I'm sure there are a zillion topics on this subject but despite searching yesterday on all the forums I couldn't find anything useful. I hope that by the end of march I will have received my CCIP and there's nowhere to go but for the big one.
I looked on the INE site for their gear and I found that building a lab just like theirs would cost me around 5000-6000 euros. But I also found something interesting. In the INE topology the BB routers just inject routes. So they could be the cheapest routers on the market or just a *nix server. It's also my understanding that I have to run at least 12.4(T) and the cheapest routers that support that are the 2600 XM. I could also use those for the FR switch , the Terminal Server or the BB routers if I choose. The only thing I'm missing is some routers that have the capability to be Provider Edge or P routers. The cheapest are the 3640 I think. Not really sure.
Bottom line , all this comes at bellow 1000$ .

If I used GNS3 I would have to pay 600-700$ for a Dell Power Edge (sh and assuming it already comes with 4GB+ of ram ) and another 400-500 for the 4-port NICS. So it seems to me that it's just more pragmatic to buy the damn routers.

Also a friend is going to steal 3 Cat3550' from work. I figured that it's just too expensive to buy 3560's and i haven't really understood what those can do anyways. We're going to make this rack and place it in his basement (why buy a rack with fans?) and I'll connect the terminal server to another friends small provider network which runs MPLS . Not sure if I can convince him to peer with me.A static route is so dull :p. I'm gonna try though. I'm going to connect to this rack by subscribing to one of his peers since I live 400km away from my friends basement. The reason I chose to keep all the gear there is because he has the money to power everything , he can swap routers from work and also because the MPLS network has a POP in his basement. Really There are already two routers there really big ones :p. So , what am I missing here ? Because if I'm right everybody would have a lab and I know for a fact that most of you use gns3. So I missed something. Is it that those 2610XM's with 32/128 FE + Wic1T don't cut it ? 'Cause they're going for 100 bucks or cheaper. Please help me out .

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Stay the curse !

My dynamips box with 3 X 4 port nics cost me £287

4 switches cost me a further £440.

You do not need to go for expensive parts. Why do you think you need a Dell Poweredge with NICs costing that much?

The problem is that the dynamips box is one of the cheapest parts. This is my running total: http://mellowd.co.uk/ccie/?page_id=225

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

I'm kind of ashamed of myself but there was no way that I could keep learning in this fashion and get a job so I have no experience with Cisco routers or switches outside of Dynampis. My small 1GB netbook with Ubuntu works just fine with 9 routers until I run mp-BGP. Then everything crashes in flames ) So I assumed that I needed a really hard core machine that can go beyond 8GB of ram. It seems that's not the case and I'll reconsider getting away just with GNS3.
However , since I lack any hardware knowledge I need to know if 10 2600'XM's are a feasible choice.Because I would really like to cable my rack , touch real gear , swap cards etc. I've been dreading the moment when in an interview someone asks me to connect a console cable and i try plugging into the serial port ) To do vpn's , complex redistribution etc and to never really work with a device is really shameful.
And 1000 dollars is kind of ok. If my friend does his part and brings the Cat's , assuming again that 2610'20's whatever can do their job , it seems to me that I can get a good deal , especially if I can buy them in bulk. It's gonna suck not being able to do MPLS but maybe this year I'll find the courage to post my resume and then buy some newer gear. Also I still have the option of simulating PE routers on my small netbook. But can it be done ? Do those routers , 10-11 of them priced at about 100 dollars a piece , qualify for the INE topology and curriculum ?

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Stay the curse !

The problem with 2600XMs are that not all of them can run 12.4T advanced enterprise.

Granted, not all the devices actually NEED to be running advanced enterprise services. But at least 6 of them need to be running it.

For 12.4T advanced you'll need at least 48Mb flash and 256Mb ram in each router.

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

So i need 6 of these : http://compare.ebay.com/like/2007063165 ... si=y&cbt=y
Did I get this right ? I also have to buy some Wic cards for them so by the time they are shipped they should cost 1200 bucks. I can manage that. Are there any cheaper alternatives to running advanced services ? Thank you for your time , by the way >:p

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Stay the curse !

You might get a 1721 to run advanced enterprise, but you would need to check. A lot of 1721s only come with a single interface as well (which is fine for the BB routers)

Remember too that the more routers you have, the more power it costs to run them. CCIE labbing requires many hundreds of hours on your lab, so it's certainly something to think about.

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www.mellowd.co.uk/ccie/

Thanks again. One of the reasons that I chose to set up this lab in my friends basement and not in my house is that the Provider who has those routers in his house pays him the electric bill and gives him free leased-line , fiber speed net.I used to do the same a couple of years ago when installing antennas on top of buildings. When not stealing power from elevators or running 220V over schools with sFTP cable ) It might be a small problem when they check the bills but there's a contract in place so I might as well profit from that

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Stay the curse !

Stealing seems to be a common theme in your posts, with this mindset you will most likely end up in jail. Even if you are poor, it doesn't make it right for you to steal.

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"It can also be argued that DNA is nothing more than a program designed to preserve itself. Life has become more complex in the overwhelming sea of information. And life, when organized into species, relies upon genes to be its memory system."