threestarsandasun,
I agree with Minue on some of that equipment. Wish the seller had listed the amount of FLASH and DRAM on the 2524 routers (I will talk about them later).
For CCNA it would be nice to have 2 2501 or 2503 routers with 16/16 DRAM and FLASH - that is the max for that unit as well as an IOS of at least 12.1 or so. The 2501/2503 have 2 serial interfaces and 1 Ethernet. This makes it very easy to connect the 3 routers back to back to back by serial interfaces - very much how they are in the CCNA Exam SIMS.
Router A ---- Router B ---- Router C
You then can connect the Ethernet ports to different switches and then you can connect your computer to the switch, that way you can both telnet into the routers or use the console cable to connect to the routers.
You would also need a 2620 or 1721 and a serial WIC so to connect it to the other 2 routers. The 2620/1721 is needed to connect to the switch for VLAN and trunking practice.
You also should try yo get at least 1 2950 switch, the other switches are ok for a place for your Ethernet ports to connect to but you will need practice on a 2950 or better switch.
The trouble (I see and I own 3 of these units)with the 2524/2525 routers is that they are moduler and it is hard to get the serial modules - looks like he has 2 5 in 1 serial WICS, 1 DSU/CSU and 1 ISDN module. You will have a hard time connecting these routers back to back to do many of the routing labs that are like the sims you will see on the CCNA exam. You would have to try to locate additional modules, I was lucky - mine came with the modules I needed.
I would spend some time checking out routers on eBay - if you are getting several 2500 routers look for them with 16 mgs FLASH and 16 mgs DRAM and a newer IOS.
Spend time reading and understand what you are buying and you can put a good lab together!
You also might want to check out the Cisco certification forum here at Tek Tips
Hope this helps!
E.A. Broda
CCNA, CCDA, CCAI, Network +
