Cisco Networking Academy

[kurtkurtles]

I just started taking my CCNA 1 class through the Cisco Networking Academy and I was wanting to set up a lab at home so I could work through the curriculum at home.  Does anybody know what equipment I would need to set up a lab that would allow me to do that?  

[tt2468]

I seem to remember the new certifications not covering older hardware, but I may be wrong. If you want an inexpensive lab, search on amazon or ebay for cisco lab. Many kits come with a couple cisco routers and switches, and cost around $200-300

[kurtkurtles]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Apparently they did just update the curriculum and took out a bunch of the older stuff so that's one of the reasons I posted here.  I did some google searching and it looked like a lot of the responses on which hardware I would need was going off of the old curriculum.  I was hoping someone here would have maybe some knowledge of the newer curriculum.  

[8uhbbhu8]

9 minutes ago, kurtkurtles said:

I just started taking my CCNA 1 class through the Cisco Networking Academy and I was wanting to set up a lab at home so I could work through the curriculum at home.  Does anybody know what equipment I would need to set up a lab that would allow me to do that?  

Most of the hardware/software used would be:

 

Switches cisco 2800 and up series

 

Switches Cisco Catalyst series switches are what we used in my course last year. 2801 series and newer at the end of the course were used. Again watch OS requirements. 

 

Software Wise Packet Tracer is used for emulation and a simple free tftp server is needed for OS updates(downloadable)

 

Packet tracer can be used for most of the course but some commands don't work in it and having access to the actual equipment is very important later on for being able to know how things actualy are in the real world

 

Terminal wise for accessing the switch and router consoles I recommend HyperTerminal and PuTTy

 

Make sure to get (if your pc doesnt have it) a serial card for your pc and either a serial to serial cable or a serial to ethernet cable for connecting to your equipment. Example: My switch at home is an HP variant and has a dedicated serial port so I need a serial to serial cable for connection from my pc to the switch. The stuff I used in my course had an ethernet based console port so we needed serial connections on our PCs and a serial to ethernet cable for connection. (MAKE SURE YOUR CABLES ARE LONG ENOUGH TO REACH)

 

If you plan on running it properly with a few switches and routers to go through the course step by step and actually running the equipment:

 

You will need CF cards for each router and switch that uses them ((if they don't come with them) most do) 2GB should be good enough for a long time 

 

For cables you'll need several CAT based ethernet cables for connection between equipment and pcs. Get around 6-8 cables about 4-6 feet in length to account for space between the routers and switches depending on where they are. Also you'll need to make sure the routers can have or already have 2 serial spf ports on each them. If not and the routers have the available space you can get modules for them like this:

 

You will also need the cables used to connect them together (2 or 3 cables)

 

Make sure to have at least 2 computers available for use (laptops will work as well) 3 is recommended for the labs

 

If you are getting the equipment I recommend getting a rack to hold them (kijiji, craigslist etc. don't pay more then $100 for a full height and make sure they are standard 19 inch racks)

All your equipment will need "rack ears" to attach to the rack so make sure you have those

 

Always touch the rack BEFORE you do ANYTHING touching the equipment including plugging in cables. I couldn't tell you how many routers and switches we killed from just that

 

Other then that I can't think of anything else. New equipment will always cost more then slightly older stuff as usual. Slightly older hardware usually works with everything and most times only needs a OS flash to bring it up to speed.

 

Tip is to write up your configs in packet tracer/notepad first, double check them, and then copy paste into the switch/router for easy config and being able to save what you've already written up incase something messes up (WHICH WILL HAPPEN) and you need to wipe the temp flash and redo the configuration so you can just copy it again

 

Always make sure to look through the course to double check whats used to make sure what you are getting is compatible.

 

Hope this slight text wall helps you

[leadeater]

If you have a computer to host it on or wiling to host it on packet.net you could just use http://virl.cisco.com/work/ rather than buying old network hardware.

[Blake]

3 hours ago, kurtkurtles said:

I just started taking my CCNA 1 class through the Cisco Networking Academy and I was wanting to set up a lab at home so I could work through the curriculum at home.  Does anybody know what equipment I would need to set up a lab that would allow me to do that?  

it's ccna, packet tracer is all you need.

[LAwLz]

9 hours ago, Blake said:

it's ccna, packet tracer is all you need.

Totally agree.

There might be one or two instances where some command you need doesn't exist in packet tracer, but those are rare (for CCNA).

 

You should try Packet Tracer before you start buying stuff you might end up not needing.

Your school should have licenses for it if they do CCNA based courses.

[kurtkurtles]

There are two different labs in CCNA.  We use Packet Tracer for half of them (the PKA files), but there are other labs that are in the course that our teacher wants us to use the "real equipment for".  I'm not sure if my teacher is just being a pain in the ass or if that's the way the new curriculum asks us to do it.

[LAwLz]

2 hours ago, kurtkurtles said:

There are two different labs in CCNA.  We use Packet Tracer for half of them (the PKA files), but there are other labs that are in the course that our teacher wants us to use the "real equipment for".  I'm not sure if my teacher is just being a pain in the ass or if that's the way the new curriculum asks us to do it.

It's good to get hands on experience with real equipment.

Your school should have lab equipment if they require you to use it.