[KLUG Members] Switch Comparisons

[Bruce Smith]

Where I work we run all HP switches.  Back when we upgraded from all
hubs to switches (a few years ago), HP came out on top of our comparison
in a number of areas.

First was price.  We bought the HP switches with 10/100 ports for the
price the other guys wanted for the same number of 10BT ports.

Second was maintenance.  All HP networking gear came with lifetime
warranties on everything.  NO annual maintenance cost.  We can (and
have) even sent back old hubs and stuff for free replacement.

We have one main switch which is an 8000M and about a dozen 4000M
switches at various locations around the buildings here.  Both look
identical, and the only difference that I know if is the 8000M has a
faster backbone.  The are modular with 10 slots, and you can plug in 8
port 10/100 cards (for a total of up to 80 ports), or fiber cards, and
probably other cards we don't have here, or a mix of any cards.

You can give them IP addresses to configure them remotely, they support
VLAN's, SNMP, spanning tree operations, ABC, IGMP, ....  You can even
set properties on individual ports (lock them at 10 or 100 or HD or FD).

We've had them a few years now, and I couldn't be happier.  The only
problem we've ever had is when a lightning storm blows out a port.  And
we send those cards back for free replacement!  :-)

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Bruce Smith                bruce@armintl.com
System Administrator / Network Administrator
Armstrong International, Inc.
Three Rivers, Michigan  49093  USA
http://www.armstrong-intl.com/
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