Cisco vs 3com

[hany77]

Dear All,
I want to do a company infrastructer which may be will take about 60 swiches but I need your help which better cisco or 3com switches, so what is better to use cisco or 3com .

 

[chipk]

Not to complicate things further for you, but have you checked out Extreme or Force10?

 

[vipergg]

Foundry or HP . HP has a lifetime warranty . We deal strictly with cisco though . You have to look at features , the price , what you want to pay . What the maintennance contracts or whatever cost over the projected life of the equipment.

 

[brianinms]

I agree with Viper, first identify the needed features and then go from there. You can't go wrong with Foundry, HP, or Cisco, but I am not a fan of 3com.

I will say that I am bias as I work for a Cisco partner. However, alot of my customers have Cisco at the core and HP at the access layer. One thing you have to consider is support especially with 60 switches.

 

[hinesjrh]

Please don't purchase 3COM switches. I personally use Cisco routers and switches in my core / data center and HP switches at my remote sites at the edge due to lower price per port and the life time warranty of HP. I am however stuck with 3COM phone systems and wireless (whice was all here when I joined the org) and 3COM's support stinks! 3COM is also quick to wash their hands of issues when I call in for support when they find I am not using their routers and switches. I am beginning to question the longevity of the 3COM organization even with their new ownership.

 

[zinkann]

we have a mix of cisco and HP. I wouldn't go with anything but cisco....if it was up to me. Unfortunately, we have had more DOA and defects with cisco products which is strange. never had any issues with HP although i don't they can perform as well as cisco.

CCNA, Network+

 

[rolm9751]

Cisco.

 

[uzumaki]

Doing this assesment, try to check the "Customers budget", features, options and design. If the budget is low, consider HP, but if its not well GO CISCO.

Though sometimes, if failures occurs on cisco equipments, its not on the feature, its on the POWER SUPPLY itself. Especially lowend models with no redundant power supply, like 3750, 3550 and the like. This is based on my own experience.

 

[Triton101]

Sometimes CISCO might not be the better product and it might be more expensive, but to quote a IT guy I worked with "No one got fired for buying CISCO".

 

[cajuntank]

Cisco's got great stuff, but it's really tough to beat HP. Unless your needing some Catalyst 6500's for high level core switching/routing and have need for their AIS modules (firewall card, network analysis module, content switching, etc...), HP has some great access, distribution, and now core switching in their 8212zl switch that comes pretty close to the CAT6500 with a 720 Sup Card. They also have a wireless controller card for some of their chassis based switches as well and with the lifetime for as long as you own the product, next business day advance replacement; not "limited lifetime" like other vendors push, it's hard to cost justify the Cisco. To get that same coverage with Cisco, you'd have to get Smartnet contracts on each switch... by the time 5 years rolls around, paying for Smartnets every year, you could have completely replaced your switches again with brand new current HP equipment with the money you spent on Smartnets.

 

[burtsbees]

I agree with the cajuntank on money and savings, and also on what you need the switch for, and how robust it needs to be. I would think a Cisco solution would be more robust, and perhaps offer more solutions for the same level of switch needed, but if all one needs is a layer 3 switch for vlans, why not go HP for the warranty and perhaps the price?
I will say that 3com cannot compare with Cisco...perhaps this thread could have been "3com or HP?"...also, I saw some Netgear switches with STP that cannot be turned off!

Burt

 

[BuckWeet]

You could also look at Junipers new switch offering.. They have some nice stackables..


BuckWeet