Lab Gear Ordered - Part 1
It was a scary experience, but a few moments ago I pressed the “Buy” button on a new (refurbished) server that is going to be the backbone and workhorse of my lab preparation.
Basically its a 1U HPE server (DL360 Generation 9) with 2x Xeon E5-2690v3 processors (12 Cores/2.6Ghz each). I had it upgraded to 256Gig of memory and 6x 200Gb SSD drives.
This server will be running all the processing workloads on top of ESXi. The main VM on ESXi being EVE-NG Pro.
Even though the server will be hosted on premises at my house, I will make sure the infrastructure is setup, so my colleagues also studying for CCIE Security will be able to use it as well.
I already own 2x ASA 5512-X and I have borrowed some very recent catalyst switches. Access points I already have a few off in the shed so that leaves the IP Phone which is on its way as well.
These purchases will enable me to run even the largest topologies I can imagine and certainly all the training vendors full scale topologies, without any compromises (such as spinning down idle routers/firewalls).
So that checks of the 2nd most expensive part of this journey (assuming bootcamps are still around $4K these days).
However the learning potential this setup will provide to multiple people is well worth the price!
Now all I can do is wait for the package to arrive from the UK and I can get to installing this beast.
Take care and stay safe!!
/Kim