[CentOS] [OT] Network switches

Wed Mar 25 14:00:57 UTC 2009
Rob Townley <rob.townley at gmail.com>

On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 6:12 PM, Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at gmail.com> wrote:
> Luke S Crawford wrote:
>>
>>> i would like to see real performance data via something like netperf
>>> with client machines booted from a standardized LiveCD, then
>>> peformance under their Linux Distribution and performance under
>>> Windows.
>>
>>
>> Performance data is not the most important metric, at least for me.
>>
>> For me, the big problem is reliability and security.   My problem with

i am with you, security is my biggest concern.  When our network were
to started to crawl, i have to wonder if there isn't a worm sucking up
all the bandwidth.  Stressing a switch may test the reliability of the
infrastructure in a safe way - an automated PXE boot at night.
Ideally, switch perf reports would include the firmware version.

>> used cisco is that getting access to the firmware usually costs more than
>> the used parts I'm buying... If I'm going to use the thing as a router at the
>> head of my network, I want to be sure that the thing can be secured, and
>> sometimes that requires a firmware update.
>>
>> If someone sold support contracts (by support contracts, I mean firmware.
>> I don't need help, I just need the firmware.) for old switches for
>> less than the value of the switch, I'd buy.    If someone sold
>> switches with open source firmware, I'd buy.  (I've bought myself an
>> OpenGear console server instead of a cheaper used cyclades for similar
>> reasons.)
>
> If you get a service contract on any piece of Cisco equipment, you
> typically get download access to all of the firmware updates.  However,
> in a lot of scenarios there are several choices, each with a different
> set of bugs that you won't know about unless you open a TAC case and
> tell an engineer exactly what features have to work for you.
>
> --
>   Les Mikesell
>    lesmikesell at gmail.com
>
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