Network Equipment Buying Guides

Practical guides written for the people who specify and import network equipment.

Managed and unmanaged switches compared on control, monitoring, security and cost, with a framework for choosing.

Both move packets, but they make decisions at different layers. The difference decides how your VLANs talk to each other.

A PoE switch with too small a power budget cannot power every device at once. Do the arithmetic before you order.

Three generations of Power over Ethernet, three very different power envelopes. Match the standard to the device, not the brochure.

They look almost identical on a spec sheet and behave very differently in a rack. A field guide to pluggable optics.

Ports and protocols are no longer enough to describe traffic. What changed between firewall generations, and what it means for sizing.

A NAS box and a file server both store shared files, with different management and operating costs. How to pick for a small business.

Checks on serial numbers, packaging, part numbers, firmware and paperwork to run before the balance payment leaves.

1U and 2U servers compared on rack density, drive bays, expansion, cooling and colocation cost.

Port count alone does not specify a data-center switch. A buyer's checklist that goes deeper.