I'm starting my CCNP journey but I'm worried about the cost of gear. Do I really need physical Catalyst 9000 switches to learn SD-Access and automation? I've heard mixed reviews about GNS3 vs. Cisco Modeling Labs (CML). What is the most realistic way to simulate the performance-based lab questions on the exam without spending thousands of dollars on hardware that will be loud and eat up my electricity?
3 answers
You absolutely do not need physical hardware for the 350-401 anymore. I used Cisco Modeling Labs (CML) and it was worth every penny of the subscription. It comes with the official IOS-XE images, which is critical for learning the new features. For the SD-Access and DNA Center stuff, you can use the Cisco DevNet Sandboxes for free to get a feel for the GUI. Physical gear is great for Layer 2 nuances, but for the CCNP level, virtualization in CML or EVE-NG is much more efficient and covers 95% of what you'll see in the exam labs.
That's a solid recommendation, Barbara. Kevin, have you looked into whether your laptop has enough RAM to support a virtual lab? Running a few IOS-XE instances can easily eat up 16GB or 32GB of RAM. What are your current hardware specs for your workstation?
Stick with CML for the official images. It's stable and easier to set up than GNS3 if you aren't familiar with importing IOU/IOL images. It will save you hours of troubleshooting.
I agree, Susan. The time saved not fighting with GNS3 configurations is time you can spend actually mastering OSPF and BGP attributes, which is what actually matters for the passing score
Thomas raises a vital point because I learned the hard way that 16GB isn't enough for a complex topology. I ended up building a cheap "server" using an old Dell Optiplex with 64GB of RAM and it runs EVE-NG perfectly. It's a much better investment than buying old physical routers that don't support modern code.