|
Pricing and Ordering Products and Technology Service and Support Registration/Certification/Training Pricing and Ordering Where can I find pricing for Distributor-stocked products? The full price list of products offered through the US Distribution channel is at: http://www.cisco.com/dprg. You will need to login as a registered Premier Partner or Reseller to access this document. To register as a reseller please go to: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/767/chan/chnlpgm-reseller_req.html Where can I find pricing for products purchased directly from Cisco? The Pricing Agent allows qualified users (ie, those that purchase directly from Cisco) to download the direct price list. It is available at: http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/order/pricing_root.pl. If you are qualified but currently do not have access to this tool, your CCO profile may need to be modified. In order to receive access to this and other Commerce Agent applications you will need to update your user profile. This will allow you to view Status, Pricing, Marketplace, and the other Commerce Agents.
Can I order products online? Qualified users (those who have registered for Commerce Agent access with Cisco - see above for registration process) may configure and order Cisco products online at the Networking Products MarketPlace: http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/order/order_root.pl As a 2-tier Reseller, can I order products online? Networking Products MarketPlace for Resellers (http://www.cisco.com/go/marketplace/) is designed for Cisco's 2-tier Resellers and VARs to provide the same conveniences as the direct-purchase MarketPlace. The system helps you select and configure Cisco products for E-commerce purchasing of Cisco products from a distributor of your choice. Can you explain the difference in part numbers and prices between direct and some distributor stocked (-CH) parts? Routers sold through distributors include base-level software, ie the IP-Only feature set is pre-loaded. The price of the model includes the value of this software. Some routers sold through distribution have different part numbers (eg, 2501-CH), which reflects the inclusion of IP-Only software. If the customer requires more than just IP functionality, they should order the appropriate CD feature pack. These part numbers will start with "CD." For example, if the customer wanted to route IP and IPX on the 2501, he would order CD25-B-11.3=. The price of this CD ($400.00) is the difference between the IP/IPX/AT/DEC feature set and the IP feature set. Routers purchased directly from Cisco are built to order and the appropriate software is loaded at the factory. The total list price for the 2501 and the software will be equal, whether it is ordered direct or through the distributor. Please note - the 2600 Series is the first product line where the base price includes the IP-Only software whether purchased directly from Cisco or via the distribution channel. This will become the standard for future products, so avoiding the need for -CH versions of part numbers. Is software packaged differently when buying direct or through a distributor? Yes, when purchasing a router direct from Cisco, the IOS software specified is pre-loaded on the product before shipping. When ordering from a distributor, the router will ship with IP-Only Software loaded. The appropriate CD Feature Pack needs to be ordered along with the router. The CD includes the IOS version (plus a number of previous revisions) and an easy-to-use Windows95 IOS loader program called RSL. This allows the user to quickly load the required IOS version on the router. How do I know how much memory I need for a particular software version? Use the Release Notes and look in the Memory Requirements section: http://www.cisco.com/kobayashi/releases/Release_notes.html. Or use the product matrix at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/smbiz/service/pindex.html, select the product required, then use the link to "Software Features" on the left column. How do I buy DSL products? DSL products can be purchased directly from Cisco by qualified purchasers or through a Service Provider that offers DSL services and Customer Premises Equipment. Cisco does not yet offer DSL products through the distribution channel. Cisco has decided for the time being to make our DSL products available only from the Service Providers themselves, who can ensure they are using compatible Concentrators and Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). The ATM-25 modules available for 2600/3600 routers allow connection of an ADSL Modem (CAP or DMT) to the module to provide connectivity to a compatible ADSL Service Provider's line. You can look at http://www.adsl.com/service_matrix.html for a listing of who is providing DSL services in which area. These Service Providers can advise the customer on what DSL offerings they have and which products they make available to subscribers. If, however, your company wishes to become a DSL service provider themselves, please look at our DSL Partner Program at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/servpro/solutions/dsl/partners.html It describes the program and how to apply in the DSL Value-Added Services Business Case section. How do I buy Cable products? Cable products can be purchased directly from Cisco by qualified purchasers or through a Cable TV company that offers Internet services and provides Customer Premises Equipment. Please see http://www.cisco.com/cable/ for more details. How do I order documentation, brochures, literature etc? Use the Cisco MarketPlace at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/partner/synchronicd/cc/corp/mkt/fat/forms/ptrlf_ai.htm Where can I get data sheets? Data sheets can be viewed and printed in PDF format on the web at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/752/ds/english/ How can I obtain parts that were missing in the delivery? Contact the source from which you bought the product, depending on whether you bought from a reseller, distributor or direct from Cisco. How can I order blank plates and rack mount kits? Call Cisco's Customer Service group on 800 553 6387, option 3. How do I find product dimensions, weights etc? Dimensions, weight and other environmental information are typically included on the Data Sheet for the product in question. Please go to http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/752/ds/english/index.shtml for list of data sheets. Dimensions can also be found in the online version of the Quick reference guide at: http://www.cisco.com/go/guide Can I get spare packaging from Cisco? Cisco does not provide spare packaging, please see your local shipping and packaging company. Products and Technology How do I know if Cisco products are Year 2000 compliant? Cisco maintains a list of products tested and found to be Year 200 compliant at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/cisco/mkt/gen/2000/prodlit/cptbl_ov.htm How can I tell what IOS is required for a certain Module or Product? Please use the Hardware-Software Compatibility Matrix tool at: http://www.cisco.com/pcgi-bin/front.x/support/hwswmatrix/hwswmatrix.cgi How do I know what memory options are available for different products, and how many slots can be used? Please use the Memory Slots Guidelines matrix at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/smbiz/service/tech/memory_slots.html Are there any tools available for configuring Cisco products' IOS? Cisco ConfigMaker is a free, easy-to-use Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and NT 4.0-based software tool designed to configure a small network of Cisco routers, switches, hubs and other network devices from a single PC. It can be downloaded at: http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/netmgmt/configmaker/config-reg.shtml Do you have tutorials to help me understand how to use Cisco IOS command line interface issues such as IP addressing? Certainly, please take a look at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/smbiz/service/knowledge/tutorials.htm How can I become an Internet Service Provider? In order to become an ISP/www provider you will have to contact your local phone company and find out what large ISPs are located in your area. A smaller ISP uses a larger ISP to get onto the backbone of the Internet. You will also have to contact the Internic http://www.internic.net/ or the European equivalent RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) at http://www.ripe.net/ to obtain IP addresses, depending upon where you business will be located. It could be a long and complex process, requiring a great deal of understanding about how the Internet works, eg routing protocols and access service options. There are specific lines of products that are designed for ISPs or www providers. An incomplete list of the things you will have to have is:
When do I need S/T or U version of an ISDN BRI interface? An ISDN Basic Rate Interface (BRI) provides two 64k digital "B Channels" with a single "D Channel" used for setting up and clearing calls. The various interfaces between the line and the equipment are referred to using the letters S, T and U. The phone company will install a wall-jack that connects to the ISDN line. This is referred to as the U interface. A Network Termination device (NT1) must be connected between the U interface and the customer premises equipment (CPE). The connection between the CPE and the NT1 is the S/T interface. In countries outside North America the phone company provides the NT1 equipment, so the CPE (e.g. a Cisco router) needs to connect using an S/T interface. In the USA and Canada, the customer is responsible for acquiring the NT1 device. Many CPE, such as Cisco routers, are available with NT1 circuitry built in. If this is the case, the router (or module) is referred to as having a U interface type. The customer in North America therefore has a choice of using a separate NT1 and a router with an S/T interface, or simply using the router with the U interface. How do I know what cable to use, and what is "5in1" or "12in1"? When connecting a router's serial interface to a CSU/DSU or other terminating equipment, there are a number of possible signal types and physical presentations, such as V.35, X.21, etc. The "5-in-1" name refers to the fact that one router interface can support RS232, V.35, X.21, RS449 and EIA-530 equally, simply by attaching the appropriate converter cable. The "12-in-1" interfaces will support more types of cable interfaces. Choosing the correct cable means simply matching with the signaling and physical connector presented by the CSU/DSU, modem or other communications device. The router is typically considered the "DTE" because the CSU/DSU is connecting to the WAN network and providing the clocking signal (so it is the "DCE"). The Cisco cable part numbers include a "T" if the router is acting as the DTE, and a "C" if the router is acting as the DCE. In most production environments, the DTE cable is used. Are there any limits on using the BRI interface on the 3810? Yes, the 3810's ISDN BRI interface is intended for data backup only. It can only be used when the MFT (Multi-Flex Trunk) interface is down. What is the difference between a 2503 and 2503I? The 2503I is a special "mission-specific" router, built on a regular 2503 platform. It is designed to provide ethernet to ISDN connectivity only, so the synchronous serial ports are disabled by the system software. Other mission-specific 2500 routers are described at: http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/pcat/ Why doesn't NAT work for certain applications? Some applications contain the IP addresses of the sending and receiving devices inside the data portion of the TCP/IP packet. Network Address Translation (NAT) works by examining the IP header and translating the addresses found. If the application also inserts the IP addresses in the data portion of the packet, NAT would need to know to translate addresses not just inn the IP header, but also in the data portion. Cisco's NAT implementation will recognize certain well-known applications that do this (such as FTP), but if the application is not known, or uses non-standard FTP port numbers, it will not work across a router performing NAT. For more information please see: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/701/60.html Where can I find information on Cisco's Security products? Cisco's security solutions are described at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/cisco/mkt/security/index.shtml What is the difference between PIX-PL and PIX-PL2? The PIX-PL is an EISA crypto card with a throughput of around 2-3.5 Mbps depending on packet size. The PIX-PL2 is a PCI card with a throughput of around 90 Mbps. Functionality is identical. How do I use the PIX fail-over kit? The two units must be configured exactly the same and appear to the network as a single unit. They share the same IP address and the same MAC address as well as any configuration parameters. Because the secondary unit is using the same IP and MAC address as the primary unit, no ARP entries need to change or timeout anywhere in the network. The MAC address used by the two units is that of the primary unit. The unit that has the end of the failover cable marked "primary" plugged into it becomes the primary unit by default. Please see http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/iaabu/pix/pix_v4/pixfl40.htm for installation instructions. What is the RSM? What functions does it provide? The Route Switch Module is an RSP based router blade for the Catalyst 5000 series. It can be used for Inter-VLAN routing and provides other features a router provides, such as Routing Protocol support (EIGRP, OSPF, HSRP and other). The RSM is an alternative to an external router connected to a Catalyst 5000 series switch with a 100 MB Fast Ethernet connection. What is the difference between the 2900 and 2900XL series of switches? The Catalyst 2900 series is a smaller brother of the Catalyst 5000 series. The Catalyst 2900-XL series switches run Cisco Systems IOS™ software. Please explain Cut-Through Switching and Store-and-Forward Switching. Cut-Through switching means that a switch makes a decision about the destination port when it has received only part of the frame. Store-and-Forward switching means that the switch has to read the entire frame before a decision can be made as to what the destination port is. What is Portfast? When enabling Portfast on a Catalyst switch, the Spanning Tree Protocol is essentially bypassed and the port goes into forwarding mode immediately. When connecting a device to a port, this port will go through the STP phases of listening, learning and forwarding. Portfast can only be used with end-stations such as PC, workstations, etc. Connecting a hub or other switch can cause loops, since the Spanning Tree algorithm is not enabled on this port. Service and Support What warranty do I get with my Cisco products? Cisco products are covered under various warranties. A "lifetime limited " warranty is provided on Catalyst® 2900 series XL and Catalyst 1900/2800 series switches, FastHub® 400 series Hubs and Cisco Mirco Switch and Micro Hub 10/100 LAN solutions. A 1-year Return To Factory warranty covers other lower-end, less complex products which tend to operate in a less dynamic environment. The 90-day advance-replacement warranty covers higher-end, mission critical products which need quick replacements in case of failure and includes TAC access for problem isolation. Both include IOS Software maintenance releases or "bug-fixes." Full details are described at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/serv/mkt/sup/smb/warran/ For products going through the 2-Tier Distributor channel, is the product warranty period calculated from the day the product leaves Cisco or the day the product arrives at the end user site? For products going through 2-Tier, there is a "grace period" of 90 days included over and above of the stated product warranty period. This 90-day grace period is designed to cover the time that the product is on the shelf or in transit from the Distributor location. What post-sales services are available? Cisco's support offerings are described at: http://www.cisco.com/public/custserv.html Am I entitled to the latest version of software? If your product is under Software warranty only, you are entitled only to IOS maintenance releases or "bug-fixes" of the software version purchased. If you have a valid and current support contract, you are entitled to IOS maintenance releases and Operating system software refresh (i.e. version updates). Neither situation entitles you to upgrade your product feature licenses. For example, you could not upgrade from IP-Only to Desktop versions of software. How do I report an error in Cisco's Internet Commerce Tools? Cisco's Internet Commerce support team handles errors reported by users of the web-based tools. Cases can be opened and reviewed at http://www.cisco.com/order/support/ncsupport.html Please note that many errors can be corrected by looking at the Questions and Answer Where can I find sample configurations for router products? Cisco's website has many sample configurations listed. For SMB products, please see: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/smbiz/service/configs/examples.htm I tried a URL that I was given, it didn't work. Some email programs will recognize a URL and allow the user to go directly to that web address. However, many URLs are long enough to wrap over two lines and the program does not recognize the portion of the URL on the second line. Please be sure to paste the whole URL into your browser, if this happens. Registration/Certification/Training How can I sign up to become a Cisco Reseller? To sign up as a Cisco Reseller use the application form on the web at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/767/chan/chnlpgm-reseller_req.html What benefits do I receive as a Reseller? Cisco invests in your business with programs and support to help you build your business. Your designated 'primary contact' will receive a Reseller Starter Kit that includes the Product Catalog, Sales Tools CD-ROM, Cisco Reseller Logo Kit, Cisco CCO access information (such as on-line Distribution price list), and quick reference materials. What Cisco career certifications are available? Cisco's career certifications are based around two tracks - Network Support and Network Design. The support track leads up to Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) level and the design track leads to Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP). Both tracks are described fully at: http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/10/wwtraining/certprog/index.html How do I correct my details on the Partner listings on CCO? Please send email to cdbadmin@cisco.com with your corrected details Problems with CCO access to certain pages, or tools? Access to certain areas of CCO requires the user to be registered and to log in. Some areas, such as the Software Download Center, require the user to be registered with a valid, current SMARTnet contract. Access to the Internet Commerce Tools is given to users that have updated their CCO Profile and provided registration information, such as a Bill-To and Ship-To Address. (Note, that those users who do not purchase directly from Cisco will not gain access to some of the Commerce Tools). The Distribution Price Guide (DPRG) is available to registered resellers once they have logged in using their reseller number and authorization key (please see http://www.cisco.com/register/help/reseller.html for details) I am a registered Cisco reseller but have mislaid my CCO login details, can you help? Please send email to channel-cco@cisco.com, to receive details of your Reseller Registration and Verification key details. |