Build Your Own Cisco Home Lab For Beginners

You can start building your own Cisco home lab using many simulators available on the internet, but not like real Cisco devices.

Imagine having a Cisco device on your own LAN, amazing. Also, having real experience configuring Cisco devices can definitely increase your chances of passing the Cisco certification exam.

If you have more budget on your hands, then do it, buy a used Cisco router and switch. You can get it at a very affordable price - compared to the price of a completely new Cisco, you see prices above US $ 1,000 for a single device.

From used Cisco sellers, you can get discounts of up to 90% or more. Even though they are the devices used, Cisco devices are tough, but you still have to be careful when buying, check the seller's reputation first, and make sure you have a minimum warranty of 6 months.

Then which devices should you get, there are many Cisco devices out there. If you need this tool in your own lab for the CCNA exam, the key is to know what topics are tested on the exam.

Let's see, you definitely need a router and a switch, you need at least 2 routers and 2 switches.

Router

Having 2 routers allows you to simulate routing protocols, and 2 switches allow you to practice on VLAN, VTP, etc.

The best router for a Cisco CCNA home lab in my opinion is a 2611 router, cheaper than others, has a slot that allows you to add expansion cards if you need to upgrade the router to enable VOIP, WAN, etc.

2611 can cost from US $ 80 to 200 depending on where you buy it.

If you have more money, you can buy a WIC-1T module (US $ 30-50) to simulate a WAN on your network. The CCNA exam will test you on the WAN protocol, in my opinion, having a WIC doesn't really matter, but if you feel that way, then do it.

To complete your WAN environment, you can get an additional 2523 router for less than US $ 100. This router can act as a Frame Relay Switch. So you can pretend to be an ISP on your LAN that connects two different routers located in different parts of the world, cool.

The switch

The next thing is switches, you don't need a great Layer 3 switch for the CCNA exam, plus each costs more than US $ 500.

You can buy something like Catalyst Switch 2924 or 2950, ​​that's enough for the test. 12, 24 or 48 ports? Everything is up to you.

What you need to consider when buying a switch is that you have to check all the switch ports, sometimes some ports are damaged.

Cable

Another important thing, but often forgotten by former Cisco buyers is cable. Make sure the seller provides you with a power cable and console cable to configure the Cisco device.

One end of this console cable is the RJ45 that you plug into a Cisco device and at the other end is the serial port for your PC's serial port.

You can make your own console cable, but it's much more convenient to get it from Cisco.

If you are going to use a WIC card, you will need a DB-60 crossover cable, you plug this cable in the back-to-back WIC card to another router.

Server / Router Access

You don't really need an access server on your LAN, but it is very convenient that one day you will idexx indonesia need it.

Server access allows you to connect to all Cisco devices on your network without having to plug in and unplug the console cable between the router and switch.

You can buy a 2500 series router (2509, 2510, 2511, or 2512) for server access, you also need to get an octal cable.

An octal cable is a cable that has one serial port at one end where you plug it into your router's asynchronous port and at the other end not one but 8 RJ45 console cables.