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In the first part of this home lab tutorial, CCNA and  CCNP candidates can see that there are a LOT of choices when it comes  to what to buy to build your own Cisco practice lab.

 

Having been  there myself, I know it's confusing to decide how many routers or  switches to buy, and what I need at the minimum to run labs and get  some great hands-on practice. Let's take a look at some lab  configurations and some other lab equipment you may need.

 

A  starter practice lab will consist of two Cisco routers and one switch,  hopefully a 2950. This is a good way to get started. You will need to  make sure that the routers you purchase have Ethernet ports, and at  least one serial port. If possible, get routers with BRI ports, so even  if you're not configuring ISDN now, you'll be able to in the future.  (You will need one additional device to make ISDN work in your lab, and  we'll talk about that later in this article.)

 

You can practice  setting IP addresses and testing IP connectivity over the Ethernet  interfaces, and you can configure a point-to-point connection between  the two serial interfaces. (You must know how to do that before you  think of taking the CCNA exams!) Depending on the switch, you can also  get some practice putting the Ethernet ports in different VLANs and  working with the switch IOS.

 

This setup does have some  limitations. You can't practice trunking or Etherchannels with one  switch, and you can't set up a Frame Relay cloud with this  configuration. It's a good start, but you should consider getting a few  more routers, including one to serve as your Frame Relay switch.

 

What's a Frame Relay switch?  Good question.

 

The Frame Relay Switch

 

As you know from your studies, Cisco routers are DTEs by default.  The Frame Relay cloud is made up of DCEs.

 

In  a lab environment, you need a device to serve as the Frame Relay cloud.  This device will have DCE interfaces, and will actually be performing  frame relay switching. But this isn't a switch in our lab - it's a  Cisco router.

 

There are plenty of Cisco routers that make great  frame relay switches. Get one of those and a couple of DCE/DTE cables,  and you can configure the router as a frame relay switch and have your  own working frame relay cloud in your lab!

 

The Cisco router you  choose as your frame relay switch should have at least four serial  ports, and if you can get more, great. It's always good to have spare  ports.

 

If you get four Cisco routers, with one as your frame  relay switch, you can set up a frame relay cloud and practice your  hub-and-spoke frame configurations. Even better, as my labs do in my  CCNA Study Guide, you can set up a frame relay cloud and a  point-to-point Serial connection. This will help you get real hands-on  practice with such features as EIGRP variance.

 

With that  four-router configuration and one switch, you can get some great  hands-on experience with many CCNA features that many candidates just  read about. If you can add a second 2950 switch, you can practice  different spanning-tree configurations, such as changing the root  bridge of a given VLAN, working with VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP), and  configuring your own Etherchannel! (You will need some crossover cables  to connect your two switches.)

 

Let's take a look at one more  important piece of lab equipment: the ISDN simulator. You can't just  take a straight-through cable and connect your BRI interfaces directly.  You need a device called an ISDN simulator to act as the phone company  in your home network. The newer simulators let you set your own phone  numbers and SPIDs; most older ones have a preset phone number and SPID  that you must use. Either way, you get truly valuable experience  getting hands-on work with ISDN, especially watching PAP and CHAP  debugs and understanding the authentication process.

 

ISDN  simulators can set you back a few bucks. I recommend you visit  www.ebay.com and search for ISDN simulator. There are generally 20 -  30 used ones on there at any given time. Be careful to purchase one  with at least a 30-day guarantee. They are robust devices for the most  part, as there is one in my home lab that I've had for three years  (when they were really expensive!), and it's never given me a bit of  trouble.

 

There are many online vendors that will sell you a new  one, but obviously the price is going to be higher. One company I've  had good experiences with is www.vconsole.com. Make sure to shop  around, as there are plenty of ISDN simulator manufacturers out there  on the web. Vconsole is the only one I've purchased a new unit from,  and the 10-port simulator I use in my classes has worked beautifully.

 

There  is another piece of lab equipment that isn't necessary for your lab,  but you'll find life is a lot easier with it. And just as the frame  relay switch is really a router, so is this device: the access server.

 

Access  servers are devices with an asynchronous port that an octal cable can  connect to. What you do is connect your blue console cable (officially  referred to as a -rollover cable-) to the console port of your access  server. You then take an octal cable, and connect one end of the cable  to your Async port. The other end of the cable, as you'd expect from  the name, consists of eight smaller RJ-45 connectors. Each one of those  goes into the console port of one of your other lab devices, and you  configure the access server to allow one-key access to each of the  other devices in your practice lab.

 

The configuration of the  access server is a simple one, and I'll have an example of configuring  your access server and frame relay switch up later today.

 

Not  everyone can start with a lab this size, so be careful when you buy  your first routers. Make sure that they're not just giving you good  practice now, but that they allow for future growth of your lab. As you  add a frame relay switch, an ISDN simulator, and an access server,  you'll get the hands-on experience you need to be successful on the  job, acquire the self-confidence and troubleshooting skills needed in  the testing room and on the job, and to solve any simulator question on  your CCNA and CCNP exams with ease.

 

Have fun!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of over 100 free certification exam tutorials, including Cisco CCNA certification test prep articles. His exclusive Cisco CCNA study guide and Cisco CCNA training is also available!

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