After running down to buy a load of NM-4T cards the CCIE lab is almost ready, I'm also short two 3640s but I've got some 2610s that can suffice for now. I've also only got three switches and all really cheap 2924-xl ones at that so I will need to dedicate a router just to do VLAN routing. And the other major portion is that most of my 3640s only have 64Mb of memory so they can't run enterprise code.
Other than all that my other big task list is to finish the UI that I will have folks log in and use, basically just a simple numbered list of items like:
Connect to Consoles
Reset Lab
Exit Lab
Save Lab Configuration
Once thats done and everything is cabled we should be good to go. If anyone is interested in chatting about the lab head on over to: http://groups.google.com/group/packetgod
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Lab Updates
So its been a busy week of cabling and setting up the rack, I've moved my DSL connection to one of my spare 2610 routers and set it up to separate the home and lab networks. The Lab-manager server is online and operational, its currently got conserver setup and running and I'm just working on getting the configuration to the way I want it.
More gear on the way too, I've ordered a couple of 128MB ram upgrades for the 3640 but to save money I'm going to just have them load their image from a TFTP server. Seems like the best way to go especially as the 3640s have a bug which limits which 12.4 enterprise images they can run due to flash space restrictions. It adds a good few minutes to the process but it works!
I currently have a bid out to my used hardware reseller for a bunch of NM-4A/S cards, a couple more NM-1e2w, a few more 3640s, as well as some other random stuff. Hopefully that wont break the bank but I'm guessing it will be around 400$ or so.
More gear on the way too, I've ordered a couple of 128MB ram upgrades for the 3640 but to save money I'm going to just have them load their image from a TFTP server. Seems like the best way to go especially as the 3640s have a bug which limits which 12.4 enterprise images they can run due to flash space restrictions. It adds a good few minutes to the process but it works!
I currently have a bid out to my used hardware reseller for a bunch of NM-4A/S cards, a couple more NM-1e2w, a few more 3640s, as well as some other random stuff. Hopefully that wont break the bank but I'm guessing it will be around 400$ or so.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Cisco CCIE LAB-0 in Process
So I decided to pursue my CCIE and I've started buying equipment left and right. Now being an open source advocate I started to think, what if I opened it up and allowed others to use it, how would I go about doing that. Now I didn't want to have it completely open to the internet and have folks log in willy-nilly (thats a technical term). I thought I'd have people request userids by saying who they are and why they need access. From there some sort of scheduling system so that people could reserve lab time and a way for them to save their lab config so that they can come back to where they started.
So to start with I've built up a Linux box and plugged in a couple 8 port USB to serial converters and started playing around with a UI. I was thinking about using conserver so that it could be used for teaching as folks can watch the console in a read-only mode. Plus it support username and groups. On top of that I'm working on a simple shell script to act as the front end interface with simple options like, reset lab to initial configuration, save my configuration, access lab (goes to conserver) and exit (also would reset lab back to basics).
I thought I'd try to get up a forum as well so we could make it a community effort to get it up and running. Plus we could work out any scheduling conflicts or help folks who are about to take the test.
I'm also going to try to setup some sort of paypal donation thing as this lab is already costing way too much and I can only imagine the power bills. Also a way for folks to ship equipment they want to donate to the lab.
So far the lab as it looks today:
4 3640 routers, 3 2610 routers, two 1601 routers (backbone?), 4 NM-2e2W, 2 WIC-1DSU56k, a PIX 506 for protecting the lab, and my linux/console server box.
I've just also purchased a bunch of back to back cables and have a 3620 with 2 more NM-2e2W cards, a WIC-1T and another WIC-1DSU56k. I've got a good source for a bunch of NM-4A/S cards and will be getting them soon. Other than that I'll need to get a few more routers, switches, and WIC-1T cards. I'd also like to get a 2800 series router but those are still pretty expensive, I'm on the hunt for one that is perhaps diabled in some way, bad WIC ports or something like that.
So more to come, please post any responses, let me know if you think I'm crazy or if this is a good idea or any suggestions to make it better.
So to start with I've built up a Linux box and plugged in a couple 8 port USB to serial converters and started playing around with a UI. I was thinking about using conserver so that it could be used for teaching as folks can watch the console in a read-only mode. Plus it support username and groups. On top of that I'm working on a simple shell script to act as the front end interface with simple options like, reset lab to initial configuration, save my configuration, access lab (goes to conserver) and exit (also would reset lab back to basics).
I thought I'd try to get up a forum as well so we could make it a community effort to get it up and running. Plus we could work out any scheduling conflicts or help folks who are about to take the test.
I'm also going to try to setup some sort of paypal donation thing as this lab is already costing way too much and I can only imagine the power bills. Also a way for folks to ship equipment they want to donate to the lab.
So far the lab as it looks today:
4 3640 routers, 3 2610 routers, two 1601 routers (backbone?), 4 NM-2e2W, 2 WIC-1DSU56k, a PIX 506 for protecting the lab, and my linux/console server box.
I've just also purchased a bunch of back to back cables and have a 3620 with 2 more NM-2e2W cards, a WIC-1T and another WIC-1DSU56k. I've got a good source for a bunch of NM-4A/S cards and will be getting them soon. Other than that I'll need to get a few more routers, switches, and WIC-1T cards. I'd also like to get a 2800 series router but those are still pretty expensive, I'm on the hunt for one that is perhaps diabled in some way, bad WIC ports or something like that.
So more to come, please post any responses, let me know if you think I'm crazy or if this is a good idea or any suggestions to make it better.
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