Documenting my journey with CML personal

[smstetson]

So - I am studying for CCNP.  I have to keep my costs down (until I make that big CCNP money, LOL).  I had been using devnet sandbox CML for a while.  I stopped being able to get reservations on the sandbox some time ago.  When I tried to start studying again after the holidays I found they had completely changed the system and I definitely can't get in any more (see reports of same from others).  I really need to get something working so I can knock my ENARSI out, so I decided begrudgingly to buy a CML personal license.  I am going to document my experiences in this thread.  Hopefully some others in my position will gain some value from it.

It was a little bewildering at first deciding how I wanted to run CML.  I could run it at AWS and not deal with any hardware but for me it seemed like I was going to need to spend too many cycles learning about AWS when what I want to be learning is routing and switching. 

If I bought server hardware, would I keep it at the house and irritate my wife?  Or keep it at work and have to spend all my free time up there?  My wife chose for me to keep it at the house.

Was I going to buy non-Cisco hardware and run VMWARE?  Which version?  I watched a David Bombal video on installing CML to a laptop and the process was simple.  I used VMWARE Workstation Player.  I found on my laptop the software installed fine and ran, but as soon as I started even one virtual router the CPU spent time maxed out.  No real surprise there.

I started pricing out SuperMicro and Dell hardware ( I was thinking SuperMicro X-10DRU-i+ or a Dell R630 ).  I have worked with those extensively as a tech at a reseller. I started looking into the VMWare options and what the limitations are.  It didn't look too bad but figured Cisco hardware might be the way to go so I could avoid that extra layer of virtualization.

I ended up finding a Cisco C220-M4 2x E5-2630 v3 32G RAM for $109 with pickup near me.  I ordered 2x UCS-HD300G10K12G for $39.  So for under $150 I should have a complete system that I think will squeak by and run anything I might need for CCNP labs.

I saved all my labs as I went along on the sandbox.  I saw on my laptop that they import successfully into CML personal.  So once I get my system up and running I will look for the biggest lab I had and see if I have any bottlenecks.

If I do have any issues, it looks like I could move all the way up to 2690v3s for $9/each and double my RAM for about $28.  i will let you know what happens!  Have I miscalculated horribly? Stay tuned and we'll find out!

[Martin L]

In addition to having and running CML, I would use Eve.ng , especially for larger networks. Also, old way was labbing via GNS3, which is still relevant and I use gns3 for quick IOS behavior,  command verifications. 

Have fun labbing 

Regards, ML
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[balaji.bandi]

My views - i use CML and PNETLab - CML mostly cisco gear

PNETLab i use multivendor labbing, hope that helps you. (by HP or Dell work station - they are silent)

example i could able to run Lab like below : (even though toplogy required high compute, you can test segment based on the resouce available on the Lab)  - the server i am using see the below - quite and no major noise.

https://www.balajibandi.com/?p=846

https://www.balajibandi.com/?p=1291

You can also Build some GCP certain level its free.

[smstetson · Accepted solution]

I picked up my server the other day.  It booted fine. I have had to install CML-P a few times.  I had trouble getting a DHCP address.  When I did get one and verify CML worked, it lost its IP after reboot.  Very odd.  I tracked down an IP that is not in the DHCP pool and reinstalled using the static IP.  That seems to have me up and running even after reboots.

It seems like the E5-2630v3 32g is more than sufficient to run the labs I want.  I currently have 3 different labs open with a total of 22 devices booted in them combined.  No resource issues.  No CPU running in the red like I used to see when I would boot a lab on devnet. Does that mean the 20 device limit is per lab, not simultaneous amongst all labs?

All in all, I think I have something I can use to get me through my CCNP studies and I did not break the bank at all, so happy customer here.