affordable cisco test lab

[watts3000]

What does one need to start a cisco test lab. I know I will need some routers and switches. I also will be shopping ebay all the way. For you guys that have test labs what equipment are you working with a want equipment thats in line with the new test. I know most people say you don't need equipment for a ccna but I would still like to have something that I can work on hands on.

 

[cmetz]

Depends on what you're looking to test and how much you can spend.

A pair of 2610s with T1 WICs and a hand-made T1 cross-over cable would be an excellent way to start. Load 'em with RAM and flash, you'll need it sooner or later. I don't have my Cisco decoder ring handy but you probably need the IP Plus or Enterprise software license to get all the routing protocols.

A couple of PCs will be necessary for test hosts & traffic generation.

A good managed Ethernet switch (Dell 3324 for example) will let you play with VLANs and tagging and generally the managed switch feature set.

If you want to play with serious BGP routing, you need at least a 3640 w/128MB RAM to handle a full backbone routing table of 130k-ish routes.

 

[watts3000]

The systems will not be a problem I already have a mcse test lab with 5 systems. Now when you say a good managed switch should I be going with a catalyst or does it matter. Right now I want to practice setting up vlans and also configuring a router lets say for example a customer has a T1 line coming in for internet use. I want to be able to go in and get everything setup and running. I'm no where advanced enough to be trying to set routers up to communicate from site to site yet. I'm just trying to get my feet wet and at a limited budeget. So what cisco router can I get thats running the new ios it would be nice if the router could also tie into dsl because thats what O'll be using at home for testing.