CISCO HOME LAB RECOMMENDATIONS

[dehines]

Would someone give me some good advise as to what equipment (routers, switches, hubs) they would purchase if they were going to build a fairly good CISCO Lab at home.&nbsp;&nbsp;I am studying for my CCNP but ultimately will also work towards my CCIE.&nbsp;&nbsp;A while ago I found a website that someone was maintaining that did an excellent job of giving up to date advise to those of us who were interested in Cisco certifications and the individual really had a lot of good information about building and maintaining a Cisco lab but can not seem to locate their address.&nbsp;&nbsp;Does anyone have any good recommendations as to such a so called expert?&nbsp;&nbsp;Thanks for all of your help in advance.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br> <p>DONALD E. HINES<br><a href=mailtoEHINES@AOL.COM>DEHINES@AOL.COM</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[wybnormal]

I can tell you what I have. I have a 2514, 1601 and a 2503. I use a 1900 for a switch and about 5 servers of various types. It's all racked and I can get to all the cabling to move things around. I also have a DSL line so I can use the internet and route real world data from here to there and back again. All the equipment was purchased used and I have a maintaince agreement on it through Cisco. That gives me access to IOS loads and patches. Not to mention if a router dies, it was cheaper then buying another router.<br><br>Mike

 

[Deckard]

This site has homelab ideas and other Cisco resources:<br><br><A HREF="

http://www.redspan.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.redspan.com</A>

 

[Guest_imported]

Hi Wybnormal,

Could you please explain the statment &quot;All the equipment was purchased used and I have a maintaince agreement on it through Cisco&quot;. Does this mean I can buy used hardware off of Ebay, and buy a maintaince agreement from Cisco on it ?

Please also respond to: Carolina58@home.com

 

[wybnormal]

You bet- I bought the switch and routers through eBay and private parties. I then called Cisco and setup a maintance agreement on the switch and my key 2514 router for a 1 day turn around if I have a failure. Plus I have access to the user/password TAC files and software upgrades. The price is fairly reasonable per year. I'm on my 2nd year and the price stayed the same.

Mike S