After being completely disappointed with the Quanta LB4G switch that @h0tw1r3 and I purchased from the same eBay seller, I scoured eBay for other options and came across the Netgear GSM7300s series of switches. The series has 2 x 10Gb SFP+ connections on the front of the switch with 2 module bays on the back that can support the following options:
For my setup, I'm trying to interconnect 3 x ESXi nodes (for vSAN), an OmniOS ZFS file server, and my main desktop rig. Given I only care about having the three ESXi nodes talk to one another for I/O purposes, the stacking traffic limit of 24Gb doesn't really hinder what I'm doing since the file server and the desktop rig can be on the same switch. I bought the following switching equipment:
Now for the actual switches:
As you can see, the switches aren't terribly loud (the reading is with a single switch on). Mr. Kill-O-Watt has an even better story to share by stating that each individual switch is only sipping a blistering 39 watts of energy with a single SFP+ transceiver active in one of the front slots and a stacking module installed. Not bad!
As it stands, I'm still waiting on the AX743 modules and fiberstore transceivers to show up before I can go ahead and integrate this solution. I did manage to find out that the switches are compatible with Brocade 57-0000075-01 transceivers installed in the front SFP+ slots. Using Brocade CNA 1020 interfaces connected to two of my ESXi nodes with Brocade 57-0000075-01 on all four interconnects (CNA and switch slots), the traffic passing between the two switches (so one CNA is connected to one switch), I'm getting roughly 6.5Gb/sec using iperf in Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS with virtual connections to flat vSwitches and MTU 1500 across the board on everything. Not terrible considering I haven't tuned anything and jumbo frames are not involved.
To conclude (for now), if you all you need is less than 4 SFP+ ports, this can be an ideal solution for you if you find the right price on the parts you need. Using my pricing example, a single switch 4 x SFP+ setup would have cost $469.03. I haven't verified if my switches are eligible or not (given I'm not the original owner), but Netgear does advertise a limited lifetime warranty with this model as well. Regardless, the price is right and the power level is nice and low. Obtaining the parts from eBay seems to be somewhat of a waiting game at the moment, but I passed up nabbing another switch that went for $56.24 (before an obscene $67.45 shipping charge was tacked onto it by the seller):
Netgear ProSafe GSM7328S V2 24 Ports External Switch Managed Stackable | eBay
I'll update more when I get the rest of my parts in.
- AX742 (24 Gigabit Stacking Kit, comes with 2 modules and one stacking cable)
- AX741 (10 Gigabit XFP adapter module)
- AX743 (10 Gigabit SFP+ adapter module)
For my setup, I'm trying to interconnect 3 x ESXi nodes (for vSAN), an OmniOS ZFS file server, and my main desktop rig. Given I only care about having the three ESXi nodes talk to one another for I/O purposes, the stacking traffic limit of 24Gb doesn't really hinder what I'm doing since the file server and the desktop rig can be on the same switch. I bought the following switching equipment:
- 2 x Netgear ProSafe GSM7328Sv2 switches: $239.99 each from eBay
- 1 x AX742 kit: $125.00 from eBay
- 2 x AX743 SFP+ modules with included genuine Netgear AXM761 SFP+ transceivers: $75.00 each from eBay
- 4 x Fiberstore.com 10GBASE-SR SFP+ transceivers: $18.00 each
- 6 x Monoprice 10Gb Fiber Optic Cable, LC/LC, Multi Mode, Duplex - 2 Meter (50/125 Type) - Aqua cables: $10.76 each
Now for the actual switches:
As you can see, the switches aren't terribly loud (the reading is with a single switch on). Mr. Kill-O-Watt has an even better story to share by stating that each individual switch is only sipping a blistering 39 watts of energy with a single SFP+ transceiver active in one of the front slots and a stacking module installed. Not bad!
As it stands, I'm still waiting on the AX743 modules and fiberstore transceivers to show up before I can go ahead and integrate this solution. I did manage to find out that the switches are compatible with Brocade 57-0000075-01 transceivers installed in the front SFP+ slots. Using Brocade CNA 1020 interfaces connected to two of my ESXi nodes with Brocade 57-0000075-01 on all four interconnects (CNA and switch slots), the traffic passing between the two switches (so one CNA is connected to one switch), I'm getting roughly 6.5Gb/sec using iperf in Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS with virtual connections to flat vSwitches and MTU 1500 across the board on everything. Not terrible considering I haven't tuned anything and jumbo frames are not involved.
To conclude (for now), if you all you need is less than 4 SFP+ ports, this can be an ideal solution for you if you find the right price on the parts you need. Using my pricing example, a single switch 4 x SFP+ setup would have cost $469.03. I haven't verified if my switches are eligible or not (given I'm not the original owner), but Netgear does advertise a limited lifetime warranty with this model as well. Regardless, the price is right and the power level is nice and low. Obtaining the parts from eBay seems to be somewhat of a waiting game at the moment, but I passed up nabbing another switch that went for $56.24 (before an obscene $67.45 shipping charge was tacked onto it by the seller):
Netgear ProSafe GSM7328S V2 24 Ports External Switch Managed Stackable | eBay
I'll update more when I get the rest of my parts in.