Carlos/Brian, I also have a "poor man's" rack but I hate to waste time trying to fit the IPExpert labs into my setup or Dynamips. Some times I find myself chasing my tail troubleshooting the lab thinking that it is one of those "gotchas" just to find out that the problem I had was caused by something I missed trying to fit the IPExpert lab into my environment.
I'm at a point where I need to start measuring my readiness for the real thing. I have less than 6 months to take the lab and I don't want to take the written again. Plus, if I get my CCIE before the end of the year I get a nice cash bonus ;) On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 8:17 PM, Brian K Valentine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Personally, I built a "poor man's" rack and set it up in my basement. It > has eight 2500 series routers (mostly 2501s). I also have a couple of > 2924 switches and a 1700 series router that is doing "router on a stick" so > that my switches can act somewhat like they know how to route. At the > heart of the whole thing is a 2522 router that acts like a frame-relay > switch. Then I have a 2511 Router that allows console into all the other > equipment. Got all the routers maxed out at 16MB flash, 16MB sdram. I'd > estimate that I'm able to get about 80% of the technologies working. It > runs OSPF, RIP, EIGRP, and BGP just fine. So, that should get me pretty far. > After a little digging for the right IOS version, I've even been able to > get IPv6 running! I put it all together including cabling and a full 72" > rack for about $1000. Got most of the parts on ebay and a couple off of > craigslist. > > > > I realize that it is not going to get me all the way to where I need to be, > but it lets me work on my own schedule. It even lets me have access to it > spontaneously. I also am a family man. I can spend an hour or two or three > on it anytime I wish. Then I can rent rack space on the weekends when I can > carve out 8 or 10 hours straight to dedicate to studying. I've also tried > playing around with dynmips a little, but have found that I prefer my > old-school hardware for the most part. > > > > HTH, > > > > Brian Valentine > > > > > > > > *From:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] *On Behalf Of *Rogelio Gamino > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 10, 2008 7:44 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [OSL | CCIE_RS] Rack rentals > > > > I've been using Dynamips but as we all know it has some limitations. > > > > Are you all using Proctor Labs? Is there another option? During the work > week the only slot I could use from Proctol Labs is the one starting at > midnight but then I wouldn't get any sleep before going to work. > > > > It would be nice if the slots were staggered so that they had slots every 4 > hours. I don't want to limit myself to the 4pm to midnight on weekends. > During the work week I could use their racks if they started around 8pm, > finish around 4am, sleep a couples of hours and then go to work. > > > > Not complaining, just looking for options. The CCIE lab is difficult as it > is so it would be nice if I could find an option that would better fit into > a married /w children, working person's schedule. > > > > Thanks, > > RG > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 270.2.0/1494 - Release Date: 6/10/2008 > 7:22 AM >
