CCNA / CCNP Household Lab Tutorial: Assembling Your Cisco Household Lab

A CCNA or CCNP candidate who desires to become completely prepared for their exams is going to put together a home lab to practice on. With applied Cisco routers and switches additional very affordable and plentiful then ever prior to, there is definitely no excuse to not have 1!

With the quite a few various models available, there is certainly some understandable confusion among future CCNAs and CCNPs about which routers to get and which ones to keep away from. It is possible to take virtually any set of Cisco routers and put together a home lab; part of the studying process is taking what equipment you have available and putting together your own lab! For those of you preparing to begin your house lab or add for your existing 1, this post will list the routers I use in my Cisco pods. You absolutely do not have to have all this equipment, but this may provide you with some very good concepts on the best way to get began.

By far the most versatile router you are able to get for your CCNA / CCNP home lab is often a 2520. These routers come with 4 serial ports, 1 ethernet port, and 1 BRI interface for ISDN practice. This mix of interfaces means you are able to truly use it as a frame relay switch even though utilizing the ethernet and BRI ports for routing. (There's no challenge with utilizing a lab router as each your frame relay switch as well as a practice router; for a frame relay switch sample configuration, check out my web page!)

My pods consist of 5 routers and two switches, and three of the 5 routers are 2520s, due to their versatility. A recent ebay search showed these routers selling for $99 - $125, an outstanding value for the practice you're going to get.

I also use 2501s in my home labs. These have fewer interfaces, but the combination of two serial interfaces and 1 ethernet interface lets you get a lot of practice.

A combination that works very properly is utilizing three 2520s; 1 as my dedicated frame relay switch, 1 as R1, and one more as R2. Add a 2501 as R3, and you are able to have a frame cloud connecting R1, R2, and R3, a direct serial connection between R1 and R3, an Ethernet segment that includes all three routers, and an ISDN connection between R1 and R2 if you have an ISDN simulator. That combination will allow you to get a tremendous quantity of practice for the exams, and you are able to often sell it when you're performed!

2501s are very very affordable, with quite a few inside the $50 range on ebay. It's quite doable to get three 2520s and 1 2501 for less than $500 total, and you are able to get the majority of that cash back should you decide on to sell it when you're performed.

With 4 routers to work with, you're probably going to get tired of moving that console cable around. An access server (truly a Cisco router, not the white boxes we have a tendency to assume of when we hear "server") will enable you to out with that. An access server lets you set up a connection with every single of your other routers via an octal cable, which prevents you from moving that console cable around continually. For an example of an access server configuration, just check out my web page and look inside the "Free Training" section.

Access server rates vary quite a bit; do not panic should you do an ebay search and see them costing thousands of dollars. You do not require an high priced access server for your CCNA / CCNP home lab. 2511s are terrific routers to get for your access server.

1 question I get typically from CCNA / CCNP candidates is "What routers need to I buy that I can nonetheless use when I'm ready to study for the CCNP?" The CCIE lab modifications on a regular basis and at times drastically when it comes to the equipment you'll require. For the duration of my CCIE real lab studies, I identified that renting time from on the web rack rental providers was truly the best technique to go. Don't hesitate when putting your CCNA / CCNP home lab together, asking yourself what is going to be acceptable for the CCIE lab a year or so from now. None of us know what's going to become on that equipment list, so get the CCNA and CCNP initial - by building your own Cisco home lab!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, could be the owner of the Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available!

Go to his blog and sign up for Cisco Certification Central, a every day newsletter packed with CCNA, Network+, Security+, A+, and CCNP certification exam practice concerns! A free 7-part course, "How To Pass The CCNA", is also available, and you are able to attend an in-person or on the web CCNA boot camp with the Bryant Advantage!