While preparing two proposals for a customer, Los Angeles-based AM6 Networks (a nationwide leader in carrier colocation and IP transport), I discovered an interesting cost-per-port comparison. This customer was looking for a solution for a large number (over 2,000) of Gigabit copper ports for Layer 2 switching. He didn’t care about the manufacturer; just reliability. Since we sit on perhaps the largest Foundry inventory in the world, an obvious consideration was Foundry. The only other viable option was Cisco Systems, since the number of ports needed was exceptionally high, requiring several modular chassis. We like to stick to Cisco and Foundry because, in our experience, they are the two most reliable solutions.

Anyway, after all calculations were done, the Cisco solution came out to $154.45 per copper Gig port while the Foundry solution chimed in at $156.52 per port.

This is a great illustration of the market identically valuing two industry leaders. There is no more accurate gauge of a commodity’s value than a broad secondary market (such as ours), and the fact that the originally less expensive Foundry option has effectively made up some ground speaks for the product’s robustness.

Does this mean that every comparable Foundy and Cisco product are priced the same? No, as fluctuations in supply and demand for each product are very dynamic. But at this time, for this class of product, Cisco and Foundry are very similar.

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Maxim and others regularly post lists of sexy new gadgets ranging from cell phones to video game modules. We thought, hey why don’t we make a list of the sexiest networking hardware from the last few years. If you think we’ve missed a piece of gear, add it to the comments section!

1. Cisco Cataylst 6500 – With a name like Cisco, this full-featured hunk of burning love will keep you whispering her name long into the night. The scalabilty and flexibility of this unit are enough to blow the load of any lonely Network administrator. Her chasis can support up to 32 10-Gbps Ethernet ports! The overall attractiveness of the Catalyst 6500 lies in it’s performance and value. Fellas, this is truly the marrying kind.
   
   
2. Foundry BigIron 4000 – While this unit has been around the block, it’s a unit you can always call upon to get you through the tough times. For those that like ‘em small, her compact design packs nearly double the 10Gbe capacity of all competitors and looks great in a swim-suit. Even though she’s won awards, and been recognized by Network World as the best enterprise switch back in 2000, she’s never went Hollywood and aged gracefully into a grounded, reliable networking “partner.” This is the kind of gal, you can take home to mom.
   
   
3. Foundry FCSLB8 – Not your ordinary 8-port load balancer, this little baby keeps purring no matter how big a load you feed her! She symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire generation of data networking switches in two words, sung most famously by the IT professionals everywhere: Hummmmm Baby!
   
   
4. Foundry NetIron MLX Switching Routers – Turn-ons: long walks on the beach, picnics, data-redundancy, and Metro Networks. This gal lives life fast, and when I say fast I mean IPv4/IPv6 wire-speed MPLS routing capability. Is it getting hot in here, or is that just me? This baby can handle any packet throw it’s way, and with Terabit scale architecture this may be your first and last date with a network router.
   
   
5. Cisco AS5400XM Gateway – For some, this slender, sexy little thing may be out of their league. However, if you want a piece of real-deal network arm-candy that will make your co-workers green with envy look no further than the AS5400XM. This baby has a rack you wouldn’t believe (try not to stare), deploying more than 24 million voice gateway ports all running at a lower CPU than your last relationship. With the ability to manage an unbelievable amount of traffic, and make every call with crystal-clarity, you better cut to the chase, and put this hot little thing’s number on speed dial.

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