Building a 3640 for lab work

[JSK]

Hi Guys,

New member to the forum. Finished my ICND1 class last week and have my ICND2 class at the end of the month. Currently reading Todd's CCNA book and tinkering with GNS3 and Packet tracer programs.

I've got an interesting situation in that I have no experience with routers or switches. However I have several years of experience with Cisco CSS 11501/11503 and almost 1.5 years with the Cisco ACE and XML Gateway.

So to my real question. I've been going back and forth between getting a pair of 2610xm or a pair of 3640's. But when it comes to the 3640 I'm not really sure what I should look for with regard to a lab environment. Is 64D/15F good enough for lab? And how about modules?

Trying to weigh in the costs and determine which would be a better buy in the long run. My goal is to start a basic lab for practice. But I plan to add/expand as necessary as I work towards CCNP later on.

[Big Evil]

Been here mate.
The 3640's are great they do it all. But the flash/dram is more money and you have to get to at least 128/32 minimum. Then you have the modules, and they use a lot of juice!!! (plus the noise)
The 2610xm are cheaper, all over. But you will find the 12.4 does not let you run MPLS and you may find you self either running two IOS.

HTH.

[JSK]

Thanks BigEvil! I appreciate your response.

[JSK]

Well, I got lucky on my first lab purchase. I took a chance on 2650xm from eBay. $49 shipped. Seller could only tell me the device would power on with green LEDs.

Arrived yesterday and I fired it up. Had a console password so I had my first experience with rommon and confreg. lol Once I got everything cleared I was able to boot up with no problem. It turns out the device has 128/32 so I really got lucky.

Now I also see the importance of clearing a configuration when a device gets taken out of service. From looking at this router I can tell it was located in Tampa and had frame relay connections to Denver and Seattle. lol

[Big Evil]

LOL..........what clown left the old config on, then sold them!!
Someone could get into some serious poop right there.

Congrats on the awesome deal, many happy miles with those bad boys.

[bs_kwaj]

The 3640's are great they do it all. ... and they use a lot of juice!!! (plus the noise)

BE,

I was thinking about getting a 3640. Here's my logic: I bought an NM-4T to go in my 2811. The NM-4A/S works in there. Why not an NM-4T. Well, no, it doesn't work in the 2811... or the 26--XM's!! So, hey, buy a router to fit around your module, right! ;)

What's the deal with the noise? Are we talking jet taking off, keep it in a server room loud, or just old computer with loud fans loud?

Thanks,

BS

[Big Evil]

They are double the depth of 2600 (is that 2IU?), so the fan is bigger.
It's not really bad unless you have four + and some switches.

HTH.

[bs_kwaj]

Ok... Hey, thanks for the info. :)

Oh, and wouldn't that be 4U?

[Big Evil]

Yes, 4U. I was close. LOL..