core & access switches

[ostuni]

would be interested to hear general comments/opinions about standardizing on one manufacturer for core and access lan switches... am guessing that there are not a lot of interoperability/compatibility issues between major manufacturers? for example, if you have acme brand access switches, how important is it to you to spec acme brand core switches? mtia

[ERIK LAWAETZ · Accepted solution]

It really boils down to functionality.

Running a mixed vendor environment you'll be on lowest common denominator, as you can basically only expect interoperability as far as standard specs go. This may not be a problem, but it depends on your requirements.

Each vendor has its own proprietary gadgets/features, and you should carefully consider those and map them to your requirements.

This may end up pointing you to a single or multi vendor strategy.

Also consider the fact, that in a multi vendor environment you're likely to carry the burden of evidence if/when interoperability issues do turn up.

[docwatson]

We recently set a standardization on Cisco and took ROI, support costs, and advantages to a single market-leader vendor into consideration.