Ideal CCNA Lab Setup

Here’s the breakdown (prices updated 5.2008):

-Cisco 2514 router (two serial / two ethernet) with 16Mb Flash and 16Mb Ram ($20.00 – $45.00 Ebay price)
-Cisco 2900XL switch ($20.00 – $40.00 Ebay price); 1912 if your really budgetting ($5.00 – $15.00 Ebay price)
-Cisco 2501 router (two serial / one ethernet) with 16Mb Flash and 16Mb Ram ($15.00 – $35.00 Ebay price)
-Crossover serial cable ($5.00 – $20.00 Ebay price)

While this configuration is not the ideal, it will allow you to practice just about any CCNA-level concept you’d like. I’d recommend configuring it just as shown in the diagram (route your Cable/DSL home connection through the 2514) so you can practice NAT. The price differences for the equipment depends on your Ebay savvy-ness.

My recommended setup is just *slightly* more expensive (okay, maybe a little more than slightly), but will allow you to have 100Mbps connectivity to test inter-vlan routing configurations:

-Cisco 2621 router (two fast ethernet ports) with 16Mb Flash and 32Mb Ram ($150.00 – $250.00 Ebay price)
-Cisco 2900XL switch ($20.00 – $40.00 Ebay price)
-Cisco 1721 router (one fast ethernet) with 16Mb Flash and 32Mb Ram ($55.00 – $75.00 Ebay price)
-Crossover serial cable ($5.00 – $20.00 Ebay price)

http://www.ciscoblog.com/archives/2006/08/ideal_ccna_lab.html