We’re a much smaller campus, but we keep a handful of the oldest models in stock as spares – in the range of 4-5 APs. These serve a couple of purposes:
· Temporary expansion of coverage for occasional events; we have locations where we may additional capacity 1 or 2 times a year. · Immediate response for permanent expansion; e.g. we can put out an AP in an underserved area quickly while the purchase approval, shipping, etc for a new one is going on in parallel. · Even with warranty on the AP, it takes time to ship the old one back and get a new one in. A replacement may be put in place immediately. We don’t have as good of coverage as I would like, so a failure may leave a noticeable hole in coverage. We keep the oldest model as spares as they are so rarely needed. A newer model would serve us better being in day-to-day use instead of an occasional use backup. Thomas Carter Network & Operations Manager / IT Austin College 900 North Grand Avenue Sherman, TX 75090 Phone: 903-813-2564 www.austincollege.edu<http://www.austincollege.edu/> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Trinklein, Jason R Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 12:21 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Offline/Spare Gear Inventory Size Hi All, I’m curious to know the size of your spare gear inventories. Do you keep a percentage of each model of AP in inventory, and what is your reasoning? Storms? Last minute/emergency wireless coverage needs? What percentage of your live gear do you keep as offline inventory? (100 live APs with 1 inventory AP = 1% offline inventory). With Xirrus, we had an offline inventory of more than 10% of live inventory. We kept that inventory to cover the high failure rate of the equipment, the incidence of hurricanes and lightning strikes in our area, the broad range of AP models on campus, and last minute large events in low coverage areas. We are evaluating the minimum offline inventory for our new Aruba gear as we finish up the vendor switch. I have been thinking 1-2%, but I want to see what you guys do first, and why. Thank you, -- Jason Trinklein Wireless Engineering Manager College of Charleston 81 St. Philip Street | Office 311D | Charleston, SC 29403 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | (843) 300–8009 DID YOU KNOW? The Princeton Review selected the College of Charleston as one of 50 schools focused on providing students with practical experiences that take their academics to the next level. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/discuss.
