Avaya Ethernet Switches [EOL] Reviews

We are using the 5520 and the 5600 models as layer 2 switches, and the 8600 as a layer 3 switch. These units are all on-premises deployments.

This solution is very reliable and works well under harsh environmental circumstances. For example, if the air conditioning turns off then the switch doesn't shut down immediately.

The CLI syntax for this solution is different from other switches such as Cisco and Juniper, and it takes us a long time to integrate a new device and get it working properly.

We would like to see support for multi-rate features including PoE+ and SSP+. We need PoE+ because we are using the wireless access points, and SSP+ as an uplink. This might add security such as anti-spoofing and packet inspection.

We would like to see a local technical support office in Egypt. This would be a credit to Avaya because many people look for vendors who have local support.

The stability of this solution is good. I have not had any problems or issues with these switches so far, and I have been using them for ten or eleven years.

This is a scalable solution.

The technical support for this solution is good. They are professional, and when we open a ticket, some cases have been resolved in a few days. Other cases have taken longer, and in this situation, I escalate the matter to a specific person that we know well and have worked with before.

We have had people from Avaya come from Dubai to Egypt to help us resolve problems.

The only problem we have is that there is no local support in Egypt, so in some cases, it takes a long time to reach an expert technical support person.

Overall, we are very satisfied with the support.

I have experience with several different routers and switches including Aruba Wireless, Cisco, Juniper, and Avaya.

In our old campus, we were using Cisco switches.

I find the initial setup of this solution to be very simple, although it takes time to get familiar with the CLI syntax. 

We have a team of three people who work on these devices in the campus.

When we moved to the new campus there was a committee formed to evaluate different solutions. I am not sure what factors went into making the final decision, but Avaya was ultimately chosen over Cisco, HP, and Juniper.

Avaya has been acquired by Extreme and I'm guessing that they will replace the current software with ExtremeXOS. I don't know what new features they are implementing or what modification they are going to make.

In terms of recommendations, Cisco is not my favorite vendor. I find that Juniper is more flexible, and they are stable like Avaya with no issues. Ultimately, I would recommend either Avaya or Juniper solutions.

This is a good solution, but nothing is perfect.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

It is a virtual market used for education and hospitality. It functions like an ISP service provider. 

I have found the access control list and the filtering are the most valuable features. Also, the quality of service is great. 

I think there is a need for more support of new generation technologies. First, many people in the surveillance market are using DOE++, that means 60 watts of power. Secondly, file deployment in VOIP. Third, more mobile and more IPSec filtering access control lists in a small box.

The stability of the product is is great. 

The scalability of the product is good. 

The initial setup was straightforward. I installed it myself. 

The most important factor for me is to listen to the customer, because sometimes not all the brands in the market will meet your necessities. It all depends on the customer's needs. 

When compared to Cisco, Avaya's pricing and performance is good.

As we are a solution provider and not product oriented, we give the best solution for our customers, with a good price. We are the number one company in the region, BTC, and operate in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia.

I've got over 10 years of experience with various Avaya products. Also, I was using Nortel products prior to their acquisition by Avaya.

No issues encountered.

No issues encountered.

For me, the customer satisfaction, and awareness, is the most important thing. I usually train all my clients on their chosen system.

10/10.

As we are a service provider, we offer various other products to our customer:

• Astaro ASG
• Avaya/Netscreen
• Fortinet
• HP Switches & WiFi
• Juniper SSG
• Juniper SRX 210 & 240
• Juniper WXC
• Sophos next generation SG, including RED, SG, and WiFi
• Telindus Crocus E1

For me, the installation and setup is simple. I work hard to do the simulation for the customer, and discuss all the requirements before implementation with the client.

Give us 10 minutes of your time, and we will show you the differences. When I do presentations, I give potential clients demo access to the solution(s) I am presenting.

The key feature, that is most valuable to us, is the Split-Multi link Trunking (SMLT). This feature allows us to create a very redundant/fault tolerant network across multiple data centers in multiple locations using our own fiber runs. We have been very fortunate to have such redundancy in place saving us some major outages. This redundancy has also allowed network upgrades to have much less of an impact to the customers. Also, the different interfaces provided with various modules have allowed us to migrate from one technology to another in various areas of our network without a complete overhaul, but in stages.

Another feature it has, is that the platform has changed both in software and hardware over the years. They have done it with new technology, features, and capacity, by simply upgrading/adding newer modules to adapt to our ever changing and growing network needs.

It has worked extremely well in our environment, and grown with us as our needs have grown over the years. Two ERS8800’s make up our core with another two in an aggregation layer servicing our customer segments.

The redundancy gained by utilizing SMLT has proven itself invaluable during a couple of events that could have been devastating to our bottom line. We experienced a major fiber cut between two data centers, and, although it affected several of our uplinks, the redundancy automatically kept our production network running, and the customers were unaffected as business went on as usual from their perspective. This redundancy also allowed us to move one of our data centers from one location to another without disrupting production and allowing us to make several of the migrations during work hours.

They could improve in supplying pricing to the VAR in a more timely manner. They could also improve upon the availability of replacement parts within the given maintenance agreement time.

We have used this solution through its continuous progression/maturity for nearly 15 years. Currently - Ethernet Routing Switch 8600/8800, running version 7.2.15.2

We have been using the ERS 8600/8800’s now for quite a while and they have been quite stable.

At this point, the ERS’ have scaled well with our growing environment, as we started with 100M and have since upgraded various links to 10G. Avaya has quite a few different modules to choose from, and these are based on the interfaces required for your specific needs. It’s up to us to realize where we are, and where our goals are taking us, to choose the right module for growth and scalability.

Overall, their technical support is very good with qualified engineers who have good product knowledge, troubleshooting and communication skills. As with most technical support areas, once in a while they are unable to help as well as we would like and it feels we educate them more than they help us. However, perhaps this is because we have a veteran group of intelligent people on our staff.

We were initially a Token Ring shop, with Synoptics equipment, which changed to Bay Networks and then Nortel Networks. We had to go through the pains and tribulations of ATM to migrate from our Token Ring to Ethernet. As we began to migrate onto virtual LANs, we implemented the ERS8600s which have suited us very well through the years.

1. Avaya 4524 Ethernet switch provides network interface with 24 ports of 10/100/1000 type. There are four additional ports that can be easily configured for uplinking
2. It supports virtual hot swappable feature where in the switch can be easily takeover requests from other switch which is momentarily down. This is completely transparent to the end user and thus improves overall responsiveness.
3. It can be easily wall mounted or rack mounted as needed.
4. All of 24 network interface ports can be connected via RJ45 connectors
5. The switch can be remotely controlled and monitored using various remote management protocols like SNMP, RMON, telnet, HTTP, HTTPS etc. This eases the process of remote administration.
6. Supports advanced features like Virtual LAN (VLAN).

1. One of the problems we found while administering the device was the lack of connecting cable compatibility. The only console cable supported is the one that comes with the device and you cannot just plug any of the standard console cable.

Avaya 4500 series Ethernet Switches provide a large number of features not usually found in other well-known switches. One of the reasons we selected this product was the per port cost ratio as it is very low while compared to other similar products. The device can be remotely managed using various remote management protocols like SNMP, RMON, and HTTP etc. We did face problems while finding the right connecting cable for administering the device, but once the device is on the network it can be easily managed. We also found the web interface for managing the device, to be very useful