48 Port Switch Buying Guide

As a core hardware device in data centers, network switch is vital for setting up a reliable network. Meanwhile 48 port switch with high port density has become popular among enterprise-class, small to midsize and even home users. However, how to buy an optimal 48 port switch for different network environment confuses many people. This article will make an analysis of 48 port switch for your buying guide.

What to Consider for Buying 48 Port Switch?

To buy an optimal 48 port switch for your network, one should take several factors into consideration. Above all, choose managed over unmanaged if possible. 48 port managed switch has advanced features in reliable performance, traffic control, custom management and security regulation. For modern applications requiring for high network privacy and resiliency, 48 port gigabit switch managed is a must. Besides, here lists other important factors for 48 port switch managed selection.

how to choose 48 port switch

·Capacity

What kind of virtualization applications are you implementing? Do they require extra high switching capacity? Generally 48 port switches in the market come with 2 different speed basis: 48 port gigabit switch and 48 port 10Gb switch. For average customers without special requirements 48 port gigabit switch can well meet their demands. But for speed pursuers 48 port 10Gb switch should be deployed for smooth operation in high traffic.

·Uplink Configuration

In addition to regular port, pay attention to the uplink port on 48 port switch. For multiple switch connection, 48 port gigabit switch often comes with several 10G SFP+ uplink ports whereas 10Gb switch comes with 40G QSFP+ or even 100G QSFP+ uplink ports for link aggregation. With a few corresponding uplink ports reserved, the 48 port gigabit switch can access to 10G core switch. And 48 port 10Gb switch can cater for future demands like next generation Metro, Dater Center and Enterprise networks.

·Power over Ethernet

For situations where power outlets are unavailable for cabling devices, 48 port PoE switch is a natural fit. A typical aforesaid case is for connecting Powered Devices (PD): IP cameras, VoIP phones and wireless access points (AP). By deploying 48 port PoE gigabit switch, you can easily put an IP surveillance camera anywhere on the ceiling.

What Are the Cheap 48 Port Switch Recommendations?

You can easily get the best 48 port switch with all advanced features once budget is not a concern. However, most people should note cost/performance ratio to get good but cheap 48 port switch. For good purchasing experience, here recommend you 2 best 48 port switch for reference.

·Cost-effective Non-PoE 48 Port Switch

Without PoE capability, here recommend S3900-48T4S 48 port switch managed. It comes with 48 10/100/1000Mb auto-sensing RJ45 ports and 4 10GE SFP+ uplinks for cost-effective gigabit access or 10G link aggregation. Thus you can easily deploy this 48 port Metro Ethernet switch either in the access layer or as core switch. Also, with dual power available this 48 port gigabit switch managed provides redundancy in emergent outage.

FS 48 port switch application

Figure 1: Deploying FS S3800-48T4S 48 port gigabit switch as access switch and S1600-48T4S 48 port PoE switch for PDs in network layer.

·Cost-effective 48 Port PoE Switch

FS recommends S1600-48T4S 48 port PoE switch for both 600W high PoE power budget and reliable hardware with software integration. With 48 1000M RJ45 ports and 4 10G SFP+ uplinks compact in 1RU, this 48 port PoE gigabit switch owns high density and space saving features. As a 48 port gigabit switch managed, it supports both Web Interface and CLI command. Therefore it offers enterprise-class functionality of free configuration, strong security and reliable RSTP. As PoE+ switch, it complies IEEE802.3af/at standard. Thus the PoE network switch can auto figure which standard the PoE enabled device supports and then supply power to it. To deploy S1600-48T4S 48 port switch, you can flexibly put it in a rack, on a wall or on desktop. Power on the switch. Then connect over 40 APs or other PDs all over the building with only one each cable is required to run for them.

S1600-48T4S 48 port switch PoE

Figure 2: S1600-48T4S 48 port PoE switch connecting to VoIP phones, wireless APs and IP surveillance cameras for intelligent switching and networks growth.

Conclusion

Take a long-term view, 48 port switch with high port density provides abundant ports for your current devices and room for future network growth. Buying a best 48 port switch requires one to consider its own demands for specific applications. Based on which, one should take based speed, uplink port configuration, PoE capability and other personal requirement into consideration. For cheap 48 port gigabit switch, we recommend you classic one S3900-48T4S and 48 port PoE switch S1600-48T4S. For 48 port 10Gb switch, you can also find one with decent offer in FS.COM.

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.