nd. It eases management and gives you fewer warranty processes to document =
and be familiar with. If your preferred switch vendor can't meet your neede=
d price points or feature sets at your various network points, then you may=
want to think about changing vendors. I'm a huge HP ProCurve guy, and have=
been using them since the '90s. Lifetime warranty, very low per-port cost=
s, full featured and standards compliant products (which does away with som=
e of the interoperability comments mentioned in this thread already).
Now, to get to your real question, should the edge be simple and cheap? Tha=
t depends on your edge. If you have a lot of access points, or IP phones, o=
r if you have need for any port-level security and/or NAC, then I'd say no.=
If you're hooking standard desktops up to a backbone with an intelligent c=
ore switch, then I'd say yes, you can probably use less expensive basic L2 =
switches. I would not recommend unmanaged switches (or even "web" managed s=
witches) for any sizable install. Fully managed switches that support commo=
n management protocols and can be easily monitored are a real time saver an=
d make your life so much easier.
For what it's worth, we have 24 HP ProCurve switches across 11 buildings, a=
ll managed L2/L3-lite switches, with a large HP ProCurve chassis L3 switch =
at the core, and we're very happy. I've had HP replace dead fans and power =
supplies in 10 year old switches, as well as ship out entire replacement sw=
itches for 3 - 4 dead ports years after I bought them.
S
---
Steven Dickenson <sdickenson@keyschool.org>
Computer Network Manager
The Key School, Annapolis Maryland
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for independent school educators [mailto:ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.=
EDU] On Behalf Of Carl Campion
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 8:17 AM
To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: switch options
Hello list.
I have a network question.
We need to update some of our network switches. At the core of our =20
network we have Summit Extreme switches as well as Cisco. The question =20
is what to use at edges of the network: Extreme, Netgear, or possibly =20
HP Procurve(3 Com) ? There seems to be at least two schools of =20
thought: keep it all one brand(Summit) for ease of management and the =20
lifetime warranty. The other advice I have received is to "go cheaper" =20
at the edge.
I would appreciate any input.
thanks
Carl Campion
Director of Technology
Archmere Academy
=20
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