Cisco products are overpriced, readers say

Cisco News Alert This newsletter is sponsored by Network General Podcast - Five Ways to Help Optimize Application Efficiency Are your applications performing as efficiently as possible? Network General's application performance management solutions powered by Sniffer can help simplify the complex relationships between your server, network and application environments. Listen to this short podcast for expert tips and guidelines, compliments of NetworkWorld and Network General. Network World's Cisco News Alert, 10/12/07 Welcome to the Friday edition of Network World's Cisco News Alert in which we focus on the top items from Cisco Subnet, your gateway to Cisco news, blogs, discussion forums, security alerts, giveaways and more. Enjoy! * TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Cisco products are overpriced, readers say It's official - customers think Cisco gear is overpriced. Well, at least the majority of readers who voted in our informal poll, which you can find in last week's "Schools dump Cisco" story. I don't think anyone should be surprised by the poll results - I think the pricing debate has been an issue with Cisco customers for some time. But as some readers point out in the comments to the story, Cisco has wide ranging support, a strong channel and a strong user community. But is that really justification for Cisco to charge, or for users to spend, a premium buying the Cisco brand? Post your comment. NAC: A to Z From buying tips to peer discussions. From case studies to market trends. Network Worlds newly enhanced Network Access Control Buyers Guide has everything you need to stay current, research technology, compare products and implement solutions - all in one convenient location. Click here to go to the Buyers Guide now. ALSO: The ten best Cisco videos on YouTube Apple iPod designer behind Cisco TelePresence Cisco canceling internal security research group? Cisco NAC rival ConSentry gets $21M in fourth round funding * FROM OUR BLOGGERS: Brad Reese on Cisco: How feasible is it to swap CCIE lab exam dates? Became intrigued by the Web site, CCIE Lab Dates Exchange, which provides a forum to enable readers to swap CCIE lab exam dates. Curiously, there was absolutely no activity on Web site. Cisco doesn't allow CCIE certification date swapping, but do people actually do it? Jeff Doyle on IP Routing: An update on IPv4 depletion In a post back in May, I discussed the fact that there were 55 remaining /8 IPv4 blocks remaining in the IANA unallocated address pool at the beginning of this year. 7 additional blocks had been allocated in 2007 as I wrote the post, and I predicted that by the end of the year 12 – 15 /8s would be allocated. So where do we stand so far? Wendell Odom's Cisco Cert Zone: Kicking it up a notch – switch forwarding, with a twist One goal of last week's question and this week's question is to give you a better idea of the level of complexity of questions on the ICND1 exam versus the ICND2 exam. Today, I'll take what was frankly a relatively simple example last week, and turn it into what may well be as tricky as a LAN-switch-forwarding question might get on the ICND2 exam. Dheeraj Tolani's Cisco Routing & Switching Essentials: Routing essentials that make our lives easier, Part 1 In our previous blogs, we configured a router and are now ready to connect to as many devices as possible. Or, as many devices as we can access. If you don’t have a server set up in your organization for name resolution (Domain Name System or DNS), then you would need some manual way to enter the names of all the devices you’d like to connect to. Even if you have a DNS running in your environment, you might not want to point to a server that you may not control. Michael Morris' Notes from the Field: Do you open the firewall and let the traffic flow in? Generally, when you want to make a service available to external customers you (should) build a complete DMZ design with multiple layers of security. This DMZ starts with external ACLs on routers that flow traffic to external firewalls that protect the DMZ. Inside the DMZ there's a proxy layer that customer traffic is allowed to reach. Only the proxy layer, after more security features, is allowed to communicate with the application layer which could also be in another part of the DMZ for extra protection. But be honest. How many of you just open up the firewall, do some destination NAT, and let the traffic flow right into the data center? ChannelSurfing with Ken Presti: Do IT managers seek multiple partners? No, I’m not talking about THAT. But I gotta admit there are at least two ways you can take my question, even within the IT context, of course. One way is about whether you like to routinely keep more than one channel partner in the mix. We think we know the answer to that one, but maybe you’ll surprise me with strategies for playing one channel against the other. Jamey Heary: Cisco Security Expert: 3 most commonly configured Catalyst switch security features There are several security features that have been embedded in catalyst switch software. Many of which are, or should be, used as commonly as VLANs. Let’s take a look at the three most popular of these and their uses. Port Security – This is one of the most commonly used switch security feature of all. It is vital for protection against MAC spoofing and CAM table overflow attacks. HOT DISCUSSIONS AMONG CISCO SUBNET READERS: Cisconet: Schools dump Cisco Reese: Hardware vendors appeal to CCIEs by copying Cisco's CLI and NetFlow to get into Cisco accounts Wendell: CCENT-level switch forwarding exam question Doyle: Getting intimate with IPv6 Morris: Are dual network vendor strategies really better? Tolani: Router basics: Connectivity essentials FREEBIES, GIVEAWAYS AND OTHER NOTABLES: * Enter to win a Global Knowledge Cisco training course of your choice worth up to $3,995. Details here. *Enter to Win a Cisco Press Book: Up for grabs are 15 copies of "Monitoring with Cisco Security MARS" by Gary Halleen and Greg Kellogg. The book (a $60 value) helps you plan a MARS deployment and learn the installation and administration tasks you can expect to face. Details here. Get a sneak peek of a chapter from one of the books here. * Read a free chapter from Cisco Express Forwarding by Nakia Stringfield, Russ White and Stacia McKee. Free excerpt here. * Check out Cisco Subnet's library for more free chapters from Cisco Press books.

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Contact the author: Senior Editor Jim Duffy covers Cisco for Network World. Linda Leung edits Cisco Subnet. Cisco Subnet: The independent voice of Cisco customers   This newsletter is sponsored by Network General Podcast - Five Ways to Help Optimize Application Efficiency Are your applications performing as efficiently as possible? Network General's application performance management solutions powered by Sniffer can help simplify the complex relationships between your server, network and application environments. Listen to this short podcast for expert tips and guidelines, compliments of NetworkWorld and Network General. BONUS FEATURE IT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered to your inbox each day. Extend your knowledge with a print subscription to the Network World newsweekly, Apply here today. International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007