shonen Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I have been wanting to slowly put together my own cisco lab enviroment for sometime now seeing as I lack the motivation to do things in packet tracer. I don't like building something I can't really use. Anyways I purchased a slightly old cisco catylist 4006 switch today just to muck around with. pretty much the same as this one Now I am a bit of a n00b when it comes to all things cisco and was after suggestions for a good and resonable priced cisco router that I can muck around with and also use on my own home network. I was thinking something from the 1800 series but figured I would ask before I impulse buy something like the above switch (after all it is the most important part). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Why didnt you just p.m. me? j/k. Look @ the 2600 series, namely, something like this oneCisco 2610 Pretty cheap too (for a cisco router) Cheers! you beat me to the home lab! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decepticon_eazy_e Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Why didnt you just p.m. me? j/k. Look @ the 2600 series, namely, something like this oneCisco 2610 Pretty cheap too (for a cisco router) Cheers! you beat me to the home lab! 2621 would be more fun, 2 ports vs 1 and they're 10/100 vs 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share Posted March 7, 2009 Actually I was gonna get your verdict prior to purchase hex, but I had a few to many Jim Beams and got excited and clicked buy it now XD I am curious to know what you think about my choice of switch (I neglected to do my full research prior to buying) but meh I remember doing an assingment on the 4500 and it was pretty sweet, so I figured a model or so down can't be half bad. Hahaha I may have beaten you to the personal lab setup but you are more 1337R than me when it comes to the cisco shit and you could put it to better use. I like to jump in the deep end and learn things the hard way. XD Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will put it to costing and see how I fair. I must admit I am leaning more to the 2621 side. I was also thinking about getting a server but I think I will wait that one out seeing as space is a massive issue and I really want a cabinet for all my shit. I am thinking about a 27RU that I found for 600 bucks. PS: Hey hex did you end up getting that server that was for sale from one of the other members in here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I didnt have the cash to buy the server the guy is selling, but I GOT A FON ROUTER!!! WHEEWW!!!..... havent cracked it yet... havent had time Well I WILL have to tell you that when it comes to cisco's router numbering system, the series # (2000, 3000, etc) can definitely effect how fast it is but when it comes to the sub-numbers it's a whole different story man. Just think about it like this, the lower the number the lower the features. If you can get into a 22xx class or higher than your probably good, but when your in stuff like the 2100 series, and the 2600 series you have to really know what your buying or else you could just end up with poo basically. Like a 2621 is pretty nice. a 2610 is not bad either, but a 2514 for example is crap and is meaningless unless you want to buy another 2514 to go with it in router to router situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share Posted March 7, 2009 ah cool thanks for the heads up hex I will keep it in mind, I can handle a somewhat drunken impulse buy on a switch but not the router seeing as its the core of any half deccent network. I will most certainly do my reading on that prior to purchase. XD By the way you neglected to mention your thoughts on my choice of switch, I am curious to know what exactly your thoughts are. XD I did some a lil research and it seemed ok for what I wanted, then again I am pretty drunk at the minute and oversights come with being well and truely tipsy. ^_^ *I have a craving for ramen, anime and saki* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 $hit, ill be honest, I have no idea about the switches except that some are smart switches, some are dumb switches (they just switch and have an arp table, and thats it) and some support vlans... To me right now a switch is a switch so until you get more under your belt, a cisco switch is just as good as the $20 linksys switch from walmart. (no offence, and either way the switch you bought will come in handy later no doubt) BTW DAMN THATS A BIGASS SWITCH!!!! (i couldnt get the url you gave to work so i saw this one: catalyst 4006 switch shit... that's got it's own damn server cabinet built in! Hey if you want something small, brb, lemme post you what I saw for cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Sry to double post but check this out! this is what I want to get just to start out with! 12U home rack stand $29.99 and check out ciscokits.com someone pointed it out for me here on the forums not too long ago. I think I may buy from this place if I dont decide to just buy my own peice by peice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share Posted March 7, 2009 Well my understand is pretty much the same as yours however some work at a layer 3 level and are able to do routing much faster than a router can seeing as it just forward the packets. LOL yeah its a pretty big ass switch but I like the modular factor and the x3 PSU options among other things (not sure if it operates on the 3rd layer though but I am pretty sure the 4500+ series do). 6u is a resonable size for a SOHO setup, I swear I cant get over the price you guys pay for shit. A class mate was looking at a wall mount cabinet and I found a 6U at 200 aus dollars which was by far the cheapest I could find on the web. That 12u you had a link to isn't to bad however I want a proper encloser so it can be locked away and out of sight/out of mind. Cheers for the linkage I will check it out, hopefully postage aint a massive cost to the land down under and thanks again for your input its much appricated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 I'd be inclined to go for a 2600 (or 2800) series router and a 2950 switch. Obviously, the more up to date the kit, the more expensive it will be. By getting some fairly recent hardware, you'll be able to use it in real life for your home network (firewall with ACLs, NAT and VLANs etc.), rather than just for some Cisco labs. If you plan to go on to CCNP, you'll definitely need access to more hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share Posted March 7, 2009 Thats pretty much what I have in mind lain (home use, CCNA and maybe CCNP down the track), the shit is expensive but considering I will be using the stuff for the final year of the course I am doing now and for the next 3 at a Universaty level I see it as an investment. Thanks for advice mate I will take a look at the spec sheet for the models you suggested and see how the money tree is going. XD EDIT Damn I just checked out the price on a 2811 router and they are around $1,500 to $2,000 if you want the HWIC-1adsl module includded with it. Fuck me expensive shit however I do most like the feature's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3%5kr3w Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 yah, theres no way around it, its mighty expensive.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
decepticon_eazy_e Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Switches... Find a WS-C2924-XL-EN, that would be nice. WS-C2912-XL-EN is the 12 port version. Stay away from the 1900s. We have a pallet of WS-C2924M-XL-EN switches that have been going out the door at $25. I have a couple WS-C3524-XL-ENs in my basement, works the same as the 2900s. I replaced all my 2900s with those 3500s. If you can find one that has a bad port, the price will probably be significantly lower. For home use, 23 ports is just fine for the discount you might get! Gigabit is really nice to get, I found an Extreme 48 port gigabit switch. Port 48 fails testing, so it was free.... :) If you find model numbers, post em here, I'll give you my opinion too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5ive Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 If your short on $$ and you are just trying to learn - you can go the emulation route: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=419 Otherwise just buy used from ebay - as the previous poster stated, equipment with a bad port or 2 will go for next to nothing, and most likely will not effect your training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shonen Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 This is gonna sound a lil odd but virtualization just doesn't feel REAL to me, I have had a bit of a muck around with packet tracer and its good for the IOS cli but thats about it. When I picked up the catylist 4006 I was like AWESOME but how the fuck do I connect to it to configure. So I went and hit up google. Ahhh so I need a roll over cable for the console port... well that wasn't supplied with the switch (neither was the AC lead but I had a spare). Come tuesday I will have to ask one of the Teachers if he can turn a blind eye for me to nick one. XD Thats actually a really good idea about finding one with a busted port here and their, I never thought about that and thanks for the suggestion I shall keep it in mind. I found this on ebay cisco lab which looks promising however I have no idea what the estimated cost of the lot would be. but meh I don't mind waiting it out and saving some funds to get something pretty deccent for my needs. Oh and I took pictures of my new toy pity I can't have a fiddle just yet (fucking roll over cable). Also thank you all who have been giving me input on this, its very much apriciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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