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
> 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