Looking for a small/compact/home 10GbE L3 switch

[nickf1227]

If you have a rack in that closet, why the small size requirement?
If you are trying to get rid of the rack, why not get a standard 19" switch and verically mount it?
Amazon.com: NavePoint 2U 19 Inch Vertical Wall Mount Rack Wall Mountable Server Rack w/Hardware Black : Electronics

That would open up options and save you money. You could buy an ICX 6450 for >$200

 

[tronic]

Thanks and thanks everyone else for the replies. I wanted L3 for the switching speeds. I have been running pfsense as a router-on-a-stick configuration for a few years and it's been wonderful. I've worked from home for many years and having a L3 core switch with a gigabit network has been great. It's only the last few years with the addition of some IP security cameras that I've really started to notice the 2x 1GbE LACP link at the switch <==> pfSense (traffic passing through pfsense packet filtering) really start to bog down. Never in a million years did I ever (ever ever ever) think I would be considering a L3 10GbE network in my home.

My old pfSense HW (still running) is a Celeron 1037u (dual-core @ 1.8ghz) with 8gb ddr3 (and no AES-NI). I ended up buying a Lenovo M720q Tiny with an i5-8400T cpu in it (6-core @ 1.7ghz, turbo to 3.3ghz). I also bought a dual 10GbE sfp+ NIC for it and have ordered a 3d printed pcie slot adapter plate for the network card. I also bought a L2 switch, the QNAP QSW-M408S. We'll see. The switch was $200 and I'm hoping that the i5-8400T CPU behind pfSense will get me decent routing speeds for the short-term.

The Cisco CBS350-24MGP-4X is the perfect switch for what I need (want) but at $1,700 I figured I would try the $200 QNAP switch first. Worst case I know I can repurpose the QNAP switch so if I'm not happy routing through pfSense and using the QNAP L2 switch, I'll suck it up and buy the Cisco hardware I like. I'm also building a new NAS and updating some old (xeon x5600 cpus) ESXi hosts which means the bank account can only take so much

Thanks again for all of the comments and help.

Hey there,

I have the previous version and without POE for exactly the same needs > Cisco SG350X-24. SFP+ goes to a Truenas (Intel C3758) server (FS DAC), while 2x copper 10GbE to my workstation & Proxmox server (Xeon-D 1528). The remaining SFP+ I might use for connecting a cisco 2960s-24-TD-L that I just recently shot on ebay for 37 EUR . I have two cameras from Trendnet and 4 APs (2x C9115, C1850 and C1830 from Cisco) that are being powered using a smaller Cisco SG350-10MP. Other stuff is already in the pipeline, so let's see if the remaining 2 free POE ports will cut it or not... (8+2, as 2 are combo uplink ports). I shot it on an auction back in 2019 for about 130 EUR.

With the SG350X I was very lucky as a french guy wanted to sell two for 220 EUR each and I could grab one (2019). The street price is still OKish, but somewhere around 600 EUR in Germany. It started to go below 400, but then all this crazy stuff came along.

I run also pfSense, but on an massively overpowered setup (C2758, the "intel" bug got fixed by SM) and without LACP. As we are just before moving into our new house, I hope I get the chance to make it sweat a bit more as symmetric 1Gb fiber connection might be an option. Fingers crossed . Probably with the move I will move away from pfSense to OPNsense though. I am using it on Proxmox to do some FW stuff and really appreciate how the folks in the Netherlands are developing it and that that they can treat people much better, but let's not get into this discussion

 

[tronic]

@whiskytangofoxconn
I guess you are not in Germany, but the following popped just up on "ebay small deals" for 700 EUR, which would be a perfect fit for your needs.

• Cisco SG550XG-8F8T-K9 16-Port 10Gig
• 8 X10G BaseT and 8 SFP+
• Cisco 550X Series Stackable Managed Switches Data Sheet
• Pro is RIP v2 Support for Routing Information Protocol version 2 for dynamic routing
• But can sip up to 85W

 

[whiskytangofoxconn]

Simpler pre covid and work from home, but it's just a house. Freakin PITA.

I agree, except I worked from home pre-covid Yes I agree 100% with your comments.
Six years ago when I wired the house I was told by family/friends I was nuts for using smurf tubes. They also said I was wasting money bringing neutral to every switch, device, outlet, receptacle, etc. when I rewired the house line voltage. Six years ago we had set top boxes at every TV and 25d/5u "high speed" internet. I was very happy with our gigabit LAN and thought that I would never see the day when I needed/wanted 10GbE at the house...

If you have a rack in that closet, why the small size requirement?
If you are trying to get rid of the rack, why not get a standard 19" switch and verically mount it?
Amazon.com: NavePoint 2U 19 Inch Vertical Wall Mount Rack Wall Mountable Server Rack w/Hardware Black : Electronics

That would open up options and save you money. You could buy an ICX 6450 for >$200

The rack: I'm getting rid of a 25u rack that lives in my office. I had a 25u rack, then it grew into the 25u plus a 42u, then I got rid of the 42u and had two 25u racks. Eventually I got it down to just the original Dell 25u rack and now I'm done. If I need something racked I'll buy compute time at AWS or similar. The last 25u rack is full of infiniband and xeon 5600 dinosaurs. And phi cards, and nvidia grid gpu cards.

Our front-hall coat-closet has the house alarm box and I ran all the smurf tubes and home runs back to a small patch panel in that closet. I wired the house six years ago. Back then it wasn't supposed to be a forever house and I was trying to think about the next owner. Just because I had a server rack in my office and a second in the garage doesn't mean the next owner would. Fast forward six years and I suppose I should still think about the next owner: With everything going IoT/smart home, I suppose a small 2-3U rack somewhere for tech stuff is probably "the norm".

 

[whiskytangofoxconn]

let's not get into this discussion

I've thought about switching too but just don't have the time/effort. Now I kept pfSense because I may want to try and run tnsr (some day). I would love a Layer 3 switch with 6x-8x sfp+ and 12x-16x multi-gigabit PoE++ ports -in the $500 range (dollars/euro, you pick). I'm considering MikroTik. I don't like leaving Cisco but for 1/10th the price it may be fine. I don't really need 10gbe. I don't even need 2.5gbe, probably 1.25-2gbe speeds would solve the one bottleneck I have. Making the jump to 10gbe is fine if it can be done at a reasonable cost.