Lab Equipment Wishlist

[[ Wishlist, below, updated on 31 Dec 2008. -Brent ]]

We want to develop configuration templates for as wide a variety of network devices as we possibly can. In order to develop templates for a particular device, though, we need to have a representative sample of the device in our lab. We're always looking to buy good working used equipment for our lab, if the price is right, although of course we're also happy to accept donations. We're also happy to consider long-term loans of equipment from customers or vendors who would like to see better support for their favorite products in our tools.

Our lab equipment definitely does not need to be the latest and greatest hardware from a given vendor. Older, slower, and smaller devices are just fine, as long as they are running relatively up-to-date firmware and are configured in the same manner as the latest and greatest. In fact, we definitely prefer smaller to larger (a 12-port device versus its 48-port big brother, for example), in order to minimize power, heat, noise, and space used in our lab.

If the device is something that supports failover, we need a pair of them, so that we can develop failover configurations as well.

For example, in order to develop templates for Cisco switches, we use a pair of Cisco 3550-48 switches running IOS 12.2. 48 ports is way more than we need for testing and development, and 24 or even 12 would have been adequate (as well as smaller, cooler, and quieter).

We have a prioritized list of devices that we'd like to add support for, based mostly (but not exclusively) on market share. What equipment we have available in the lab definitely influences the order in which we tackle devices, though.

If you have anything that you'd like to give/lend/sell us for our lab, please email Brent Chapman <brent@netomata.com>.

Current Wish List (updated 31 Dec 2008)

• NetScreen or Juniper SSG firewalls (failover pair)
• NetScaler or Big-IP load balancers (failover pair)
• Xen servers with IPMI interfaces
• Quantity 2; it would be nice to have identical units, but that isn't strictly essential
• 1U or 2U chassis
• 120V/60Hz power supply (redundant not necessary, but would be nice)
• Dual or Quad CPU (speed not really important, but Xen compatibility is)
• 2+ GB RAM
• 72+ GB disk; IDE, PATA, or SATA only (no SCSI; I have lots of IDE, PATA, and SATA spare drives available)
• 2+ Ethernet interfaces (100 Mb/s is fine)
• Separate IPMI (management) Ethernet
• Managed power strips (quantity 2+), 120V/20A input, 120V/20A output, individually controllable ports via Ethernet
• Serial console server (Cisco 2511, MRV, OpenGear, or similar)
• KVM-over-IP server (even a 1-port unit would help, as we could use it with our existing non-IP KVM switch)
• 19-inch equipment cabinet, on wheels, preferably with sides and doors
• 19-inch mounting hardware (screws, screw clips, shelves, etc.)