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ISP Planet
Cache Review Series - Wrap-Up |
Product Support and Documentation
Product documentation varied greatly. At one end of the spectrum, Quantex
arrived with a brief QuickStart pamphlet and on-line docs. In contrast,
NetApp arrived with an entire box of manuals, and Compaq shipped us five
CDs, including an A/V guide to rack mounting. Compaq's QuickStart posters
were the best entry-level resource in the bunch. NetApp supplied the most
thorough printed documentation. Compaq and NetApp offer excellent Deployment
Guides that help you design your cache network. CacheFlow had the best
all-in-one manual.
|
Vendor |
Quantex |
InfoLibria |
Compaq |
CacheFlow |
NetApp |
NLANR |
|
Product |
WebXL 2000 |
DynaCache 220i |
TaskSmart C2000R |
CacheFlow 545 |
NetCache C720s |
Squid 2.3 |
|
Warranty |
3 Year HW |
13 Month HW |
3 Year HW |
1 Year HW |
1 Year HW |
None |
|
Tollfree Support Under Warranty |
Lifetime HW |
5 x 12 |
Hours Unknown |
5 x 12 with 12 hour Response |
7 x 24 with Same Day Parts Ship |
None |
|
Add-On Support |
None Advertised |
Support Advantage Plus |
CarePaq On-Site Support (4 hr Rsp) |
Basic (4 hr
Rsp) |
Premium (4 hr
Rsp) |
Can Be Purchased from Many Providers |
|
Our Experience |
Not Yet Baked |
Knowledgeable |
Responsive,
Persistent |
Very Knowledgeable |
Knowledgeable |
N/A |
|
Quick Start Guide |
10-page Pamphlet |
1-page Diagram |
2 Posters |
See Install Manual |
40-page Booklet |
On-Line User's Guide |
|
Deployment Guide |
None Provided |
See Install Manual |
Yes |
See Install Manual |
Yes |
See Squid FAQ |
|
On-Line Support |
QSupport |
Self-help Tips and FTP Drop Box |
Product Docs |
WebPower |
NOW |
Squid Home Page |
A short-term media evaluation isn't always a good indicator of Technical Support quality, but we summarize our own support experience in the table above. Squid is open source, but it's not hard to find someone willing to provide support for a price—or you can invest your own staff time. Quantex simply wasn't yet ready with formal support for the WebXL. Compaq provided quick and persistent support, but had to rely on Novell to diagnose NICS problems, extending resolution time. InfoLibria and NetApp both took longer than we'd expect to respond to reported problems. This may not have been the case if we had been a registered customer with licensed product and support—particularly for NetApp with 7 x 24 support included during the warranty period. CacheFlow was the fastest to return our calls and fix problems. If you're guessing that CacheFlow catered to a product reviewer, we've spoken with ISP customers with similar experience. Once the warranty expires, you'll have to pay for on-going support: CacheFlow and NetApp quoted an annual tab of $1,600 and $1,700 for the 545 and C720s, respectively.
We visited every vendor's on-line support site: NetApp and CacheFlow have the most to offer there. Several sites require customer login/password and use it to customize what you can view (for example, submit and view the status of your own trouble reports.)
| Introduction | Cache Tuning and Monitoring < |
| Cache Deployment | Product Support and Documentation |
| Installation Configuration | > Conclusion |
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