Catalyst 2950

[xZamalek]

Hello All,

i have couple of cisco 2950 and i would like to practice for the ccnp switch exam the issue is that i see it doesn't support RPVST or MST , is this a hardware limitation ? is there anything to do in order to add these features?

[Mark Malone]

Hi
its not a license issue on a 2950 it could be because there so old they only support standard STP , 2960s support PVST and MST , you could download GNS3 IOU use an IOU image and you can practice switching that way too with all the newer features

[xZamalek]

Hello Mark,

Thank you for your replay , i tried before gns3 with switching but i didn't work for me , so i bought 4x switches 2x 2950 , and 2x3560 i thought real hardware would be better for switching , i found that 3560 support mst and pvst so i guess i will practice the mst on these 2 switches only.

[Mark Malone]

yes they can struggle the emulators when doing layer 2 traffic as its hardware switched and its doing it in software trying to replicate it , Cisco VIRL has it working well but its 200 euro a year license for 20 devices i think , emulators can be a lot more stable with l3 routing as its software already

As well you can integrate your real hardware into your training labs for expansion save you buying more gear as another option for training

https://learningnetworkstore.cisco.com/virlfaq/

[xZamalek]

Yes i think i should learn how to integrate my real hardware with some virtual routers to implement a bigger topology in the future , thanks a lot :)