On 03/18/2013 10:11 AM, Lloyd Brown wrote: > It's worth noting that this vendor lock-in can go both ways, meaning > modules that refuse to turn their transmitter on if they're not in the > right brand of switch, as well as switches that refuse to use the wrong > brand of module. > > For example, for us our Force10 S4810 switches say they'll work with > anything, though they will warn you when a module is not "certified" by > them. We've got F10 and Arista branded modules working fine, but I > can't get the Intel-branded modules to turn their transmitter on, > despite the switch being okay with it. > > I've heard that Cisco switches won't turn on any module that's not > Cisco, but I don't know about their modules. And I've not experienced > this myself; it could just be a vicious rumor spread by their > competitors. We've always had enough other reasons to not buy Cisco, > that it didn't matter for our purchasing decision. > > We've had trouble with non-Cisco optics in Cisco hardware. It might have been a fluke though, as we replaced them with Cisco optics, and still had trouble with the switch refusing to negotiate link with a chassis-based Cisco switch on the other side. We eventually forced it to gigabit on both sides, and the link would come up after that. Didn't have any problems negotiating link on gigabit copper between the same two switches. Go figure.
We also have some HP switches. Sometimes after a power outage they refuse to do anything at all. I've also had intermittent issues with carrier T-1 smart jack hardware at the demarc. Over time, I've developed the opinion that the number of problems you have on any one link is directly proportional to the number of organizations and individuals involved in providing that link. Grazie, ;-Daniel Fussell /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
