[geeks] Cisco's new "smart" switches

[Patrick Giagnocavo]

Just wondering if anyone else has suffered through the pain that is  
the Cisco Catalyst Express 500 switch.  It is supposed to be a  
"smart"  switch in that you can set a role for each port and it will  
set up defaults for them.

One problem:  no command line for accessing the IOS or whatever is  
underneath.  Just a wonky web interface or you have to download  
"Cisco Network Assistant" which is some 40MB of Windows-only crapware  
that slowly sets and receives SNMP variables.

Second problem: Cisco shipped this switch with a not-ready-for- 
primetime bug: if IP ARP inspection is on, the CPU utilization shoots  
up very high, and it can take 15 to 20  minutes or more to load the  
web GUI.

By the way, Firefox and OSX is not supported in talking to the web GUI.

Recommendation:  buy a 3524XL-EN or a 3524-PWR-XL-EN if you need POE.

What the hell is happening to Cisco?  Are they getting Fiorina'ed or  
something?

--Patrick