attention: CCNP/CCIE

[XoverIP]

greetings-

I am hoping some of you can maybe give me some guidance here. I am a CCNA (100% self taught in >30 days!). I just got my first job in the IT field. I have never even [literally] touched a Cisco (or any other brand) router in my life.
The company I work for is about to begin leasing/sellin networking equiptment (OSI L-2&3 switches/routers). My job requires me to test-bench each peace of hardware as it comes in...and make sure that it functions properly.
I know to check; the memory and make sure that is up to speck and the power supply. I was wondering how to go about ensuring that Cisco IOS Version X is 100% in working order. Other things I am concerned about; what do i need as far as cables, interface cards and so fourth to be able to make sure all is as it should be. The company is willing to budget as much $$$$ as needed, so long as I can justify the purchase(s). Any input here would be greatly appreciated----skoobz

 

[axslinger]

A couple PC's with 10/100 NIC's would be a good start as well as a 10/100 hub or switch. They could be low end PC's. P-166MMX would be fine. Cisco's typically come with a console port cable. It has a DB-9 female on one end and as I recall an RJ-45 on the other. This is the only way to access a Cisco router before it has been configured with an IP address. I would think that you could come up with some type of testing scheme using the Cisco Debug command and various variations to verify that it's communicating. Also, if you could get your hands on a 1600 or similar to use as a lab unit, you should do that too. You could also use the unit as a backup for your clients and as a swap unit for in-house A-B testing if you have one that you think may be bad.
As far as verifying the operation of IOS, I'm about as green as they come w/regard to routers so I don't know enough to make a suggestion on that.

Good Luck,
Brian