ASET Labs

Ok, so I had the chance to hack a the Cisco ASET labs. Let me say this first - I was not impressed. I had a total of 18 hours of rack time available, and I would surprised if I used 6 of those hours. And of those 6 hours, I probably only got 2 hours of actual lab time - the rest of the time troubleshooting Cisco's equipment!

Perhaps I just got a bad rack, but all of my equipment would randomly power-cycle. Some times it was all of the equipment, sometimes it was just one or two devices. Sometimes the router would just power-cycle, other times it would load a weird ass configuration, and other times it would load to ROMMON and say the flash was corrupt!! Passwords would randomly appear, and just numerous other things. How could I have an entire bad rack? How could 13 devices be totally FUBAR'd?

In any event, I will not be using the ASET labs again. I think I spent more time cursing and re-starting labs than it was worth. Instead I was able to locate refurbished 24-port 3550 switches for $150 a piece. This was a fantastic deal, and much cheaper than even eBay! I could probably even sell them when I'm done for $200 or more a piece!

Now, there is no way in hell I could purchase a couple 3560's, even if I could re-sell them when I am done. With less than three months to go, it's not worth it to invest a ton of money in 3560s. So, I am going to supplement my switching labs with rack rentals. This shouldn't cost me any more than $60. Once I get my 3550s, I should be able to zip through my switching labs and then finally complete my BGP labs. It feels like I've been working on my BGP labs forever but with so much travel, and maximizing time with my family, I just haven't had much time to really study.

If I had given up much sooner on the ASET labs, I could have probably completed the BGP labs this past weekend! Well, that is all for now. I'm hoping for a week or two off so I can get some prime study time in. That lab date is quickly approaching!