Date: Wed, 9 Jul 1997 17:44:27 -0400 (EDT) From: "Gary D. Margiotta" <gary@tbe.net> To: Cliff Addy <fbsdlist@federation.addy.com> Cc: Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com>, isp@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: T1 upgrade options? Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.95q.970709172542.3136A-100000@lightning.tbe.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.95q.970709154013.1503B-100000@federation.addy.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
> > small office (like mine), a dedicated PC works *much* better than a > > CISCO ever would, and total costs (including hardware, maintenance, > > etc..) are significantly lower. > > I don't buy this at all. A Cisco 2501 is only ~$1700 and requires *zero* > maintenance once it's set up. For a typical setup, that takes about 10 > minutes. If you build a machine yourself, using reliable, quality parts, > you're lucky if you save $500 under that. And then you're worrying about > hard drive crashes, config changes, OS security holes, etc. Had to put my $.02 in here... For the money we spent on our 2 Cisco's, we couldn't be happier...we paid under $1600 for each, and the investment is totally worth it. the only upgrades we have done to them was to put 4 Mb of RAM in each to enlarge the queues. We are also going to buy the Cisco AS5200 for our new dialin pools because we have had superb reliability and we already know the IOS pretty well. In Nate's position where he is in a small office and doesn't need the added functions of the Cisco, it is a great idea for hime to build his own. As was also stated in a previous e-mail, having a standalone router means that you put it in the rack, plug the cables in, and leave it there. (we've configured our own routers, and it really isn't too hard esp. if you RTFM). We were originally going to make our own router box with FreeBSD, but as someone also stated, when you do that, you also run other things on it, plus you have to worry about hard drive crashes, the higher likelihood of a processor or memory failure (not that there isn't a chance with the standalones, but it is IMHO more of a chance when building one out of a PC), and a ton of other things that are less likely to happen with a specialized box. Plus, our routers have been up for months without rebooting...the PC Router won't stay up that long without something having to be done on it (my opinion, please don't kill me for it...;) ) I'm not saying 'go out and buy the Cisco or be damned!', but I'm just saying that we haven't had to worry as much as I think we would've if we had built our own router. If you are a small office or you don't have a demanding need, then make your own. I ordered a Cyclades card (Nate should know about this one ;) ) and had a helluva time trying to configure it correctly (we also have a PM2, but we wanted to try a different way to establish a second POP). I went back to the PM2, and plugged the modems in and after 1 initstring, off they went. Specialized boxes are made for just that, convenience...although a lot of people have toruble with them and swear by building their own...hey...whatever you think will give you less hassle. If you decide to go with the Cisco and need help configuring it, lemme know. Lord knows we have had a bit of experience with ours. -Gary Margiotta TBE Internet Services http://www.tbe.net P.S. - How's the Cyclades doing Nate? ;)
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?Pine.BSF.3.95q.970709172542.3136A-100000>