Switching Hardware - is modern Dell switching hardware any good ?

[andyire]

We are looking at refreshing the wired and wireless networking hardware here over the summer break. After testing various WAP vendors I have decided that Ruckus wireless is likely to be the most suitable option. I am however torn between wired switching vendors. We are currently using 10/100 Cisco catalyst hardware but I have decided against replacing with new Cisco hardware. I have had great experience in the past with HP procurve gear so initially said to the resellers I am working with that, this is what I am after. They have all come back with varying configurations at various costs and interestingly have fired a Dell quote into the mix just for comparison.

The HP kit is coming in at roughly £10,000 more expensive than the Dell kit and has been specced at 1G (although capable of 10G) throughout compared to 10G core and Edge switching with Dell !!!

This is where I have a dilema.

Historically I have found HP support to be excellent, however Dell on the other hand have been at times less satisfactory. I must admit however that the last time I dealt with Dell was some years ago.

 

I am really interested in finding out peoples thoughts on current Dell switching hardware. Should I go with a more expensive HP at 1G or invest in Dell 10G hardware at a lower price point ? Will I regret Dell should I need to deal with Dell support or is this a thing of the past ?

 

Cheers

[FN-GM]

Are these Dell Force 10 switches? The older Powerconnect ones are not great. The Force 10 ones are pretty good! The CLI on them is nearly identical to Cisco as well.

[Norphy]

We have a couple of Dell Force10 switches sitting in one of our Dell blade centres and I'm very impressed with those. The actual Dell branded kit... not so much. Have they quoted you for Force10 or for Dell?

 

Dell support has always been very good for me.

[andyire]

they are N2000 series edge and N4032F Core which are Dell Networking as far as I can tell.? The cli seems very similar to the Cisco cli. they are on par with the 2920HP stuff as far as I can tell