Yep - as a sys admin who has worked for a few ISP's (in the UK) I'd rate Cisco 1st and probably Sun second. In both cases the most welcome thing you can hear (at 3 in the morning when everything is flashing red and your mobile is going off every 30 seconds) is somebody who a) works out how technical you are, and talks to you at you own level, and b) rings you up the next day to see if everything is all sorted (and is there anything more they can do to help). In both Cisco and Sun's case I would say that the equipment is expensive - but at the end of the day, it's worth paying the extra to know that you can count on them.
Slashdot Mirror
Yep - as a sys admin who has worked for a few ISP's (in the UK) I'd rate Cisco 1st and probably Sun second. In both cases the most welcome thing you can hear (at 3 in the morning when everything is flashing red and your mobile is going off every 30 seconds) is somebody who a) works out how technical you are, and talks to you at you own level, and b) rings you up the next day to see if everything is all sorted (and is there anything more they can do to help). In both Cisco and Sun's case I would say that the equipment is expensive - but at the end of the day, it's worth paying the extra to know that you can count on them.