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Cisco Lab Suggestions For CCNA And CCNP Certification

By Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933

For CCNA certification training as well as preparing for CCNP exams, you can't beat putting together your own Cisco lab. Best of all, you don't have to spend a bundle to get a solid collection of Cisco routers and switches to practice with!

From personal experience, I can tell you that getting started is the hardest part. With so many routers and switches to choose from, deciding on what to buy for your Cisco lab can be tough. Of course, making sure you have the right equipment is part of your CCNA training! In this CCNA training tutorial, I've listed a few of my favorite routers and switches here that I've used in my Cisco labs over the years. I want to remind you that you do NOT have to have all of this equipment to get started.

My personal favorite for Cisco lab work is a 2520. These are great routers to practice with for your CCNA certification, and can come in handy for your CCNP test prep as well. This Cisco router comes with four serial ports, one BRI interface, and one ethernet port. This is an excellent router to use as a frame relay switch, and you can use it to simulate your frame relay provider on some of the serial ports and still run routing protocols on other ports. If you're looking for a sample frame relay switch configuration, there's one on my Cisco Lab Help webpage.

Cisco 2501 routers are plentiful, cheap, and are great CCNA certification training routers. There are two serial interfaces and one ethernet interface on these routers.

I've found that a combination of three 2520 routers and one 2501 is a great way to practice for CCNA certification success. You can use one 2520 as a frame relay switch, one as the hub router in a hub-and-spoke configuration, and the other 2520 and the 2501 as the other spokes. If you're lucky enough to have an ISDN simulator, you can connect two of the 2520s via ISND as well. You can find 2520s for around $100 and 2501s for about $50 or less.

Cisco Labs And Access Servers

From your CCNA studies, you know that a rollover cable is needed to connect a PC to a router's console port. When you have three or four routers, you're going to get tired of moving that cable around. Configuring a Cisco router as an access server will help you avoid this! Once you work with an access server in your Cisco lab, you'll wonder how you ever did without one.

Prices for access servers are all over the place; do NOT buy an expensive one or panic when you see some of the prices on eBay. Look for a 2509 or 2511 - those are very affordable access servers. (I know the phrase access server brings a PC to mind, but they're not servers in the traditional sense - they're specialized Cisco routers.)

On occasion, I've heard some people say that 2500s aren't good to practice on. Nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when you're working on the CCNA. CCNA certification is all about learning the basics, and why spend big money on an expensive router when you can learn OSPF perfectly well on a Cisco lab that costs less than $500?

Best of all, you can always sell the router lab when you're done. In truth, you're really renting a Cisco lab, not buying it. The valuable experience you gain from this small cost - not to mention your CCNA certification - will give you the confidence you need to thrive in today's networks.

You're now ready to join the thousands worldwide who have put the world's most powerful CCNA certification exam study tool to work for them - including my exclusive CCNA Ultimate Study Guide, personal support via my exclusive Cisco certification forum, training on real Cisco routers and switches, the world's only Binary Math and Subnetting ebook written just for the CCNA exam, and more.

You're ready for The Ultimate CCNA Study Package.

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The Ultimate CCNA Exam Prep Package