Just interested in other peoples experience to companies offering alternatives to SmartNet?
Pros/Cons/Tradeoffs?
We currently have a mix of SmartNet and internal parts supply.
John
Cisco is making noises that they'll eventually be restricting software
access to ONLY those devices which have an active SmartNet contract
associated to your CCO account. I don't know where this currently
stands, and it sure will be a huge pain in my rear if/when it happens.
They do this now. Unless the device type is under listed smartnet, you can't
download software for it.
If only Cisco would sell "software only" support. 3rd party smartNet
alternatives are nice for parts replacement. They suck for support, imho,
especially, when it comes down to declaring a problem to be a bug.
On quite a few occasions I found bugs in IOS and TAC submitted those as bugs
and fixed them reasonably fast.
Andrey
I thought there already was a software-only smartnet option?
~Seth
They do. You might have to make your sales droid know that YOU know
about it thought. 
Order items were CON-SW-... in the past, not sure about today.
Best regards,
Daniel
This is one of the reasons we are starting to look at Juniper for a new network build. It is my understanding we set software updates for life for free.
Cheers
Ryan
Sometimes you have to pick your battles.
I'm sure there's a number cruncher somewhere telling Cisco this is a good idea.
Let's see how the real world reacts though....
How does Juniper feel about used hardware?
~Seth
Interesting Question... And do they consider the JUNOS included a separate
item? Or can it happily be sold with the hardware.
Juniper will have a couple of years before it has to worry about a refurb
market like Cisco has - especially in volume.
...Skeeve
Different rules for different countries.
Can't buy CON-SW from Australian distributors (I've tried 3), but I can
buy it from the UK with support for Australia.
...Skeeve
Started a few weeks ago for us.
...Skeeve
* Ryan Finnesey:
This is one of the reasons we are starting to look at Juniper for a
new network build. It is my understanding we set software updates
for life for free.
My understanding is that it's free for customers who have a service
contract in place. Most downloads are not self-service, and I haven't
tested if you can get JTAC to provide images for devices you don't
own.
How does Juniper feel about used hardware?
~Seth
I love Juniper's hardware and software, and support. However, the way they deal with used or second hand hardware is terrible. It is not possible to transfer ownership at all. You can not resell anything, and hope to get any software updates or support. The challenge is that Cisco refurb with SmartNet is generally considerably cheaper than new Juniper. It makes it tough to sell Juniper in many situations. We have the same problem with NetApp. It seems that these companies would rather see their equipment end up in a landfill, and have the secondary market turn to a different vendor, rather than being responsible, and making it possible for equipment to be reused instead of trashed. It really annoys me.
Disclaimer: I am a Juniper and NetApp partner/reseller, and love their stuff. I just hate their policies.
-Randy
* Ryan Finnesey:
> This is one of the reasons we are starting to look at Juniper for a
> new network build. It is my understanding we set software updates
> for life for free.My understanding is that it's free for customers who have a service
contract in place. Most downloads are not self-service, and I haven't
tested if you can get JTAC to provide images for devices you don't
own.
Brocade is now offering 5 years (what they consider lifetime) support to
the original purchaser of the equipment on some product lines:
FastIron SX800, SX1600, CX, WS, and TurboIron that includes software
updates.
We use a lot of the FCX units.
I know NHR has a alternative that looks to be comparable.
http://www.networkhardware.com/Maintenance/
-tb
Can anybody point to dependable analysis of the performance credentials on "green" (CO2/carbon neutral, recycling, etc) and financial cost recovery of the Internet vendors such Juniper and Cisco et al?
The story emerging here is not looking very encouraging.
Christian
I've used NHR for a number of deployments over the past couple of years and they are a fantastic organisation to work with. I've used them for maintenance support in the US for replacement of parts - highly recommended.
I've used them as well and they have been pretty good with gear that's common place. Just be careful if you get off the beaten path and are using gear like an IAD-2431-16FXS. They can help you with the hardware side on that kind of stuff but not so much with the software.
Richey
At least for the FCX line we were told when trying to open a support case that the limited lifetime warranty only applies to hardware and does not make you eligible for any kind of support or software beyond getting hardware replaced.