3820 vs 4500 Lab Considerations

Hi,

 

We need to extend our lab, currently we have a 4500 HA pair. I need to add another 2 x SBC instances to test out distributed media release in an Hosted Access environment.

I'm looking at adding  2 x stand alone 3820 to complete the required tests in the lab, obviously this will reduce the cost overhead significantly than adding 2 x HA 4500s.

 

My question is, do the different HW models run identical FW images?

In our production environment we will have 3 x 4500 HA pairs running in a load balance model so I need to ensure that DMR fits the bill to ensure optimal media release on the access side.