#CiscoChampion Radio S2|Ep 10. The Mad Scientists’ Cisco Home Lab

#CiscoChampion Radio is a podcast series by Cisco Champions as technologists. Today we’ll be talking about Cisco Home Labs with Cisco Education Specialist Charles Stizza.

Listen to the Podcast.

Learn about the Cisco Champions Program HERE.
See a list of all #CiscoChampion Radio podcasts HERE.

Cisco SMEs
Charles Stizza, Cisco Education Specialist

Cisco Champion Guest Hosts
Michael Aossey, @aossey, Solutions Architect
Blake Krone, @blakekrone, Wireless Solutions Architect

Moderator
Lauren Friedman (@Lauren)

Highlights
Why home labs are beneficial for IT engineers
Home labs and getting hired
Why home labs play a key role in continued success
Tips on finding home lab gear
Home lab adventure stories

Transcript
bwhaynes I have a real problem getting rid of old gear. Is there a group help session for this?
@gallifreyan I base it on what I find at Weird Stuff on sale
@gallifreyan bought a few dual-hexcore Xeon workstations for the new vsphere lab late last year, since they were under $500 each.
childebrandt42 Gallifreyan i would like to hear more on that. I am starting a rebuild on my Vmware lab now.
@gallifreyan do the panelists use things like olive or virl or the like in their environments?
bwhaynes Q: your thoughts on GNS3 and VIRL to replace/enhance home labs
seanpmassey I get stuff based on what I want to learn/write about…cost is important, but there are times where you have to break the bank
seanpmassey eBay is great for finding new hardware…
chris_nickl ebay is great for enterprise equipment for pennies on the dollar
@gallifreyan chris: I went synology, open box deals, for the Ronco factor.
@gallifreyan and if you’re buying stuff on ebay, consider looking for alternate part numbers and typos
bwhaynes anyone else found themselves in a dumpster box looking for gear?
PriscillaOpp I have Layer 1 issues. Physically setting up the lab is challenging, even though I do work out at a gym. Anyone else have that problem?
seanpmassey can find lots of great off-lease/refurb gear on eBay…just updated my lab last year w/ some 11Gen Dell Servers
childebrandt42 I have 2 synology but looking for new servers. I have two IBM 3650M2’s now and they are costly.
childebrandt42 I want something more power friendly, but can good whitebox.
@gallifreyan There are some good deals out there on C200M2/C210M2 UCS servers…
@gallifreyan I also use Dell Precision Workstation laptops for home lab stuff. M4600 or M6500 are under $500 each and take 32gb RAM
Cisco Champion Radio Q: anyone ever have something catch fire in your home lab?
CCIE4713 The world has changed a lot over the last few years when we talk virtualized things.
CCIE4713 Having 5.5 racks is still useful for proof of concept with consulting, but not necessary for studying these days!
@gallifreyan The M6500 takes 3 drives (1 msata, two 2.5) but are first gen i7. M4600 I think takes 1 msata 1 2.5, second gen i7.
CollabSensei We use CSR1000v to do nested dmvpn in our centralized lab at my employer. That allows us to span resources from home to work.
@gallifreyan NUC is nice but all but the newest are capped at 16gb. I have two.
@gallifreyan There’s no i7 NUC yet either. Just celeron/i3/i5
Cisco Champion Radio 3 CSR1000v
@gallifreyan I think they have the intel remote management
@gallifreyan http://liliputing.com/2015/01/intel-unveils-nuc-mini-pc-core-i7-broadwell.html
@gallifreyan Dell C6100 is a good option if you have a soundproof/distant place for them
bwhaynes anybody done funky stuff with the raspberry pi
Cisco Champion Radio Q: do you get rid of old equipment or do you keep it ‘in memory’ ?
aossey i have moved to HP DL580 G5’s because you can find 24 cores and 128GB of RAM for around $500 on ebay
Wendello Good site for VMWare home labs… happens to have a Intel NUC blog post on the home page. http://www.ryanbirk.com
chris_nickl i leave it on all the time, the power bill is my wife’s issue
@gallifreyan Check out the Asrock C2550D4I … microatx (I think) with max 64GB UDIMM
seanpmassey @Gallifreyan – “C6100s” are also good if you have stock in energy companies
@gallifreyan @seanpmassey I have two-node L5520 with 24GB per, plus Cisco Small Biz 10gbe switch, plus Synology DS1513+ … under 400W total.
seanpmassey  @Cisco Champion Radio – I recycle it. A friend from college runs an e-recycling company
@gallifreyan http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=C2550D4I#Specifications is the asrock…
childebrandt42 Supermicro X9SCM-F
WirelessStew I like Blakes Hollywood style rack that powers up with a Cisco Phone
@gallifreyan And http://rsts11.com/poho-home-lab/ is another cool home lab blog site
bwhaynes host session CSMA/CD
seanpmassey I’m thinking of the mislabels C6100s that really DCS6005s
@gallifreyan sean: I have the XS23-TY3 genuine C6100 (not 6005 or 6105).
@gallifreyan Paid $700, added dual 10gbe cards for about $50 each.
bwhaynes Q: What is your dream lab? Is there a BoM
chris_nickl give most of it away its a paperweight when i’m done
WirelessStew I recycle the really old equipment. And lend out gear all the time
@gallifreyan chris: In California you can use the old stuff to ballast your rack against earthquakes
seanpmassey nice…where did you get 10GBe cards for $50 a pop?
@gallifreyan sean: ebay. Brocade BR-1020.
chris_nickl UCS Chassis, 5596 or 7k
chris_nickl all flash storage
@gallifreyan You have to use brocade-specific copper cable. About $20-30 each from Hong Kong.
@gallifreyan The EBC in San Jose now has the Wall Of America type thing now
bwhaynes Q: is there any gear that is future proof? OK, the racks maybe
CollabSensei UCS singleconnect can simplify a lab setup if you are going to have a sizable UCS setup.
KwekuF Is it a good option to donate old gear to a Cisco Academy or are they real strict on their requirements?
@gallifreyan CollabSensei: Or even if not. I have a pair of 6120s and a pair of C240M3S servers… no fexes.
Cisco Champion Radio Oh, forgot until just now – Computer history museum is creating a Cisco exhibit
@gallifreyan I’m between 5-10k
WirelessStew $6k including books
PriscillaOpp Have any of you gotten your kids to help out in the lab? Good training for them?
Cisco Champion Radio Best Comment So Far: I have a green screen in my trunk!
KwekuF What is the best way to derive maximum benefit from a home lab especially when you are away from home? Remote access?
WirelessStew My daughter is getting good and identifying Access Point models.
@gallifreyan KwekuF: A lot of home network gear supports VPNs… can do a Cisco Small Business RV320/325 too.
bwhaynes also interested in remote access same as KwekuF
PriscillaOpp Wow. I’m impressed. I love the answers to my question about involving the kids.
WirelessStew My 8yr wants to learn how to make apps
aossey KwekuF  remote access is a must for me. I want to be able to use my lab no matter what
@gallifreyan UMA is cell over wifi…
bwhaynes sidebar: my daughter had her picture on cisco website after I started network academy in our city.I made her take the course.
Cisco Champion Radio my preccccious
@gallifreyan I have a Catalyst Killer polo from Bay Networks…
WirelessStew My Starwars are action figures are still in there packages