Home Networking Project for learning

[Jtalk4456]

OK so at tax return I am going to make my home technology my project to upgrade. I have A+ and am working to self study CCNA, but I want a network to build and work on so I'm not just memorizing things. I plan on buying a CCNA Lab Kit to work with, along with a 2-4 bay nas. I'm probably going to grab a new mobo and cpu for my computer. I might also buy a cheap computer (pentium or celeron) as a family computer just to have more than one in the house to work with. Am I on a good start for tech to work with? is there anything else I should grab to play with? Any General suggestions?

[Co0kieMon5t3r]

I would strongly look at something like GNS3, using the Cisco IOS you can get much more complex at a lower cost than running physical kit.

The great thing is that GNS3 runs images like an emulator, so no missed features.

https://www.gns3.com/

[AngryBeaver]

You could also instead of buying an old pc, buy a 3-4 yr old server for 150-200 that will let you do even more fun stuff. For hardware I would get some of the used and a little older cisco devices on the cheap. Then you can get your time messing with IOS and also with a server so you can use it to setup your own dhcp,dns,AD,GP, etc. Which is also really good to know and understand.

[Jtalk4456]

40 minutes ago, Co0kieMon5t3r said:

I would strongly look at something like GNS3, using the Cisco IOS you can get much more complex at a lower cost than running physical kit.

The great thing is that GNS3 runs images like an emulator, so no missed features.

https://www.gns3.com/

I'm using gns3 in conjunction with some udemy classing and network academy, but it still helps to play with real world equipment, i learn by doing, and clicking isn't quite the same thing

 

21 minutes ago, AngryBeaver said:

You could also instead of buying an old pc, buy a 3-4 yr old server for 150-200 that will let you do even more fun stuff. For hardware I would get some of the used and a little older cisco devices on the cheap. Then you can get your time messing with IOS and also with a server so you can use it to setup your own dhcp,dns,AD,GP, etc. Which is also really good to know and understand.

I don't really know how to look for servers, what do i need to search for to find some for that price?

[AngryBeaver]

19 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

I'm using gns3 in conjunction with some udemy classing and network academy, but it still helps to play with real world equipment, i learn by doing, and clicking isn't quite the same thing

 

I don't really know how to look for servers, what do i need to search for to find some for that price?

Google and ebay are the best way I know of. You will find plenty of sites that are selling as is decommissioned servers or ones that are selling them refurbished. You can also have good luck on craiglist in your area as lots of smaller businesses use it to get rid of older hardware.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HYVE-ZEUS-V1-1U-SERVER-2x-XEON-QUAD-CORE-E5-2609-2-4GHz-16GB-RAM-NO-HDD/132727292377?hash=item1ee729c1d9:g:ttEAAOSwseZbxmHw:rk:2:pf:0

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R410-2x-Intel-Xeon-X5675-3-07GHz-16GB-DDR3-2x-250GB-HDD-1U-Server/312237096146?hash=item48b2c7fcd2:g:d8cAAOSwVzdblumI:rk:3:pf:0

 

Just 2 examples from ebay. The X5675 is a decent bit older than the first, but still a good system and more than enough for what you need it for anyways.

 

The first machines looks to be 4-5 years old, the second is more like 8-9 years old. There are much better and worse offerings on their though for a good price point. You can even move up to a 2u or even bigger system, heck you could get a tower version too.

[Jtalk4456]

15 hours ago, AngryBeaver said:

Google and ebay are the best way I know of. You will find plenty of sites that are selling as is decommissioned servers or ones that are selling them refurbished. You can also have good luck on craiglist in your area as lots of smaller businesses use it to get rid of older hardware.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HYVE-ZEUS-V1-1U-SERVER-2x-XEON-QUAD-CORE-E5-2609-2-4GHz-16GB-RAM-NO-HDD/132727292377?hash=item1ee729c1d9:g:ttEAAOSwseZbxmHw:rk:2:pf:0

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerEdge-R410-2x-Intel-Xeon-X5675-3-07GHz-16GB-DDR3-2x-250GB-HDD-1U-Server/312237096146?hash=item48b2c7fcd2:g:d8cAAOSwVzdblumI:rk:3:pf:0

 

Just 2 examples from ebay. The X5675 is a decent bit older than the first, but still a good system and more than enough for what you need it for anyways.

 

The first machines looks to be 4-5 years old, the second is more like 8-9 years old. There are much better and worse offerings on their though for a good price point. You can even move up to a 2u or even bigger system, heck you could get a tower version too.

I want to play with rack mount and get used to it so i'll stick away from towers for the moment. When I'm looking for these later on, what do i need to know to search and know good ones from bad ones?

[AngryBeaver]

42 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

I want to play with rack mount and get used to it so i'll stick away from towers for the moment. When I'm looking for these later on, what do i need to know to search and know good ones from bad ones?

The one think I would research before you purchase one of these is HD compatibility. Some servers are VERY picky about which drives they will take. Some are as bad that you need special drives that basically have a chip on them and no other drives will be accepted. So a quick google of the model number and the words drive compatibility will probably make that a quick thing.

 

I mean i guess it comes down to what you intend to do with it after learning and studying. You can turn them in to game servers, file servers, websites, DLNA servers, etc. So depending on what you choose your requirements would change. Some items don't need much in the way of clocks, others like game servers need higher clocks. Some items don't need much ram, others do (this can be added later as needed though). While they are older the Xxxx line of xeons are still pretty darn good. I still have one in my rack and they cpu's are cheap to upgrade.

 

I would recommend getting a copy of windows server for it though. If you are in school then the licenses for this can be gotten for free. If not there are plenty of free 6 month trials out there. Now for testing most of the content covers 2008r2 and 2012r2... I personally prefer server 2016, but I like to stay cutting edge. 2012r2 is easy to get and you can probably get it for cheap if you use grey market. If you do go the server OS route, then I would definitely play around with using it as a DHCP,DNS,AD,GP server. I mean don't get me wrong, in an ideal setup these would not generally be all on the same server, but it isn't going to hurt anything either. You can play around with multi-homing and using it as a router too if you want. Just needs to have 2 ethernet ports.

 

In the end there is a ton of good things you can play around with on there. Lots of settings you can learn more about. Learning how to allow and restrict items in GP is fun. You can learn how to deploy software to your entire network via GPO. Anyways I am getting long winded here, but there are some very powerful tools this will give you good hands on experience with.

[Jtalk4456]

5 hours ago, AngryBeaver said:

1. game servers, file servers, websites, DLNA servers,

2. While they are older the Xxxx line of xeons are still pretty darn good. I still have one in my rack and they cpu's are cheap to upgrade.

3. I would recommend getting a copy of windows server for it though. If you are in school then the licenses for this can be gotten for free. If not there are plenty of free 6 month trials out there. Now for testing most of the content covers 2008r2 and 2012r2... I personally prefer server 2016, but I like to stay cutting edge. 2012r2 is easy to get and you can probably get it for cheap if you use grey market.

4. In the end there is a ton of good things you can play around with on there. Lots of settings you can learn more about. Learning how to allow and restrict items in GP is fun. You can learn how to deploy software to your entire network via GPO. Anyways I am getting long winded here, but there are some very powerful tools this will give you good hands on experience with.

1. maybe, definitely, nope, not sure what that is

2. how high can you upgrade them though? what's the newest thing in that chipset that I can buy later down the line?

3. If my first use will just be the file server to start, is windows server still preferable to freenas? I hear about it all the time

4. What's GP? Also software deployment sounds fun. Also I want to learn virtualization, do the servers you mentioned work well for that? I assume virtualization will be a ram hog

[AngryBeaver]

32 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

1. maybe, definitely, nope, not sure what that is

2. how high can you upgrade them though? what's the newest thing in that chipset that I can buy later down the line?

3. If my first use will just be the file server to start, is windows server still preferable to freenas? I hear about it all the time

4. What's GP? Also software deployment sounds fun. Also I want to learn virtualization, do the servers you mentioned work well for that? I assume virtualization will be a ram hog

1. DLNA is a format for streaming movies or audio to tv's that support it (which is most).

2.An X5687 with stock speed of 3.6ghz in the 4 core chip and X5690 with a stock speed 3.47 in the 6 core chip. But most boards are dual cpu so you would have 2 of these for either. They are also X xeons so they can be overclocked and alot of people used these for gaming and overclocked them over 4ghz to great effect. X5690 is the most expensive of them and can be found for under 100 on ebay. If you go down to a X5680 it drops to under $45 for a stock drop to 3.33ghz (remember can still be overclocked).

3.I prefer windows and if I wanted freenas I could run it in a VM.

4. GP is Group Policy it is basically part of AD. Virtualization can be a ram hog depending on what you use.. a bunch of lightweight linux vm's wouldn't be too bad. That being said Ram for these is also pretty cheap. I see 32gb for $25 4 sticks. I also see a lot of 31 8gb sticks going for 45 (bidding though). That is the plus of these older servers... the stuff you need is pretty cheap.

 

Doing my research most dual cpu motherboards have 18 ram slots.   So if you use cheap 4gb ram that is 72gb or 144gb if you use the slightly more expensive 8gb ecc ram.  If you are willing to pay 400-450 for a server though... you can get one with a X5680 and 144gb of ram for that price with a few HD's installed as well.

[Jtalk4456]

4 minutes ago, AngryBeaver said:

4. GP is Group Policy it is basically part of AD. Virtualization can be a ram hog depending on what you use.. a bunch of lightweight linux vm's wouldn't be too bad. That being said Ram for these is also pretty cheap. I see 32gb for $25 4 sticks. I also see a lot of 31 8gb sticks going for 45 (bidding though). That is the plus of these older servers... the stuff you need is pretty cheap.

oh group policy! haven't seen it abbreviated much. I really look forward to playing with that! I can tell this will be fun

[Alex Atkin UK]

Personally I'd always prefer the core OS to be something license free and run Windows in a VM, but to each their own.  Admittedly I don't have any networking qualifications, maybe find someone who already is CCNA certified and ask them what they think?

[Sir Asvald]

On 11/7/2018 at 8:20 PM, Jtalk4456 said:

OK so at tax return I am going to make my home technology my project to upgrade. I have A+ and am working to self study CCNA, but I want a network to build and work on so I'm not just memorizing things. I plan on buying a CCNA Lab Kit to work with, along with a 2-4 bay nas. I'm probably going to grab a new mobo and cpu for my computer. I might also buy a cheap computer (pentium or celeron) as a family computer just to have more than one in the house to work with. Am I on a good start for tech to work with? is there anything else I should grab to play with? Any General suggestions?

I've got CCNA and CCNP. I'd say, having hands on experience is the best thing. But it can be costly. Depending on how much you got from your tax return. I'd say a good lab with some L2 + L3 switches, routers and some IPhones would cost you around $300-500. 

 

Here are some prices:

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR7.TRC1.A0.H0.Xccnp+lab.TRS0&_nkw=ccnp+lab&_sacat=0

[Jtalk4456]

4 hours ago, Abdul201588 said:

I've got CCNA and CCNP. I'd say, having hands on experience is the best thing. But it can be costly. Depending on how much you got from your tax return. I'd say a good lab with some L2 + L3 switches, routers and some IPhones would cost you around $300-500. 

 

Here are some prices:

 

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR7.TRC1.A0.H0.Xccnp+lab.TRS0&_nkw=ccnp+lab&_sacat=0

I'll have enough. I was looking at the 389 one there.I think i might cough up $100 to grab a nice wall mount rack vs that stand that comes included, what do you think?

[Sir Asvald]

8 minutes ago, Jtalk4456 said:

I'll have enough. I was looking at the 389 one there.I think i might cough up $100 to grab a nice wall mount rack vs that stand that comes included, what do you think?

You'd get the rack with the lab. I'd you have sent you some of my old equipment, if I live in America.

 

 

[Jtalk4456]

1 hour ago, Abdul201588 said:

You'd get the rack with the lab. I'd you have sent you some of my old equipment, if I live in America.

 

 

i wonder how much shipping would actually be XD probably close to as much as the kit