Used load balancers

From LB Wiki

You could, should you desire, go onto eBay as well as several network gear sites, and purchase a previously used load balancer for a fraction of it's new purchase price. A deal like that is very tempting to do so, and I can

Short of overtly dissuading you from a used purchase, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when considering a used load balancers.

Code Updates

When you buy a load balancer used, you typically get whatever software load happened to be on the box when the seller ships it out. Even in stable release branches, code is constantly being updated for stability, features, and security. To get access to these updates, virtually all vendors require a current maintenance or support contract, and they don't typically let you transfer.

In terms of code updates go, load balancers are among the most update-hungry devices out there. While they do perform network functions, they act more like application proxies, and have an update profile more like an application server (updated regularly) than a switch (which requires updates rarely).

General Support

Without the previously mentioned support contract, you're not only deprived of code updates, but also support if things go wrong as well. There are great non-vendor resources for most of the products out there (such as the lb-l mailing list), they're either free and voluntary, or they'll cost you just like a regular support contract would.

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