Michael, We do have the Dynamips topology that you can use for much of your study. This should be available in your members download area. This is really helpful when you want to hammer out a topic and you don't want to particularly rent rack time to do just a small amount.
In fact with a powerful PC you can run 7200VXR routers with 12.4(24)T, which is the latest code and use some external 3560 switches and run our full topology and not have any shortcomings with Dynamips if you really want to pursue it. Or you can use just dynamips and do the majority of the router tasks in each of our labs and use rack time to make up for catalyst tasks you have to skip. It is always very flexible for you. Beyond that much like Nicholas has said it is really much more economical to do rack time. If you really have your heart set on a home lab then 26xxXM routers are a good option. You can get a few WIC-1T's with B2B DB60 Connectors and some 3550's but you will still have to rent rack time for a few labs for features that are not going to be available in the older equipment. For the cheapest route possible you can do the following. A 2600 router will run the XM code but you have to load the IOS from TFTP as it won't fit on the flash. So you have to boot the router from TFTP each time, which is very time consuming. Make sure you have the DRAM maxed to 64. This allows you to run up to 12.4(15)T. So you could do the following: 11 2611 Routers 1 2500 Frame-Relay router with 4 Serial Interfaces 4 3550's 7 WIC-1T's 2 WIC-2T's 7 B2B DB60 Cables 2 smart serial cables B2B A terminal Server. For a better option go with the XM 8 2611XM 3 2610 1 2500 Frame-Relay router with 4 Serial Interfaces 4 3550's 7 WIC-1T's 2 WIC-2T's 7 B2B DB60 Cables 2 smart serial cables B2B Regards, Tyson Scott - CCIE #13513 R&S, Security, and SP Technical Instructor - IPexpert, Inc. Mailto: [email protected] Telephone: +1.810.326.1444, ext. 208 Live Assistance, Please visit: www.ipexpert.com/chat eFax: +1.810.454.0130 IPexpert is a premier provider of Classroom and Self-Study Cisco CCNA (R&S, Voice & Security), CCNP, CCVP, CCSP and CCIE (R&S, Voice, Security & Service Provider) Certification Training with locations throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. Be sure to check out our online communities at www.ipexpert.com/communities and our public website at www.ipexpert.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael Peck Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 12:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [OSL | CCIE_RS] Lab equipment Guys, I am building a home lab for my studies and trying to figure out what would be a buget oriented but 100% functional setup that would meet all the latest R&S requirements. If someone who has already done this before could share his knowlegde, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Michael _________________________________________________________________ Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com _______________________________________________ For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please visit www.ipexpert.com
