Member Avatar for darrglud

My current favorite is Novell and Cisco. Novell for software and Cisco for hardware. Even, though I haven't experienced any Cisco products, I really like what I hear, in magazines such as eWeek.


Cheers,

DarrGlud

"I hope Staples sells that 200gb 20$ drive in a SATA model"

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

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This thread highlights three common approaches: pick enterprise-grade hardware and a separate software stack, use consumer/home-class gear for simplicity, or go with integrated appliances for convenience. and lean toward separating hardware and software choices, reports good home-equipment experiences, and notes the reliability of turnkey appliances. The short, vendor-neutral checklist below helps evaluate choices today — and when revisiting setups years later.

  • Define requirements first: throughput, port density, PoE, VLANs, expected concurrent sessions, and HA/redundancy needs.
  • Verify support and life cycle: current firmware maintenance, documented EOL dates, and vendor patch cadence.
  • Check standards and interoperability: RADIUS/802.1X, SNMP/telemetry, LLDP, expected routing protocols and any certified NIC/driver combos.
  • Assess manageability and automation: REST/NetConf/CLI access, centralized management, logging/telemetry export, and backup/restore of configs.
  • Prioritize security practices: signed firmware, secure management (SSH/TLS), CVE disclosure policy and a clear patch/response process.
  • Calculate true TCO: licensing model, subscription vs perpetual, training needs, spares/RMA policies and support SLA options.

Before committing: lab-test firmware and upgrades, keep configuration backups, stage changes during maintenance windows, and confirm interoperability on the vendor compatibility matrix. For older threads or long-lived deployments, re-check EOL/security advisories and consider open standards or third-party support to reduce lock-in risk.

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Member Avatar for jbennet

did you know cisco own linksys?
i like linksys......

Member Avatar for Duki

Cisco for hardware (considering they control 90%+ of the internet). Software... Red Hat. I have no experience at all with Linux systems, and am actually an MCP. That's how good Red Hat is... I've never used it and I love it.

Member Avatar for FatalGrace

I happen to love Cisco for there hardware, and Snap Appliance for there hardware/software “I don’t know how many times the Snap Server 2200 has saved my butt.” Aside form that nearly any Linux OS is great as far as software is concerned.

-Fatal Grace

Member Avatar for jbennet

i got a linksys (home size) router. its very nice. There owned by cisco

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