Gigabit + 10Gb Switches under $550

[Pete L.]

After using the X1052 for a few weeks now I have to say I'm fairly disappointed with it. The lack of ability to configure ANYTHING worth configuring from the CLI is really a downer. I guess maybe that's to be expected from a $500ish 10Gb switch but it's really making things more complicated. The fact that the GUI is pretty atrocious obviously doesn't help. It's the slowest GUI I"ve ever used and ll too often when changing port configurations in the GUI it doesn't remove the previous port configuration so I'm often left with ports configured both as trunks and access ports. I have to clear the VLAN configurations off them far too often.

Can't say I'm not contemplating finding a replacement that has better CLI support .

Want to have some fun open up a support ticket with Dell, give them remove access and watch them try and fumble their way around their X Series Switches. It both entertaining and horrifying at the same time.

My 10G Adventure started out with some 10G Cards in two servers connected together then I added the x1052p and received a defective / POE didn't work which baffled Dell's Crack Support team to the tune of about 4 hours of them fumbling around the CLI / GUI before they authorized a replacement.

Anyway I have to say I didn't have the issues you mentioned with the GUI, you do have to fight with it at times for sure but it always eventually seemed to work out. That said I actually wanted more 10G Ports so I got the Dell x4012 switch to add more ports then realized I didn't need to 1052p so I sold that. Of course after getting everything all setup / running the way I wanted it to I started having some issues with the x4012 and decided I was completely done with the Dell.

I went in a completely different direction, bit the bullet and bought a Cisco SG350XG-24F which is way out of the scope of this thread but will say that to my shock and dismay the freaking thing arrived defective. I am having no luck whatsoever when it comes to 10G. I feel like someone is trying to tell me something.

One other thing that is worth mentioning, for a Switch series that is so relatively new people seem to be dumping the x switches like mad. When I first started looking at them there wasn't any on e-bay and now (at least when I sold mine a few weeks ago) there are many, many people selling them and some are pulls from networks. This is saying something as there aren't that many more options out there in the price range. I would love to know the details as to why they are pulled (ok we know why) but what they are being replaced with.

 

[IamSpartacus]

Want to have some fun open up a support ticket with Dell, give them remove access and watch them try and fumble their way around their X Series Switches. It both entertaining and horrifying at the same time.

My 10G Adventure started out with some 10G Cards in two servers connected together then I added the x1052p and received a defective / POE didn't work which baffled Dell's Crack Support team to the tune of about 4 hours of them fumbling around the CLI / GUI before they authorized a replacement.

Anyway I have to say I didn't have the issues you mentioned with the GUI, you do have to fight with it at times for sure but it always eventually seemed to work out. That said I actually wanted more 10G Ports so I got the Dell x4012 switch to add more ports then realized I didn't need to 1052p so I sold that. Of course after getting everything all setup / running the way I wanted it to I started having some issues with the x4012 and decided I was completely done with the Dell.

I went in a completely different direction, bit the bullet and bought a Cisco SG350XG-24F which is way out of the scope of this thread but will say that to my shock and dismay the freaking thing arrived defective. I am having no luck whatsoever when it comes to 10G. I feel like someone is trying to tell me something.

One other thing that is worth mentioning, for a Switch series that is so relatively new people seem to be dumping the x switches like mad. When I first started looking at them there wasn't any on e-bay and now (at least when I sold mine a few weeks ago) there are many, many people selling them and some are pulls from networks. This is saying something as there aren't that many more options out there in the price range. I would love to know the details as to why they are pulled (ok we know why) but what they are being replaced with.

Thanks for your feedback @Pete L. I think I may wind up going a similar route to you if I can find a way to swing the funds. This Dell switch is leaving a really sour feeling in my mouth.

Those SG350XG's look nice but I don't need that many SFP+ ports and I do need the copper 1Gb ports. Do you know anything about the SG500 series? I'd really like to have some CLI configurability since I work on Cisco's everyday at work and CLI is just soooooooo much easier to me than GUI.

 

[Pete L.]

Thanks for your feedback @Pete L. I think I may wind up going a similar route to you if I can find a way to swing the funds. This Dell switch is leaving a really sour feeling in my mouth.

Those SG350XG's look nice but I don't need that many SFP+ ports and I do need the copper 1Gb ports. Do you know anything about the SG500 series? I'd really like to have some CLI configurability since I work on Cisco's everyday at work and CLI is just soooooooo much easier to me than GUI.

I am a huge fan of Cisco and their SG Series Switches, yes I am sure someone will Chime in here and say that they are just glorified Linksys Switches, maybe they are but I've been using their SG300 Series switches for years and they have a Fully Functional CLI as well as a GUI that actually works.

I haven't personally touched the SG500 Series switches but I have been told that they are LOUD / Do not have Dynamic Fans? I find that hard to believe these days but anything is possible. I was looking at them but I wanted / needed more 10G Ports and already have more copper ports than I will ever need.

I don't know your environment but I outgrew my 4 ports on the x1052p before I even knew it. I upgraded my NAS to 10G and needed more ports so I went all out and went with the 350-XG-24F and if I need more copper ports for some reason I will just pick up the SFP-Copper Modules from Fiber Store.

Bottom line to answer your question - you will be thrilled with any of the SG Series Switches.

 

[IamSpartacus]

I am a huge fan of Cisco and their SG Series Switches, yes I am sure someone will Chime in here and say that they are just glorified Linksys Switches, maybe they are but I've been using their SG300 Series switches for years and they have a Fully Functional CLI as well as a GUI that actually works.

I haven't personally touched the SG500 Series switches but I have been told that they are LOUD / Do not have Dynamic Fans? I find that hard to believe these days but anything is possible. I was looking at them but I wanted / needed more 10G Ports and already have more copper ports than I will ever need.

I don't know your environment but I outgrew my 4 ports on the x1052p before I even knew it. I upgraded my NAS to 10G and needed more ports so I went all out and went with the 350-XG-24F and if I need more copper ports for some reason I will just pick up the SFP-Copper Modules from Fiber Store.

Bottom line to answer your question - you will be thrilled with any of the SG Series Switches.

I could def. use more SFP+ ports as I have 3 servers right now with dual SFP+ ports and I'd love to use both. How loud is the 350-XG-24F and how much power does it use? Or have you not actually installed it yet since the first one came defective?

 

[Pete L.]

I could def. use more SFP+ ports as I have 3 servers right now with dual SFP+ ports and I'd love to use both. How loud is the 350-XG-24F and how much power does it use? Or have you not actually installed it yet since the first one came defective?

I do have the SG350XG-24F installed in my network, I was returning the x4012 and didn't want to have to go back to gig on all my connections and it working I just don't have any link lights I have to go with the CLI / GUI.

Anyway it is slightly louder than the x1052p in the same ambient temperature, is has dynamic fans, when you power it up it feels like it might levitate but winds down after it goes through its tests.

I am using 10 Ports, 6 SFP+, 2 DAC and the 2 Copper / Combo ports and it is using about 25 watts of power according to my APC. I don't know if having the Link LEDs will make that much of a different (it shouldn't) but here's the power specs which seems to be right in line, I assume it will go up a little if / when I add more modules to it.

 

[IamSpartacus]

I do have the SG350XG-24F installed in my network, I was returning the x4012 and didn't want to have to go back to gig on all my connections and it working I just don't have any link lights I have to go with the CLI / GUI.

Anyway it is slightly louder than the x1052p in the same ambient temperature, is has dynamic fans, when you power it up it feels like it might levitate but winds down after it goes through its tests.

I am using 10 Ports, 6 SFP+, 2 DAC and the 2 Copper / Combo ports and it is using about 25 watts of power according to my APC. I don't know if having the Link LEDs will make that much of a different (it shouldn't) but here's the power specs which seems to be right in line, I assume it will go up a little if / when I add more modules to it.

View attachment 2154

Thanks for the detailed info. That's some pretty awesome power efficiency right there. If I could find that switch for under $2k I'd be seriously tempted to mix it with a cheap 1Gb switch.

 

[Pete L.]

Thanks for the detailed info. That's some pretty awesome power efficiency right there. If I could find that switch for under $2k I'd be seriously tempted to mix it with a cheap 1Gb switch.

I've heard good things about the D-Link 12 port SFP+ Switch but they completely rubbed me the wrong way when I tried to take are of their demo offer. They basically tell you to order one and if you don't like it return it for a refund. Um ok.

At the same time I had the dell and it was the Evil I knew so I went with the x4012 to use with the x1052p but then figured why the heck keep the 1052p if I already have an SG300-28p for my POE needs. The rest I already mentioned.

DXS-1210-12SC 12-Port 10-Gigabit copper WebSmart Switch | D-Link

 

[Evan]

Thanks for the detailed info. That's some pretty awesome power efficiency right there. If I could find that switch for under $2k I'd be seriously tempted to mix it with a cheap 1Gb switch.

I did not check but assume for 1gb copper only (no 10g version will ever be available for technical reasons) you can use the cheap Cisco SFP model GLC-T= to get some rj45 ports on the switch.
That's actually a pretty nice Cisco switch and if you have SFP+ servers mostly that would be great option.

 

[Evan]

May have spoken to soon, seems like those switches don't generally support the standard SFP from Cisco.

 

[IamSpartacus]

I did not check but assume for 1gb copper only (no 10g version will ever be available for technical reasons) you can use the cheap Cisco SFP model GLC-T= to get some rj45 ports on the switch.
That's actually a pretty nice Cisco switch and if you have SFP+ servers mostly that would be great option.

However, for me, I have enough need for 1Gb copper that it would make sense for me to combine the 24 port SFP+ switch with a 24-48 port 1Gb copper switch.

 

[Evan]

Those prolabs SFP is interesting but should not be possible with Cisco, it's not possible to provide enough power to support the full 10g standards if what I have been told the reason it should not be possible. Maybe they throttle and run short of supporting the standard cable lengths in an unofficial way ?

They must do some tricks like tell the switch they are a SFP-10G-SR or similar to fool the switch into working with them.

Wonder if they are cheap... Should be fine for home use even if I would never use them in an enterprise environment.

 

[Pete L.]

I was wondering if they would come up with a 10G Copper SFP Adapter and sure enough they have. If you look at the specs between the two switches the 10G Copper switch takes more port / generates more heat than the Fiber Version (almost double) so yes I can see adding a few of those modules if needed but more than that and you might end up overloading the power supply?

This was one of the main reasons I went with Fiber / SFP+ in my network, I kept seeing that the copper versions use much more power in a worst case scenario.

Not sure what @Even means about Standard SFP's I am using Cisco Compatible SFPs from Fiber Store and so far they are all working perfectly and surprisingly my Dell Coded SFP+ and DAC Cables (also from Fiber Store) work in the SG350XG-24F without any problems. I am having an issue with the Cisco Coded SFP-RJ45 Modules I got from Fiber Store which is surprising, I just got a few to have on hand if needed. The switch detects them, shows they are 1G Modules but when you connect something to it it just flaps up / down every few seconds. I am holding out to see what happens when I get the replacement switch as the one I got is defective No Link Lights on any ports but management and Green Ethernet / Power Savings is not the issue.

 

[IamSpartacus]

Those prolabs SFP is interesting but should not be possible with Cisco, it's not possible to provide enough power to support the full 10g standards if what I have been told the reason it should not be possible. Maybe they throttle and run short of supporting the standard cable lengths in an unofficial way ?

They must do some tricks like tell the switch they are a SFP-10G-SR or similar to fool the switch into working with them.

Wonder if they are cheap... Should be fine for home use even if I would never use them in an enterprise environment.

Says they can support runs of up to 30m which would be fine for most home networks.

ProLabs - 10G Copper Transceivers with OEM Compatibility

 

[Stereodude]

Wonder if they are cheap... Should be fine for home use even if I would never use them in an enterprise environment.

I was told the MSRP is $550 each in another thread. I don't think that counts as cheap.

 

[Evan]

550 each !!! It's not exotic it's a basic rj45, pay less than that for original Cisco 10G-SR.

What I meant by regular Cisco gbic's is all the usual ones that are used in the higher end switch like the nexus models, the spec sheet for those switches showed a dozen compatible but none of them I am used to using.

 

[Stereodude]

550 each !!! It's not exotic it's a basic rj45, pay less than that for original Cisco 10G-SR.

Okay, I was off by $50.

Intel Xeon D-1500 Series Discussion

 

[Jon Massey]

Well when you're the only people making them (AFAIK), you can pick your price!

 

[Stereodude]

Well when you're the only people making them (AFAIK), you can pick your price!

Yes, if you're okay with not selling any...

 

[IamSpartacus]

One thing that many of your are overlooking is that many companies have to buy their products from specific outlets for legal reasons. For example I work for a school district and we are limited from who we can buy from based on state regulations. An SFP-10G-SR fiber GBIC for example that you can get for $30 on eBay we have to pay close to $500 each for from CDWG. Just take a look at the difference in the pricing on some of these websites compared to where we ourselves get our consumer products from. It's night and day.

 

[Jon Massey]

Indeed, it's expensive compared to a FS or Finisar, but compared to a genuine HP/Cisco through the usual channels then it's about par for the course.