> Without firsthand experience, it's difficult to explain to someone that once I configure an access layer switch with 48 1gbps ports on it, and 4 10gbps SPF+ uplinks, it only costs me the price of electricity and physical storage to move 1 packet over it, or an infinite number of packets over it.
This really isn't true, as you do have to pay someone to sit somewhere nearby the switch in case it goes down. And you have to maintain a space indoors for the switch so that it doesn't get wet. Such space has to be built on land that you own or lease, and you can't just buy a wiring closet-sized piece of land. You also will have to eventually replace the switch, as it will fail after a certain period of time.
There are recurring costs to all of these things, and it absolutely costs more to send an infinite number of packets over the switch. In fact, you can only send so many packets over the switch before it fails, because bandwidth and packet size are limited.
You'll also find that if you're selling bandwidth on this switch you'll need to pay people to administer and enforce contracts, and you'll need a building for those people, and you'll probably want to market your switching service so people know they can buy bandwidth on this switch from you.
It's pretty dismissive to call all that "maintenance" as if it's a paltry sum. In fact I would argue that paying the company to maintain the network is the bulk of what you're paying for here, and it's a lot more complicated than just plugging some wires in and calling it a day.
This really isn't true, as you do have to pay someone to sit somewhere nearby the switch in case it goes down. And you have to maintain a space indoors for the switch so that it doesn't get wet. Such space has to be built on land that you own or lease, and you can't just buy a wiring closet-sized piece of land. You also will have to eventually replace the switch, as it will fail after a certain period of time.
There are recurring costs to all of these things, and it absolutely costs more to send an infinite number of packets over the switch. In fact, you can only send so many packets over the switch before it fails, because bandwidth and packet size are limited.
You'll also find that if you're selling bandwidth on this switch you'll need to pay people to administer and enforce contracts, and you'll need a building for those people, and you'll probably want to market your switching service so people know they can buy bandwidth on this switch from you.
It's pretty dismissive to call all that "maintenance" as if it's a paltry sum. In fact I would argue that paying the company to maintain the network is the bulk of what you're paying for here, and it's a lot more complicated than just plugging some wires in and calling it a day.