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Appliance v. Software

Along my path as an IT god J I have found myself going back and forth on the appliance model:

Year 2000:
    Why would I want to buy an appliance, when it's the same software, and I can't choose the exact form factor or implementation of hardware?
Year 2003:
    I can just buy this box and plug it in and I have a solution. When I have a problem I just swap out the box and load a config file onto it.
Year 2005:
    If I use my own hardware I can use the same box for 5 things at once, thus allowing the box to do more with the same power and space consumption. Especially when I introduce virtualization.
Year 2007:
    I'm so sick of vendors blaming hardware, and having the battles between hardware and software vendors. The worst is when you have IBM, Microsoft, and vendor x all fighting. I also like the fact that I know my appliance will be in warranty, because it's a single renewal.

Not to mention some of these appliance makers that have been around for a while are starting to refresh hardware. That's a brilliant idea! I get new boxes with new features for a fraction of the cost of the older box!

Appliance is my vote now!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Ditto but beware network discovery and system monitoring of applicances can sometimes be an issue. Applicances Monitoring is an issue that often goes unaddressed in enterprises even applicances that are monitors themselves.

Jerry
Monday, September 03, 2007 11:32:00 PM
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