CCNA Lab BATTLE!! // GNS3 vs Physical - ft. Jeremy Cioara

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[NetworkChuck]

#Physical or #Virtual? Comment below to cast your vote.

[JosephJohnson-sqbu]

Thank you Gentlemen. I must say that I had CCNA RS and got my first network job 2 years later. Was so crazy to go to real world. Was hard to visualize, but had enough hindsight that I started to lab again on GNS3 to refresh, but would mentally visualize/role play the physical aspect of walking onsight, consoling in etc. First day on the job I had to recover a switch stack (x4 3750s) lol and was so blind sided I immediatly started to doubt myself. Labbing with visualization/role playing helped me so much. And of course, I watched a crap ton of Jeremy and Kieth, as well as Youtube with David B and Net Chuck. I'm now a Sr Net Engineer! You guys are changing lives! Keep rocking it!

[JeremysITLab]

For someone studying for the CCNA, virtual/sims are the way to go I think. Packet tracer, despite its flaws and limitations, is so simple to get started with, and the price is definitely right for someone without a big budget. GNS3 is even better of course, though harder to get started with and the images aren’t free.
Ideally everyone could have their own physical lab, but in terms of cost and convenience I don’t think it’s the best option for most.

[BorisVV]

Everything that Jeremy said has happened to me. I've run into gns3 and even packet tracer bugs all the time. And instead of practicing networking I was troubleshooting gns3. As a network engineer who has worked in different cisco partners, I can say that getting familiar with physical equipment and connections is really important. Once you are experienced with that you can stick to a virtual environment.

[stephenbridgford]

I just got passed my CCNA two days ago (I know cutting it close). I took the two exam approach, but here’s the best part: I bought a $10 Udemy video course and a $10 Udemy Packet tracer course. I bought 2 used books for like $20 each. You really don’t need the fancy stuff to pass these things! Note: I only had my A+ and no networking knowledge/experience previously.

[petecam]

I can see both sides. There are advantages to virtual like Chuck is talking about being able to spin up complex topologies quickly without having to buy a lot of equipment. It is good like Jeremy says to use the real thing. I’m studying for my CCNA, and until recently I hadn’t touched any real devices. So yeah, knowing how to cable the real equipment is good knowledge to have. So I think there are advantages to both and disadvantages to both. While I like the real thing, having the ability to set up a complex topology and experiment with it.

[pez]

When you're first getting started I have to choose #physical. Not so much for the certification itself but getting hired afterwards. I got my first networking jobs over more experienced candidates because I could actually navigate around the hardware. The other applicants never touched a physical device and couldn't figure out how to actually turn on the device much less console into the device.

I love virtual for labbing but you need to learn how to navigate the physical side of networking as well.

[JohnPretto]

I was one of the first engineers at Microtest. I was then one of the first Certified Network Engineers for Novell. We built the very first hand held reflectometers. Built hundreds of networks: Thick net, thin net, Arc net, Token Ring and finally RG58 networks. I have lots to add to this conversation...

[mattwolfe]

#both! I live in a small apt so physical equipment is thought right now. So I use PT and GNS3. Once I've got a bigger living space and a larger home network then I'll absolutely have a home lab. Why not do both, just get your hands on anything and everything.

[adamlicht]

This was a great debate. Personally, I keep a cluster of 4 GNS3 routers up all the time on a dedicated box bridged to my physical infrastructure so I can test Ansible, SNMP, etc against them. They've been up for months with no issues, and the hardware footprint is minimal. However, for switching, I really don't think you can beat physical equipment. I do keep both for exams though. When we get to higher level certifications, the basics can sometimes be lost on us and it helps to have that physical environment to grant a refresher when needed. Seeing link lights, physical cabling, and performing packet captures on live equipment does a phenomenal job in solidifying understanding of any network concepts, and these skills translate well to any production environment. You never know when you're going to have to head into a data center to troubleshoot..

[jalentolbert]

Passed the ccna today. First so relieved 😁

[danniemussa]

These guys made me to like coffee when I'm configuring and studying cisco, proud of you Jeremy and network chunk

[kevindodd]

These guys are great for motivation. I'd lost my motivation for earning the CCNA and continuing my growth however just by watching this it is back.

[EdWilliamstech]

One day, this will be an Epic Rap Battles of History

[ahmedw]

#physical For a beginner i must say physical is the best. It gives you such a good foundation and good insight. I remember when we first went to the physical lab in school, i didnt understand anything. Up until then we had only used packet tracer. But after having used the physical equipment it really gave me a better understanding, and made me more motivated. But now i only virtual as it is easier for my pocket and my room space.

Begin physical, proceed to virtual.

[TekTonGamingNetwork]

I did it! : ) I got my CCNA on the 19th! I just made it lol "Swerve Certpocalypse" I took the exam on the 6th and failed horribly due to being over-stressed and unable to focus! Prayed went back on the 19th focused, not stressing and making sure I was thinking clearly, : ) killed it! Thanks to you guys and your motivation! Keep the videos coming. : )

[nihilsinedeo]

Great debate guys. Fun to watch this. I think we need a hybrid of this. For instance, I've started to learn vmWare vSphere using Type 2 Hypervisor Workstation. I've installed a few ESXi VM's and one vCenter to "rule them all". After this, I've used two old pizza box hardware from HP on which I've built my real vSphere LAB. I loved vSphere once I was discovering what it can do and I said to myself: "I definitely need a physical LAB with real servers as hosts, with multiple nick on them and some Synology storage which I've configured as a datastore for my LAB env". So, my opinion is: Start with a virtual LAB, and if you like it, build your own physical LAB, even if you are using cheap old equipment.

[digitalshooter]

Jeremy is right. If you don't have the experience with physical equipment you're going to have issues once you get on the job. As a DC technician for a large company we use admins from all over the world. Most of them probably have never seen the equipment in person much less worked on them. Most of our admins whether they are network, linux, windows or storage couldn't troubleshoot themselves out of a wet paper sack. When it comes to the network connections the admins are always saying it's a physical problem and 8 out of 10 times they're wrong. They issues they see are usually layer 2 or layer 3 issues. Probably because they've never worked on the equipment before. People really should get some kind of experience with the physical equipment if they don't have it already. If you already have it then virtual would be fine.

[sgisaza]

it would be sooo sweet to get a video that walks a person from soup to nuts from bang to boom exactly how to install and setup GNS3.. with images and all the little obscure details.. Once you have GNS3 running is great.. I inherited a desktop with it already setup and ready to go.. just like these training videos they just somehow have it running and ready for labs...lol but to setup from start to actually able to use for great labs.. is a course in its self. YESSSS

[Watchingyou-daily]

I would love to have my own physical lab. I can't justify the overall cost