[LordOpie]

So I came in this morning to find the network down. Ran through standard procedures, eventually found that no computer could ping another. I guessed the switch was broken, went to the store, bought a new one and now everything is fine.

How often do switches break? Any guess as to what I can do to get the old one working again? (All the lights were on, but no one was home, apparently.)

 

[Reactor]

So I came in this morning to find the network down. Ran through standard procedures, eventually found that no computer could ping another. I guessed the switch was broken, went to the store, bought a new one and now everything is fine.

How often do switches break? Any guess as to what I can do to get the old one working again? (All the lights were on, but no one was home, apparently.)

What brand/model switch? How old? Whar enviromental conditions? Was it on a UPS?

It's fairly rare but not unheard of. Low end switches (pretty much anything you'd buy at a comp usa) are usually not worth the cost/effort to repair. Higher end switches (>$1000) may be wort it or at least have a trade in value.

I had about 120 closet switches at my last job, and in five years I had one or two switches fail completely. I had several MDA's go bad(gig fiber), and a dozen or so ports go bad (out of 2500). I never had a bad part on my core switches. All were on a UPS.


On the other hand we probably a quarter of the 20 or so low end consumer switches we had go bad in the same period.

 

[LordOpie]

it was some sort of Dell Power Center or something. Yes, UPS. It was in a closet. About 3-4 years old.

Interesting that you say that you've had ports go bad. I wonder if a bad port can simulate complete failure? Probably not worth any further investigation since the replacement was $120.

But my troubleshooting routine, finally guessing it was the switch, going to the store, installing it... STOLE 3 hours of my morning... just frustrating since I was (still am) slammed with work. Thanks for letting me vent