$250 Gigabit Smart Switch Roundup Revisited

[bigsy]

Hi all,

Long time lurker but just started posting. What a great site. Very well done. I refer people here all the time.

I am looking for a smart switch for my small office. I really only need 8 ports but 16 would give us room for growth if that turns out to be the best option. I read the above article (see http://smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/l...gigabit-smart-switch-roundup?showall=&start=6) and I'm wondering if anyone as any updates or switches to add, as this roundup as this was done in 2007.

Note: I run VoIP phones (so want QoS), a few security cameras (would like VLAN), and a couple of NAS storage units for file serving, home directories, and backup (would like 4k jumbo frames). I want a switch that supports 4k jumbo frame rate to account for the slower processors in the NAS units.

I recently purchased the SMCGS8P-Smart switch. The product literature stated that it supports "up to 9k" frame rate. The implication of "up to 9k" is that it also supports lower jumbo frame rates, but when I got the switch I suspected that it *only* supports 9k frame rate, which was confirmed in a call to tech support. Also, it does not detect or report when jumbo frames is enabled or achieved. Otherwise the feature set on this switch is really very good. So I'm thinking that this switch will go back in favor of one that supports a lower jumbo frame rate. I'd love to keep it under $250.

Note that all of the switches in the roundup use the same term - "Up to 9k" jumbo frames. Does anyone know which can be configured to support lower frame rates?

Any thoughts and / or advice much appreciated!

EDIT / UPDATE:

I have had two calls from SMC about the 8 port switch. The first support call told me that it only supports 9k frame rate. The second support call told me that it will auto negotiate a frame rate "up to 9K" and so will settle on 4k if that is how the NICs are configured. This sounds correct and would validate the "up to 9k" term but I'm still concerned. Can anyone confirm this? There is no way to see what frame rate is being used via the web admin. I assume that I could ferret out the info using a port sniffer or mirroring the traffic, yes? Will Network Magic (Cisco) do this kind of analysis?

 

[thiggins]

The switch chips used in these devices will handle frames larger than the standard 1500 Bytes up to 9K Bytes. The switch doesn't care what size frame you use.

My test setup uses a NETGEAR GS108T, which just has a general jumbo frame enable. I use 4K jumbos in testing and it works just fine.

As for updates to the article, if you don't mind spending a bit more, people like HP ProCurves. Don't forget to look at Dells, too. They sometimes have good deals.

 

[bigsy]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to stick with my SMCGS8-Smart switch. I like the feature set, the interface is pretty intuitive, and I got it for $140 - an awesome price for this unit.