On Aug 22, 2008, at 7:34 AM, Matlock, Kenneth L wrote:
1) Reliability
Very good. Across our entire business we've lost 1 RPM module in ~2
years.
2) Performance
[Note: we have no 10g interfaces, so I can only speak to a many-
singleg-port environment]
Much higher than Cisco. So good at dealing with traffic problems that
we have had multi-gig DoS attacks that we wouldn't have known about
without having an IDS running on a mirroring port.
3) Support staff (how knowledgeable are they?)
Significantly higher than Cisco, and escalation is easier. On par
with Juniper.
4) Price (higher/lower/comparable to comparable Cisco gear)
80% of the Cisco of a comparable Cisco solution, and the support
contracts are cheaper too.
We're exclusively a Cisco shop here right now (mostly Cat6500s), so
changing out some of our core gear with Force 10 is a bit 'scary', but
if it meets our needs, maybe...
If you go from Juniper to Force10 you might find some things lacking,
but Cisco to Force10 is only an improvement. You'll never have to
wonder if the command you're typing will throw the unit into software
routing mode, as Cisco bugs have usually done. (not possible in the
FTOS architecture)
These things are so very solid that I rarely spend any time doing
network work any more. Gigabit line-speed BCP38 makes life easier for
the abuse helpdesk too.
--
Jo Rhett
Net Consonance : consonant endings by net philanthropy, open source
and other randomness
