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Article: Exploding the price-per-port fallacy. (Technology Information)
- Article from:
- Network World
- Article date:
- September 21, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Network World, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Mention a new LAN switch to a colleague and, almost without fail, the response will be, "What is its price per port?"
So ingrained is this approach to comparing LAN switches that network managers and vendors rarely, if ever, question its validity. They should. The belief that simple per-port pricing provides an accurate and valid switch cost comparison is a fallacy.
Implicit in any comparison based on price is the assumption that the units are comparable. It doesn't take much to realize that an item that sells for $1 per liter in Germany is not cheaper than the same item selling for $2 per gallon in the U.S. The units are well-defined, and an accurate ...