HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN CCIE ROUTING AND SWITCHING LAB

Certification: Cisco CCIE Routing and Switching - Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert Routing and Switching

The main aim of CCIE is to improve the ability of a person to install, operate and troubleshoot the problems of networking connection. You must practice to get familiar with wire connections and its problems. Engineers require significant experience to configure and troubleshoot Cisco equipment in live production environments. Just the theory knowledge is not the key point to pass the exam. Lab work is equally important too. For your lab work to be perfect, what else do you require than equipments? Practice- lots and lots of practice. Now, the first thing that comes in your mind is "Where do I get all the equipments?" Now, you can stop worrying about it because below you can find the best way to have your own routing and switching lab.

While for the answers to these questions it depends on which CCIE tracks you have planned on tackling, where you are located in the world and what other resources you are in reach to through work or school. If you have a good economic condition you can get a fully equipped rack from EBay (an online store) at about about 3000 USD. CISCO website can also provide you with many lab equipments. While building your home rack you can prefer using version 5 because it is very understandable and easy but you will have to invest a lot of money for it. The topology of Internetwork Expert consists of two portions. The devices that the candidate will be able to configure include 6 routers for required platforms, two Catalyst 3550 switches and other two Catalyst 3560 switches. The external devices that the candidate are not able configure includes a Frame Relay switch, three backbone routers and finally terminal server/access server. Now it depends on which platforms you want to work in. You can find all these platforms enlisted with required materials in ine.com site. After you decide which platforms you are choosing to work in you will have to understand how the cables are connected together. The above site has also provided you with all the required information you need to connect cables, Ethernet connections, frame relay configurations and all the physical interface connections.INE specializes in its expert-level of CCIE training to satisfy its customers and help them with CCIE training. INE labs use the same physical topology each and every time so all their workbook volumes are very well defined. INE topology is actually very much similar to the actual lab topology. The INE online labs have always been great for study as they allow the candidates to save all your current configuration states and also download them at a later stage. So, visiting the INE site will help you a lot in building your own switching and routing lab. The main requirements to the board will server/switch racks for mounting, powering and cooling the gear effectively. GNS3 is a program or software which can run Cisco IOS routers and for this you don’t require a fully equipped rack and can very affordable and effective to build the home lab. They also have an online community so you will not be facing many difficulties in connecting the cables. You can always tell them your problem and they will help you in an instant click. There will be lots of Ethernet replacing Frame-Relay backbone and inter-router connections. Another helpful key will be investing in some EHWIC-1-FE interface in your home lab. This interface is also very helpful and has proper instructions written on it which is easy to understand and work with.

To run IOS 15 so you will essentially need 3750-x or 3650-x...there are a few 3750's that will support IOS 15 and I think the 3560v2's will as well. You can choose on your own whether you want to use IOS 15 or IOS 5. Along with some changes new topics such like DMVPN, Get VPN, and IPv6 Security are installed and supported on current ISR G1/G2s. According to the experience of many people they have referred not to use IOU/IOL for L2 as they don’t find it stable enough.CSR1000v is way more efficient because it is solid and a great way to learn IOS XE tech like NAT64. The IOS runs very effectively and easily in this type of software and programs. Some further more elements than can help you with building your own switch and routing lab are: R1- 2610XM R2- 2610 R3- 2621XM BB1- 2621XM (Frame Switch) R4- 2651XM R5- 2651 R6- 1841 ISR AS1- 2511-RJ (Access Server) SW1- WS-3550-48-EMI Multi-layer switch SW2- WS-3550-48-SMI SW3- WS-3550-48-SMI SW4- WS-3550-48-SMI

These two are not connected in the rack but are important in smooth running of the lab are BB2- 2651XM BB3- a 2511. It also depends on whether you want to use a vendor for all of your training, such as INE, IP Expert, or another Cisco 360 vendor? You can always choose your topology on your own but for building racks you will always need assistance as connecting all the routers and wires in definitely not an easy task. Online websites can always assist you to connect and build your own lab easily. Many helpful videos have been uploaded in YouTube too. So, after buying all the required routers and equipments you can easily jump into some useful site and build your own lab rack. None of the routers are that cheap so be sure of your choice because later it will cost you more in the process of replacing it. You can do some research on what you need Cisco provide many recommendations to its students in daily basis. So, choose the right platform for yourself and with calm and peace build your own switching and routing lab and practice more!

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