Switch Suggestion - 24 Port Managed with 10GB uplink

[Mike Russell]

Hey folks.

Long time reader here but first time I have had to post.

I have a small project at work I am trying to make.. well, work..

We have a small budget to buy some switches for our desks.

Needs 4 of these switches with the following

• 24 port that can be broke into 2 seperate newtworks
• 10GB uplink port for one of the networks
• Desktop enviroment so quite would be nice.. (Not a must)

The only Cisco switch I can find is the SG500X-24P. Its About $1500... Hoping to be about half of this if possible.

Any other models you would consider?

Many thanks in advance..

Mike

 

[abailey]

Take a look at these:
ZyXel XGS1910-24
Netgear Prosafe GS728TX-100NES
Ubiquiti Edgeswitch Lite ES48-Lite
HP JG960A

 

[Mike Russell]

Thanks abailey!

I found a HP one as well but seems to be out of stock everywhere.

The ZyXel seems to be a great price. Much involved in configuring these? I was a CCNA in a previous career (about 10 years ago) but I have been out of networking for sometime.


many thanks!

Mike

Take a look at these:
ZyXel XGS1910-24
Netgear Prosafe GS728TX-100NES
Ubiquiti Edgeswitch Lite ES48-Lite
HP JG960A

 

[abailey]

I have not used all of them but it should be pretty easy to set up VLANs, which you need to have two separate networks on one switch. If you need these two networks to talk to each other it gets a bit more complicated. Since you had your CCNA then it should be no problem.

 

[chadster766]

Linksys LGS552 $849.99 comes with two SPF+ @ 10Gig

 

[Mike Russell]

Waiting on our IT dept to get some quotes.. Thanks kindly for the suggestions.

 

[coxhaus]

Using layer 3 switches sure makes it easier to route between VLANs. If your not going to route then you don't have to have VLANs you can use separate switches like 2 + 2 with your 4 switches. 10G is probably going to be a load for a router.

 

[Mike Russell]

No routing between them needed. Need 10g for one side. A few devices doing large file transfers simultaneously.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Mike Russell]

Ended up with some cheap unmanaged 24 ports for now. New year we will get some with 10G manageable.

Again I appreciate the input.

Mike

 

[System Error Message]

i think i may have been too late to suggest the mikrotik CRS 226 has 2 SFP+ and costs less than $500. If you dont need cisco features than this is what you will want. It doesnt have POE out like the ubiquiti edgeswitch but it has POE in. You can combine ports, segment your network, do layer 3 switching and other stuff related to managed switching. As long as you do not use the switch's configurable firewall you will get wirespeed switching.

 

[Mike Russell]

i think i may have been too late to suggest the mikrotik CRS 226 has 2 SFP+ and costs less than $500. If you dont need cisco features than this is what you will want. It doesnt have POE out like the ubiquiti edgeswitch but it has POE in. You can combine ports, segment your network, do layer 3 switching and other stuff related to managed switching. As long as you do not use the switch's configurable firewall you will get wirespeed switching.

Thanks for the option. I had a 2011 model WiFi routerboard a few years back. I was never pleased with the WiFi thru-put so I sold it. These may well be an option. I will need to see if we have any local resellers that will let us try before we buy... I like the option! Work I am sure will have some reservation not being a well known name.



Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[abailey]

i think i may have been too late to suggest the mikrotik CRS 226 has 2 SFP+ and costs less than $500. If you dont need cisco features than this is what you will want. It doesnt have POE out like the ubiquiti edgeswitch but it has POE in. You can combine ports, segment your network, do layer 3 switching and other stuff related to managed switching. As long as you do not use the switch's configurable firewall you will get wirespeed switching.

Wow looks like a great value! Does it switch at wire speed?

 

[System Error Message]

yes if you check the specs but if you dont apply filters to the switch.

 

[Etz]

Keep in mind that Mikrotik switches are lacking certain features, which greatly limits their usability.

For example, they don`t do IGMP snooping, so if you are dealing with Multicast it would be a major drawback.
And their documentation is pretty much nonexistent and hard to understand for novice user who has no previos experience with Mikrotik devices.

Also Mikrotik PoE is not compatible with other vendors, they use different voltage.

You pretty much get what you pay for...

Currently I have swapped out all my Mikrotik switches to TP-Link`s due to missing IGMP snooping and IPTV requirement in my networks, all works way more stable and no need to reboot switches multiple times per day anymore.

 

[System Error Message]

Keep in mind that Mikrotik switches are lacking certain features, which greatly limits their usability.

For example, they don`t do IGMP snooping, so if you are dealing with Multicast it would be a major drawback.
And their documentation is pretty much nonexistent and hard to understand for novice user who has no previos experience with Mikrotik devices.

Also Mikrotik PoE is not compatible with other vendors, they use different voltage.

You pretty much get what you pay for...

Currently I have swapped out all my Mikrotik switches to TP-Link`s due to missing IGMP snooping and IPTV requirement in my networks, all works way more stable and no need to reboot switches multiple times per day anymore.

I have never had to reboot my mikrotik switches. Which ones were you using because they have 2 different chips for them. Mikrotik is new to the switching game so they require a higher learning curve but they do have multicast FDBs if you really need multicast.

Also mikrotik CRS do not have fans so you would need some ventilation as running a device that has a MIPS based CPU at a higher temperature even at 70C is unstable.

Mikrotik's POE in is compatible with other vendors as long as the voltage is the same. You can use a passive POE to achieve this and mikrotik even many vendors use 24-48V on POE.

 

[Etz]

I have never had to reboot my mikrotik switches. Which ones were you using because they have 2 different chips for them. Mikrotik is new to the switching game so they require a higher learning curve but they do have multicast FDBs if you really need multicast.

CRS125-24G-1S-IN. Yes they have multicast FDB, but it did not work properly as well, still flooded multicast out on all ports.
Even if it it had worked, that means that if someone adds STB to network you need to do manual configuration each time.
BTW IGMP Snooping works quite same way, only major difference is that multicast FDB`s gets updated automatically.

Also mikrotik CRS do not have fans so you would need some ventilation as running a device that has a MIPS based CPU at a higher temperature even at 70C is unstable.

No problems with temperature, they just got overloaded constantly by multicast due to inability to do snooping. They did not crash but at one point everything starts crawling.
Also those TP-Links have no fan as well.

Mikrotik's POE in is compatible with other vendors as long as the voltage is the same. You can use a passive POE to achieve this and mikrotik even many vendors use 24-48V on POE.

Wasn`t Mikrotik PoE 12V instead of 24-48V?

Another major topic is LAG implementation on Mikrotik, which goes over CPU, which basically means (due to weak CPU) that your LAG interface performance is actually multiple times worse then actual single Interface.

Maybe they finally have implemented IGMP snooping and proper LAG after 2 years, but last time I checked they still refused to implement it. I personally will not buy their switches never again.
Great feature set and value on paper, but real life proves different.

Routers ofc are a bit different topic and work quite well.

 

[System Error Message]

CRS125-24G-1S-IN. Yes they have multicast FDB, but it did not work properly as well, still flooded multicast out on all ports.
Even if it it had worked, that means that if someone adds STB to network you need to do manual configuration each time.
BTW IGMP Snooping works quite same way, only major difference is that multicast FDB`s gets updated automatically.



No problems with temperature, they just got overloaded constantly by multicast due to inability to do snooping. They did not crash but at one point everything starts crawling.
Also those TP-Links have no fan as well.



Wasn`t Mikrotik PoE 12V instead of 24-48V?

Another major topic is LAG implementation on Mikrotik, which goes over CPU, which basically means (due to weak CPU) that your LAG interface performance is actually multiple times worse then actual single Interface.

Maybe they finally have implemented IGMP snooping and proper LAG after 2 years, but last time I checked they still refused to implement it. I personally will not buy their switches never again.
Great feature set and value on paper, but real life proves different.

Routers ofc are a bit different topic and work quite well.

The switch feature has LAGG, just look around in the switch area, i used it to bond 2 SFP+ ports together so it is definitely not going through the CPU. I bought the CRS when it was new and LAGG was already there. The OS has IGMP snooping not the switch and with mikrotik it relies on you configuring it so it means making rules to get things going automatically or maybe even scripts. The TP-link switches you use arent configurable and you just use tick boxes. Mikrotik hardware isnt for the unskilled.

From http://routerboard.com/CRS125-24G-1S-IN
Supported input voltage 8 V - 28 V which is the exact switch you used. It supports a range between 8V to 28V. 12V was the recommended value for MIPS based routers but mikrotik MIPS based hardware has always been able to accept POE in 24V if they have POE in. Even their power input accepts a wide range.

You dont have to listen to @Etz, people have used routerboards in various environments and even as a remote wireless monitoring network with solar and batteries in some places and have had them running for years without having to reboot. If your routerboard hanged, chances are you were using a bugged package (such as the packet sniffer) or your firmware wasnt installed properly which does happen if your connection gets interrupted while you upload the packages or you were using a faulty PSU. If you were rebooting the CRS daily, why didnt you RMA it? they have 6 months warranty.

http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:CRS_examples will help answer some of your questions. In the example it uses LAGG on the switch with bonding on the other end (mixing switch and CPU, in my case CRS with CCR).

So it seems you didnt read the instructions and specs properly only what people say and i have said a number of times on this forum to ignore mikrotik tutorials that come from below the equator and go for the ones by cisco professionals.

With my experience on mikrotik hardware, if it encounters a problem it reboots itself, i have never had to reboot it manually except for moving it, updates and some configurations that require cleaning very long lists.

 

[Etz]

I rest my case, looks like I`m too unskilled to configure switches and will probably have to have my CCNP revoked.

TP-Link makes managed switches, without CLI and tickboxes only and they are totally unconfigurable?

Use whatever you like and works for you, I could not care less.
And least thing what I would like to spend my time on, would be flamewar with die hard Mikrotik fanboys...

 

[System Error Message]

the point im trying to make is that using mikrotik is difficult because you have to manually set everything up. I have not seen a configurable tp-lnk device in which you set up rules.

I showed you the link and corrected some of the things you were saying including POE input voltage and you think im a fanboy? I actually hate mikrotik but they do make very good hardware.

 

[Etz]

the point im trying to make is that using mikrotik is difficult because you have to manually set everything up. I have not seen a configurable tp-lnk device in which you set up rules.

I showed you the link and corrected some of the things you were saying including POE input voltage and you think im a fanboy? I actually hate mikrotik but they do make very good hardware.

I do have read those links...and yes I was wrong about PoE.
TP-Link is as configurable as Cisco from CLI and they obviously made syntax and everything else, pretty Cisco like.
Not sure about GUI, I have it disabled and never used it.

Still it is really hard to me to recommend those Mikrotik switches if you are dealing with Multicast or need to support large scale IPTV deployments on budget.
If there would not be cases with budget constraints, I would use HP or Cisco switches only.

And I don`t have absolutely nothing against their routers, they are pretty decent and highly configurable.

I did not manage to get that "switch chip" LACP working nice with Cisco Etherchannel as upstream, only way it worked was regular Bonding over CPU, hence the assumption it does not work at all. Also I did not manage to get it working with Synology 802.3ad.

I bought them when they Initially came out, so maybe they have matured meanwhile, unfortunately I have none left anymore so I cannot test them again.

PS: I have nothing personal against you or any other users, but lets agree that we disagree on this...
And of course as with any other device, mileage may vary according to actual usage and environment...