Cisco Certification: Building Your Own Home Lab, Part I

CCNAs and CCNA candidates hear it all the time: â??Get some hands-on experienceâ??. From my personal experience climbing the Cisco certification ladder, I can tell you firsthand that there is no learning like hands-on learning. No simulator in the world is going to give you the experience you will get cabling and configuring your own routers.

Whenever I mention this to one of my students, they always say it costs too much. The truth is, it is cheaper now to build your own CCNA and CCNP lab than it has ever been. The secret? Used routers.

The word â??usedâ?? turns off a lot of people; not many of us buy used computers or used servers. Cisco routers, though, are robust; I personally own a Cisco 4000 router that I use as a Frame Relay switch in my lab that Iâ??ve had for about four years, and Iâ??ve never had a problem with it.

The good news for current CCNA and CCNP candidates interested in building their own labs is that used Cisco equipment has never been more plentiful or cheaper. eBay is a good way to get an idea of whatâ??s out there and what the prices are, but you donâ??t have to assemble your lab one piece at a time. Many eBay vendors who sell used Cisco equipment sell ready-made CCNA and CCNP labs for one price, including cables.

I asked one major vendor of CCNA and CCNP labs, www.ciscokits.com, what the most common questions are regarding building your own home lab. Hereâ??s what they had to say:

Why do I need real routers instead of a simulator?

You need a physical router as the simulators just donâ??t have the ability to give you the â??hands onâ?? you need to see what happens when you disconnect a cable or put a cable in the wrong location. You will come to find quite quickly that mistakes you make on Router 1 are affecting Router 5 all because you did not screw in a cable properly. No simulator can simulate that.

How many routers do I need?

Two routers really are required to see if anything works. If you have a very limited budget, you can receive value from only purchasing a single router over working with a simulator. However, you will not be able to see the main thing we are trying to accomplish. The propagation of route tables! The only way you can see if your configurations work, is to have at least two routers. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you purchase a dual router kit that comes with all the accessories you need. Otherwise you can spend days trying to find all the little extra pieces you need to get your lab up and running.

Do I need a switch?

Well, it is nice to have. However, with only about 2 questions on the test dedicated to â??hands onâ?? switch knowledge, if you have to skimp on something, skimp on the switch.

What routers and switches should I buy?

Choices, choices, choices! Which 2500/2600 router do I pick? I will list some pros and cons of each router below, along with current prices (note that prices are generally lower if you buy a dual router kit instead of a single router):

1) Cisco 2501 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $94.99. The cheapest introduction router, and it can support a vast majority of the commands that you will need to learn for your CCNA test. All 2500 routers that we will discuss come with a minimum of two serial ports and an Ethernet port. You will need to add a transceiver to this unit to convert the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 style Ethernet port.

2) Cisco 2503 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.99. This is the same as a Cisco 2501, except it adds an ISDN port so you can complete all your ISDN commands for the CCNA test. You will need to add a transceiver to convert the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 style Ethernet port.

3) Cisco 2505/2507 with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $109.99. The same as a Cisco 2501 except it has a built-in 8 or 16 port hub so you do not have to purchase a transceiver.

4) Cisco 2514 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $149.99. This router is the same as a Cisco 2501 except instead of one Ethernet port you have two. You may ask, what is the big deal? Well, you can use this as your Cable Modem/DSL Modem router. Now you can test your ability to setup a firewall and router in a live environment on the Internet. Lots of fun! You will need to add two transceivers to convert the Ethernet AUI ports to an RJ-45 style Ethernet ports.

5) Cisco 2520 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.99. This is the same as a 2503 but it also adds two more serial ports so you can use this as a frame relay switch later in your CCNA studies. It costs the same as a 2503, so this is a great money saving tip.

6) Cisco 2612 Router with 32 DRAM and 8 MB Flash $199.99. This is a modular router unlike any of the 2500 series routers. So the big benefit of this is you can buy extra modules to add functionality such as more serial ports, ISDN ports, Ethernet ports, WICs and such. However, due to the flexibility you will pay a bit more. One day it is a frame relay switch, the next it is your ISDN router. In the long run it will be cheaper than purchasing a bunch of dedicated routers for each discipline you want to learn.

7) Cisco 1912 or 1924 Switch with Enterprise Software $109.99. This is a good low cost switch.. The only draw back is it is a 10 MB switch except for the two 100 MB uplink ports. Not a big deal since you have 10 MB routers.

8) Cisco 2912 or 2924 Switch with Enterprise Software $249.99. This switch will run all the current commands needed for the test and is a full 100 MB switch.

And should you desire to sell your lab after you complete your certification, you can either negotiate a price with the vendor who sold it to you, or you can sell it yourself on ebay. Itâ??s my experience that 95% of candidates who earn their CCNA go on to pursue their CCNP within one year, though, so donâ??t sell it too quickly.

In the end, you spend only a few hundred dollars, and you gain invaluable experience and knowledge that will help you both in your certification quest and your job performance. Having been there, I can tell you that you will learn much more from actually configuring and cabling your own equipment than you ever will from any simulation of the real thing.

To your success,

Chris Bryant, CCIE (TM) #12933, has been active in the Cisco certification community for years. He has written several books that have helped CCNA candidates around the world achieve the coveted CCNA certification, including several concentrating on binary math conversions and subnetting questions that the average CCNA candidate will need to answer on their CCNA exams.

He is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com) where he teaches affordable world-class CCNA courses via the Internet, and sells his popular Cisco certification books. Heâ??s proud to have helped CCNA candidates around the world achieve their career goals. Mr. Bryantâ??s books and courses are sold on his site, on eBay, and on several other major Cisco certification sites.

---

Cisco Certification: What To Expect On Exam Day

Cisco Certification: Taking Your First Certification ExamYou've studied hard; you've... Read More

Quick System Restore with ASR Backups

ASR (Automated System Recovery) is a feature available on the... Read More

Best PC Pocket GPS

Stop Getting LostOne of the greatest uses for a pocket... Read More

How to Set Up Simple File Sharing WinXP

The first step is: Start > My DocumentsSo you have... Read More

Basic Computer Thermodynamics

That desk in front of you and everything else around... Read More

Toshiba Wins Hollywood Support for the HD DVD format

What led them to this choice, as all four studios... Read More

Computer Geeks and Garden Gnomes

First and foremost before I begin my ranting it is... Read More

What Does That Error Message Really Mean?

Surf the 'Net for about 10 minutes and chances rate... Read More

Got Virus?

GOT VIRUS? Your Data is NOT lost forever!In the wake... Read More

How To Buy An MP3 Player

Are you looking for an MP3 player but am not... Read More

Occupational Therapy and PDAs

Occupational Therapy Made EasierMedical downloads for the pda have improved... Read More

Tips for Buying a PC

Buying Your PCBuying a PC that's right for you and... Read More

Lightning Season: How to Avoid Data Loss

We have just entered the time of year that most... Read More

How To Have Two (Multiple) Copies Of Windows

Having two operating systems is not as difficult as many... Read More

Be Prepared in the Event Computer Disaster Strikes

ComputersBusinesses and individuals alike have all grown to rely on... Read More

Internet Explorer Shortcuts for Mouse-o-phobes

If you're like me, you occasionally find the ubiquitous mouse... Read More

New Computer? Steps to Protect Your Computer Before Connecting to the Internet

Getting a new computer should be an exciting and gratifying... Read More

Keeping Passwords Secure

As the web has evolved, so have the methods of... Read More

Computer Performance Tips

Introduction In this article I will clearly spell out the... Read More

DVD The Ultimate Consumer Digital Media

Digital Video Disc or as it is sometimes referred to... Read More

Is Your Web Browser Putting You At Risk?

It's free, it comes with Windows and it's used by... Read More

MobiTV and Visual Stimulation Imput for Personal Cognitive Performance

Stimulus thru Caffiene or Visual Input?It appears that the Mobi... Read More

What Exactly are Screensavers? - part I

After reading this good article you will know some important... Read More

How To Become A True CCNA

I've worked my way from the CCNA to the CCIE,... Read More

Cisco Certification: Building Your Home Lab, Part II

In the first part of this home lab tutorial, CCNA... Read More

Help, I Need a New HDTV! (Part 5 of 5)

Feeling overwhelmed in selecting a new TV? With all the... Read More

Portable DVD Players - Things To Know

In my humble opinion nothing makes a long trip easier... Read More

The Benefits of Open Source

If you are a building a website or a forum,... Read More

Cisco Certification: The Most Important Cisco Study Youll Ever Do

All of us are familiar with the pyramids of Egypt.... Read More

What Exactly are Screensavers? - part II

Here are some tips on how to use screensavers:First of... Read More

Build Your Own Computer

I'm eighty-one years old and I bought my first computer... Read More

Choosing a Portable MP3 Player: Part 1

MP3 players are everywhere! It seems that the number of... Read More

iPod users get the picture

iPod users start to get the picture and it's turning... Read More