Since we got new servers we actually ran out of switch ports. We have an 8-port gigabit Dell switch BizRate gave us last year that we use for our internal network. We have another ancient 22 port old Cisco 29xx 100Mbit switch we use for our external network and (with a VLAN) for some of the internal network). They are both so full we had to unplug things we weren't using enough to get the new servers in yesterday.
I'd like to not spend much money, but we do need VLANs, SNMP, 24+ ports and reasonable performance. So, dear reader, your advice is sought. :-)
Dell sells a 24 ports gigabit switch (Powerconnect 5324) for $800 which I think is just a newer and bigger version of the 8 port switch we have, so I'm quite sure it'd work. (Does anyone know who's really making the Dell switches?). The price seems reasonable.
Netgear makes some switches that are priced well, but we can't figure out if they do what we want.
GS724T is 24 ports and cheap - ~$450 from Newegg. It's listed in their "Managed L2 Switches" section, but it doesn't seem to have SNMP? They make a 48 port version too (GS748T - about $1100). No SNMP in that one either, or so it seems. Does anyone know?
GSM7224 is their 24 port version that definitely does have SNMP. It cost about the same as the Dell, about twice as much as the GS724T.
Linksys also makes a 24 port gigabit switch (SRW2024) for less than $500 which is "managed" but doesn't have SNMP.
I looked briefly at the Cisco switches too, but they are way more expensive (with no benefits for us).
Is the $800 Dell switch the best we can do?
I have had a lot of success with the Dell switches. You get a lot more than what you'd expect given the price tag.
What about the secondary market? There a a ton of used equipment vendors in and near LA, you can pick up Cisco/Foundry/Extreme for pennies on the dollar.
If you need some names, send me an email and I will forward some vcards.
The HP ProCurve 2800 switches are very nice, they support SNMP and have a web-interface, telnet and ssh, any of which can be disabled if you wish. They also support spanning tree and fiber uplinks and other nice things which could be overkill for your needs, but they are indeed nice features.
They're more expensive than the Dell switch, but I really like them. I suspect they're much better than the Cisco switch at about half the price or so. :-)
Yes the HP ProCurve Switches are cool. Much cheaper than the Cisco Catalysts and in certain cases seem better.
Jacques & Morten,
Do they have a 1U gigabit switch? I couldn't find that on the HP site.
- ask
Thanks for the update regarding GeoURL, I've updated my site accordingly. Do you still have the old database, or are you rebuilding from scratch?
THe Procurve 27XX and 28XX series are all gigabit 1U switches. The 2724 and 2748 are layer 2 unmanaged 24 and 48 port devices, and the 2824 and 2848 are layer 2/3 managed devices. All support autocrossover detect and autospeed (10/100/1000) sense. If you don't need management capability, go witht he 2724 or 2748 -great value for their cost.
So, let me get this straight. HP ProCurve Switch (the 2848) has the cheapest buy it now price on Ebay of $2,960.00, and HP has them on their site for $3,563.19.
Thats about 61.67 per port!
Compare that to Dells price of 800 retail ($595.00 on ebay for buy it now) and you have a price of $25.00. Yes, you use 1u extra. But, what, besides SNMP, did you buy?
Oh, and did I mention that the Dell has SNMP?
I guess Cisco, because, well, it's Cisco. But Dell is less than 1/2 the cost. In fact, it's 40% of the cost aftermarket!
Hi,
Finally what did you got for your network? The Dell powerconnect and HP procurve are expensive for me. I have a similar situation where I am comparing linksys srw2024 and netgear gs724T. The gs724t is a smart switch and srw2024 is a level 3 managed switch(techrep told me). I am not sure what is the diferent.
So, I called the techrep line of linksys and they told me it supports SNMP v1 and v2 but you need the third party software if you want to use network monitoring software. SRW2024 do come with Webview(monitoring software) The netgear website says it support SNMP v1. And you say it does not. Who is right?
I was concern about the noise level of the devices, gs724T(heatsink, no noise there) but srw2024 is fan ventilated(the techrep said that it is "silent" and no decibel measures given). I am planning to place the netwok devices in same room as the pcs.
I am hoping to use some of the open source network monitoring software in these devices, so I asked whether srw2024 is linux compatible and the techrep and manual says it is. I did not have a chance to ask netgear, maybe I should.
Did anybody have a chance to come across these two devices?Any suggestion are welcomed.Is there any comparable devices I should look into? I don't mind getting used switches too. What are your thoughts on these devices?
From the manual of the NETGEAR GS724T (this may only apply to the v.2.0 of this unit, and I don't know if V1.0 can be flashed to v.2.0):
Additionally, the NETGEAR ProSafeGS724T Smart Switch also supports SNMP and can be managed using network
management software, such as the NETGEAR ProSafe NMS 100.
It's very odd that NETGEAR makes it so hard to find out their switch supports SNMP. I just bought one. They almost lost the sale because I didn't think it supported SNMP.
http://1.2.3.4/cgi/snmp_conf lets me specify
Host IP Address
Community
Privilege:
ReadOnly/ReadWrite
Trap:T1 T2 and/or T3
Admin: Enable/Disable
Is not possible to configure SNMP in the Switch HP Procurve 2724?