Hi,
Managed to get this cheap through work:
CISCO SMARTNET 24X7X4 VIRTUAL CAT 1
I basically just want to stay up to date with IOS images, is this the right one for me? I realise I could go with less phone support, but I can get it on a deal as I said from work, and it works out cheaper than some of the other packages.
Thanks. Andrew.
Hi Andrew,
You may wish to investigate the Cisco SMARTnet Pricing Calculator:
Brad Reese BradReese.Com Cisco Repair Service Experts
Andrew,
Make sure you have the right Category for your equipment. If your Category is not correct you will not be able to register it.
Sincerely,
Brad Reese Factory Refurbished Cisco
It doesn't help me in determining whether I can upgrade the IOS on that though. The equipment is an 837 router, and the person knew I was going for that with that equipment.
Thanks. Andrew.
You may find Cisco TAC Contacts Worldwide helpful:
Brad Reese
7 Years of Cisco Product Guides
Googlegroups must die.
All the Smartnet contracts allow you to get software upgrades.
B
Not quite: the SAS-* series of contracts only allows software
-updates- (i.e,, within the same OS version) [and has no hardware support.] The SAU-* series is software updates and software upgrades (i.e., to new OS versions) [and has no hardware support either.]
All of the CON-* series contracts include software upgrades, as does the series that is for ISPs and telecomms providers but whose abbreviation I do not recall at the moment.
Okay, but I did get the first 2 letters correct!
Personally I believe the 24x7x4 is overkill. This offers you HARDWARE support as well as software. And not only does it give you just any hardware support, but immediate replacement (within 4 hours). This is basically one step below their best support avaialble (24x7x2 - 2 hour hardware replacement). I'd go a few tiers lower to get something that either includes minimal hardware support, or no hardware support at all and simply IOS updates/upgrades as you mentioned.
The other posts are correct and I generally recommend to get the one that allows updates as well as upgrades. You don't want to be stuck running a 4 year old IOS down the road in my opinion.
~Ryan
If I recall correctly, there is a level above CON-S2P (24x7x2) that involves co-location of spare parts at your site. It is not in the CON-* series of contract names, IIRC.
I looked at the CON-SAS and CON-SAU pricing a bit; for the items I looked at, the price difference against the 8x5xNBD (which includes hardware support) was smaller than the variation in 8x5xNBD pricing from different vendors. To phrase that a different way: 8x5xNBD from a Gold Support VAR with high volume discount is less expensive than a software-only contract from a Silver Support vendor.
Thus, I would not recommend that anyone even think about going software-only unless Cisco refuses to support them at the hardware level, or unless they are part of a big organization that already knows where to find maximum discount -and- which has an aggressive policy of purchasing internal hardware spares instead of purchasing hardware support.
[For example, we have saved a bundle of money over the years by having purchased 10% extra wiring-closet switches instead of going hardware support (at 30% of the original price per device per year for support with that particular vendor.) But we rarely take that approach for items we buy in low volumes.]Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.