Network equipment

[Ben Scott]

On 8/25/06, Paul Lussier <p.lussier at comcast.net> wrote:
>>   I'm currently looking strongly at HP ProCurve (2600 and 2800
>> series).  Good rep.  Lifetime warranty with next-business-day advanced
>> part replacement.
>
> I looked at these a couple years back, and while they seem on paper to
> be pretty good, I remember that the specs for HPs when you dug into
> them didn't compare well with the Nortel or Cisco stuff.

  Our needs are so simple that I don't really care about advanced
features.  Indeed, I'm trying to avoid paying for features we don't
need.  We're trying to upgrade from a Yugo to a Honda; we don't need a
BWM.  :-)  Sure, Cisco's stuff is nice, but we'd only use about 10% of
the capabilities, while having to pay 100% of the price.

>>   Cisco and Nortel both have a good rep, but they're also hard to buy
>> and rather expensive (fiendishly so for Cisco).
>
> Nortel never seemed hard to buy for me.

  Hah!  I would hope not!  You *worked for the company*!  :-)

  What I meant by that was that I can go to any random reseller and
buy a ProCurve, or buy right off HP's website.  Nortel wants me to
register an account on their website just to find a reseller.  They
subscribe to the "VARs selling combined packages" school of business.
I prefer to have the option of buying equipment and expertise
separately.

> If you need a good rep, let me know, I've contact info somewhere for a guy I thought
> was great.

  Sure.  I'd be happy to take a look; I just suspect it's more than we need.

> Yeah, but that shell game usually results in a loss of talent and the
> product line suffers.

  Says the fan of Bay Networks.  I mean Northern Telecom.  I mean
Nortel Networks.  ;-)

>>   I'm interested in hearing the opinions of others.
>
> Heh, you've come to the right place, we've got no shortage of those here ;)

  Ah-ha!  Business plan for GNHLUG: We can sell opinions!  Hey, it
works for IDG.  ;-)

-- Ben