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If you want a decent 10GbE switch, I'd highly recommend checking out Arista. Co-Founded by Andy Bechtolsheim (Sun Co-Founder and co-founded Granite Systems which was later acquired by Cisco and became their gigabit catalyst line, which Cisco brought Andy in to run), incredibly inexpensive, runs Linux kernel and a Fedora userland, insanely low latency, and very inexpensive. And the density is insane - 52 line-rate 10GbE (SFP+) ports in a single rack unit . That's under $400/port, and another $500 or so for 10GbE short-range SFP+ transceivers (if I remember right).

For 10GbE?

$367 for a 10GbE port, $454 optics/port, $691 Intel 10GbE NIC (dual port too)

Total: $1,512/port

So unless you can build out 1Gb for less than $150/port (and have enough space for 10x the ports!) then 10GbE starts looking pretty attractive. But it depends on the size of the isntall, if we start considering a core/distribution/access architecture and including all the upstream ports, etc, it could get incredibly expensive. You could also include cost to install, configure, manage, etc. But if we're just talking basic per port pricing, under $2k is very easy.

The last quote I got from EMC for 400GB 15K FC drives was $4,000 PER DRIVE. Let me repeat that, four thousand dollars per drive. EMC wanted $1,000 for a 146GB 15K FC drive. This is their "certified" drives that they've "tested and validated"

/me makes jerking-off motion

Here's an HP 146GB 15K FC drive for over $1,000.

Are you sure you don't have your prices mixed up?

I'm sorry I dont maybe I wasn't clear enough. I totally agree it isn't for every workload, I think it works in a lot of instances, particularly if you're tiering your storage and have very very high read:write ratios. Another example that I'm seeing a lot of is database indexes on SSDs. I think as SSD prices come down and performance goes up, you'll continue to see them make inroads.

"Another fun little tidbit - ALL SSD drives are currently in 2.5" format"

Not for long: OCZ Colossues 3.5" SSD

"Try getting 15k rpm hard drive in a 2.5" form factor - you won't."

Uhhh, try again. 15K RPM 2.5" SAS drives have been available for YEARS: HP 72GB 2.5" 15K RPM SAS

The real reason that schools don't switch from Windows is because it is sooo much easier to keep a Windows network running seamlessly than a Linux network. I am the administrator for a small school (about 52 systems). When I want to install software or manage settings, I use group policies combined with active directory to control deployment. It took me about 1 day to get this all running initially. Updates are managed through WSUS. Has anyone on slashdot ever tried to set up ldap or fedora directory server. It is very difficult to get everything up and running. If something were to go down, only I could get it back up. With Windows Server, I have several people in the faculty who could fix it if there was a problem. Due to school discounts, price is not a huge issue. For an example, look at http://cdwg.com/ for the "Academic Discount" licenses. I considered installing OO.o instead of MS Office. However, with the release of Office 2007, there is real insentive to upgrade. It is much easier to teach and use the new "ribbon" interface than the old menu/toolbar interface. OO.o would have a difficult time switching to a ribbon and keeping their credibility as an innovator. To summarise: MS provides real value for the money. They provide a well integrated system that is seamless, stable, and easy to maintain. They have shown that they will continue to innovate and have shown current and future products such as groove, sharepoint, and Windows 7 (I am typing this from W7) that continue to raise the bar.

I am glad /.er's like you completely understand everything that happens in schools and their corresponding districts. I am glad that you understand that the State governs what must be done, what must be learned. Failure to comply with these rules and regulations are very bad for districts.

Many school districts have spent a considerable amount of money and time training teachers and staff on the use of Microsoft Office. The amount of time and money to retrain and reteach the staff would be considerable. With schools cutting back on staff and in some states (e.g. Michigan) entire buildings or complete districts, money and time spent to retrain is considerably more than the cost of $51.16 per workstation for the entire office 2007 suite. (Source http://www.cdwg.com/remc).

Training isn't cheap or free. Teachers and staff generally won't come in for volunteer training. They will spend time on "professional development" on those half days and full days kids enjoyed so much because they didn't have school. To try to train a teacher how to use technology in a couple of hours is a very difficult thing. Imagine trying to train your mother or your grandmother to use technology, when their old way of doing things just works.

If you add up all the costs per workstation for Office 2007 pro, Vista Business upgrade (they do not have the non-upgrade listed), and the cals needed to access a windows 2003 server, it costs $105.88 per workstation. I can not compare the costs of training staff on the use of linux vs buying software they are mostly familiar with, but it's going to be considerable.

Before you consider the software the most expensive piece, it's not. It's the training of the staff to use this software. Most people have Windows computers at home. Most teachers were trained on Windows PC in college.

Schools have the job of teaching it's young customers and preparing them for continuing their education or to enter "the real world." To train someone to use software other than what is used in the real world would not be in the best interest for the kids.

Yeah this is Illinois. This state has the best contract with Microsoft offers as far as software pricing goes.. The entire State K-12 organization is covered under a single select contract. A parent/student can buy a copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 - the latest, greatest, fanciest version, for $75.

http://www.cdwg.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC =1140848

If you're in the US, a great place to get some decent deals on software is Techsoup. In my experience, even Microsoft licensing is ridiculously affordable; I was able to fully license a server running Windows 2003 Standard and Exchange 2003 with 30 User CALs for each for under well under $1000 total. Even Office Professional is currently running $20/license there. The catch is that you usually have to have a 501(c)(3), among other things, and it takes a little while to get through their paperwork, but it's definitely worth it. Also, CDW-G is your friend; that's a great way to get hardware on the cheap, as well as any software that you can't find or get on Techsoup.

This brings up an interesting point - make sure that whatever you get is something you and your client can work on. If you only know Microsoft, fine - get Microsoft. You'll spend a little more than you would if you had to go the open source route, but, with their non-profit rates, you're not going to go broke doing it. If the only thing the staff of the non-profit knows is Microsoft, keep in mind that many of them are probably volunteers - if you make it difficult (read: unfamiliar) for them to work, they may just stop working. Of course, if you can competently maintain a cheaper platform, whatever that might be, and it doesn't get in the way of the non-profit's ability to get work done and keep volunteers, go for it - non-profits love saving money any chance they get. In the end, most of the same rules apply as in the 'real' world - communicate with them, let them know what you're doing, why you're doing it, and make sure they're comfortable enough with your solution to accept it.

• Visual Studio .Net Professional 2003 - $528.66
• Office 2003 Standard UPGRADE - $228.59
• Windows XP Professional w/ SP2 - $308.77
• Switching to Linux/OpenOffice/Something from SourceForge - priceless

Ask other sysadmins. When we were shopping for a new tape autoloader, I asked some other sysadmin friends who they bought from, and got a nice list. I called for quotes, and even got other recommendation from the companies I called.

We eventually settled on ZZYZX, but we also strongly considered CDWG.

Remember that people networking is as useful as computer networking. :)