ExtremeCloud IQ vs. Perforce Puppet

In complex environments where redundancy is required or a high density of client devices is in use. It is helpful to small enterprises with limited IT staff, as once the auto-provisioning is set up with AP templates, it means APs can be installed by non-IT staff. Licensing can be complex due to all the models, but the ability for co-term licenses to end on the same expiry is essential.

Incentivized

Most of the major issues that people had with the language have been addressed in Puppet 4 which primarily pertain to the limitations of the language and its ability to scale. It would be nice to allow for full ruby support as an unsupported option though so developers are able to reference their own data sources dynamically.

Incentivized

• GTAC support is excellent; they understand the issue and do not hesitate to help in detail.
• The layout is very intuitive and easy to use, especially the templating of switch port types. It makes it simple to use context-based names so the purpose of the port can be understood.
• The auto channel selection now works very well, including the SDR dual 5GHz mode.

Incentivized

• Provides a reliable mechanism for deploying infrastructure-as-code, especially when integrated with source control (such as Git).
• Manages system configuration drift to provide greater stability and system up-time; the same configuration-as-code can be pushed out over and over.
• A strong asset when moving teams towards DevOps by providing development a way to take control of their own assets.

Incentivized

• Licensing as a whole is a nightmare. If you have a device RMA'd - you have to email their licensing team to have the device license transferred to your new hardware. Licensing renewals are also a pain, as oftentimes they don't have the licenses correctly tied to each device you own. Definitely the biggest issue I have with ExtremeCloud IQ Networks
• Hardware is tied to you once you purchase it, so there is no resale market/secondary market for the devices you purchase - should you try to sell them when they're end of life within your organization

Incentivized

• Steep learning curve for first time users.
• The complexity can get a little overwhelming in a more collaborative deployment methodology across multiple platforms and data centers.
• Some external changes to Puppet like the new Puppet 4 architecture can cause considerable time consuming migration efforts especially if you have a lot of legacy classes and configuration that do not conform readily to the new design.

Incentivized

Being a web platform, it is very easily accessible. The user interface is very simple, intuitive, and visually well-designed. The learning to use it was very quick and can be done even without specific user manuals. Access to the analytics and troubleshooting tools is also extremely intuitive and very well-crafted.

Incentivized

Puppet has top class support. You can simply mail them with their query and they will respond to your query in a timely manner. We do have enterprise license for puppet. Also there is a vibrant community for puppet out there. So even if you dont purchase a premium support option you can simply google your queries and get answers

Incentivized

I previously used Aruba APs in the early 2010s - but have no other experience since then

Incentivized

Puppet was selected before I joined the team, had it been my choice I would have much rather went with Chef as it has the ability to do things that Puppet has not yet added to their system such a the ability to quickly query what host currently are allowing puppet to maintain their files or the ability to run remote commands without having to include it in a manifest like Chef does with the knife command. Salt allows you to do similar things to the knife command that is included with Chef, and also allows you to transfer files quickly to multiple host at once with a short simple command.

Incentivized

• Extreme has allowed us to significantly reduce the time required for incident resolution.
• Close to zero-touch greatly enhanced our business.

Incentivized

• With all the DevOps and automation that we have going on, we save a ton of time on the configuration of the server. It's safe to say that configuring servers via console or via UI is a thing of the past.
• We try to get all the things done by using a centralized repo (GitHub). Puppet is one tool that actually gets the actual work done.
• The small amount that we spent on purchasing premium Puppet is completely justified because of the time and effort that this tool actually helps us save.

Incentivized