CCNP Switch Home Lab

I’m running Win7 64 Pro, i7; decided not to go with a breakout switch; using usb-to-ethernet nics.

Line-up:

1.    4 port usb to serial adapter (x1)

2.    Console cables (x4) – came with the switches

3.    Monoprice USB 2.0 to 10/100 MB Ethernet Adapter (X8)

4.    10 port USB 2.0 Hub (x1)

5.    2950 Switch (x2)

6.    3550 Switch (x2)

7.    Crossover cable 3’ (x12)

8.    Straight through cable 20’ (x8)

9.    Home Entertainment Surge Protector (x1)

1) 4 Port RS232 FT4232HL Professional USB to Serial Adapter with TX/RX LED and COM Retention FTDI Chip & Fast 920K Per Port Transfer Speed Certified Microsoft Windows 7 and 2008 Driver Included (32/64-Bit)

I’m using this to console into the switches (I don’t have any serial ports (RS232)). I have four switches and there are 4 serial-to-1-usb connections.













2) Console Cables
Note: a rollover cable with RJ-45’s on both ends will not work (you cannot use your pc NIC to console into switches); you'll need RJ45-to-DB9…

This won't work






You need this: RJ45-to-DB9

 

3) Monoprice USB 2.0 to 10/100 MB Ethernet Adapter (X8)

-These are about $10 a piece on Amazon but if you check out Monoprice’s website, you can get them for about half the price (not sure what shipping costs). It comes with a driver disc but I went on their website for the latest driver (I belive its AX88772B_Win7_64bit…). These do get hot so when I’m not using them I unplug the hub from the pc along with the hubs power.



4) 10 port USB 2.0 Hub, Bus-Powered and Self-Powered



As you can see, six of the connected monoprice usb NICs fit side-by-side nicely. I was worried I would need extension cables but …no worries!



5) 2 x 3550’s

6) 2 x 2950’s

Since these are older models they do not support private VLANs, Isolated VLANs, nor Community VLANs but I’m okay with that. What’s important is the 3550s are layer 3; most of the labs for CCNP Switch require 4 switches, 2 of which need to be layer 3. The 3560s do support PVLAN, Isolated VLANs and Community VLANs but the price difference did not make those economical for me. I think I’ll survive. 

I decided to purchase the switches from certificationkits.com (formally ciscokits.com) and am very happy with their service (see my review).

7) Home Entertainment Surge Protector

Not only for Surge protection but the on-off switch makes it easy to turn on/off the switches without having to unplug each one.  

8) Cables: 12 crossovers plus 8 straight through (one for each of the usb-to-ethernet adapters).

And that’s it! Cheers!

Helpful links: GNS3 & Switching