About those slots, these are different interfaces for the 7200:
PA-A1: ATM port adapter
PA-FE-TX: FastEthernet adapter
PA-2FE-TX: 2x FastEthernet adapter
PA-GE: Gigabit Ethernet adapter
PA-4T: 4x Serial Interfaces
PA-8T: 8x Serial Interfaces
PA-4E: 4x Ethernet interfaces
PA-8E: 8x Ethernet interfaces
PA-POS-OC3: interface for SONET
You probably only need the PA-2FE-TX, PA-GE and PA-4T. This will give you FastEthernet, Gigabit Ethernet and some Serial interfaces (for PPP and frame-relay).
Thank you very much Rene, your answers to my questions about cisco IOS images and how to purchased and download them was very useful to me.
But I have a last question:
Can I purchased smartnet contract when I buy Cisco hardware from ebay or I can purchased it only when I buy cisco product from resellers ?
For used equipment, I would forget about smartnet. Cisco doesn’t really like the “grey market” of used equipment. Officially you are not legally licensed to run IOS on used equipment. There is a method to get used equipment re-certified by Cisco but you’ll probably pay 2-3 times the price of what you paid for the used equipment.
In short, only use smartnet for new production equipment
Hi rene,
I am preparing for my ccna and I have passed mt icnd1.
So far I have been using packet tracer but I think its time for me to use real equipment.
At the same time, I wanted to get equipements that will be valid for usage in both ccna and ccnp.
Should I still get 2950 and 3550 ? I am not sure if they support ios15.
Also, as I am getting reburbish unit from knowledgecomputer (local company) instead of from ebay due to electronic taxes and power concerns, the price are slightly more steep.
How many of the switches should I get ? 3 x l2 and 1xl3 ?
Also, for the router and firewall what should I get that will be relevant to the ccna and ccnp exam ?
If you are on a budget, just get 2x 2950 and 1x 3550. That allows you to practice 99% of the topics. The only topics you can’t practice are private VLANs (you’ll need to get a 3560 instead of the 3550) and stackwise. For stackwise you will need 2x 3750. They won’t run IOS 15.x but you don’t need it for CCNA/CCNP.
If you want real routers, take a look at the 1841 and 2811 routers. Those are affordable and very nice, I especially like the 1841 routers since they are small and don’t make a lot of noise.
i want to say this is amazing web site every thing about cisco certificate when i checked i found is very easy , the explanation short strong and simple i liked to match , after 3 months i am going to to join this website for CCNP .
and advice any one like to pass CCNA exam is better to start study from this website.
Thank you for creating this site, René. Following your CCNA lab setup recommendations above, I have purchased the following:
Your book: Master CCNA
3 x Cisco 2950 12-port switches
3 x Cisco CAT5 to Serial console cables
USB 2.0 to Serial 4-port adapter (box style vs the König cable-style one that you mentioned above)
In addition to this, I am getting ready to buy 6 UTP crossover cables, but I am unsure how many I will need. Going by your diagram above, what does ‘Fa0/13’, /14, /16, /17 mean? Are those representative of the cables used to connect the switches together? And if so, how many cables are needed and to which ports would each be connected? As for the type, would CAT5e be sufficient? I have an old laptop to which I can connect the USB cable, however, will I need additional hardware (NICs) for my computer to connect all the switches and emulate the routers in GNS3?
Thank you for all of your help and insight.
Fa0/13, Fa0/14, etc are the interface numbers. Fa stands for FastEthernet. I always recommend to connect your switches in a triangle (SW1-SW2, SW2-SW3, SW1-SW3) and to use two cables in between each switchpair. This requires 6 crossover cables and allows you to practice anything. CAT5e is fine, these older switches only support FastEthernet which is enough for a lab.
If you want to connect some virtual routers to your switches then I would use a USB NIC for each connection. Two or three of these is enough.
As for the interface numbers (e.g. Fa0/13, Fa0/14, etc), would 13 and 14 indicate the port numbers on the front, or is that a reference to ports on the back of the switches?
Regarding emulating routers in GNS3 (as I don't have the funds at the moment to buy 4 routers), what would be my options for obtaining the necessary IOS images (legally)? I don't know if this matters, but I am not enrolled in a CCNA course - is this what I need to gain access to IOS images? I was thinking I may be able to simply purchase two routers (1841 and 2600 or 2800) and download and use the IOS image from the router in GNS3. Is this not possible, and/or what are your thoughts and recommendations. I definitely don't want to pirate IOS images.
You make mention of "...a USB NIC for each connection.". How many connections would there be, and can you provide examples of hardware I could use for this? I am using a laptop which has 2 USB ports - would this be sufficient? Also, if this has already been answered in depth elsewhere on your site, please forgive me and kindly redirect me there.
I want to ensure that I have everything (all equipment) that I need so that when your book and all the equipment arrive, I can begin setting everything up as quickly as possible and start learning.
Hello Rene,
My name is George, a Kenyan living in Berlin with very little Network understanding. I am one of the two founders of leapfrog-ago.org.
I am starting a ccna training next week, so your website has actually been my starting point. I have ordered the routers that you suggested above only to notice that this recommendation is from August 2013. My query is whether the recommended equipment are still valid today. I hope to learn a lot here though I am a bit unsettled at the amount of acronyms and protocols to master. Please advice. Thanks
George
The hardware recommendation is still valid, these routers and switches are still useful.
Networking has a steep learning curve, it will take some time to get used to all the acronyms and protocols out there. One thing that might help is to take good notes from the beginning, or even better…try mindmapping everything you learn during your CCNA training:
These are the interface numbers on the front of your switch. Fa0/13 is number 13, Fa0/14 is 14, etc. Fa means FastEthernet, Gi means Gigabit etc.
The short answer is that the only way to get legal IOS images is from Cisco.com if you have a support contract, otherwise you can’t even download them. Officially Cisco states that it’s not permitted to run an IOS image on a non-cisco device but they kinda turn a blind eye to the whole emulation / GNS3 thing. If you want to keep it semi-legal, the closest thing you could get to it would be to buy a used router, copy the IOS off it and use it in GNS3.
Practical this doesn’t really work since not all IOS images work well in GNS3 and there’s a big chance the used router doesn’t have a legally obtained IOS. Most people use used routers for labs/studying so they just upgrade to the latest IOS they can find. The 1841 and 2811 routers are great but not supported in GNS3. A great legal alternative to GNS3 is Cisco’s VIRL. It supports L2/L3/ASA emulation and comes with all the IOS versions you need. I personally use this 99% of the time for my labs now but it does take some time to setup/configure and requires some good hardware.
To practice switching you will need switches but sometimes it can be useful to connect a computer or router to your switches to ping from one device to another. If you have an extra computer/laptop, use that…otherwise you can connect your virtual GNS3 routers to your physical switches. GNS3 supports a “cloud” icon that allows you to connect a physical network card to a virtual router interface.
You can use a USB NIC to connect the virtual GNS3 router on your computer to a physical interface on your switch. Two will be enough…
Hope this helps!
Rene
shantel
(Shantel - Networklessons.com)
Split this topic
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I have a Catalyst 3560G switch intended for hands-on learning that started in a crash-boot loop. I tried using the mode button to reset it but now I don’t get any console output anymore! The syst light stays flashing green. Is there something obvious I’m missing? I’m eager to get started.
sir new ccna (200-125)v3 and ccnp will be launch in Aug 16 , will these lectures will help to pass/cover these exams ! what should we do to pass the current one or waiting for the new one exam. third i registered for your this online course , if i follow all these material could this help me to pass ccie.
