PM Moose517, just dont tell them I sent you

kuzak, i would really recommend staying away from those kits, they are overpriced IMO.  if you want a lab that will do you any good past the CCNA you should look into the 2600XM(or non xm, but won't go as far) series of routers, 2-3 of them are all that are needed for CCNA.  Switches, 2924's are great same goes there 2-3 of them.  Go hit up ebay, you can find great deals on them.  also your gonna need a cisco console cable, and i would get at least one wic1T per router and 3 cisco crossover serial cables.  Thats my recommendation.  Probably will cost you a bit more but at least it will last longer than the 2500 routers they include.

I think a year ago I bought my 10 2611XMs on Ebay for $150 a piece, a steal for a lab.  I also bought a couple 3550-24's, the most expensive components, so I could run an enhanced image on them.  If the price isn't much different, it may be worth checking out the 2950's vs the 2924's.

Also, Skeletek makes an awesome, solid rack.  I bought their 20U one and it is solid.  It may even be the same as the one you're looking at, but direct from the company that makes them.  http://www.dantraknet.com/item/120

Well I think it depends on which exact 2924 you end up with.  Maybe the 1U 2924's are alright, we have the 1.5 or 2U 2924M's.  The 2950's tend to support later versions of IOS than 2924 I think.  I have some old 2924M running and the latest code for them doesn't support commands like "int range" - that's the top one I can think of that I use the most.  I think I have a few that don't even support "show int status".

Like I said, if the price difference isn't huge a 2950 would probably be better bang for the buck.  If it's large, the 2924 may not be so bad :)
 
Edit for grammar

Ebay is addictive :)  I have to stay away from it unless I actually need and/or can afford to spend money.  Too many tempting offers on there.

cool deal, now you guys just need fiber GBIC's..... nevermind haha.  i actually am picking up a 3508 switch for my production network, gonna have a gig copper line to my edge router.  and then team 2 gig fiber lines to my dell switch, 2 gig fiber lines to my cisco switch, copper gig to my WAP, and then another fiber to my lab :D  gonna improve my performance quite a  bit i hope.

Hey Moose, what are you using for your WAPs?  I've been thinking about tinkering with  one down the line.

moose517

cool deal, now you guys just need fiber GBIC's..... nevermind haha.  i actually am picking up a 3508 switch for my production network, gonna have a gig copper line to my edge router.  and then team 2 gig fiber lines to my dell switch, 2 gig fiber lines to my cisco switch, copper gig to my WAP, and then another fiber to my lab :D  gonna improve my performance quite a  bit i hope.

Just FYI or maybe you already know this, if you have one of the web managed Powerconnect switches, they do not support LACP over 802.3ad links.  I found this out tinkering with my 2708 and then later a 2748 which I purchased for a former company I worked for.

No pics yet, but I plan on taking some as soon as I'm finished setting up with the great suggestions in this thread.

Nice setup, zx.  That looks like a couple of 1841 routers if I'm not mistaken.  I love working with those in class but I've always wondered why they're more expensive.

my lab/production network
the 2821, dell 5324, cisco 3550, linksys WAP are production network, everything else is lab, also have a 2611xm not pictured.  server in the rack runs server 2k8 R2 and also used as configuration device.  the 2821 also runs CME for my phone system, terminate 2 VPN's on it as well. 1 to my sisters place and the other to a buddy in georgia who also runs CME system.

nope, i used to have FXS/FXO card in my old router, but its at my sisters with the 2611xm, hoping to get them a IP phone as well so they can call here and out to PSTN with one system and not tie up the actual phone line.  does anyconnect work with win 7 64 bit machines? i  have the VPN connector setup in SDM but cant use there client to connect, kinda sucks.  would love to get an IPS module for my router as well but they cost so darn much still.  and i want to get an actual cisco AP for my non N traffic, that way i can run full N speeds for the devices i have.

moose517

nope, i used to have FXS/FXO card in my old router, but its at my sisters with the 2611xm, hoping to get them a IP phone as well so they can call here and out to PSTN with one system and not tie up the actual phone line.  does anyconnect work with win 7 64 bit machines? i  have the VPN connector setup in SDM but cant use there client to connect, kinda sucks.  would love to get an IPS module for my router as well but they cost so darn much still.  and i want to get an actual cisco AP for my non N traffic, that way i can run full N speeds for the devices i have.

I have to double check, but I think Cisco just released the 64 bit support with AnyConnect.

The IPS module for the 5505 costs more than the bloody 5505 with the security plus license by a wide margin.  I also have to get a SmartNet contract on it to get the signature updates.  So I have to price everything out before leaping.

I asked about the FXS card because I have FXS/FXO ports built in to my 1861.  Can't for the life of me figure out why the analog phones are not getting routed any inbound calls.  I can make out bound calls fine through my POTS line but notta for in bound.  My IP phones work for both in bound and out bound.  Was wondering if you might have any insight on this.  One of my buddies at Cisco is a CCIE in Voice and he can't figure out why it's not working.  He's looked over my configs and found nothing wrong with them.  The next hurdle is to get Unity Express up and running.

Moose,
What is the specs of your server?
I have Win 08 R2 Standard, and need to install it.