Overview of Switches with 24 10Gb Optical Ports
Application traffic on the enterprise network is constantly growing, and with the development of virtualization, new solutions and services are appearing for which the recommended interface speeds on the equipment are already 10 Gbit / s. Today, it is beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses to use Ethernet technology - both for connecting users, servers , telephony and other things, and for connecting storage systems , i.e. SAN organizations. This article provides an overview of switches with 24 10Gb optical ports. For comparison, we took 5 switches of leading manufacturers:
To connect servers, storage systems, and user subnet switches to the switch, we need optical transceivers that provide transmission over different distances: In addition to the 24-port devices that we are going to use, there are also 48-port models. The cost of transceivers can increase the cost of the device itself several times. If you need to connect over short distances up to 7 meters, for example, within a server room or rack, you can use a DAC cable (direct attach copper cable, also known as Twinax). Its cost is an order of magnitude lower than the cost of transceivers: Do not forget about technical support and warranty: A. Dell Power Connect 8132F Switch
It has a “gentlemanly” set that allows you to implement most of the modern media services:
One of the many advantages of the switch is the ability to increase the number of ports by expansion cards from 24 to 32 10Gbps ports or add a card with 2 40Gbps QSFP interfaces. You can combine up to 6 switches into a fail-safe stack.
A distinctive feature of the 8100 series of switches, along with support for DCB (data center bridging) functionality, is iSCSI optimization technology, which automatically detects and configures the switch when connecting Dell EqualLogic storage systems. When you purchase a Dell Power Connect 8132F switch, 3-year technical support is already included.
In addition, there is a model with 10GbE copper ports for Dell Power Connect 8132. B. Cisco Catalyst 4500X Switch
traditionally it has advanced and flexible functionality in the field of working with QoS, security tools, monitoring and control, network virtualization, routing (including multicast traffic), usually supported exclusively on Cisco equipment. The switch can be expanded from 24 to 32 10Gb ports using an interface card. It is possible to combine up to 2 switches into a stack using proprietary VSS technology. Such protocols as EIGRP, BGP, PBR, PIM are supported. The solution is more suitable for organizing a high-performance network core with advanced capabilities for flexible management and monitoring of various traffic at the application level while maintaining an increased level of security and fault tolerance. If you have any special functional requirements, then most likely that this equipment will cope with your task.
C. Juniper switches are often compared to Cisco. The Juniper EX4550 also has advanced L2 functionality and OSPF, BGP, IS-IS protocol support, as well as DCB (data center bridging) and much more. A distinctive feature of the EX series is the Juniper Virtual Chassis stacking technology, which allows you to combine up to 10 switches in one logical device using 40Gbps QSFP interface modules or special 128Gbps modules - with a combination of these methods, you can increase throughput up to 320Gbps. The switch is suitable for both data centers and for creating a high-performance core of the enterprise. There are also models with copper 10Gbps ports. D. HP 5820 Switches
They have advanced L2-functionality and support for the protocols OSPF, BGP, IS-IS, as well as DCB (data center bridging) using additional interface cards. Using proprietary Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology, you can build a network factory of 9 switches by combining up to 1024 10GbE ports. For centralized management of the entire factory (like a large virtual switch), HP offers the graphical utility Intelligent Management Center (IMC). It is worth saying that in this series there is no support for 40Gbps QSFP interfaces. E. Huawei S6700 Switches
according to the claimed functionality, it also has advanced L2-functionality and support for OSPF, BGP, IS-IS protocols. Using iStack technology, you can build a stack by combining 10GbE ports. Expansion cards for this series are not provided. It is impossible to say unequivocally that there is only one winner. Although as a result of the comparison, the first place can be given to the Dell Power Connect 8132F switch for the most maximum functionality, low price, a large set of additional functions, but we must not forget that in the end everything can change and any of the above models can be an ideal option due to the following criteria: • Tasks • The number of required switches • Required bandwidth • Ability to create a stack • Permissible performance
For the selection of network equipment, contact our engineer Khismatullin Vadim . He will select the most optimal equipment option in accordance with your tasks and capabilities.
- Cisco Catalyst 4500X
- Dell 8132F
- HP 5820
- Huawei S6700
- Juniper EX4550
- To begin with, we estimate the costs of buying a switch with two power supplies, to ensure fault tolerance:
To connect servers, storage systems, and user subnet switches to the switch, we need optical transceivers that provide transmission over different distances: In addition to the 24-port devices that we are going to use, there are also 48-port models. The cost of transceivers can increase the cost of the device itself several times. If you need to connect over short distances up to 7 meters, for example, within a server room or rack, you can use a DAC cable (direct attach copper cable, also known as Twinax). Its cost is an order of magnitude lower than the cost of transceivers: Do not forget about technical support and warranty: A. Dell Power Connect 8132F Switch
It has a “gentlemanly” set that allows you to implement most of the modern media services:
- support for most standard L2 protocols and security (spanning tree, LACP, VRRP, Dynamic ARP Inspection, 802.1x, etc.)
- routing support - 512 IPv4 / 256 IPv6 static routes
- RIP and OSPF support
- multicast protocol support PIM-SM and PIM-DM
- QoS and management support
One of the many advantages of the switch is the ability to increase the number of ports by expansion cards from 24 to 32 10Gbps ports or add a card with 2 40Gbps QSFP interfaces. You can combine up to 6 switches into a fail-safe stack.
A distinctive feature of the 8100 series of switches, along with support for DCB (data center bridging) functionality, is iSCSI optimization technology, which automatically detects and configures the switch when connecting Dell EqualLogic storage systems. When you purchase a Dell Power Connect 8132F switch, 3-year technical support is already included.
In addition, there is a model with 10GbE copper ports for Dell Power Connect 8132. B. Cisco Catalyst 4500X Switch
traditionally it has advanced and flexible functionality in the field of working with QoS, security tools, monitoring and control, network virtualization, routing (including multicast traffic), usually supported exclusively on Cisco equipment. The switch can be expanded from 24 to 32 10Gb ports using an interface card. It is possible to combine up to 2 switches into a stack using proprietary VSS technology. Such protocols as EIGRP, BGP, PBR, PIM are supported. The solution is more suitable for organizing a high-performance network core with advanced capabilities for flexible management and monitoring of various traffic at the application level while maintaining an increased level of security and fault tolerance. If you have any special functional requirements, then most likely that this equipment will cope with your task.
C. Juniper switches are often compared to Cisco. The Juniper EX4550 also has advanced L2 functionality and OSPF, BGP, IS-IS protocol support, as well as DCB (data center bridging) and much more. A distinctive feature of the EX series is the Juniper Virtual Chassis stacking technology, which allows you to combine up to 10 switches in one logical device using 40Gbps QSFP interface modules or special 128Gbps modules - with a combination of these methods, you can increase throughput up to 320Gbps. The switch is suitable for both data centers and for creating a high-performance core of the enterprise. There are also models with copper 10Gbps ports. D. HP 5820 Switches
They have advanced L2-functionality and support for the protocols OSPF, BGP, IS-IS, as well as DCB (data center bridging) using additional interface cards. Using proprietary Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology, you can build a network factory of 9 switches by combining up to 1024 10GbE ports. For centralized management of the entire factory (like a large virtual switch), HP offers the graphical utility Intelligent Management Center (IMC). It is worth saying that in this series there is no support for 40Gbps QSFP interfaces. E. Huawei S6700 Switches
according to the claimed functionality, it also has advanced L2-functionality and support for OSPF, BGP, IS-IS protocols. Using iStack technology, you can build a stack by combining 10GbE ports. Expansion cards for this series are not provided. It is impossible to say unequivocally that there is only one winner. Although as a result of the comparison, the first place can be given to the Dell Power Connect 8132F switch for the most maximum functionality, low price, a large set of additional functions, but we must not forget that in the end everything can change and any of the above models can be an ideal option due to the following criteria: • Tasks • The number of required switches • Required bandwidth • Ability to create a stack • Permissible performance
For the selection of network equipment, contact our engineer Khismatullin Vadim . He will select the most optimal equipment option in accordance with your tasks and capabilities.