Cisco certs and home labs, a great discussion

Yesterday, Cisco Subnet blogger Wendell Odom answered a truckload of questions about building a home lab from attendees of a live Network World chat. (You can also find  Wendell, and ask him questions, at his blog.) If you are studying for a Cisco cert, thinking about studying for a Cisco cert or just want to build your own home network, this information in this chat will guide you on your way. Guest also asked Wendell his thoughts on the new Cisco certs, his upcoming Simulator project and his feelings about brain dumps. Here's an excerpt.

Alfred: How will someone new to the CCNA purchase equipment for his/her lab?

Wendell_Odom: Well, the how is mainly in the used market, with eBay and craigslist being popular sites. But the "what to buy" issue is the bigger issue. I spent some time on it in my blog at Network World back in the fall. Generally, two routers, one 2960 switch, and cables, is probably a minimum for a good start.

Winol: Hi Wendell! I'm actually trying (very hard) to pass my CCNA. I'm also planning to pass some other professional certs in 2009. I'd like to know what is a good compromise between the CCNA and CCNP (or CCSP CCVP etc.). In terms of a lab, I know some 2950 with Standard and Enhanced IOS will still be useful, but what next? Thanks for everything.

Wendell_Odom: You need a pair of routers with at least two serial interfaces. You can get by with super cheap 2501s for a lot of the CCNA topics. If you're moving on to CCNP one day, 3640s, oddly enough, seem to be a good price/function combo. See my CCNP series in my blog for some of those tradeoffs.
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