Though it grates against the geek side of an engineer, you'll only do yourself (and your company a favor by embracing it. When it comes time to plan the budget for next year, figure out how much to bill a department, or calculate cost savings, you may be asked to calculate the dollar impact of provisioning and reclaiming switch ports. Odds are, the group that handles your data center facilities will know exactly how much it costs per square foot in terms of cooling, floor space, and electricity, so you'd better be able to come up with some dollar amounts as well.

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