Ann,
Top-tier (boutique) vendors:
Foundry
Extreme Networks
Force10
Top-tier (mainstream) vendors:
Nortel (bought Bay's line several years back)
Cisco
Alcatel
2nd-tier vendors:
HP
3COM
Allied Telesyn
I've left some good vendors out because I can't think of their names
right now, but pretty much everyone else are bottom-feeders: Netgear,
SMC, Linksys, D-Link. Anecdotal data doesn't count.
The best bang-for-the-buck is HP. They have realistically priced
chassis and stackables (don't confuse realistic with cheap though).
I'm not so sure about 3Com anymore - they've adopted Cisco's pricing
but left out Cisco's reliability and performance.
The bottom-feeders pretend to be at the same performance, manageability
and reliability levels as Tier 1 and 2, but will disappoint you in the
long run. Compatibility issues, lack of flexibility, manageability
quirks, etc. On small networks they're fine (<50 connections).
Anything larger go HP, Cisco or Nortel. If you want to rock, go with
the boutique vendors.
By the way, if you're networking your server room, you need a chassis
switch. Stackables typically top out at about 4GB of bandwidth, while
a decent chassis will get you at least 36GB (preferably more). Bond
four gigabit channels together to match the stackable's bandwidth, then
connect it to the chassis switch. Servers on the chassis, everything
else on the stackables.
There, I've lobbed my grenade for Friday!
have a great weekend,
john
Top-tier (boutique) vendors:
Foundry
Extreme Networks
Force10
Top-tier (mainstream) vendors:
Nortel (bought Bay's line several years back)
Cisco
Alcatel
2nd-tier vendors:
HP
3COM
Allied Telesyn
I've left some good vendors out because I can't think of their names
right now, but pretty much everyone else are bottom-feeders: Netgear,
SMC, Linksys, D-Link. Anecdotal data doesn't count.
The best bang-for-the-buck is HP. They have realistically priced
chassis and stackables (don't confuse realistic with cheap though).
I'm not so sure about 3Com anymore - they've adopted Cisco's pricing
but left out Cisco's reliability and performance.
The bottom-feeders pretend to be at the same performance, manageability
and reliability levels as Tier 1 and 2, but will disappoint you in the
long run. Compatibility issues, lack of flexibility, manageability
quirks, etc. On small networks they're fine (<50 connections).
Anything larger go HP, Cisco or Nortel. If you want to rock, go with
the boutique vendors.
By the way, if you're networking your server room, you need a chassis
switch. Stackables typically top out at about 4GB of bandwidth, while
a decent chassis will get you at least 36GB (preferably more). Bond
four gigabit channels together to match the stackable's bandwidth, then
connect it to the chassis switch. Servers on the chassis, everything
else on the stackables.
There, I've lobbed my grenade for Friday!
have a great weekend,
john
On Oct 29, 2004, at 11:31 AM, amfabllc wrote:
>
> What does SMC stand for, and what website address? Like I said,
> I've always used 3COM.