The Network is Down!!
Literally, the most terrifying phrase that you as an IT professional, can ever hear! To everyone else, the network being down is simply an inconvenience. But to you, it is the equivalent of a 5 alarm fire.
When the network is down, that brings productivity in the company to and as the IT manager, you know that it needs to be fixed ASAP. That means finding the unit that is failing and fixing or replacing it as quickly as possible. If you have to repair or replace a failing unit, the downtime of your network can range from hours to DAYS!!!
What if I told you that you could get the network back up and running in minutes!
Do I have your attention now?
The secret to reducing your down time in your network or head-end… keeping hot swappable spares on hand! That’s right, keeping spare units on standby. It really is that simple! Think about it. If you have spare equipment on site, you can replace the failing unit within minutes, not days. Not only will this promptly restore the network, but it will allow you to have the failing unit repaired and brought back in house as the new spare.
Now, if you are a regular reader of my blogs, you know that I have already talked about keeping Cisco spares on hand, as well as the importance of having Spare Headend Equipment on hand. I just wanted to take the time to reiterate how beneficial keeping spare equipment on hand really is.
While it may seem like it will be more expensive to buy spare cisco routers, PoE switches or satellite receivers, it is actually more cost effective in the long run. Sure your initial cost will be higher than if you were to only purchase the units that you need, but when you have a failure, you will not have to pay a higher cost, if the market value has gone up, nor will you have to pay a ridiculously expensive overnight shipping fee to get it into your facility as quickly as possible.
To sum it up, keeping swappable spares on hand will save you time, money and more importantly your sanity. It almost seems foolish not to. If you have a sure fire way to make your professional life easier, why not take advantage of it?
We here at Data Networks Int’l make it our number one goal to make our customer’s lives easier. If you are looking for some spares for your network or head-end, give us a shout. One of our knowledgeable reps would be happy to help you out!
