Indeed - we've been down that road ourselves a time or two. I'm not sure you've dealt with a difficult infrastructure environment until you've had to provided data and telecom on a battleship (yes, really). Running 200 feet of cable to the nearest managed switch -- which may involve drilling new punch-thru holes in steel (and occasionally armored) bulkheads -- in that environment is not something we undertake lightly (or cheaply).
On many occasions new offices have been provisioned with inexpensive temporary switches until we can determine that it's worth it to us to bring in something more "heavy-duty". And you can forget about wireless - even 802.11N has a range of about 40 feet in that environment. Most of their users have to walk outside to get a usable signal on their mobile phones. Ben M. Schorr Chief Executive Officer ______________________________________________ Roland Schorr & Tower www.rolandschorr.com <http://www.rolandschorr.com/> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bschorr <http://www.twitter.com/bschorr> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rolandschorr <http://www.facebook.com/rolandschorr> From: Andrew S. Baker [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 08:15 To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: OT: desktop network switches Given all the constraints you complain about experiencing in your current place of employment, Kurt, I'm surprised you would suggest that someone else needing to make do in some fashion, and not having the budget or approval to run more cable through an old, union run facility, to support the addition of two people into an office on a temporary basis[1], represents some sort of gross negligence on the part of the either the admin or management. Also, just because you have had a bad experience with a technology does not render it hideously untenable for the rest of the known world. I envy your Utopian habitat, with neither budgetary nor timing constraints. ASB (Find me online via About.Me <http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker/bio> ) Exploiting Technology for Business Advantage... [1] Just to name ONE common issue On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 9:59 AM, Kurt Buff <[email protected]> wrote: Required? Sometimes. More expensive up front? Yes. Valid or reasonable? I disagree. IMHO, being forced to use these tiny unmanaged switches shows a decided lack of foresight on someone's part, and a lack of understanding of their larger costs. Unless, perhaps, you're temporizing until a complete wireless solution is being readied. :) Kurt On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 02:59, Andrew S. Baker <[email protected]> wrote: > "Install extra cabling" is a solution that has greater expense, and requires > far more permission that "install unmanaged switch" in most circumstances. > There are plenty of valid scenarios where you will not have the opportunity > to add more network drops to a location, and for which the temporary or > permanent deployment of unmanaged switches will be entirely reasonable. > > ASB (Find me online via About.Me) > Exploiting Technology for Business Advantage... > > > > > On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 10:49 PM, James Hill <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> I'm with Kurt. Unmanaged switches are just trouble. Do it properly and >> install extra cabling. >> >> Unmanaged switches have a habit of multiplying. I've been caught out one >> too many times by a hidden one under a desk somewhere, usually when imaging >> an entire floor with multicast or something when I don't have the time for >> trouble. >> >> I've even seen one of these switches go nuts and flood a core switch so >> much it brought the network to its knees. >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Kurt Buff [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Sunday, 6 February 2011 5:19 AM >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: Re: OT: desktop network switches >> >> It's not just one mistake. >> >> I don't know what it is about my user population, but at least a couple of >> times a year, and sometimes more often, I have to go chasing down some idiot >> (usually a software developer or hardware engineer) who has connected a >> little switch to itself, or to another little switch. >> >> I'm really tired of it. >> >> Kurt >> >> On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 05:47, Ray <[email protected]> wrote: >> > So because someone made a mistake you're condemning using them? >> > >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: Kurt Buff [mailto:[email protected]] >> > Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 1:45 PM >> > To: NT System Admin Issues >> > Subject: Re: OT: desktop network switches >> > >> > Don't. Just don't. >> > >> > Pull another run of cable if you have to. >> > >> > Desktop switches are just wrong. >> > >> > I speak from much experience here. >> > >> > >> > Just last month, we shuffled a bunch of folks around, and the facilities >> > guy was moving PCs and printers, and noticed that there was a loose cable >> > attached to a 5-port switch. So, not knowing what else to do with it, he >> > plugged it into the 5 port switch. Which meant that both ends of the cable >> > were in the same dumb, unmanaged, switch. >> > That's your basic layer2 loop, right there. >> > >> > It killed performance for lots of people, until I tracked it down. >> > >> > I've had this happen so many times with stupid 5 and 8 port switches >> > that if I could rip them all out I would do so in less time than it takes to >> > write about it. >> > >> > But, we now have so many of them, because our wiring is so sparse, that >> > I can't. Yet. It's a major line item in the IT CAPEX budget for next year. >> > >> > Kurt >> > >> > On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 11:00, John Aldrich >> > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> One of my users just claimed an unused laser printer for his office >> >> (Acct. >> >> Manager) that has a network port on it as well as the usual USB. He'd >> >> like to be able to network it so he can print to it from the AS/400. >> >> What do you guys recommend for a small (4-5 port) network switch? >> >> To anyone who wants to know, this is for real, looking for >> >> recommendations for a RIGHT NOW purchase, not "next time." :-) >> >> >> >> Thanks! ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
