Scott McClanahan wrote:
> I'm looking to acquire a few new core switches for our network which
> would be a major upgrade from the cheap unmanaged things we currently
> have. Basically, just users, servers, and other simple network devices
> will be plugged into them but I'd like to start doing some testing with
> iSCSI for various non-production reasons. I have no allegiance to a
> particular vendor although I do have a Cisco background. I'd like them
> to be at least 10/100/1000 (no need for power over ethernet) and include
> many of the features that are most important to me in a managed switch,
> including:
>
>
> * vlans
> * mstp or some well established form of per vlan spanning tree
> * acl's
> * port mirroring or what cisco calls span sessions
> * snmp
> * ssh enabled remote management
> * support w/ updates and bugfixes
>
>
> I need at least 48 ports per device and obviously would like them to be
> "fast". Most importantly, I'd like to know what you guys prefer as
> operations dudes and what pitfalls to avoid. Also, are there other
> features you folks would demand to have in your switches that I haven't
> mentioned? I can provide more information if you'd like. Thanks.
>
> Oh, cost is sort of an issue (small/medium sized business) but right now
> insight from you guys is what's important and I can work out the cost
> issue later. Thanks again.
I haven't used the current crop, but I'd expect the Dell Powerconnect
series to be usable. The configuration is a bit different than Cisco so
you need to trade off some learning time for the cost difference. Also
on the port mirroring - on the Dell switches I have used, the port used
as the target of the mirror copy could not simultaneously be used for
normal traffic of its own.
--
Les Mikesell
lesmikesell at gmail.com