As I mentioned in a previous post, I thought its a good idea to have a separate post for my lab. I heard many stories about CCIEs who prepared for the lab exam using GNS3. GNS3 is a real solid tool and can help a lot. I know this for sure as I have completed my CCNP studies using GNS3 running on my old Dell Inspiron with 2GB of RAM only. And you know what? it worked really well. I especially enjoyed Routing labs except when GNS3 crashes on me at the most critical times! I spent plenty of time debating building my own lab, renting one or just use GNS3. I dropped the idea of rack rentals, it just didn't