Buying a lab to study for CCIE...

[SilentZero]

Ok well I am looking to buy a cisco lab off of ebay and I am looking at two labs at the moment. I have a few questions regarding them and if they are a good buy or not.

The first and most affordable lab: Cheaper Lab

The second and more expensive lab: Expensive Lab

My big question is will the cheaper of the two be enough to properly prepare for the CCIE (R&S and/or security). Or will the cheaper lab just not cut it and would I bet best going with the more expensive one.

Secondly I would like your opinions on both of these labs, and or suggestions on if there is anything better and affortable out there.

To be honest money is a factor, but I can easily afford the cheaper of the two labs, however the more expenive one is out of my range, but it would be within my reach in about another year or so (wife approval time frame lol). I would rather spend no more than 3k for a decent lab that will get the job done, so the cheaper of the two is looking like my best bet at the moment, but I don't want to spend that kind of money and find out later that the lab won't suffice. I appreciate all of your opinions and help on this. Thanks.

 

[keeleysam]

form the pictures, they look EXACTLY the same...

 

[SilentZero]

Thats a standard picture...scroll down to see what is included.

 

[nightowl]

Some of the problems that you will run into are that IPv6 is on the test and the 2500's do not support it. Also, there is no ATM, in either of the racks, although I have had good luck using the Doc CD configuring ATM and getting it working. You definately want ISDN for your rack and that means getting an ISDN simulator which is as much as a router and sometimes more expensive. Finally, you will want 3550's or some other Cisco L3 switch which is a big part of the exam too. Good luck in your studies. I am taking my R&S lab on the 28th (less than 2 weeks from now). :Q

 

[imported_netman]

I think you really need something in between these 2 labs. While the L3 switches are certainly needed, it does drive the price way up.. You will need the ISDN simulator, the ATM isn't needed really, as you can get by with just univercd study on config, certainly 10 routers isn't needed either.. I would personally go for (6) 2621's (or other acceptable model), 2x NM-4T - 4 Port Serial Module, 6x WIC-2T's - 2 Serial Ports... of course the chances of getting that exactly are slim.. However, I think these labs are on the extremes high and low..

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: nightowl
Some of the problems that you will run into are that IPv6 is on the test and the 2500's do not support it. Also, there is no ATM, in either of the racks, although I have had good luck using the Doc CD configuring ATM and getting it working. You definately want ISDN for your rack and that means getting an ISDN simulator which is as much as a router and sometimes more expensive. Finally, you will want 3550's or some other Cisco L3 switch which is a big part of the exam too. Good luck in your studies. I am taking my R&S lab on the 28th (less than 2 weeks from now). :Q

I agree.

good luck.

 

[SilentZero]

Will 2610's, 2611's routers cut it?

 

[nightowl]

2600 routers are fine and they are used for some of the routers in the actual CCIE racks for testing. They will support everything that is on the test. Just make sure they have enough ram for the feature set that you are running. This means 64D/16F (max) which will run any feature set for the 2600s.

 

[SilentZero]

Originally posted by: nightowl
2600 routers are fine and they are used for some of the routers in the actual CCIE racks for testing. They will support everything that is on the test. Just make sure they have enough ram for the feature set that you are running. This means 64D/16F (max) which will run any feature set for the 2600s.

Since I don't actually plan on taking the lab for another year..maybe two, is there a high chance that by the time I am ready to take the lab the equipment I have will be obsolete? I just want to get started preping as early as possible and not keep putting it off.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: SilentZero

Originally posted by: nightowl
2600 routers are fine and they are used for some of the routers in the actual CCIE racks for testing. They will support everything that is on the test. Just make sure they have enough ram for the feature set that you are running. This means 64D/16F (max) which will run any feature set for the 2600s.

Since I don't actually plan on taking the lab for another year..maybe two, is there a high chance that by the time I am ready to take the lab the equipment I have will be obsolete? I just want to get started preping as early as possible and not keep putting it off.

The x600 line while it is showing its age as long as you have the ram/flash to support 12.2 or 12.3 you should be fine. The x800 line is still bran-freakin-new.

The x500 line can barely run 12.3. I mean it is 10+ years old.

 

[SilentZero]

Well thanks everyone for throwing out your opinions on the labs in question. I have decided to take your advice and go with a mix of components since really neither would be beneficial. This is what I have on my list so far:

6 x 2611 routers
1 x 3550 (L3 switch)
1 x 2523 (for frame relay switch)
1 x 2511 (for terminal server)
1 x ISDN Simulator
1 x PIX 506e firewall

I am going to start buying up these parts on ebay in the next week or two, so if you all can tell me what you think or what you would add or take away, I would appreciate it. This is going to be a big purchase and I want to make sure I am getting it just right. Thanks again!

 

[nightowl]

Unless you are planning on getting ATM network modules (really expesive) for your 2600's the LS1010 is not really going to do much for you. All of the ATM configuration on the IE is on a router and not the ATM switch itself. Also, while more expensive, I would look at getting a PIX 515 if you can afford it. It has the ability to support more interfaces (both physical and virtual) and it can running the latest PIX OS.

Edit: If you wanted, you can also use 2610's and trunk off the built in ethernet interface. It requires some more configuration but it is functionally the same as 2 physical ethernet interfaces and it will probably save you some cash too. You do need the correct IOS version to do this though (I believe it is the enterprise feature set IIRC.)

 

[SilentZero]

Oh also, was thinking about picking up a 3005 VPN concentrator, but curious to know if there were any other options in an attempt to save a bit of money.