ISE LAB on Virtual Platform

[rupaheli1]

I am planning to prepare a ISE LAB on virtual platform (VMWARE), can anybody suggest if the below is sufficient to start with.

- ISE-2.3.0.xxx-virtual-1.2TB-SNS3595.ova

- Virtual SNS-3595 OVA = Memory 64 GB = CPU 16000 MHz (for template requirement)

• CPU = Clock Speed: 2.0 GHz or faster & Number of Cores: 8 (Large) CPU cores
• Memory = 64 GB
• Hard Disk = 2TB with minimal speed of 10,000 RPM
• NIC = min 1 GB total 3 NIC (Cisco ISE supports E1000 (preferable) and VMXNET3 adapters.)
• The storage system for the Cisco ISE virtual appliance requires a minimum write performance of 50 MB per second and a read performance of 300 MB per second ( this point I did not understand, however captured from one of the cisco portal)
• 
  
• Stanalone ISE - all persona in one box

now the question is if the above is sufficient then which baremetal server I should order, does desktop will be sufficient.

also what other hardware like which AP, which WLC, other softwares,  I should be considering to purchase or download / require, if I need to demonstrate below.

- AAA

- Trustsec

-BOYD

guest VLAN with wireless

[Timothy Abbott]

Hi,

For lab environments, you don't need a ton of compute power since ISE won't have a significant load.  Honestly, I would just use the eval OVA instead of a 3595 VM. I run 8GB of memory and 200GB of disk space in my lab and I have all personas enabled.  If your server is powerful enough and has enough space, you could use a vWLC and pick up a newer AP.  I also have AD in my lab as well to demo AD integration like PassiveID, so you might want to look into that as well.

Regards,

-Tim

[Jason Kunst · Accepted solution]

Seems like overkill for a lab, 200 gig hard drive is fine

We cannot recommend hardware to install on, you would need to spec out a machine

I would recommend the virtual SNS-3415 OVA per the following guide

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/ise/2-3/install_guide/b_ise_InstallationGuide23/b_ise_InstallationGuide23_chapter_01.html#appspec

http://cs.co/ise-eval

If you’re a partner you can get a 1 year license with the ise pov kit

http://cs.co/selling-ise

Another useful doc

https://communities.cisco.com/docs/DOC-63866

For wireless get a 3504 (or a virtual controller) with a 3800 ap of your liking

To do Trustsec you will need a switch or firewall in front of some web servers to enforce on, look at the trustsec compatibility matrix

http://cs.co/trustsec-compatibility