynamips/Dynagen
Hello,
I needed one long Friday evening. But I have to add that I work with Cisco gear on a regular basis and that I'm happy with a command line interface.
I found dynamips/dynagen during my preparation for the CCNA exam. On that Friday I read the complete dynagen tutorial and setup my first lab (see lager.net) with dynamips. I used this lab for the routing part of the CCNA and I also used dynamips for DHCP, NAT and Frame-Relay. (I passed the CCNA exam back in December 2007.)
At the moment I prepare for BCMSN (my first step towards CCNP).
Bye, Tore
aneqdote re: 2950T's
I've been reading and greatly appreciating your series over the last few months (thanks!) - about a month I ago purchased three 2950Ts. I managed to get all three for $180 or less ($180 each for two, $160 for the third) - all three with EI - via buy-it-now listings on ebay. That may change your estimates a bit.
And I'd like the echo the same sentiment as the previous comment, and highly recommend a console access server - I'm currently using a 2511, which affords plenty of room for expandability to client devices and routers with 16 async ports.
I'll add an A/S to the mix
Hi Will,
I hear ya - I'll add an access server to the highest priced lab at least, maybe the medium. How much for the 2509/2511/etc and the octal cables?
Glad you got the better prices - it's significant enough to matter. I'll think about lowering my price estimate, but for the purposes of the blogging stuff, the target moves enough so that I typically just take my readings, and go with them for a while, just to be a little more consistent. By at those prices, it certainly would get you into the range for adding a 3rd switch in my 2nd budget line, and maybe another router to the highest budget I'l looking at. Thanks!
Wendell