[BC] LAN weirdness

[Chris Gebhardt]

Tom Taggart wrote:
> Very simple network--
> 16 port low-end Cisco switch--six computers connected to it, as well  
> as small router & cable modem for internet.
> 
> The switch "locked up"--no activity indicated on the LED's on the  
> front panel, network down.  Unfortunately, the way the automation is  
> set-up, the on-air and voice-track machine need to talk to each other  
> or the whole system freezes up.
> 
> Unplugging the switch brought it back to life, but the strange thing  
> is this is not the first time this happened--but with an entirely  
> different switch!
> 
> The first switch we had in this network was a "no-name" 24 port unit.   
> Literally no-name--there is no logo or other id on the box--the PD got  
> it from an advertiser as a great deal.  When it started doing this  
> "freeze" number I bought the low-end Cisco switch.
> 
> Switch, router, and cable modem all on UPS.
> 
> Looking for solutions that don't require eye of newt, and toe of frog.  
> Howlet's wings are available locally, though...

I've seen this happen, always on low-end gear.  Running a datacenter, we 
see this a lot.  In fact, just today we saw similar activity from a 
customer's Linksys (with a Cisco logo!) switch.  He was very proud of 
it.  Went out and paid > $250 at a local geeky store with a name that 
usually comes with a burger and a soda.

He was moderately offended when I suggested ripping it out of the rack 
and replacing with a Cisco Catalyst 2924 I had in a junk rack.   But 
guess what solved the problem?

Check out ebay for Cisco 2924, and you'll find they're just too cheap to 
go messing around with low-end gear.  Sure, they're a few years old, and 
there's newer & fancier, but they're still a good go-to switch.

Plus... when you've got mission-critical, do you really want an 
un-managed switch?  If nothing else, you want the SNMP so you can see 
what the various ports are doing.

Go drop the $30 or less on one and see if it doesn't solve your trouble.

Chris Gebhardt
VIRTBIZ Internet Services
chris at virtbiz.com | (972) 485-4125