For reference here is the complete list of Cisco devices, including RAM, Flash, installed modules and IOS versions that I’ve used to build my home lab.
Device | Platform | RAM | Flash | Modules | IOS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SW1 | WS-C3560-24TS | 128MB | 32MB | n/a | c3560-advipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE.bin |
SW2 | WS-C3550-24 | 64MB | 16MB | n/a | c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.sec2.bin |
SW3 | WS-C3550-24 | 64MB | 16MB | n/a | c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.sec2.bin |
SW4 | WS-C3550-48 | 64MB | 16MB | n/a | c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-25.sec2.bin |
R1 | 2610XM | 128MB | 32MB | WIC-2T= | c2600-adventerprisek9-mz.124-25d.bin |
R2 | 2610XM | 128MB | 32MB | WIC-2T= | c2600-adventerprisek9-mz.124-25d.bin |
R3 | 2651XM | 160MB | 32MB | 2x WIC-2T= | c2600-adventerprisek9-mz.124-25d.bin |
R4 | 2801 | 256MB | 64MB | WIC-2T= | c2801-adventerprisek9-mz.124-24.T4.bin |
R5 | 1841 | 384MB | 128MB | WIC-2T= | c1841-adventerprisek9-mz.124-24.T4.bin |
R6 | 2691 | 256MB | 64MB | WIC-2T= | c2691-adventerprisek9-mz.124-15.T14.bin |
R7 | 3725 | 256MB | 128MB | 2x WIC-1T=, NM-2FE2W-V2= | c3725-adventerprisek9-mz.124-15.T14.bin |
BB1 | 2522 | 16MB | 16MB | n/a | c2500-is-l.122-15.T17.bin |
BB2 | 2520 | 16MB | 16MB | n/a | c2500-is-l.122-15.T17.bin |
BB3 | 2520 | 16MB | 16MB | n/a | c2500-is-l.122-15.T17.bin |
CON | 2610 | 64MB | 16MB | NM-16A=, WIC-1T= | c2600-ik9o3s3-mz.123-26.bin |
Lately I've been working with a separate instance of my WordPress site for development and testing of plugins, my theme, etc. I have a helper script that orchestrates the pulling of files and copying of the database from the production server into the dev server. I found that it would be nice to disable certain plugins that I don't want running in the dev instance (ie, plugins that notify search indexes when new posts are made) from within this script.
With all the equipment in the rack it is time to connect everything together. I’ve used a total of 11 back-to-back serial, 12 router-to-switch ethernet and 18 switch-to-switch ethernet connections. All together that makes almost a spaghetti of cabling
But with some Rip-Tie strap cable I could organize the cabling in a pretty decent way. Below is the end result, without the console connections.
I finally have all the equipment I need to build the lab. I also managed to get a Skeletek C24U rack, and it looks really nice. The fun already starts with assembling the rack as it comes in a relatively small box, including 6 pieces and a whole bunch of nuts and bolts.
After 45 minutes or so the rack is fully assembled and ready to rack the first pieces of Cisco gear.
After about two hours later I also racked all the Cisco equipment I have into the rack, including two PDU’s for some power juice.
Next step will be to put all the cabling in place. And hopefully the two octal cables (cab-octal-async) I ordered will arrive shortly, so I can also connect all the console outputs to the terminal server/router.
I've always been at odds with the recommendation in RFC 3177 towards allocating /48 IPv6 prefixes to end-sites. To me this seemed rather short-sighted, akin to saying that 640K of memory should be enough for anybody. It's essentially equivalent to giving out /12s in the IPv4 world which in this day and age might seem completely ridiculous, but let us not forget that in the early days of IPv4 it wasn't uncommon to get a /16 or even a /8 in some cases.
Granted, I know there are quite a few more usable bits in IPv6 than there are in IPv4, but allocating huge swaths of address space simply because it's there and we haven't thought of all the myriad ways it could be used in the future just seems outright wasteful.
So you can imagine my surprise and also my elation last week when the IETF published RFC 6177 entitled 'IPv6 Address Assignment to End Sites'. In it, the general recommendation of allocating /48s to end-sites that has long been the defacto standard since the original publication of RFC 3177 in 2001 has finally been reversed.
It seems that sanity has finally prevailed and Continue reading
Today, I received a very disturbing email on NANOG which was forwarded from a recipient on the Global Environment Watch (GEW) mailing list. If this is true, we all need to take steps to make an orderly and smooth transition to IPv6 as quickly as possible, lest we suffer from the harmful effects described in this email.
From: Stephen H. Inden To: Global Environment Watch (GEW) mailing list Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2011 00:19:08 +0200 Subject: IPv4 Address Exhaustion Effects on the Earth
At a ceremony held on February 3, 2011 the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocated the remaining last five /8s of IPv4 address space to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs). With this action, the free pool of available IPv4 addresses was completely depleted.
Since then, several scientists have been studying the effects of this massive IPv4 usage (now at its peak) on the Earth.
While measuring electromagnetic fields emanating from the world's largest IPv4 Tier-1 backbones, NASA scientists calculated how the IPv4 exhaustion is affecting the Earth's rotation, length of day and planet's shape.
Dr. Ron F. Stevens, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said all packet switching based communications have some effect on the Earth's Continue reading
One of the first things I wanted to do with my ESXi lab box was to simulate a hard drive failure to see what alarms would be raised by ESXi. This exercise doesn't serve any purpose in the “real world” where ESXi hosts are likely to be using shared storage in all but the most esoteric of installations but since my lab box isn't using shared storage I wanted to make sure I understood the behavior of ESXi during a drive failure. This post is also a guide to my future self should a drive fail for real :-).
I’ve almost acquired all equipment that I need to build my CCIE home lab. I only have to pickup a 3725 router and a 2610.
Looks pretty impressive if you ask me