A little confused about SmartNET, any help?

[InlineFive]

Hey all,

I'm going to be purchasing a switch or two from Cisco to play with and I'd like to get the latest software for it, even if it is a minor release. (On a side note, did the 2950s ship from the factory with 12.0 installed?)

However I'm confused about this SmartNET stuff and how it works. I have looked around the Cisco and CDW sites and I'm not sure if I can even get a contract if I'm not the original owner, and which one I should purchase.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

I5

 

[ScottMac]

THe easiest thing would probably be to call one of their partners (like CDW), tell them what you have (be prepared to provide serial numbers), what level of service you want, and they will give you the price.

I don't know if they provide software-service only; all of the contracts I know about also include RMA / Hardware ereplacement as well (8X5XNBD, 24X7XNBD, 24X7X4 and the previous three with a tech onsite.

Anyway, tell 'em what you want, they'll give youa price.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[InlineFive]

Thanks ScottMac!

Is there a way to find out what the latest IOS version is for a particular product before I order SmartNET? The only areas I believe this information may be on their website is locked.

Just to find out if it's worth the investment...

 

[nightowl]

Smartnet will also give you advanced replacement if the gear fails and the ability to contact TAC for configuration issues. Normal turn around time for a RMA on a device is 10 days as you have to send the device in before a new one is shipped to you. If you have Smartnet, it is defined in the contract and is at worst, NBD.

 

[Cooky]

Normal turn around time for a RMA on a device is 10 days as you have to send the device in before a new one is shipped to you.

You may want to double check...I've RMA'd many switches and we've always received the replacement first, then ship the failed ones back in the boxes that the new ones came in w/.
No SmartNet contract required.
The 10 business days part is true though...you do have to wait so make sure you have spares.

Even though you can't login to the software download area w/o a valid contract, you can browse to the release notes area.
The latest version is 12.1(22)EA10.

 

[cmetz]

InlineFive, I do believe there is a way to just buy the latest version of IOS. But it's priced in such a way that for just a trivial amount of money more, you can get a SmartNet contract for a year including a year of updates as well as hardware extended warranty. So just buying the latest IOS would basically be silly the way they've set up the pricing.

The official cisco party line is that IOS licenses are NOT transferrable. That means that you can buy a cisco box used (which they can't legally stop you from doing) but you do not have a valid license to use the software on that box. Because you don't have a valid license to use the software on that box, you must buy IOS again before you can get a SmartNet support/upgrade contract for that box. Guess what the price of buying IOS is? Suspiciously close to the price of buying the whole box all over again.

All that said, in practice, I've found cisco to be reasonably willing to find a way to take your money. If you just call up and buy a SmartNet contract, odds are that it will just work out.

nightowl/Cooky, last I checked there are different committment levels for SmartNet contracts, that is, there are more and less expensive packages you can get with faster/slower turnarounds. It's also theoretically all around better on higher-end gear. That said, I've also seen cisco completely blow their service contract commitments, just like every other vendor (guess what happens when they don't have a spare part in their warehouse to send you?). So if it's your network and it really matters, a spare is the only way to really be sure.