04 Apr 2011 - Lab-Rat
In my previous post on CCIE Lab Equipment, I talked a bit about alternatives for your hands on rack time. I listed the pros and cons on why I decided to go with rack rentals versus buying. I certainly can’t find fault with buying your own equipment if you have the funds, power, and space- so for those rats who are thinking about furnishing their own lab, I thought I’d do some digging on the 3550 versus the 3560. As I write this 3550s are going for about $200 on eBay.
Since the 3560s are triple and sometimes quadruple the price, many (smart) folks are wondering if you can get by with the 3550s. In that previous post I have the live R&S lab specification, which states Cisco is using 3560s. Of course it’s always best to use what’s in the lab- however, after a few hours of digging around in the forums, on Cisco, and in the blogs, the short version of the most commonly mentioned differences between the 3550 and 3560 that are relevant to the CCIE lab are:
The cheapest 3560 for sale is about $600, with many heading up toward $1000.
INE has a good comparison that covers the differences as well. I took the Cisco features list for the latest version of the IOS that is mentioned in the CCIE lab specification, and ran a text compare against the feature set. Below is the comprehensive list on what’s different:
| 3550 12.2(55)SE IP Services | VS | 3560 12.2(44)SE6 Advanced IP Services |
|---|---|---|
| 8-Way CEF Load Balancing | <> | AAA Server Group |
| Access Switch Device Manager (SDM) Template | ||
| ACL - Improved Merging Algorithm | = | ACL - Improved Merging Algorithm |
| ACL - TCP Flags Filtering | ACL - TCP Flags Filtering | |
| ACL Sequence Numbering | ACL Sequence Numbering | |
| Additional Vendor-Proprietary RADIUS Attributes | Additional Vendor-Proprietary RADIUS Attributes | |
| Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) | Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) | |
| -+ | ANSI TIA-1057 LLDP - MED Support | |
| ANSI TIA-1057 LLDP - MED Location Extension | ||
| ARP Optimization | = | ARP Optimization |
| AutoInstall Using DHCP for LAN Interfaces | +- | |
| AutoQoS - VoIP | = | AutoQoS - VoIP |
| AutoRP Enhancement | +- | |
| BGP | = | BGP |
| BGP 4 | BGP 4 | |
| BGP 4 Multipath Support | BGP 4 Multipath Support | |
| BGP 4 Prefix Filter and In-bound Route Maps | BGP 4 Prefix Filter and In-bound Route Maps | |
| BGP 4 Soft Config | BGP 4 Soft Config | |
| BGP Convergence Optimization | BGP Convergence Optimization | |
| BGP Hide Local-Autonomous System | BGP Hide Local-Autonomous System | |
| BGP Named Community Lists | BGP Named Community Lists | |
| -+ | BGP Neighbor Policy | |
| BGP Prefix-Based Outbound Route Filtering | = | BGP Prefix-Based Outbound Route Filtering |
| BGP Reduction in Transient Memory Usage | +- | |
| BGP Restart Neighbor Session After max-prefix Limit Reached | = | BGP Restart Neighbor Session After max-prefix Limit Reached |
| BGP Route-Map Continue | BGP Route-Map Continue | |
| -+ | BGP Route-Map Continue Support for Outbound Policy | |
| BGP Soft Reset | = | BGP Soft Reset |
| Broadcast/Multicast Suppression | Broadcast/Multicast Suppression | |
| CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) Version 2 | CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) Version 2 | |
| CEF/dCEF - Cisco Express Forwarding | CEF/dCEF - Cisco Express Forwarding | |
| -+ | CEFv6/dCEFv6 - Cisco Express Forwarding | |
| CGMP - Cisco Group Management Protocol | = | CGMP - Cisco Group Management Protocol |
| -+ | Cisco IGMP MIB and Filter MIB Support | |
| Cisco IP Phone Support | = | Cisco IP Phone Support |
| Class Based Ethernet CoS Matching & Marking (802.1p & ISL CoS) | Class Based Ethernet CoS Matching & Marking (802.1p & ISL CoS) | |
| Class-Based Marking | Class-Based Marking | |
| Clear Counters Per Port | Clear Counters Per Port | |
| CLI String Search | CLI String Search | |
| CNS | +- | |
| CNS - Image Agent | ||
| Commented IP Access List Entries | = | Commented IP Access List Entries |
| Configurable IGMP Leave Timer | Configurable IGMP Leave Timer | |
| Configuration Change Notification and Logging | Configuration Change Notification and Logging | |
| Custom Queueing (CQ) | <> | Configuration Replace and Configuration Rollback |
| Contextual Configuration Diff Utility | ||
| Default Passive Interface | DHCP - Server Port Based Address Allocation | |
| DHCP - DHCPv6 Relay Agent notification for Prefix Delegation | ||
| DHCP - DHCPv6 Individual Address Assignment | ||
| DHCP - DHCPv6 Server SNTP, NIS, NIS+, Refresh Timer options | ||
| DHCP - Configurable DHCP Client | DHCP - DHCPv6 Server Stateless Auto Configuration | |
| DHCP Auto Image upgrade | ||
| DHCP Auto Install with Saved Configuration | ||
| DHCP Client | = | DHCP Client |
| DHCP Server | DHCP Server | |
| DHCP Server Options - Import and Autoconfiguration | DHCP Server Options - Import and Autoconfiguration | |
| -+ | DHCP Snooping | |
| DHCP Snooping Counters | ||
| DHCPv6 - Relay - Reload persistent Interface ID option | ||
| DHCPv6 Client Information Refresh Option | ||
| DHCPv6 Ethernet Remote ID option | ||
| Diagnotics Options on bootup | ||
| Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) | = | Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) |
| Easy IP (Phase 1) | <> | |
| EIGRP Support for Route Map Filtering | ||
| Embedded Event Manager (EEM) 2.0 | Embedded Event Manager (EEM) 2.3 | |
| Embedded Syslog Manager (ESM) | ||
| Enhanced IGRP (EIGRP) | = | Enhanced IGRP (EIGRP) |
| Enhanced Password Security | Enhanced Password Security | |
| Enhanced Tracking Support / Enhanced Object Tracking / EOT | Enhanced Tracking Support / Enhanced Object Tracking / EOT | |
| ErrDisable Reactivation Per Port | ErrDisable Reactivation Per Port | |
| ErrDisable timeout | ErrDisable timeout | |
| EtherChannel | EtherChannel | |
| EtherChannel - Flexible PAgP | EtherChannel - Flexible PAgP | |
| Etherchannel Guard | Etherchannel Guard | |
| Fallback Bridging | Fallback Bridging | |
| Fast EtherChannel (FEC) | Fast EtherChannel (FEC) | |
| Fast-Switched Policy Routing | Fast-Switched Policy Routing | |
| Filter-ID Based ACL Application | <> | FHRP - HSRP - Hot Standby Router Protocol V2 |
| Flex Link Bi-directional Fast Convergence | = | Flex Link Bi-directional Fast Convergence |
| -+ | Flex Link VLAN Load-Balancing | |
| Flex Links | = | Flex Links |
| Flex Links Interface Preemption | Flex Links Interface Preemption | |
| FTP Support for Downloading Software Images | FTP Support for Downloading Software Images | |
| -+ | GOLD - Generic Online Diagnostics | |
| HSRP - Hot Standby Router Protocol | = | HSRP - Hot Standby Router Protocol |
| -+ | HSRP for IPv6 | |
| HTTP Security | = | HTTP Security |
| -+ | IEEE 802.1ab LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) | |
| IEEE 802.1p Support | = | IEEE 802.1p Support |
| IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Trunking | IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Trunking | |
| IEEE 802.1s - Multiple Spanning Tree (MST) Standard Compliance | IEEE 802.1s - Multiple Spanning Tree (MST) Standard Compliance | |
| IEEE 802.1s VLAN Multiple Spanning Trees | IEEE 802.1s VLAN Multiple Spanning Trees | |
| IEEE 802.1t | IEEE 802.1t | |
| IEEE 802.1W Spanning Tree Rapid Reconfiguration | IEEE 802.1W Spanning Tree Rapid Reconfiguration | |
| IEEE 802.1x - Auth Fail Open | IEEE 802.1x - Auth Fail Open | |
| IEEE 802.1x - Auth Fail VLAN | IEEE 802.1x - Auth Fail VLAN | |
| IEEE 802.1x - VLAN Assignment | IEEE 802.1x - VLAN Assignment | |
| -+ | IEEE 802.1x - Wake on LAN Support | |
| IEEE 802.1x Authenticator | = | IEEE 802.1x Authenticator |
| IEEE 802.1x Fallback support | IEEE 802.1x Fallback support | |
| -+ | IEEE 802.1x Multi-Domain Auth with Voice VLAN Assignment | |
| IEEE 802.1X Multi-Domain Authentication | ||
| IEEE 802.1x RADIUS Accounting | = | IEEE 802.1x RADIUS Accounting |
| -+ | IEEE 802.1x Readiness Check | |
| IEEE 802.1X Voice Aware Security Violations | ||
| IEEE 802.1x with Port Security | = | IEEE 802.1x with Port Security |
| IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation (LACP) | IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation (LACP) | |
| IEEE 802.3af PoE (Power over Ethernet) | IEEE 802.3af PoE (Power over Ethernet) | |
| IEEE 802.3x Flow Control | IEEE 802.3x Flow Control | |
| IGMP Fast Leave | IGMP Fast Leave | |
| IGMP Proxy | IGMP Proxy | |
| IGMP Querier | IGMP Querier | |
| IGMP Snooping | IGMP Snooping | |
| IGMP State Limit | IGMP State Limit | |
| IGMP Version 1 | IGMP Version 1 | |
| IGMP Version 2 | IGMP Version 2 | |
| -+ | IGMP Version 3 | |
| Image Verification | = | Image Verification |
| Interface Index Persistence | Interface Index Persistence | |
| Interface Range Specification | Interface Range Specification | |
| IP Enhanced IGRP Route Authentication | IP Enhanced IGRP Route Authentication | |
| IP Event Dampening | +- | |
| IP Multicast Load Splitting across Equal-Cost Paths | = | IP Multicast Load Splitting across Equal-Cost Paths |
| IP Named Access Control List | IP Named Access Control List | |
| -+ | IP Phone Detection Enhancements | |
| IP Phone Enhancement - PHY Loop Detection | = | IP Phone Enhancement - PHY Loop Detection |
| IP Precedence Accounting | +- | |
| IP Routing | = | IP Routing |
| IP SLAs - DHCP Operation | IP SLAs - DHCP Operation | |
| IP SLAs - Distribution of Statistics | IP SLAs - Distribution of Statistics | |
| IP SLAs - DNS Operation | IP SLAs - DNS Operation | |
| IP SLAs - FTP Operation | IP SLAs - FTP Operation | |
| IP SLAs - HTTP Operation | IP SLAs - HTTP Operation | |
| -+ | IP SLAs - ICMP Echo Operation | |
| IP SLAs - ICMP Path Echo Operation | ||
| IP SLAs - MPLS VPN Awareness | ||
| IP SLAs - Multi Operation Scheduler | = | IP SLAs - Multi Operation Scheduler |
| IP SLAs - One Way Measurement | IP SLAs - One Way Measurement | |
| -+ | IP SLAs - Path Jitter Operation | |
| IP SLAs - Reaction Threshold | = | IP SLAs - Reaction Threshold |
| IP SLAs - Scheduler | IP SLAs - Scheduler | |
| IP SLAs - SNMP Support | IP SLAs - SNMP Support | |
| IP SLAs - TCP Connect Operation | IP SLAs - TCP Connect Operation | |
| -+ | IP SLAs - UDP Based VoIP Operation | |
| IP SLAs - UDP Echo Operation | = | IP SLAs - UDP Echo Operation |
| IP SLAs - UDP Jitter Operation | IP SLAs - UDP Jitter Operation | |
| -+ | IP SLAs Additional Threshold Traps | |
| IP SLAs Random Scheduler | ||
| IP SLAs Responder | ||
| IP Source Guard | ||
| IP Summary Address for RIPv2 | = | IP Summary Address for RIPv2 |
| -+ | IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) | |
| IPv6 - HTTP(S) | ||
| IPv6 Access Services: DHCPv6 Prefix Delegation | ||
| IPv6 Access Services: DHCPv6 Relay Agent | ||
| IPv6 Data Link: VLANs using Cisco Inter-Switch Link (ISL) | ||
| IPv6 Data Link: VLANs using IEEE 802.1Q Encapsulation | ||
| IPv6 Default Router Preference | ||
| IPv6 Dual Stack | = | IPv6 Dual Stack |
| -+ | IPv6 MTU Path Discovery | |
| IPv6 Neighbor Discovery | ||
| IPv6 Neighbor Discovery Throttling | ||
| IPv6 Routing - EIGRP Support | ||
| IPv6 Routing: OSPF for IPv6 (OSPFv3) | ||
| IPv6 Routing: RIP for IPv6 (RIPng) | ||
| IPv6 Routing: Route Redistribution | ||
| IPv6 Routing: Static Routing | ||
| IPv6 Routing: Unicast Routing | ||
| IPv6 Security: Secure Shell SSH support over IPv6 | ||
| IPv6 Services: AAAA DNS Lookups over an IPv4 Transport | ||
| IPv6 Services: Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) - IPv6 Address Family Support for Neighbor Information | ||
| IPv6 Services: DNS Lookups over an IPv6 Transport | ||
| IPv6 Services: Extended Access Control Lists | ||
| IPv6 Services: Standard Access Control Lists | ||
| IPv6 Stateless Auto-configuration | ||
| IPv6 Switching: CEF/dCEF Support | ||
| IPv6: ICMPv6 | ||
| IPv6: ICMPv6 Redirect | ||
| IPv6: Neighbor Discovery Duplicate Address Detection | ||
| ISL VLAN | ||
| Jumbo Frames | = | Jumbo Frames |
| L2PT - Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling | L2PT - Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling | |
| Loadsharing IP packets over more than six parallel paths | +- | |
| Local Proxy ARP | = | Local Proxy ARP |
| Low Latency Queueing (LLQ) | +- | |
| MAC Authentication Bypass | = | MAC Authentication Bypass |
| Manual Certificate Enrollment via TFTP | +- | |
| Memory Threshold Notifications | ||
| Message Banners for AAA Authentication | = | Message Banners for AAA Authentication |
| MPLS VPN - Multi-Path support for Inter-AS VPNs | <> | MLD Snooping |
| MSDP compliance with IETF RFC 3618 | Multi-VRF Support (VRF lite) | |
| Multicast BGP (MBGP) | = | Multicast BGP (MBGP) |
| Multicast Etherchannel Load Balancing | Multicast Etherchannel Load Balancing | |
| Multicast Routing Monitor (MRM) | <> | Multicast Fast Convergence with Flexlink Failover |
| Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP) | = | Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP) |
| Multicast Subsecond Convergence | Multicast Subsecond Convergence | |
| NAC - L2 IEEE 802.1x | NAC - L2 IEEE 802.1x | |
| NAC - L2 IP | NAC - L2 IP | |
| NAC - L2 IP with Auth Fail Open | NAC - L2 IP with Auth Fail Open | |
| Network Time Protocol (NTP) | Network Time Protocol (NTP) | |
| NSF Awareness - BGP | <> | |
| NSF Awareness - EIGRP | ||
| NSF Awareness - OSPF | NSF - OSPF | |
| OSPF | = | OSPF |
| OSPF Forwarding Address Suppression in Translated Type-5 LSAs | OSPF Forwarding Address Suppression in Translated Type-5 LSAs | |
| OSPF Inbound Filtering using Route Maps with a Distribute List | OSPF Inbound Filtering using Route Maps with a Distribute List | |
| OSPF Not-So-Stubby Areas (NSSA) | OSPF Not-So-Stubby Areas (NSSA) | |
| OSPF Support for Multi-VRF on CE Routers | OSPF Support for Multi-VRF on CE Routers | |
| Packet-Based Storm Control | Packet-Based Storm Control | |
| Parse Bookmarks | Parse Bookmarks | |
| Parser Cache | Parser Cache | |
| Per-User ACL Support for 802.1X/MAB/Webauth users. | <> | Per Port Per VLAN Policing |
| PIM Dense Mode State Refresh | = | PIM Dense Mode State Refresh |
| PIM MIB Extension for IP Multicast | PIM MIB Extension for IP Multicast | |
| PIM Multicast Scalability | PIM Multicast Scalability | |
| PIM Version 1 | PIM Version 1 | |
| PIM Version 2 | PIM Version 2 | |
| Policy-Based Routing (PBR) | Policy-Based Routing (PBR) | |
| Port Security | Port Security | |
| -+ | Port Security on Private VLAN Ports | |
| Priority Queueing (PQ) | = | Priority Queueing (PQ) |
| Private VLANs | Private VLANs | |
| QoS Packet Marking | QoS Packet Marking | |
| RADIUS | RADIUS | |
| RADIUS Attribute 44 (Accounting Session ID) in Access Requests | RADIUS Attribute 44 (Accounting Session ID) in Access Requests | |
| RADIUS for Multiple User Datagram Protocol Ports | RADIUS for Multiple User Datagram Protocol Ports | |
| RADIUS Tunnel Attribute Extensions | RADIUS Tunnel Attribute Extensions | |
| Rapid-Per-VLAN-Spanning Tree (Rapid-PVST) | Rapid-Per-VLAN-Spanning Tree (Rapid-PVST) | |
| Reduced MAC Address Usage | Reduced MAC Address Usage | |
| Remote SPAN (RSPAN) | Remote SPAN (RSPAN) | |
| Response Time Reporter (RTR) | +- | |
| Response Time Reporter (RTR) enhancements | ||
| RIP | = | RIP |
| RMON events and alarms | RMON events and alarms | |
| RTP Header Compression | RTP Header Compression | |
| Secure Copy (SCP) | Secure Copy (SCP) | |
| Secure Shell SSH Version 1 Integrated Client | Secure Shell SSH Version 1 Integrated Client | |
| Secure Shell SSH Version 1 Server Support | Secure Shell SSH Version 1 Server Support | |
| Secure Shell SSH Version 2 Client Support | Secure Shell SSH Version 2 Client Support | |
| Secure Shell SSH Version 2 Server Support | Secure Shell SSH Version 2 Server Support | |
| Selective Virtual-Access Interface Creation | +- | |
| Silent Operation Mode | ||
| Smart Port | = | Smart Port |
| SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) | SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) | |
| SNMP Inform Request | SNMP Inform Request | |
| SNMP Manager | SNMP Manager | |
| SNMP Support over VPNs - Context Based Access Control | <> | SNMP over IPv6 |
| SNMPv2C | = | SNMPv2C |
| SNMPv3 (SNMP Version 3) | SNMPv3 (SNMP Version 3) | |
| -+ | Source Specific Multicast (SSM) | |
| Source Specific Multicast (SSM) Mapping | ||
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) | = | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Backbone Fast Convergence | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Backbone Fast Convergence | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Loop Guard | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Loop Guard | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Portfast | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Portfast | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - PortFast BPDU Filtering | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - PortFast BPDU Filtering | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Portfast BPDU Guard | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Portfast BPDU Guard | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Portfast Support for Trunks | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Portfast Support for Trunks | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Root Guard | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Root Guard | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Uplink Fast Convergence | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Uplink Fast Convergence | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Uplink Load Balancing | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) - Uplink Load Balancing | |
| Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Extension | Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Extension | |
| SRR (Shaped Round Robin) | SRR (Shaped Round Robin) | |
| Standard IP Access List Logging | Standard IP Access List Logging | |
| Standby Supervisor Port Usage | Standby Supervisor Port Usage | |
| STP Syslog Messages | STP Syslog Messages | |
| Support for 4096 VLAN IDs | Support for 4096 VLAN IDs | |
| Suppress BGP Advertisement for Inactive Routes | +- | |
| Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) | = | Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) |
| Switching Database Manager (SDM) | <> | Syslog over IPV6 |
| Tacacs Single Connection | = | Tacacs Single Connection |
| TACACS+ | TACACS+ | |
| Time-Based Access Lists Using Time Ranges(ACL) | Time-Based Access Lists Using Time Ranges(ACL) | |
| Triggered RIP | <> | Transparent Bridging |
| Trunk Failover | ||
| Trusted boundary (extended trust for CDP devices) | = | Trusted boundary (extended trust for CDP devices) |
| Tunnel Type of Service (TOS) | +- | |
| UDI - Unique Device Identifier | = | UDI - Unique Device Identifier |
| UDLR Tunnel ARP and IGMP Proxy | +- | |
| Unicast Mac Filtering | = | Unicast Mac Filtering |
| User Maximum Links | <> | UniDirectional Link Detection (UDLD) |
| Vendor-Specific RADIUS Attributes | = | Vendor-Specific RADIUS Attributes |
| Virtual Profile CEF Switched | Virtual Profile CEF Switched | |
| VTP (Virtual Trunking Protocol) Version 2 | <> | VLAN Access Control List (VACL) |
| Warm Reload | VLAN Aware Port Security | |
| WCCP Redirection on Inbound Interfaces | = | WCCP Redirection on Inbound Interfaces |
| WCCP Version 1 | WCCP Version 1 | |
| <> | WCCP Version 2 | |
| Weighted Fair Queueing (WFQ) | Weighted Tail Drop (WTD) |
So here are your options:
1. Rent your rack time. Varies depending on vendor and how much time you need, and how much you buy at once.
Cost: $500 - $1500
2. Save some cash and go with the Cisco 3550s. You see what you’re missing out on above. If you need to practice on the missing areas, you can rent rack time as necessary.
Cost: 4 x $200 = $800, plus your rack rentals. Varies depending on how many sessions you rent.
3. Go with two Cisco 3560s and two Cisco 3550s. Many of the rack rental companies do this- it is a good balance of cost and functionality, and if you do this you eliminate the need to go outside your lab to practice.
Cost: 2 x $200 + 2 x $600 =$1600
4. Go with 4 3560s, just like the live lab. There’s something to be said for having the exact equipment that the lab does- but it comes at the highest price.
Cost: 4 x $600 = $2400.