8 Port PoE Switch Selection Guide And Tips

POE(Power over Ethernet) is ideal for using in smart applications which makes CCTV even more effective and easier to manage. The network can be monitored, controlled, and managed from a smartphone or tablet. With a POE switch such as the Netgear ProSAFE 8 port switch, remote IP surveillance cameras can be controlled and managed no matter where they are located. Facing the selection of 8 port PoE switch, most of people would occur allodoxaphobia. For fixing this hard-decision problem, this article would put emphasis on 8 port PoE switch selection guide and tips.

8 Port PoE switch-FS.COM

Overview on 8 Port PoE switch

There is a variety of 8 port PoE switches with different brands. Today, we would take FS.COM 8 port switch as an example to introduce 8 port PoE switches. FS.COM S1130-8T2F managed PoE+ switch comes with 8x 10/100/1000Base-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1x console port, and 2x gigabit SFP slots. It can supply power to network equipment such as weather-proof IP cameras with windshield wiper and heater, high-performance AP and IP telephone. This managed PoE+ switch are highly flexible, the transmission distance of the SFP fiber port can be up to 120km, and with high resistance to electromagnetic interference. It also features superior performance in stability, environmental adaptability. FS.COM PoE+ Gigabit switch comes with a one-year limited warranty, including any quality problems during the free maintenance. The detailed specification of FS.COM S1130-8T2F managed PoE+ 8 port switch is shown in the below.

Switch Class Layer2+
Switch Chip VITESSE
Fans Fanless Design
Jumbo frames Up to 9KB
Power Consumption Per PoE Port Max. 30W
Max. Power Consumption 130W
Power Supply Input 100-240VAC, 50-60Hz
Switching Capacity 20Gbps
Forwarding Rate 14.88Mpps
Packet Buffer Memory 4M
PoE Standard Compliant with IEEE802.3af/at
VLANs Up to 4K
Web Management Interface Supported
Power Pin Type End-span

8 Port PoE switch Selection Guide & Tips

—Power Requirements

Review the data sheets of the camera’s you have specified on the installation to see if any have higher power requires known as PoE+. If you have 1 or more camera’s requiring PoE+ power you will need to heavily consider this when choosing your switch. (Please note PoE+ switches will happily power standard PoE devices but a standard PoE switch cannot power any PoE+ device, regardless of the amount of wattage unused by the other connected equipment). However some switches are designed to power both PoE and PoE+ devices, please check the specification sheet of that exact switch model to see if this is possible on your selection. If this is the case you will usually find a the switch will handle half the PoE+ devices it will PoE e.g. An 8 port switch can power 8 standard PoE devices or 4 PoE+ devices.

—Cable Run Length

Make sure when planning your network you do not have cable runs longer than 90 meters. This is particularly important when using PoE due to voltage drop. PoE is particularly hard to measure voltage on so if you break the 90 meter cable rule you could be in for a world of pain if devices do not operate correctly.

—8 Port Switch Price

There are many 8 port PoE switches of major brands on the market, such as Cisco, Netgear, HP, TP-Link and etc. The 8 port switch price varies in difference brands. But they all controlled in a certain range, it’s around $40~$300. For brand selection of 8 port PoE switch, that depends on your preference. You can check the price discrepancy with major brands in the following table. Notice: All the following prices except FS.COM are from Amazon.

Brand Model Price
Cisco SF302-08P 8-Port PoE Manged Switch $153.11
NETGEAR GS108PEv3 8-Port PoE Managed Switch $79.99
FS.COM S1130-8T2F 8-Port PoE managed switch $159.00
HP 2530-8-POE+ Ethernet Switch $270.00

Conclusion

This article mainly introduce FS.COM S1130-8T2F 8 port PoE switch and provide 8 port switch selection guide and tips. How to choose a reliable supplier from so many 8 port switch manufacturers? Before buying 8 port PoE switch, the quality, power requirement, price, cable run length should be considered. As one of well-known 3rd-party optics manufacturers, FS.COM is suggested to be a good choice for 8 port PoE switch.

48 Port PoE Switch: Cisco Vs HP Vs FS.COM

To meet the growing requirement of an improved enterprise network management, 48 port PoE switch provides optimized solution for network efficiency, operational cost savings, and ease of management. Cisco always plays a leading role in fiber optical communication while HP switches are renowned for competitive price, quality and service. FS.COM is seen as the rising third-party fiber optics’ vendor. It has gained well reputation for their fiber optical transceiver, fiber jumpers, etc. Today, we would touch the basic introduction of the 48 port PoE switch supplied by these three vendors, analyze the difference, and provide a selection guide.

Cisco 48 Port PoE switch

For Cisco 48 port PoE switch, there are many such switches having been launched, such as SG 500X-48P(170/volume per month), SG2010P(210/volume per month), etc. The Cisco SG2010P 48 port poe switch has 48 RJ-45 connectors for 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T with 4 Gigabit combo ports shared between mini-GBIC ports. It is optimized for maximum system availability, with fully redundant stacking, redundant power options, and dual images for resilient firmware upgrades. The enhanced quality of service (QoS) and traffic-management features help ensure clear and reliable voice and video communications. The distinctive features of the Cisco SG2010P 48 port poe switch are showing in the below:

  • IEEE 802.3af PoE delivered over any of the forty-eight 10/100/1000 ports
  • Dual images for resilient firmware upgrades
  • 96 Gbps nonblocking, store-and-forward switching capacity
  • Fully resilient stacking provides optimized growth with simplified management
  • ACLs for granular security and QoS implementation
  • Configuration and monitoring from a standard web browser

HP 48 Port PoE switch

HP also offers many 48 port gigabit poe switch, such as HP J9853A(50/volume per month), HP 2530-48G(1300/volume per month), HP 2530-48G… HP 2530-48G is the hottest one among all the HP 48 port gigabit poe switches. The HP 2530-48G (J9775A) switch 48 RJ-45 auto-sensing 10/100/1000 ports (IEEE 802.3 Type 10BASE-T, IEEE 802.3u Type 100BASE-TX, IEEE 802.3ab Type 1000BASE-T) and four small form-factor pluggable (SFP) slots for fiber connectivity. The HP 2530-48G 48 port gigabit poe switch consists of four fully managed Layer 2 edge switches, delivering cost-effective, reliable, and secure connectivity for business networks.

FS.COM 48 Port PoE switch

Different from Cisco and HP, the total volume of FS.COM 48 poe switch is far less than Cisco and HP. For FS.COM 48 port poe switch, it offers S5800-48F4S, S3800-48T4S, S5850-48T4Q, and etc. S5800-48F4S 48 port poe switch is a availability, high-compatibility and network-scaling applications of data center as a carrier Access switch. It has 48 port 1GbE SFP and 4 port 10GbE SFP+ in a compact 1RU form factor and low latency L2/L3 Ethernet switch. With support for advanced features, including MLAG, SFLOW, SNMP etc, this switch is ideal for traditional or fully virtualized data center.

48 port poe switch fs.com

48 Port PoE switch: Cisco Vs HP Vs FS.COM

In this article, we would mainly give a comparison on 48 port poe switch among the above three vendors in the respective of power budget, switching capacity, and switching layer.

—Power Budget

Power budget attaches great importance to a PoE switch. And that is a vital element that should be considered for every switch buyers. For Cisco SG2010P 48 port poe switch, each port has independent overload and short-circuit protection, along with LED indicators to show power status. Maximum power of 15.4W to an Ethernet port—360W, total available to all ports with regular AC power; 280W, total available with RPS. The power consumption range of HP 2530-48G 48 port gigabit poe switch is between 29.5 W and 59.5W. The maximum power draw of FS.COM S5800-48F4S 48 poe switch is 75W.

—Switching Capacity

Switch capacity is often a measure of the switch’s fabric bandwidth and the switch’s packets per second forwarding capacity. Sometimes a switch’s capacity (fabric bandwidth and/or PPS) cannot support all its edge ports running at 100% with any frame size. At the access-layer it’s more common with plenty of switch ports but with less switching-capacity (since it’s highly unlikely that all ports are operating at full speed at all times). The switching capacity of Cisco SG2010P is 96 Gbps non-blocking, HP 2530-48G is 104 Gbps, and FS.COM S5800-48F4S is 176 Gbps and its non-blocking bandwidth is 88 Gbps.

—Switch Layer

Network switches are often described as Layer 2 or Layer 3. Small networks can be built using just Layer 2 devices, but most corporate networks will have a mix of Layer 2 and Layer 3 switches. Dumb Layer 2 products are a cheap and easy way of providing connectivity to working groups while more intelligent Layer 3 switches enable departmental networks to be segmented and controlled with no loss of bandwidth. Both Cisco SG2010P and FS.COM S5800-48F4S support layer 2 and layer 3. HP 2530-48G deliver only full Layer 2 capabilities.

Here are the detailed specification of the above mentioned three 48 port PoE switches.

Switch Ports Switching capacity Power Consumption Switching layer Price
Cisco SG2010P 48 RJ-45 connectors for 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T & 4 SFP+ ports 96 Gbps non-blocking 360W Layer 2/3 $1,299
HP 2530-48G 48 RJ-45 auto-sensing 10/100/1000 ports & 4 small SFP slots 104 Gbps 59.5 W Layer 2 $1,686
FS.COM S5800-48F4S 48 port 1GbE SFP & 4 port 10GbE SFP+ ports 176 Gbps (88 Gbps non-blocking) 75W Layer 2/3 $1,699

Conclusion

This article mainly introduced three different 48 port PoE switches from Cisco, HP, and FS.COM. Power consumption, switching capacity and switching layer are what the users should consider when choosing a 48 port poe switch. As for selection, you can choose a proper one according to your budget, switching demand and reliable manufacturer. For reliable 48 port gigabit switch poe vendor, FS.COM is a wise choice. Anyway, there is still a promising prospect for 48 port PoE switches.

Mikrotik Switches Vs Cisco Switches

As a worldwide leader in IT and fiber optical networking, Cisco switches play a leading role in manufacturing network switches and in providing switching solutions for data center and enterprise networks with large and medium-size forms. MikroTik, a Latvian company which was founded in 1996 to develop routers and wireless ISP systems. Their cloud switches are highly favored by many Ethernet users in recent years. And thus, people are entangled with Cisco and Mikrotik switches. This article would give brief introduction to Cisco and Mikrotik switches, and put emphasis on Mikrotik Switches Vs Cisco Switches.

Cisco Switches

According to different usage, Cisco divided their switches into the following categories: LAN Access Switches, LAN Digital Building Switches, LAN Core and Distribution Switches, Data Center Switches, Service Provider Switches, Industrial Ethernet Switches, Virtual Networking and Small Business Switches. And every category has its switching series. The Cisco Catalyst series switch delivers ease of management and configuration for small to medium-sized enterprise wiring closets in a single system, without the need for additional modules. The following list is about the Cisco Catalyst series switch.

Cisco Catalyst series switch

Mikrotik Switches

Comparing to Cisco switches, the total amount of Mikrotik switches is much smaller. According to the official website of Mikrotik, there are only twelve Mikrotik switches. Ethernet smart switches and cloud core router switches are two series switches of Mikrotik switches. The cloud core switch, or cloud router switch, abbreviated as CRS, is a highly configurable switch, powered by RouterOS. They are the new products of Mokrotik switches. For the cloud router switch, there are nine models currently available. Here lists three different cases of the cloud core switch:

  • CRS125-24G-1S-2HnD-IN (integrated wireless, indoor case)
  • CRS125-24G-1S-IN (indoor case)
  • CRS125-24G-1S-RM (rackmount case)

Mikrotik Switches Vs Cisco Switches

—CPU

The CPU on both Cisco and Mikrotik switches is used for management purposes (snmp stats, cli management, etc) and it does not affect the data path. Switching is not done in CPU, neither on Cisco nor on Mikrotik. Switching is done on dedicated ASIC chips specifically designed for this job (thus giving wirespeed). So comparing the CPUs won’t mean much about forwarding performance – which is the metric you should care about.

—Power Consumption

One of big problems with Mikrotik switches is their power. The buyers would prefer to pay another couple hundred dollars to have dual power supplies that are removable. And thus, many Ethernet users cannot use Mikrotik in these cases. Comparing to Mikrotik switches, Cisco switches have less power consumption by their advanced technology.

—Network Monitoring Software Systems

Most network monitoring software systems natively understand, support and auto-detect Cisco devices and support Cisco SNMP OIDs (CPU, temp, load, bandwidth, errors, power supply status, and many other sub-system counters in a Cisco device.

When configuring your existing network monitor system(s), your network monitor system(s) may not even know what a Mikrotik is and probably does not have native built-in MIBs/OIDs used by SNMP to auto-check/monitor a network. Thus, an administrator would probably need to configure the Mikrotik graphic icons and configure all of the SNMP checks for MIBs/OIDs from/to a Mikrotik.

Mikrotik Switches Vs Cisco Switches: How to Select?

Mikrotik routers and switches are great. Most people like them and use them almost everywhere. However, because Mikrotik is still the new kid on the block when it comes to carrier-grade commercial-grade business grade high-throughput products, it may sometimes be a little difficult to find local network technicians or local phone support for Mikrotik products when adding new equipment into your network. So Cisco switch is more solid and people are more satisfied with them.

25G Switch Vs. 40G Switch: How to Choose?

25G Ethernet and 40G Ethernet are two “transiting” approaches for upgrading network from 10G to 100G. Some analysts believe 25G could be the second highest Ethernet server connectivity technology sold and shipped in the next five years, behind 10G. Meanwhile, a number of comments from industry experts declaring that 40G Ethernet is dead. Is that true? And how to make a right decision? This passage would give a brief introduction on 25G switch and 40G switch and put emphasis on 25G switch Vs. 40G switch.

25G Switch

25G technology is the new standard that offer significant density, cost and power benefits for server to top of rack connections. Its single higher speed 25 Gb/s lanes maximize bandwidth and switch fabric utilization. A single lane per physical port maximizes the number of connected servers or uplinks per switch. Generally, 25G switch is a 48 port switch on the 25G switch market right now. Nowadays, many major brands of switch manufactures have launched their 25G switch, such as Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Mellanox, Dell.

fs-n-series-leaf-spine-switch-25g-switch

40G Switch

Comparing with 25G switch, 40G switch is much familiar to us. A 40G switch generally refers to the data speeds of the ports feeding into the switch. Hence, a 40G switch has 40 Gb/s ports. The overall switching capacity of the 40G switch will be much higher depending on the total number of ports and the power of the switching fabric itself. According to Infonetics Research in early 2015, 40Gb Ethernet switch has been popular in the data center market while 100G switch is more popular with service providers. And thus, 40G Ethernet and 40G switch are not so dead like being mentioned in the fast paragraph.

FS S8050-20Q4C 40G switch

25G switch Vs. 40G switch

—Switch Compatibility

Relatively speaking, 25G switch is less common on the market. In terms of 25G switch compatibility, that is depending the switch supplier. Just take Arista 25G switch for an example, the majority of their 25G switches and Network Interface cards offer backward compatibility to 10G, there is the flexibility to manage a gradual migration to higher speed servers and mix and match port speeds. All SFP based 25G ports on Arista switches and 25G NICs from Cavium can be used at 10G speed. The compatibility of 40G switch also depends on the switch brands. But as a new emerging technology, 25G switch has higher compatibility than 40G switch.

—Port and system density

High performance 25GbE chips use single-lane 25G serializer-deserializer (Serdes) technology similar in operation to 10GbE but delivering 2.5 times the performance, thus reducing the power and cost per gigabit significantly. 25G provides higher port and system density than a comparable 40G solution. Both power savings and higher density results in lower cooling requirements and operational expenditure for data center operators.

—Connection Option

Switch-to-server or switch-to-switch (or switch-to-blade switch) are two connection options for 25G switch connection. Right now, network vendors are positioning 25G only for switch-to-server. Until now, no network vendor advertising 25G for switch-to-switch—Cisco doesn’t even offer a 25G fiber transceiver, and HPE has priced theirs higher than 40G and 100G transceivers. In other words, no one is talking about 25G for switch-to-switch links right now. We shall see this in 2018.

—Cabling

25G twinax works best within a single rack with a top-of-rack switch and 1 and 2 meter cables. 25G with 3+ meter cables requires forward error correction (FEC), which adds ~250ns of one-way latency and may introduce vendor interop issues. If you’re adopting 25G, plan to densely pack compute into 10kVA–12kVA racks. 40G DAC cable is more expensive than 25G DAC cable based on the identical cable length.

25G Switch Vs. 40G Switch: How to Choose?

Through the above description and comparison, we are cleared about some pros and cons of 25Gb Ethernet switch and 40Gb Ethernet switch as well as 25G switch Vs. 40G. As for how to choose the best one, that depends on your demand and usage environment. 25G switch uses less power and produce less heat than 40G, but it is limited at 25G distance. For data center network connectivity, 100G switch is more of a smart choice than 25G switch and 40G switch. In campus and access networks with their long fiber runs and low bandwidth needs, 40G switch is more worthy to buy. So far it seems that 25G switch is not a cost-effective solution.

Stacking Vs. Chassis Switch: How to Choose?

Maximizing scalability and optimizing performance are two paramount factors when you design or upgrade your network. It is hard to find the right balance. Given that you need more than 48 ports in a wiring closet, but you could not decide which type of switches to buy. Stacking switch or non-stacking switch? Or does a modular chassis switch solution make more sense? In this article, we would make a comparison between stacking and chassis access switches and guide you to make an appropriate decision.

Stacking Switches Solutions

Over the years, stacking network switches have been highly favored by lots of Ethernet users and been a core component of an enterprise-grade switch. So what is reason for the popularity of stacking switches? By using stacking switches, we can add ports as we need them by simply purchasing another switch and adding it to the stack. We can stack up to nine Cisco 3750-X switches and have 432 x 10/100/1000 ports and 18 x 10 Gbps ports. We can do this using only 9RU’s of rack space. A chassis would require over double the rack space to achieve this access port density. This makes these switches very popular as top-of-rack switches in the data center.

brocad-stackable-switches

Figure1: Brocade Stackable Switches (Resource: www.Brocade.com)

Pros of Stacking Switches
  • Pay-as-you-grow
  • Small Physical Footprint
  • Convenient 100v Power Standard
  • Virtual Chassis Capability
  • Cross-Stack EtherChannel
Cons of Stacking Switches
  • Management Difficulties
  • Power Demands
  • Software Complexity
  • Instability
Chassis Switches Solutions

Chassis devices, often being “premier” devices, may offer software and/or hardware features unavailable on a stack. They are the flagship models of every vendor’s switching line. In contrast to the fixed configuration switches, it is engineered to operate as single integrated system. Configuring high availability is simple and it works every single time. A failed line card will not bring down the entire chassis. Additionally, a chassis will drive consistency in deployment.

Cisco Chassis Switch

Figure2: Cisco Chassis Switches (Resource: www.Cisco.com)

Pros of Stacking Switches
  • Solid High Availability Features
  • Modular Design
  • Supports Wide Range of Line Cards
  • Simple to Deploy
Cons of Stacking Switches
  • Physical Space (twice the space of stacks)
  • Expensive Power Supplies
  • 220v Power for PoE Solutions
How to Choose?

Just as the same as the every comparison on the similar kits, the decision really depends on your actual requirements. Once we have this, finding the right hardware is very straightforward. It is important to balance the cost of acquisition versus the cost of operations and impact to the business due to outages. And that is what we always thinking about when we make a decision.

In this article, we mainly provide the detailed information about stacking and chassis switches solutions, and offer you relatively enough information to help you to make a decision on choosing the best switching solutions for setting up or upgrading your network. There are too many variables to give a one-size-fits-all recommendation, but in general chassis Ethernet switches’ solutions are our preference. In addition, you should keep in mind that pricing should not be the focused too much. We can get both designs for a pretty reasonable price, regardless of requirements. If your network can benefit from both stackables and chassis, the chassis solution would be a good choice.

Related Article: Stacked switches vs Chassis switch at the core

Cloud Core Switch—An Economic Choice for L3 Switch

MikroTik Switches have been popularly received favorable reviews, and this is inseparable with their keeping on the bleeding edge of switching technology. As a new member of MikroTik Smart Switch series, cloud core switch, also called cloud router switch, combing the best features of a fully functional router and a Layer 3 switch. That is to say, this cloud router switch works as both switch and router to connect the VLAN. This article would mainly discuss about cloud core switch, CRS226-24G-2S+RM switch and its connectivity solutions, as well as the reasons why they are economic choice for L3 switch.

About Cloud Core Switch

The cloud core switch, or cloud router switch, abbreviated as CRS, is a highly configurable switch, powered by RouterOS. It has 24 Gigabit Ethernet port. The Ethernet port 2-24 are switched, and the device can be accessed via these ports through the IP 192.168.88.1. Ethernet port 1 is configured as a DHCP client and has firewall on it. The SFP port is configured the same way as Ethernet 1, with a firewall and DHCP client on it. For the cloud router switch, there are nine models currently available. Here lists three different cases of the cloud core switch:

  • CRS125-24G-1S-2HnD-IN (integrated wireless, indoor case)
  • CRS125-24G-1S-IN (indoor case)
  • CRS125-24G-1S-RM (rackmount case)

MikroTik cloud router switch

Figure1: MikroTik cloud router switches(Resource: www.MikroTik.com)

Cloud Core Switch CRS226-24G-2S+RM

As one of the cloud core switches, CRS226-24G-2S+RM have been highly favored by most people. CRS226-24G-2S+RM is a fully functional layer 3 cloud router switch powered by Router OS, which is also available in 1U rackmount case. It comes with a special switch menu which includes all the specific configuration options for switches. It has 24 Gigabit ports and two SFP+ cages for 10G connectivity in which first SFP port supports 1.25G/10G modules and second port only 10G modules. Ports can be removed from the switch configuration and used for routing purposes if needed. The most distinctive feature of CRS226-24G-2S+RM is that uses a new class of switch chips, which allows us to have two SFP+ ports for 10G connectivity. The main features of this cloud core switch are listed in the following:

  • Fully manageable L3 switch, full wire speed switching
  • Configure ports as switch, or for routing
  • If required, full RouterOS power right there
  • SFP+ ports for 10G connectivity

CRS226-24G-2S+RM_big

Figure2: cloud core switch CRS226-24G-2S+RM(Resource: www.MikroTik.com)

Connectivity Solutions for CRS226-24G-2S+RM

As being mentioned, the cloud core switch CRS226-24G-2S+RM has 24 Gigabit ports and 2 SFP+ ports. For the twenty-four 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, you could use both network cables and optical transceivers to connect. The transmission speed of Cat5 and Cat5e cables can be up to 100 Mb/s and 1G respectively. Besides, you can also use 10/100/1000BASE-T copper transceiver to make network connectivity. But it costs more than the network cables. In terms of 10G SFP+ ports, there are also two connectivity approaches. You can use both 10G SFP+ modules and 10G SFP+ DAC copper cable to connect. Relatively speaking, the 10G DAC cable is cheaper a lot than the 10G transceiver. But if transmission quality is your pursuit, and then 10GBASE SFP+ transceivers would be a good choice.

Why Are Cloud Core Switches Economic Choice for L3 Switch?

According to the above description, cloud core switches are powered by Router OS. RouterOS lets you add upper layer functionality. The cloud core switch is very far below wire speed when doing layer 3 or above. In fact, the cloud core switch is more of a bare-bones layer 2 switch that has an embedded low-horsepower router. In short, the switch features are useful for making bridges that work at wire speed, but they’re limited to simple forwarding and vlan handling. The bridge feature lets you glue almost anything together, and gives lots of filtering/manipulation tools, but it cannot perform at wire speed because it uses the main CPU. Last but not least, the average prices of Mikro Tik cloud core switches are not more than $150, you can check them by this link.

Conclusion

Cloud core/router Switch is a managed switch that runs RouterOS and SwitchOS, which delivers a high performance as a Layer 3 switch. They allow to manage port-to-port forwarding, apply MAC filter, configure VLANs, mirror traffic, apply bandwidth limitation and even adjust some MAC and IP header fields. The economic L3 switch including several switch models covering wide range applications, like enterprise network and home network.

Single Switch Vs. Multiple Switch: How to Select for Home Network?

Network switches are indispensable part on setting up a home network. For home Gigabit Ethernet switches, both one large single switch and multiple switch are good options. Using one large switch, the speed of data transferring could be faster but the problem is you have to run multiple lines throughout the house. Using multiple switches at home maybe redundant at some extent. So how to choose?

For choosing single large switch or multiple smaller switch applied to home network, it is not an easy question to answer. Because it involves various factors—size of the house, power consumption, fiber or copper, rack mount or not. Besides, you still need to consider how dense each part of the house will have networking. And then, in terms of this topic, we did some researches on some professional forums to investigate and congregate thoughts. Most of them prefer to use one larger switch rather than multiple smaller switches for home networking. The reasons are described in the following part.

switch stacking

Figure1: multiple smaller switch stack

By using a central switch you will have UPS protection, unless you have an UPS at each location of course. And using a larger switch instead of multiple smaller ones, just because you will end up using less power that way. By using multiple switches, just make sure you buy two in case of hardware failure, that is the downside of centralizing everything to one device. So in that way, you will cost more to make sure the work of the hardware. In the below statement, we would list some merits and demerits to further clarify the reason why it is better to choose one large single switch instead of multiple smaller switches for home network.

Benefits of Using A Single Switch
  • A single switch will give you more security and better manageability, since it is centrally located.
  • In case of a small building, it is feasible to have a single optical switch catering to everyone. But if the building is big, then due to distance limitation of fast Ethernet, it may not be possible for one switch to cater to all the users. In this case, you will have to go for multiple switch solution.
  • One single switch will give you better performance than many switches. This is because in case of many switches, the inter-switch link is usually fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet, but when you are using a single switch, switch backbone operates at much higher speeds.

So we can infer that if you have a small network, then you can start with single switch, and then as the network grows, you can migrate to multiple switch scenario. But if you are planning for a single switch situation, please think about a backup for this switch (either automatic failover or manual failover), so that in case of failure you can switch to the backup.

Weakness of Using Multiple Switches

First of all, using multiple switches dispatched in the different places is some sort of complexity. You need to connect all of them through some paths. And then, power consumption is also a big trouble. Using multiple switches inevitably brought much more power consumption than single switches. Besides, using multiple or redundant switch is common for security specially IP camera. If one of the switch breaks, then your other camera is still accessible. Then you have the distance limitation, which if this is the case, then you don’t have a choice but to implement more switch.

320px-Switched-fabric.svg

Figure2: fabric of multiple switches

Conclusion

According to the above description and analysis, we can draw a conclusion that using a single large network switches are better than using multiple smaller switches for home networking in most cases. But if you own an extremely larger house to meet your network requirement, and then multiple smaller switches would be good options.

Dell Powerconnect 2700 Vs. 2800 Series Switches

Both the Dell PowerConnect 2700 series and 2800 series switches are secure, fixed-port Gigabit switches. The Dell PowerConnect 2700 series was launched in the early 2000s, designed to deliver full wire-speed switching performance. Not long after the 2700 series, the 2800 series were released to support jumbo frames for networks that need to move large files across the network. They are both cost-effective solutions for small network environments, such as branch offices, schools and etc. However, it seems that it is hard to make a decision about purchasing these two series switches. This article would offer a satisfied solution to you and give a brief introduction to 2700 series and 2800 series switches.

Dell PowerConnect 2700 Series Switches

The Dell PowerConnect 2700 series switches are web-managed switches, the web-interface allows the user to easily manage the switch without learning CLI commands or integrating the switch into an SNMP-based application. These switches offer three port densities, including 8, 16, 24 and 48 Gigabit Ethernet 1 ports. Besides, the 2724 and 2748 have SFP slots in a combo port arrangement that deliver fiber capabilities. Auto MDI/MDIX and autonegotiation of speed, duplex mode and flow help deliver improved control over your network traffic. Totally, there are four models of 2700 series switch—Dell PowerConnect 2708, 2716, 2724, 2748. The main features of these switches are listed in the below:

  • There switches are prepared in advance for any elevated IT requirements.
  • They could eliminate the potential risks within the switch.
  • The 2700 series switches provide the flexibility to meet the requirement of various end users and applications environments.
  • They provide smartly balancing quality and the best prices.

dell-powerconnect-2716-overview

Figure1: Dell Powerconnect 2716 switch(Resource: www.DELL.com)

Dell PowerConnect 2800 Series Switches

As same as the 2700 Series Switch, Dell PowerConnect 2800 Series Switches are also web-managed Gigabit Ethernet switches. These switches offer four port densities, including 8, 16 , 24, and 48 port Gigabit Ethernet ports. In addition, the 2824 and 2848 have SFP slots in a combo port arrangement that deliver fiber capabilities (SFP transceivers optional). The PowerConnect 2800 family also supports jumbo frames for networks that need to move large files across the network. There are also four switch models of 2800 series switches—Dell PowerConnect 2808, 2816, 2824, and 2848. Main benefits of 2800 series switches are listed in the following.

  • Easy web access to the managed features provides a secure environment by offering password restricted access.
  • These switches offer enhanced security by allowing the user to specify which IP addresses have access to the switch.
  • The 2800 series switches support up to six link aggregation groups consisting of up to four ports per group.
  • Advanced cable diagnostics help improve network troubleshooting.

Dell 2800 series switch

Figure2: Dell 2800 Series Switches(Resource: www.DELL.com)

Dell 2700 Vs. 2800 Series switches

As being described, the Dell PowerConnect 2700 and 2800 series switches are nearly identical. But they still have some subtle differences in STP, management configuration, switching and price.

—Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

Compared to Dell PowerConnect 2700 series switches, 2800 series support more STP protocols and support 9000 jumbo frames (not not 9014, etc.). If you do a ping -f on the 2724 with jumbo frames enabled it will go to 5000, 5500, 6000, but not 9000 – they get fragmented at that point. Granted that is only useful for iSCSI traffic, and even then it’s not 100% necessary. And the 9014+ jumbo frames is of the preference.

—Management Configuration

Both 2700 and 2800 series switches are small office switches with minimal management. They all not have LACP. BootP/DHCP IP address management or Static IP address assignment are set within the 2800 series switches. The 2800 series switches have CLI and SNMP Command Subset while the 2700 series switches do not.

—Switching

The link aggregation of both two series switches are up to eight aggregated links and up to eight member ports per aggregated link (IEEE 802.3ad). But the Jumbo frame of 2700 series switches support up to 9000 Bytes (2716, 2724, and 2748). The 2800 series switches have LACP support (IEEE 802.3ad).

—Price

Compared to 2700 series switches, 2800 series switches are cheaper. Just take the same 16-port switch for a example, a new Dell 2816 switch only needs $56 while a new Dell 2716 switch costs $112 on eBay.

Conclusion

Through this article, we are clear about the Dell 2700 and 2800 series Gigabit Ethernet switches as well as their differences in STP, management configuration, switching and price. They all powerful switches with outstanding cost and power savings. You can select an appropriate one according to your need.

Layer 2, Layer 3 & Layer 4 Switch: What’s the Difference?

Network switches are always seen in data centers for data transmission. Many technical terms are used with the switches. Have you ever noticed that they are often described as Layer 2, Layer 3 or even Layer 4 switch? What are the differences among these technologies? Which layer is better for deployment? Let’s explore the answers through this post.

What Does “Layer” Mean?

In the context of computer networking and communication protocols, the term “layer” is commonly associated with the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model, which is a conceptual framework that standardizes the functions of a telecommunication or computing system into seven abstraction layers. Each layer in the OSI model represents a specific set of tasks and functionalities, and these layers work together to facilitate communication between devices on a network.

The OSI model is divided into seven layers, each responsible for a specific aspect of network communication. These layers, from the lowest to the highest, are the Physical layer, Data Link layer, Network layer, Transport layer, Session layer, Presentation layer, and Application layer. The layering concept helps in designing and understanding complex network architectures by breaking down the communication process into manageable and modular components.

In practical terms, the “layer” concept can be seen in various networking devices and protocols. For instance, when discussing switches or routers, the terms Layer 2, Layer 3, or Layer 4 refer to the specific layer of the OSI model at which these devices operate. Layer 2 devices operate at the Data Link layer, dealing with MAC addresses, while Layer 3 devices operate at the Network layer, handling IP addresses and routing. Therefore, switches working on different layers of OSI model are described as Lay 2, Layer 3 or Layer 4 switches.

OSI model

Switch Layers

Layer 2 Switching

Layer 2 is also known as the data link layer. It is the second layer of OSI model. This layer transfers data between adjacent network nodes in a WAN or between nodes on the same LAN segment. It is a way to transfer data between network entities and detect or correct errors happened in the physical layer. Layer 2 switching uses the local and permanent MAC (Media Access Control) address to send data around a local area on a switch.

layer 2 switching

Layer 3 Switching

Layer 3 is the network layer in the OSI model for computer networking. Layer 3 switches are the fast routers for Layer 3 forwarding in hardware. It provides the approach to transfer variable-length data sequences from a source to a destination host through one or more networks. Layer 3 switching uses the IP (Internet Protocol) address to send information between extensive networks. IP address shows the virtual address in the physical world which resembles the means that your mailing address tells a mail carrier how to find you.

layer 3 switching

Layer 4 Switching

As the middle layer of OSI model, Layer 4 is the transport layer. This layer provides several services including connection-oriented data stream support, reliability, flow control, and multiplexing. Layer 4 uses the protocol of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) which include the port number information in the header to identify the application of the packet. It is especially useful for dealing with network traffic since many applications adopt designated ports.

layer 4 switching

Which Layer to Use?

The decision to use Layer 2, Layer 3, or Layer 4 switches depends on the specific requirements and characteristics of your network. Each type of switch operates at a different layer of the OSI model, offering distinct functionalities:

Layer 2 Switches:

Use Case: Layer 2 switches are appropriate for smaller networks or local segments where the primary concern is local connectivity within the same broadcast domain.

Example Scenario: In a small office or department with a single subnet, where devices need to communicate within the same local network, a Layer 2 switch is suitable.

Layer 3 Switches:

Use Case: Layer 3 switches are suitable for larger networks that require routing between different subnets or VLANs.

Example Scenario: In an enterprise environment with multiple departments or segments that need to communicate with each other, a Layer 3 switch facilitates routing between subnets.

Layer 4 Switches:

Use Case: Layer 4 switches are used when more advanced traffic management and control based on application-level information, such as port numbers, are necessary.

Example Scenario: In a data center where optimizing the flow of data, load balancing, and directing traffic based on specific applications (e.g., HTTP or HTTPS) are crucial, Layer 4 switches can be beneficial.

Considerations for Choosing:

  • Network Size: For smaller networks with limited routing needs, Layer 2 switches may suffice. Larger networks with multiple subnets benefit from the routing capabilities of Layer 3 switches.
  • Routing Requirements: If your network requires inter-VLAN communication or routing between different IP subnets, a Layer 3 switch is necessary.
  • Traffic Management: If your network demands granular control over traffic based on specific applications, Layer 4 switches provide additional capabilities.

In many scenarios, a combination of these switches may be used in a network, depending on the specific requirements of different segments. It’s common to have Layer 2 switches in access layers, Layer 3 switches in distribution or core layers for routing, and Layer 4 switches for specific applications or services that require advanced traffic management. Ultimately, the choice depends on the complexity, size, and specific needs of your network environment.

Conclusion

With the development of technologies, the intelligence of switches is continuously progressing on different layers of the network. The mix application of different layer switches (Layer 2, Layer 3 and Layer 4 switch) is a more cost-effective solution for big data centers. Understanding these switching layers can help you make better decisions.

Related Article:

Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch: Which One Do You Need? | FS Community