Perhaps a wee bit OT, and I know there are some of you who sell and service Cisco. However...
Currently most of our network is on fast ethernet. (We have a couple of racks, each of which has a small GB switch to tie the servers in that rack together.) We are soon to dump our NEC PBX and go with VOIP. (It will _not_ be Cisco or Avaya VOIP.) We need more robust switches... Currently, we have about 100 desks, each with an XP Pro PC and a phone. We will be going with VOIP phones (Polycom) rather than "soft phones". NOW, although we have some of their products and appreciate them, none of us are "Cisco people", either by devotion or in knowing how to manage them. We have some folks recommending Cisco GB switches. We have another group recommending (highly, and some of them are our equivalent in the NYC office) Extreme Networks BlackDiamond switches. Does anyone "out there" have enough experience with the products of both companies to be able to tell us the advantages of each? For example, might the Extremes be easier for a non-certified user to do port management? Anyone come across any tests as far as reliablility (both for HW failure and for dropped packets), etc? Thanks! -------------------------------------- Richard McClary, Systems Administrator ASPCA Knowledge Management 1717 S Philo Rd, Ste 36, Urbana, IL 61802 217-337-9761 http://www.aspca.org ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
