catalyst 5000 question

=A0 =A0Archsum =A0: N

=A0: . =A0 =A0DPRAM =A0 =A0: .

LASH =A0 =A0: N

w =A0 =A0 Fw =A0 =A0 =A0 Fw1

I could enable/disable ports..... set port enable/set port disable

how to make this permanent(the enable and disable of ports)?

Success in enabling and disabling ports led me to believe that the catalyst 5000 is working fine...it has two power supplies, only one has been plugged in...

Kartik Vashishta

Your in boot mode, means you have no valid software image. Can't do anything until you get that fixed!

"faulty" probably means that the supervisor failed one its boot up diagnostic tests. It looks to me that the system has booted and the "boot>" prompt is probably just the default. This switch is 10 to 15 years old so you can probably get a replacement supervisor on ebay for pretty cheap. What are you using this thing for? Hopefully you didn't buy this for Cisco experience because this thing isn't anything like an IOS based switch.

Just by way of some explanation.

Many of the high end routers and switches had a three stage boot process.

1. rommon
2. IOS boot image
3. IOS main image

I know that your 5000 is CAT-OS, I was at one time familiar with them, but it looks like you have done stages 1, and 2 but have got stuck at stage 3.

I forget the commands now for CAT-OS but you should do something like "show boot" and "show flash" and post the results.

sh boot sh bootflash sh slot0 sh flash slot0 sh slot1 sh flash slot1

I forget now.

sh ver sh diag sh hard

would be good too.

..

I'll try to answer both posts.

I got the switch to do port enable/disable, and to learn "cisco stuff". I gather that ios is not supported on this switch. I was not able to download the s/w because I do not have a service contract......yes, I want to learn cisco stuff, IOS et al.... If the supervisor module failed, then, how come I am able to do port disable/enable? maybe it has, partially failed.

I guess I need a more recent cisco switch, my budget is very very meagre...

I doubt I'll be able to get the s/w to put on a replacement supervisor module, even if I get a replacement supervisor module.

boot> sh boot Unknown command "show boot". Use 'show help' for more info. boot> sh bootflash Unknown command "show bootflash". Use 'show help' for more info. boot> sh he Show commands:

----------------------------------------------------------------------- show arp Show ARP table show flash Show system flash information show help Show this message show interface Show network interfaces show ip Show IP information show port Show port information show module Show module information show system Show system information show test Show results of diagnostic tests boot>

This switch may be too old to learn anything useful on it. You can learn CatOS, but CatOS skills are rapidly becoming very stale. Likewise, even if you had a service contract on it (again, too old to even get a new one), you are only going to be able to get images for like the last release produced 6-7 years back.

If you are in boot mode instead of full CatOS mode, you can do very basic management of the switch. The boot image is just the basics used to upgrade the sup to a newer rev of code. It doesn't have all the features included in it.

eBay has a WS-C2950-24 for $65. There's one starting at $10 with a bid on it.

This is going to be a pretty current switch, running IOS that will let you get plenty of skills on. I guess I'd prefer to spend $50-$65 for this rev rather than the previous HW rev of a WS-C2924XL which is again getting pretty long in the tooth, and isn't that much cheaper over all.

If you are going for Cisco certification, you will have to have a layer-3 switch to study. I suppose after the first step, I'd get a WS-C3550-SMI for basic Layer3 switching. These are going $150-$200 on eBay.

Again, fairly currently, very much like the current shipping hardware, very small differences. These two would get you current skills if you learn on them.

But a replacement may come with the software on it instead of what you have now.. I'd go for one of the smaller non-modular switches though. I wouldn't go for an older chassis switch unless you knew exactly what you were getting into.

Thank you very much. Your suggestions, seem, nothing but, important.

Kartik Vashishta

Which router do you recommend?

Kartik Vashishta

If you are looking to do certification, I'd recommend getting one real router, and the rest virtualize with dynamips/GNS3. I would recomend splurging on the router, and get a current one, an 1841, since you would be virtualizing the rest.

There are some 1841 on eBay now for $550.

This gets you two FastEthernet interfaces, two HWIC slots, ability to have a lot of cheap RAM and Flash in it. It has decent enough throughput through it (unlike a 2600). Can take the newest cards, as well as use some of the older cheap cards too (even if it might not be listed as supported... :) Has hardware VPN crypto acceleration, and can run the latest code revs, which have dropped out now on all the pre-ISR routers.

I think spending the money on the 1841 is better than spending less on something like the 2611XM (at $145-$240) that has a whole lot less throughput (single digit Mbps), and runs only old code.

If you wanted to do a serial link between two, you could pick up another of the cheaper ones (ie. 2610 or 2610XM) for the physical link at the remote end, they are pretty dirt cheap all around.

So, having one decent one as your main learning platform, you can get away with less for others you may get, or virtualize them all after the one. Having one in hand is very useful to get a feel of it, doing things like password recovery on, etc. That dynamips doesn't do.

The prices for all that has been menioned...namely; WS-C2950-24, WS- C3550-SMI, 1841; are, at this time, out of my budget.....

The information you provided, is, to me, not, unimportant.

Kartik Vashishta

| The prices for all that has been menioned...namely; WS-C2950-24, WS- | C3550-SMI, 1841; are, at this time, out of my budget.....

What is your budget? With careful shopping on eBay you could get a 3662 for < $100 (including US shipping). It will run the newest IOS you can get without going over the "bump" to an x8xx (12.4(15)T), it has two fast Ethernet ports, and it supports a wide range of NM modules including all the old, cheap ones. It is a bit big and heavy...

Dan Lanciani ddl@danlan.*com

craigslist.com seemed to have some deals. On, Craigslist, bargaining may not be impossible.

I typically search the computer section with the keyword "cisco"

Kartik Vashishta

For router abd switch, may I get away with just the 3660 and the 3550?

Kartik Vashishta

The switch is no issue, its a superset of the 2950 I mentioned before anyway. I just brought it up earlier that it can do Layer3, and that is a major push from Cisco for their stuff lately.

I hadn't seen the 3660's be so cheap before, wouldn't have considered them before for the last price I had seen, but thats pretty decent.

The only drawback to them is that they won't run the absolute latest code rev (only the ISRs and up do), and if you are going for a voice track, that I'd push for the ISR instead (although the 2810++ then with its new style DSP arrangement). But should be totally fine for everything else, and even old style VOIP.