What router would you recommend for a small library?

[Mark R]

If only West Virginia staff had asked that question....

It appears that WV are the proud owners of 1064 Cisco 3945 routers, fully-loaded with optional extras, each with a price tag of $22,600 (that's $24 million in total). Many of these are in use in rural libraries - where they provide connectivity to a single PC. (That's assuming that the routers are even in use - about 300 are still boxed, gathering dust in warehouses, nearly 2 years on).

More info...
Link

I really don't understand how this sort of purchase can happen. The purchased products are so ludicrously overkill that they cannot possibly confused with the most appropriate products.

What sort of governance must exist in an organisation which purchases stuff, without even waiting for advice from their own internal experts?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

What sort of governance must exist in an organisation which purchases stuff, without even waiting for advice from their own internal experts?

The usual everyday kind? I've got a manager who found 10 k in the budget to go out and buy a soft serve ice cream machine. No one even blinked an eye. Turns out the machine requires two 220 v lines to run and our service is full. Yup, it's sat unused for two years now.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

For a fixed base in a table I like the Milwaukee, and for a plunge base either Porter Cable or Bosch.

 

[blankslate]

Wouldn't this be better off in the Networking forum?

 

[HumblePie]

Wouldn't this be better off in the Networking forum?

^^^

 

[Moonbeam]

I would paint arrows on the floor.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I would paint arrows on the floor.

I would train seals.

 

[Lithium381]

Well, at least they'll be future proof for quite some time. Honestly they could have gotten by with the 1800 series which is considerably cheaper . . .

 

[DaveSimmons]

Stimulus funds and WoT funds -- a lot of it is pouring money down a hole, then throwing in a match.

Read up on how much unused equipment the TSA has piled up, since no one is allowed to question them.

 

[frostedflakes]

West Virginia officials decided not to vary the size of the routers they purchased based on the needs of the target facility. "A student in a school of 200 students should have the same opportunity as a student in a school with 2,000 students," one official told the paper.

Lol... I'm at a loss for words.

 

[Abraxas]

Wouldn't this be better off in the Networking forum?

^^^

No, the issue of this thread isn't the OP looking for suggestions for a router but rather that a government spent a huge amount of money buying routers hundreds of times more expensive than what they needed for their intended function. I think all it really shows is a lot of government areas, in particular local governments, don't understand technology at all but for some I suppose it can be a symbol of government waste or something.

 

[spidey07]

Meh, I can make a 3945 do just about anything that is ever needed. wireless, call manager, voicemail, all in one box. Don't forget that many are on the state network which is a private network built by the state - VERY high speed optical/SONET network. It could be they need the horsepower (not very likely though).

I've done state networks. They were sold a total solution. Yeah it's likely overkill, but they won't have to buy routers for a very long time. Penny wise, pound foolish.

This is more the work of a good salesman IMHO.

-edit-
What they are doing with the routers in terms of voice/video/wireless would be much more relevant and the interfaces/network they are connecting to. It's a workhorse.

 

[rudder]

I really don't understand how this sort of purchase can happen. The purchased products are so ludicrously overkill that they cannot possibly confused with the most appropriate products.

Those were probably what was on contract. No under $100 routers were on contract and they may have been unable to buy them. Either that or the person in charge of purchasing routers got a sweet kickback from a supplier.

 

[chucky2]

Ran into stuff like this in E. St. Louis schools. Fiber run to every classroom, 24 port gigabit switch in each classrom with 1 or 2 computers in them.

Just keep sending in the $$$ folks, nothing to see here.....

Chuck

 

[drebo]

Meh, I can make a 3945 do just about anything that is ever needed. wireless, call manager, voicemail, all in one box. Don't forget that many are on the state network which is a private network built by the state - VERY high speed optical/SONET network. It could be they need the horsepower (not very likely though).

I've done state networks. They were sold a total solution. Yeah it's likely overkill, but they won't have to buy routers for a very long time. Penny wise, pound foolish.

This is more the work of a good salesman IMHO.

-edit-
What they are doing with the routers in terms of voice/video/wireless would be much more relevant and the interfaces/network they are connecting to. It's a workhorse.

I was going to say...it's not at all unreasonable if they're using them as the branch's PBX (tied to a central CM), using them for DMVPN (or tied to a private VPN/network), etc. Although a 2801 would have probably been more than sufficient for their needs.

That said, it's unlikely that they'll ever have funding for this again in the next decade, and these routers are likely to last just as long.

Need maor info.

 

[drebo]

Those were probably what was on contract. No under $100 routers were on contract and they may have been unable to buy them. Either that or the person in charge of purchasing routers got a sweet kickback from a supplier.

You don't get enterprise featureset out of a sub-$100 router.

That said, an SRX220H would have probably done everything they needed for about $2k.

That, or a 2801 for about the same.

 

[freegeeks]

Well, at least they'll be future proof for quite some time. Honestly they could have gotten by with the 1800 series which is considerably cheaper . . .

the 1800 is EOL, it's the 1900 series now
for small locations you will only need a 800 or 900 series, maybe a 1900, everything else is overkill

 

[Chaotic42]

What do we want?
Equal router access!
When do we want it?
Pre-emptively!

 

[Lithium381]

the 1800 is EOL, it's the 1900 series now
for small locations you will only need a 800 or 900 series, maybe a 1900, everything else is overkill

Oh, I thought this took place in 2010, the 1800's weren't EOL until late 2011.

Although it's true, for most of their locations, an 800/900 would have sufficed . . . but keep in mind they may have wanted the options when it comes to NM or WIC slots for future expansion / adaptability. That and it's the state, they want only ONE model that they have to keep spares for and support to keep it simple for logistics and a config template.

 

[spidey07]

Oh, I thought this took place in 2010, the 1800's weren't EOL until late 2011.

Although it's true, for most of their locations, an 800/900 would have sufficed . . . but keep in mind they may have wanted the options when it comes to NM or WIC slots for future expansion / adaptability. That and it's the state, they want only ONE model that they have to keep spares for and support to keep it simple for logistics and a config template.

There's a lot to be said for having a simplified few-models system. Fewer code trains/bugs to deal with, operational efficiency, etc. While on the surface it appears to be wasteful, it's impossible to know unless MUCH more details are known. Specifically what are they doing with them and what do they want to do with them in the future? Schools are big into video conferencing now which would make the 3900 a good choice, in fact it's THE choice. I use them for gateways/gatekeepers, tons of features.

As i said, you can make them do anything you want and they'll easily last 10 years as a platform you can grow.

 

[Baptismbyfire]

Maybe they had some leftover money that they had to use up before the end of the fiscal year or would be penalized for it with a budget cut the next year.

 

[cybrsage]

Well, at least they'll be future proof for quite some time. Honestly they could have gotten by with the 1800 series which is considerably cheaper . . .

The x8xx series are heading towards EOL. You need to shift into the x9xx series.

EDIT: freegeeks beat me to it.