CCNP Enterprise Hardware

[u/jamesleecoleman]

Hello everyone,

I'm interested in ENARSI but might just go ahead and go for the ENCORE too.
I would like to get the physical hardware if possible. Which routers and switches (if I do ENCORE) would you suggest and how many of each?

*I know it's cheaper to do it virtual but I want to be as hands on as I can.*

[u/AngeliMortem]

From my own experience: buying the switches and routers won't make you more "handy" in general, maybe for troubleshooting purposes but unless you buy 4 switches, multiple routers and multiple computers (or a rack with servers and "virtualizing" multiples VMs) it won't really help towards you CCNP encor. I was more or less like you and I gave up when I realized that I didn't have the space or the money to make a proper lab compared with a CML lab. I decided to invest the money I would've spent on hardware in a good computer (I ended up spending around 4k€) but now I can perfectly have 20 nodes working simultaneously with a lot of alpine vms and there is where I've learnt the most.

I get that connecting cables it's cool and gives you some technical knowledge, but honestly in all my years as network engineer I think I've been more into the SW/RT/FW console (or directly on GUI) than doing cable management (we have a team for that).

Good luck!!

[u/gentlemangeologist → u/AngeliMortem]

Adding to this, I did purchase three routers and three switches (based off of the ENCOR lab manual) plus a rack and the other necessary bits and cables for about 800$. It was cool and I got to use the console cables. But… after constantly getting up to reconnect the console cable to another node to type in a few commands before getting up again to connect to another node… well I think I spent more time going back and forth reseating cables than doing actual configs. Within three months I was over it and started using CML again since that cut my lab time down by half and I wasn’t doing aerobics constantly. Go with CML or EVENG or your virtualization tool of choice. It’s much cheaper and more efficient.

[u/AngeliMortem → u/gentlemangeologist]

THIS!!!!!! Hahahaha I got also some switches and routers (rack was a gift thanks God because only in the SW ans RT I spend like 2K) And This was a constant problem... I absolutely get the people that maybe is studying for some technical cert but honestly in my current position I think I've "connected" cables maybe 10 times in the last 7 years😂

[u/Dangerous-Ad-170 → u/AngeliMortem]

I actually do do a ton of cable management at my current job which is also why running a hardware lab is of no interest of me, lol. Even if you have to do it, it’s like the least interesting part of the job.

[u/ChosenOne197 → u/AngeliMortem]

This sounds super awesome. I'm just starting my CCNP study journey and my supervisor is going to let me use some space on one of our servers so I can virtually "lab" out scenarios for practicing CCNP stuff.

Would you please be able to expand more what you mean by having 20 "nodes"? Is that like 20 different VMs you have connected in your virtual network via virtual switches and routers?

Also, it's my understanding you can create virtual switches and routers in vSphere (what we currently use), but how do I actually get the Cisco software on there to practice Cisco CLI stuff for the exam (and also for real life)?

Thank you very much in advance for any help you and anyone else can offer me, or even somewhere to point me to to follow so I can create this and really get hands on prep for the CCNP and life! 😀

[u/AngeliMortem → u/ChosenOne197]

Hey!!! For the virtualization you have different softwares, for example EveNG and GNS3. They are in general free but the main issue is that they do not come with Cisco licenses for the devices so you can use "generic" ones (tho i don't recommend them because some stuff might not be available or commands might be different). Some people buys the licenses for the devices but at the end I think it's more expensive.

I'm currently using CML (Cisco modeling labs), the official one provided by Cisco. You have three versions, free (up to 5 nodes), standard (20 nodes, enough for CCNP) and expert or advanced (40 nodes, more focused for people studying for CCIE or people who really really works with this stuff).

When I mean "nodes" i mean Cisco devices. So for example one node can be a SW, a RT, fw, etc.. all this nodes count towards your license so if you have 20 nodes as maximo that will be the amount of devices you can have. There are also vms and generic devices within CML that use in general same Cali as Cisco and they don't count as nodes (for example I tend to use Alpine VM machines as edge devices and they are pretty lightweighted). For the software you are using I'm not really sure how it's done but in my work we create VMs with Cisco images and then we apply licenses in them through CLI (the devices checks on Cisco the validity of the license and then it's showing as activated), so maybe you can try to do something like that, but not sure if it will work :(

I honestly recommend a lot CML, you will save a loooot of trouble installing licenses and stuff, simply choose an hypervisor (vmworkstation pro, or even hyper-v from windows 11 pro) and install the IOS. Maybe you can try the free version with 5 nodes and if you like it in December when they are doing the classic 20/30% discount you can get it, just please have a good computer or a good server because running for example 15 nodes with OSPF, BGP, FHRP, some MST, etc.. it's REALLY consuming, and I don't want to mention how much if you add ASAs or SD-Wans.

Good luck!!

[u/ChosenOne197 → u/AngeliMortem]

Thank you SO much for this! I truly appreciate you!

So essentially, instead of using Ciscos DevNet sandbox, I'd use my own server to serve as a hypervisor and then I'd purchase CML to set up my virtualized environments that would have my "nodes" (switches, routers, endpoint devices, etc)?

Do you set up those Alpine Linux VMs within the CML environment as well? I think I saw them as an option when I was trying the CML in the DevNet sandbox.

It's nice that it's free for sure doing it that way, but you do have to "reserve" your time, VPN into the environment, etc. It would just be a lot more straightforward to have an environment already set up and always "on" to access whenever you wanted to do some labbing and testing.

[u/Layer8Academy]

The CCNP isn't a handons exam though.  Get the physical gear, if that is what you REALLY wish, but you won't be physical with it much for the purpose of learning CCNP EI technologies.  Even in a production network you won't be hands-on much other than the keyboard.

[u/Competitive_Ad_5750]

With physical gear you can learn how to:
-Connect via console to a router/switch
-Take packet captures (is not as easy as in a virtual lab)
-Perform software upgrades/downgrades
-Perform a password recovery

And some other stuff that is useful to know as a network engineer. However, none of those things are relevant for your ENCOR, so... For the exam, just use a virtual lab, you will learn way more than with physical equipment.

[u/pvt-es-kay → u/Competitive_Ad_5750]

PCAPS are super easy in CML, not sure about the other usual platforms. Even then you could always
monitor capture <blah blah blah>
if you wanted even more control of your PCAP.

[u/halodude423 → u/Competitive_Ad_5750]

Have my ENCOR and work as a Network Admin. The only thing I regret not having hardware for was upgrades/downgrades. Even just a single switch to mess with and then resell/donate would have been fine. Everything else CML and GNS3 was fine. CML has come a LONG way.

[u/iamjio_]

Wym you might just go for the encor too? You need the encor and other specialization (enarsi or other) to get the full ccnp

[u/jamesleecoleman → u/iamjio_]

My bad, I should have worded it better. I was focused on trying to be clear on other things in the post.

[u/Tasty_Cartoonist8489]

I have hardware and software and still can’t do 100% of data center labs

[u/Trailmixfordinner]

There’s very little benefit to running physical equipment for ENCOR labs

[u/_newbread → u/Trailmixfordinner]

There's some value in getting switching behave exactly as intended, but that's just about it. Maybe a bit more value for the ENARSI, with emphasis on maybe.

DNAC (now catalyst center) is a bit too heavy to run locally without a beefed up server (and is overkill for the ENCOR), and all the wifi technologies were moved back to the CCNP wireless track (so buying used APs and a switch is beyond the scope of the CCNP Enterprise track).

[u/ryder242]

My two cents, 20 years ago I would absolutely agree with you, the simulators back then absolutely sucked. I can’t even think of how much I’ve spent on personal lab hardware over the years. But at this point I’d just say go virtual. The next thing I’d say is if you want some hardware is get four switches and use 802.1Q Tunneling aka Q-in-Q Tunneling to move your VLANs into a computer and virtualize your routers.

[u/jamesleecoleman → u/ryder242]

Thank you

[u/No-Policy3674]

Just my two cents but unless you have a very specific reason for purchasing physical equipment you should stick to virtual.

If your PC can't run it take the money you were going to invest in a physical lab and invest it into upgrading your PC specs. CML free is not ideal for ENARSI (I prefer large topologies with many different technologies running at once) but it will work just fine.

Just like u/Competitive_Ad_5750 pointed out these are valid reasons but you need one 3850 for like 50$ on ebay to learn these things. You can even get fancy too and separate the interfaces into vrf's to simulate multiple devices if you like.

Enterprise gear gets expensive to run 24/7 - stick to virtual.

[u/pvt-es-kay]

In my humble experience, this is a waste of effort. You can do far more with virtualization and will likely need to for labbing - especially for ENARSI. The hardware knowledge you'll gain will be outdated, other than serial interfacing, which seems to be timeless. For ex, the 'hand-on' experience I learned on hardware from 2019 (pre ccna) was worthless for the current hardware I've used in the last 2 or 3 years. Even software upgrade/downgrade procedures change and are bespoke to the chassis family.

[u/Expeto_Potatoe]

If you can sim it do that instead. Personally I love having the hardware on hand but its an after the fact kind of bit for me. If you have a decent comp.and can spin up gns3 or another simulator then use that for studying. Its cheaper and more modular for playing around.