• Those who tell you that you don't need a lab because they achieved X,Y and Z without buying anything, and only an idiot needs a lab.
• Those who must have the newest, latest and greatest of everything, and tell you that you are not only an idiot, but undoubtedly a broke idiot if you can't buy 7200 routers and 6500 switches.
Both of these types are telling you about themselves instead of what you need.
Hedgelings, you need a lab.
The days of the paper CCNA (when you could pass the CCNA exam by reading “paper” or books) are gone. Cisco made the exam tougher to weed out candidates who have limited hands-on experience, so plan on building a lab. Education has a cost, both money and time. You are making an investment in your future. If you get a CCNA cert, your expenses will be worth it. (And worth even more if you get a CCNP, CCVP, CCIE.) Consider the following options:
Option 1. Purchase a network simulator designed for the CCNA or CCNP exam. There are some very good simulators on the market. Do your research and make sure you get the best one you can afford.
WARNING: There is a free simulator on the Internet: GNS3, which is really Dynamips with GNS3. It's a great program. Truly spectacular. And totally unsuitable for hedgelings just starting their studies. Configuring the software is a major challenge, both hardware, like interfaces and memory, as well as the IOS. And you must have real, honest-to-goodness IOS from Cisco to make it work. Way beyond the scope of a CCNA program. Plus, the emphasis is on routing, so it is not adequate for CCNA switch exercises. Did I mention that it is not easy to set up? After you get your CCNA, consider getting it for a CCNP, CCVP, or even some CCIE stuff.
Option 2. Enroll in a Cisco Network Academy program at your local community college. This option has a lot going for it.
- A teacher/trainer
- A very decent network simulator from Cisco: Packet Tracer. Registered Network Academy students can download the simulator as a part of the course. Very decent simulator, my young hedgehogs, very decent. And included in the cost of the course.
- Access to actual Cisco equipment in the class.
- Did I mention Packet Tracer? It’s pretty darned good.
Option 3. Purchase used Cisco equipment
This is the best and worst option. Nothing, like nothing, beats actual hardware. Since it is real Cisco hardware, it performs exactly like … real Cisco hardware. The problem is knowing what to get, when to get it, and what to do with it. Not only will you need routers and switches, but you will need a variety of cables to make it work. And you might decide that you need more memory to run newer IOS versions. And then you want a terminal server… and the list goes on and on.
Below is our recommended hardware list for CCNA candidates (all of these can be found on ebay, who has not yet decided to advertise with us. Wazzupwiddat?) Do not buy more equipment than what is listed here. More equipment WILL NOT get you a higher score on the test. Be wise with your money and time.
Cisco switches
You need three. You might get by with 2, and we will do our best to show you how to learn everything with 2, but 3 is better. The switches to consider are the 2950 and the 2900-XL switches. Both are available in 12 and 24 port models. All are available on ebay for reasonable prices, whatever reasonable means.
The 2950 is the more modern and more desirable switch, and it will cost more. The 2950 switch uses native IOS, the same IOS used by routers, with additional support for switching commands. What does that really mean? It means that all configuration commands are entered in configuration mode instead of vlan database mode. The difference in the command sets are minor, and you can probably pass the exam if you did all of the switching labs with 2900-XL switches. But the Headgehog recommends at least one 2950 switch.
Our recommendation:
● 1 - 2950 Catalyst switch
● 2 - 2900-XL Catalyst switches: 2912 or 2924
If you can afford three 2950 switches, great. Get them. If finances are a serious problem, you can sorta, kinda, almost, get by with 2900-XL switches. And you might need only two switches. Sorta. Kinda. Almost. We will do our best to explain things using two switches, but three is better.
Avoid 1700, 1900, or 5000 switches. You can find these cheap. Like, real cheap, and they function well as switches. But their command sets are very different, so avoid them, no matter how much money you can save.
Routers
Almost any router will work. The issue is cost. New router models cost more than older router models, but older models are usually more than adequate for a CCNA lab. We recommend Cisco 2500 routers whenever possible, but there are other candidates, too. Cisco 2500 routers have at least one LAN interface and two serial interfaces, and will also work in a CCNP lab, if you decide to continue your certifications.
● 3 – 2501 routers with Ethernet transceivers, or any 2500 routers with 10BaseT interfaces. Most 2500 routers have a LAN interface and two serial interfaces, though models with four serial interfaces are highly desirable (see next recommendation). Do your research. 2501 routers, or any router with an AUI Ethernet interface, will need transceivers, which can add about $15 to the cost of each router.
● 1 router with 4 serial interfaces. You will need 4 serial interfaces for your Frame Relay labs. If you don’t know what Frame Relay is, don’t worry. You will.
Affordable routers with four serial ports:
● 2520 series router with 2 synch/2 asynch/synch serial interfaces (This can even be a 2521 Token Ring router, the only time to consider a Token ring router (if the price is right. Shop wisely.)
● 2600 router with 4 serial interfaces.
● 4000-4500 router with 4 serial interfaces
If you can afford four 2600 routers, great. Get them. The price goes up. 2600 routers are modular, and many vendors sell the modules separately. You can add the interfaces you need, or better, buy routers that already have them. When looking for 2600 routers, DO NOT buy routers with a WIC–DSU-T1 interface or any interface with DSU in the name. These are great interfaces when you have a T1 circuit (If your burrow has T1 circuits, then, wow). Instead, look for routers with the following serial interface cards, or purchase the interfaces later.
● WIC-1T (single serial interface. 2 cards are better than 1)
● NM-4E (4 serial interfaces)
● NM-8E (8 serial interfaces)
WIC-2T cards have 2 serial interfaces in one card, but they require a different cable. They work great, but the cost will go up.
All 2600 routers include an Ethernet interface as a part of the basic model. The later models have Fast Ethernet, or 100BaseT, interfaces. There is one important lab that requires a Fast Ethernet interface: Ethernet sub-interfaces. If you get a 2600 router, try to get one with a Fast Ethernet (100BaseT) interface.
Cables
● At least 3 serial crossover (DTE-DCE) cables
● At least 3 Ethernet crossover cables
● Enough Ethernet cables to connect your PC(s) and routers to the network
● 1 Cisco rollover (console) cable
You can probably find Ethernet crossover cables at any decent consumer electronics store that sells computers, Internet routers, etc. You can find serial crossover cables on ebay. Buy the shortest ones you can find. Cabling becomes a mess in a lab environment, and short cables help control the confusion.
Avoid (almost) any router that only has a Token Ring LAN interface. The only exception is a 2521 with four serial ports, if the price is right. You can make them work in your network, but making them work is not always simple. Cheap, probably. Easy, maybe not.
A last word on 2500 routers. The 2500 family of routers has been in end-of-life/end-of-support for a long time. That may sound bad, but it’s really not. They will perform about 99% of everything you need for the CCNA labs. Cisco also did us a really big favor by continuing to update the 2500 IOS. With 16Meg RAM and 16Meg NVRAM (non-volatile RAM), you can run very up-to-date IOS, including IPv6 support. If you need to upgrade the memory, bundles of memory (16/16) can be found on ebay for about $25-$50. The newest IOS is not needed for most of the CCNA labs. In fact, you can probably learn everything you need with minimum memory and old IOS. However, $25 to run the latest and greatest IOS is pretty cheap. Look for routers with 16/16 memory. The difference in cost is usually less than $25.
4000-4500 routers are also modular, but are often sold without interfaces. The only reason to buy a 4000 or 4500 router is to get four serial interfaces. If you can’t verify that it has four serial interfaces, don’t buy it. They have limited value beyond the CCNA, or to serve as a Frame Relay switch in a CCNP study. Again, it may be smarter to spend more money on other routers. But they work well if you get the interfaces you need, and they can be cheap.
Very Important Notee
If you buy equipment from ebay, it will most assuredly have a configuration in it, including passwords that will prevent you from gaining access to the equipment. Count on it. There is a solution.
The last hardware item to consider for your lab is a serial, or COM, port for your PC. If you have a new PC, particularly a laptop, it probably does not have a serial port.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE A COMM PORT.
You will need a USB serial adapter. This is one area where we advise much caution, young hedgelings. Yes, you will find them cheap, cheap, I tell you, cheap, on ebay. And they will not work. At least, the ones we got did not. Spend the $25-$40 and buy a brand name adapter. It will have drivers for your operating system, and a help desk to help you if you can’t figure it out.
Software
Your lab experience will be greatly improved with the right software. You will need an asynchronous terminal program. If your operating system is Windows XP, you should have Hyperterm in Accessories > Communications. It is a fine program. If your operating system is Linux, you may have minicom, or you can install minicom, another fine program. If you are running one of the Apple systems, good luck. And finally, if you are running Windows Vista, you have no asynchronous terminal program. After all, if your new(ish) computer didn’t have a COMM port, you don’t need a terminal program.
For any and all Windows platforms, we recommend putty. It supports asynch connectivity as well as telnet and ssh. And best of all, it is free. We can’t even find a bleg for money on the website. If you find one, drop a few shekels in the cup. It’s that good. And if you need a very decent ssh program at work, use putty. It’s that good.
We also recommend a TFTP server, syslog server and DNS. These packages are also free and work well.
3CDaemon v.2 for Win32 from 3Com
Dual DHCP DNS Server v6.42
For more information on these packages, see here.
Financing Your Habit
If cost is an issue (and when is it not?), consider sharing the cost with other CCNA candidates. Naturally, all of the equipment will need to be in one location, but that’s not the end of the world. Assuming that everyone in the group has Internet access (and really, if you didn’t have the Internet, you wouldn’t be reading this), a lab can be set up to allow everyone to work remotely. We will show some ways that provide various levels of access. But the person who keeps the labs will have a slightly higher electricity bill and a bit more noise from the equipment.
Summary
However you get a lab, get a lab. You have to have a lab.
You. Have. To. Have. A. Lab.
