Re: Dumb Question [7:74315]
At 6:36 PM + 8/25/03, Robert Edmonds wrote: >To add to Chuck's comment: If you're familiar with Cisco, your sanity is >also the difference. The way Nortel configures their routers is >dramatically different and can leave you very frustrated if you're not used >to them. Do they still use Site Mangler...er, I mean Manager? In all >honesty, it's probably a lot easier, but if you're a CLI officianado, a GUI >can really screw with your mind. > >Robert Site Mangler is pretty much dead except in shops that are used to it. It was a practical market requirement to be Cisco CLI-like, although you obviously can't have every command alike when the underlying structure is different. Now, I may have a bias because I know the internals and the developers, but BCC (not Technician Interface) is actually rather elegant. Inside Bay RS, the command language is strictly object and MIB oriented, where many Cisco commands are more ad hoc. Unfortunately, Nortel has gotten rid of almost all of its IP experts, and has no central routing R&D group. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74357&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
RE: Dumb Question [7:74315]
Difference between Cisco and Nortel - main diff is cli and menu driven? Not necessarily. If you are talking about the old Wellfleet/Bay Nortel routers, then they certainly have a CLI. You just need to know the MIB very well, and you should be able to configure it with the CLI. I know it used to freak the Wellfleet engineers out when I would configure OSPF with the CLI by using SNMP set commands. They'd say, how can you DO that! You are supposed to use Site Mangler. You could say that the main difference is the underlying architecture. However, Cisco has several different kinds of architecture in their product line. I suppose the biggest difference is that Cisco attempts to make all of their hardware look the same, by having IOS on all platforms. Nortel has many different types of interfaces. For example, their BayRS and Passport (8600) line has completely different interface types. On the other hand, Cisco has several different types of interfaces also: IOS, CatOS, VxWorks (old wireless), VPN Concentrators, etc. Another historical difference is that Wellfleet always believed in SMP, or multiple CPUs in a router working together. Their BN routers had/have a CPU per slot, all working together. Cisco had always fundamentally believed that one CPU is "good enough." I don't know the details, but once upon a time a Wellfleet engineer told me that the head Cisco router architect either quit or threatened to quit because of this difference, and he was concerned that Cisco was going to be left behind because there was no way that once CPU could outperform the multiple CPU architecture of Wellfleet BNs. Of course, that didn't happen, and it could have been made-up marketing hype. And now I believe Cisco has multiple CPU's in some of their higher-end equipment, but I'm not familiar with their whole product line. Fred Reimer - CCNA Eclipsys Corporation, 200 Ashford Center North, Atlanta, GA 30338 Phone: 404-847-5177 Cell: 770-490-3071 Pager: 888-260-2050 NOTICE; This email contains confidential or proprietary information which may be legally privileged. It is intended only for the named recipient(s). If an addressing or transmission error has misdirected the email, please notify the author by replying to this message. If you are not the named recipient, you are not authorized to use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this email, and should immediately delete it from your computer. -Original Message- From: Aspiring Cisco Gurl [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2003 11:12 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Dumb Question [7:74315] Here is another dumb question... what is the difference between Extreme network equipment and cisco equipment? I know that Cisco and Nortel... main diff is cli and menu driven. **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74353&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
Re: Dumb Question [7:74315]
To add to Chuck's comment: If you're familiar with Cisco, your sanity is also the difference. The way Nortel configures their routers is dramatically different and can leave you very frustrated if you're not used to them. Do they still use Site Mangler...er, I mean Manager? In all honesty, it's probably a lot easier, but if you're a CLI officianado, a GUI can really screw with your mind. Robert """Chuck Whose Road is Ever Shorter""" wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > ""Aspiring Cisco Gurl"" wrote in message > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Here is another dumb question... what is the difference between Extreme > > network equipment and cisco equipment? > > depending on the model, a few thousand bucks ;-> > > > > > I know that Cisco and Nortel... main diff is cli and menu driven. > > **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: > > http://shop.groupstudy.com > > FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html > **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: > http://shop.groupstudy.com > FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74346&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
Re: Dumb Question [7:74315]
Thomas Larus wrote: > > The big difference, for me anyway, is that it is a lot easier > to find > answers to technical questions about the equipment on Cisco's > website. > Cisco's website is voluminous and easy to search. I agree that Cisco's website is voluminous. It's full of well-written, helpful material, most of it accurate. The search engine never works very well for me, though. I use Google. :-) Try searching at Cisco's site on SAFE, for example. Isn't it a bit ridiculous that it comes up with articles that mention fail-safe? (By the way, Google is so cool that you can get it to convert to hex for you. Try typing in "100 in hexadecimal" in Google, for example. Isn't that great what it does?) As far as other differences between Cisco and Nortel There's a good reason I never did marketing, so this won't be stated very well, but Cisco strives to offer end-to-end solutions. Not only do they have products that fit into every niche of a mutli-faceted enterprise or service provider's network, but they also have software tools to optimize the services offered at every layer of a multi-layered network. They have tools for the edge, for the core, for campus networks, home networks, huge service provider networks, etc. Other vendors focus on just one aspect of networking and don't offer end-to-end solutions. One downside with Cisco equipment is that it is designed to support gazillions of features. Features are more important to Cisco than ease of use. Not only can their equipment (espeically PIXes) be a pain in the butt to configure, but it can be almost impossible to even figure out which version of software to use since there are hundreds. It's important to work with a Cisco partner when figuring out which software to use and when buying equipment. Cisco makes it pretty much impossible for the ordinary person to do this... Cisco's Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is excellent. I've heard a few complaints over the years, but I think some people just got unlucky. Most of the time when you call TAC you get a very experienced, knowlegable engineer. Many of them are CCIEs. Priscilla > > Perhaps you can get good info with some sort of Extreme login > or from > Extreme's technical support folks, but when you are a visiting > contractor on > site you don't necessarily want to ask the customer for their > vendor support > login or support contract number just to be able to ask a minor > question. > (Understatement). You want to be able to find answers to most > questions on > your own. > > Others will say that Extreme switches are fast and well-priced. > That may be > so, but I am a researcher (and writer) at heart, and Cisco's > website is the > best technical support website I have ever seen. > > Tom Larus, CCIE #10,014 > > ""Aspiring Cisco Gurl"" wrote in message > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Here is another dumb question... what is the difference > between Extreme > > network equipment and cisco equipment? > > > > I know that Cisco and Nortel... main diff is cli and menu > driven. > > **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy > Store: > > http://shop.groupstudy.com > > FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: > http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html > > Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74339&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
Re: Dumb Question [7:74315]
The big difference, for me anyway, is that it is a lot easier to find answers to technical questions about the equipment on Cisco's website. Cisco's website is voluminous and easy to search. Perhaps you can get good info with some sort of Extreme login or from Extreme's technical support folks, but when you are a visiting contractor on site you don't necessarily want to ask the customer for their vendor support login or support contract number just to be able to ask a minor question. (Understatement). You want to be able to find answers to most questions on your own. Others will say that Extreme switches are fast and well-priced. That may be so, but I am a researcher (and writer) at heart, and Cisco's website is the best technical support website I have ever seen. Tom Larus, CCIE #10,014 ""Aspiring Cisco Gurl"" wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Here is another dumb question... what is the difference between Extreme > network equipment and cisco equipment? > > I know that Cisco and Nortel... main diff is cli and menu driven. > **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: > http://shop.groupstudy.com > FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74337&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
Re: Dumb Question [7:74315]
""Aspiring Cisco Gurl"" wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Here is another dumb question... what is the difference between Extreme > network equipment and cisco equipment? depending on the model, a few thousand bucks ;-> > > I know that Cisco and Nortel... main diff is cli and menu driven. > **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: > http://shop.groupstudy.com > FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74324&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html
RE: Dumb Question [7:74315]
Here is another dumb question... what is the difference between Extreme network equipment and cisco equipment? I know that Cisco and Nortel... main diff is cli and menu driven. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=74318&t=74315 -- **Please support GroupStudy by purchasing from the GroupStudy Store: http://shop.groupstudy.com FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html