On Fri, Aug 22, 2008 at 10:34 AM, Matlock, Kenneth L <MatlockK@exempla.org> wrote:
Sorry for the off-topic post.
Don't be; it was acutely on-topic.
Does anyone here have real-world experience with Force 10 gear (Specifically their E-Series and C-Series)? They came and did their whole dog and pony show today, but I wanted to get real-world feedback on their gear.
I need to know about their
1) Reliability
2) Performance
EANTC did a comprehensive study of the E-series: http://www.eantc.de/en/test_reports_presentations/test_reports/force_10_sfm_... http://www.eantc.com/fileadmin/eantc/downloads/test_reports/2006-2008/Cisco-... http://www.eantc.com/fileadmin/eantc/downloads/test_reports/2006-2008/Cisco-...
3) Support staff (how knowledgeable are they?)
I'm not a customer, so I can't speak to this.
4) Price (higher/lower/comparable to comparable Cisco gear)
Comparing list pricing, it looks like Force 10 would have you pay more for less features. As a box designed with the enterprise datacenter in mind, the E-series looks to be missing several key service provider features, including MPLS and advanced control plane filtering/policing. http://www.force10networks.com/news/pressreleases/2007/pr-2007-02-05.asp https://www.force10networks.com/CSPortal20/KnowledgeBase/DOCUMENTATION/CLICo... Paul